 Poster: A snowHead
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So we have a flight pass with 4 return flights Gatwick to Salzburg remaining, due to expire at the end of Jan and with 60 days pre-booking required.
The original plan was to use for Christmas or New Year and we’re close to booking a few days before the FCO advice changed for Austria.
My expectation of Optiontown customer service is pretty low so checking if anyone has experience of either changing the routing (BA don’t have Gatwick - Salzburg scheduled until later next year) or extending the pass. I’m assuming a refund is out.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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My flight pass money is the one bit I failed to get back from our booked April trip.
I did successfully convince BA to let me change route for the BA trip on the way out but that took a LOT of to’ing and fro’ing many phone calls to BA and that was only agreed due to the fact that BA had cancelled all flights to Turin on the Friday. There is a thread on here, so BA were under obligation and to make it right.
I would at least get the booking for flights in the system then once you have a booking reference you have something to change. But it won’t be easy.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@simonbaddeley, one option is to book for flights that you think are highly likely to get cancelled. e.g. Gatwick-Salzburg in November (if available).
Once the flights are cancelled, they generally revert to BA's control - my flights that were cancelled did this, and I was then able to move them via BA without needing any conversation with Optiontown.
What you can't do (to my knowledge) is get any kind of refund as the value attached to the flights is hard to determine.
I think I read some reports on Flyertalk regarding people negotiating extensions to their flight pass end dates.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks @NickyJ, @snowdave, agree it would be best to have a booking and hope either the FCO advice changes or the flight is cancelled. Unfortunately I missed my chance as BA seemed to have delayed restarting Gatwick to Salzburg until later next year. There are flights at Easter but not anytime around half term.
Saw a few mentions of extending passes elsewhere but not if it’d been successful, probably makes sense to try that and book for Easter so at least we have a booking that can be moved if the flights don’t run.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@simonbaddeley, BA are pulling out of LGW so book short haul from there.
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Response from Optiontown about 36 hours after raising a request to extend, they are able to extend to Dec ‘21 and add LHR to the routing, for some reason they’re system can’t extend more than 12 months so I need to contact them again in December.
Good service and a good result that saves a speculative booking (for now!).
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@simonbaddeley, that's a good result; hopefully by Dec 21 things will be better!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| GlasgowCyclops wrote: |
| @simonbaddeley, BA are pulling out of LGW so book short haul from there. |
Shame as the option town Flights are well cheap from Gatwick!
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@simonbaddeley, Thanks for the update. I had 2 GVA / LGW OptionTown flights remaining which were due to expire in April/May. At the time, I had them extended for 6 months but with no LGW flights they remain unused on the account. After what you posted, I might try and get them extended again and also shifted to LHR.
@FrediKanoute Yep damn shame. Not only were LGW flight passes much cheaper than LHR but also the airport is only about 10 mins from the office. Perfect for getting the early Monday morning flight in or a Friday afternoon flight out. I used the flexible 4hr ones so didn't need to plan too far ahead and was easy if I wanted to change plans, even after booking.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Just heard back from OptionTown. They have extended my flights by another 6 months until beginning of May and added LHR to the route. Pretty sure I'll end up using them by the end of the winter and so will call that a win.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I was poking around the BA OptionTown website and it indicated that you could only book flight passes in 2021 that would all be used by 31 Dec 2021. Essentially, booking a flight pass with dates in 2022 wasn't permitted. Has anyone heard whether BA are suspending the flightpass? I can't recall that this was the case in prior years. Anyone heard anything?
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@FrediKanoute, just had this...
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We wanted to let you know we have recently withdrawn the Flight Pass option we offer in partnership with Optiontown.
We noticed that you still have a partially used Flight Pass, so would like to take the opportunity to make you aware of the following:
If you no longer wish to use your Flight Pass, you can request a refund of your unused flight credits, prior to them expiring, by contacting Optiontown on +44 (0)203 318 3548 or customercare@optiontown.com
You will still be able to book a flight and use your Flight Pass in line with your Flight Pass’s conditions until it expires
It won’t be possible to extend the expiry date of your Flight Pass
It won’t be possible to buy any new British Airways Flight Passes in the future |
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You know it makes sense.
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Was just looking for the right thread to post the same.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Damn shame......
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Poster: A snowHead
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I have gone back to Optiontown (again) asking for a refund. I did before when the flights were cancelled on us. Must admit didn’t realise we could use them otherwise may have scheduled flights to Turin for the summer.... but still there is huge risk of is not being allowed to travel in the summer as it is so rather the EasyJet ones which I can reschedule. The flight pass element was the only part of our Easter holiday we “lost” aside from the excess on insurance. Insurance didn’t cover the flights as option town wouldn’t respond to the question of why they wouldn’t refund seeing as the service wasn’t provided (flights were cancelled)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| simonbaddeley wrote: |
@FrediKanoute, just had this...
| Quote: |
We wanted to let you know we have recently withdrawn the Flight Pass option we offer in partnership with Optiontown.
We noticed that you still have a partially used Flight Pass, so would like to take the opportunity to make you aware of the following:
If you no longer wish to use your Flight Pass, you can request a refund of your unused flight credits, prior to them expiring, by contacting Optiontown on +44 (0)203 318 3548 or customercare@optiontown.com
You will still be able to book a flight and use your Flight Pass in line with your Flight Pass’s conditions until it expires
It won’t be possible to extend the expiry date of your Flight Pass
It won’t be possible to buy any new British Airways Flight Passes in the future |
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HI, did you get that email from optiontown or BA?
I'm in the same situation and have not received one yet
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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It came from British Airways
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Shame - it was a great wheeze while it lasted!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Badger. Looks like next half term might have to be the long drive then as we're already looking at £880+pp for non-OptionTown flights 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Mjit, the alternative is to book yourselves some flights for may that will be cancelled. When they are, move them to feb half term for free.
A bit of comparison between April, may and June schedules will help you identify the flights most likely to be cancelled.
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| snowdave wrote: |
@Mjit, the alternative is to book yourselves some flights for may that will be cancelled. When they are, move them to feb half term for free.
A bit of comparison between April, may and June schedules will help you identify the flights most likely to be cancelled. |
My email says you won't be able to book flights in 2022. You can only get refunds
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I contacted OptionsTown asking for a refund, and have not had a reply (not even acknowledgement). My mum did (she was on our flightpass) and they responded quite quickly to say they could only deal with the primary perso. (Me). Has anybody got anywhere getting a refund?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@NickyJ, I had an email back from Optiontown within a day or so, saying they'd passed it onto BA... However, BA had previously told me it's down to Optiontown to resolve, so I'll call BA in a few days and see what the latest story is. My booking is a mess tho' because it was a flight pass from Easter 2020, moved to Feb 2021, then flight cancelled.
@jedster, sorry, I wasn't being clear - I was suggesting a route to getting cheap Feb half term 2022 flights, rather than a way of using the Flightpass. Book flights as normal (avios/cash) with BA, and once they are cancelled, move them to some alternative dates.
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aha!
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