BA Holidays

davetheman007007

Hi, I am looking to book a flight to greece via BA, booking a BA holiday is cheaper than booking the just flight, can I book the holiday and not use the hotel as staying with friends in a Villa

TadleyBaggie

Can't see why not. 

jimi_man

Hi

The answer is that it depends. There have been reports of the hotel informing the agency (in this case BAH) of the No Show who have then cancelled the return flight. However others have had no problem at all. From the hotel point of view they need to make sure they they get paid by the agency if no-one turns up. 

Could you check in on arrival then not use it and check out when you leave? 

Also be aware that if you need any changes, it’s a lot more expensive with a BAH than a normal ticket. 

bagand96

Shouldn't cause an issue.  This has cropped up in the past from memory it may be buried somewhere in the T&C's that they reserve the right to re-price if the passenger doesn't use all elements of the package, or cancel the return flight which would be more of an issue. Scheduled airlines do cancel remaining flight legs if a passenger doesn't use an outbound or intermediate flight, but I don't know in practice if BA Holidays would cancel remaining flights if an non-flight element of a package doesn't get used.

Some discussion here: Booking BA holiday but not using accomodation — Head for Points and Can you Book a BA holiday and then not use hotel - Page 2 - FlyerTalk Forums

Some are suggesting booking an airport hotel and checking in at least.  Or maybe a hotel near to, or on the way to your friends villa so you could check in? Are you pricing it with a hotel for the whole stay, or just for the first night?  You may get the holiday price down even further that way.

davetheman007007

Is the for the whole stay

Westin

You shouldn't have a problem with doing this.

You may also be able to reduce the price of the package further by only selecting the accommodation element for one/two nights rather than the whole stay. 

davetheman007007

Thanks, that option was not possible, so I have gone ahead and booked, I presume best not to mention to BA I am doing this

Doshwaster

Another way of doing a BA holiday is to book the cheapest car hire you can find and not pick it up. Sometimes works out cheaper than the flight alone and turns the booking into a holiday so you can pay in installments. Flight only bookings must be paid in full up front.

SW17

If you are seeking to take advantage of the double tier points offer for the BA Executive Club on BA Holidays, you need to use the hotel/car. If not and it's just about price, you might get away with it. Hotels sometimes have a problem with this (they don't always get paid in full), but plenty of people have done it in the past without issue.

davetheman007007

Yes, I did look into the car and is not an option and paying by installments is good for me.

Doshwaster

SW17 said:

If you are seeking to take advantage of the double tier points offer for the BA Executive Club on BA Holidays, you need to use the hotel/car. If not and it's just about price, you might get away with it. Hotels sometimes have a problem with this (they don't always get paid in full), but plenty of people have done it in the past without issue.

The T&Cs state that you need to use the car and hotel but reports vary on how good BA's archaic IT system is at checking this.  I've had BA holidays where I have booked the cheapest car for the shortest possible time (5 days), not picked it up and still go the bonus tier points.

Main problem is that if they aren't awarded automatically (which often happens) then you really can't complain about it if they ask for proof.