Lonli_Lokli

I am looking for a way to spend my BA Companion voucher and want to visit Japan with my wife, but London departure might not work for us.

Is there any other option to use voucher and flight to Japan (better not to HND) with BA?

Flier74

If you are based in the UK you can start your journey anywhere in the UK on BA services only, so it would have to be via LHR from the regions or BHD/JER, there is no workaround. As they are early departures you could travel to LHR the night before and leave the day after arrival from HND no problem, given there are Avios Seats available on the feeder flights.


Otherwise Road/rail to LHR but if you are UK based I am slightly confused why LHR wouldn’t work for you with a companion voucher
Just to be clear there no other BA mainline/prime flights from anywhere but LHR to HND as BA’s main hubs are based in the UK/London area Airports

corporate-wage-slave

We sometimes joke that BA should be renamed London Airways, so for BA it's LHR only in terms of the non-stop service.

However I believe your companion voucher can be used on Iberia's service from 27 October 2024. I'm not sure how easy it will be to use a Companion Voucher on that route which goes to Narita (not Haneda) and operates on Thursday, Saturday and Sundays.

Lonli_Lokli

The main problem for me is that there is only one flight from London Heathrow (LHR) to Haneda (HND), which I'd prefer to avoid because my friends find it to be less representative of Japan. Another concern is that we'll be traveling within Europe and simply want to depart from any European city without the unnecessary trip to London.

Jeedos

Could you explain what you mean here? It makes no sense at all.

c1223

You can't have your cake and eat it. The terms of the voucher are pretty clear. You can either head to the UK and utilise the voucher, try for the Iberia service or just pay for a flight from wherever you want to depart from.

Flier74

Is your companion voucher issued in the UK . If so then yes you can only start your journey from the UK
If it’s issued in another country you will have to start that journey from that country. However you could break the journey to allow your travel in Europe, ie xxx-LHR, break in Europe on separate tickets, than LHR-HND on the companion voucher.
there are currently 2 flights to HND a day, but maybe only 1 has Avios availability when you want to travel so if I was you I’d snap them up quickly as they go very fast.

but again you will have to travel on a BA operated service,that’s the condition of a companion voucher, whether you like it or not and always has been, apart from IB as CWS mentions, which is an upcoming change but there are definitely not very Japanese either, sorry to be the bearer of bad news

Lonli_Lokli

Tokyo is the most 'un-Japanese' place in Japan. Big city, shops, offices.

Flier74

I am also confused now, the OP states they do want to fly “not from UK” and now not to Tokyo on a companion voucher
well this will be tricky, maybe buy a full fare from wherever they want to start where they want to fly to?

a very confusing thread indeed

DeathSlam

Haneda is the best of Japan. NRT sucks.
This makes a bit more sense,but you're not giving us a lot to go on. Are you transiting into EU from the US having a holiday there and then want to go on to Japan?
Do you live in Italy but have BAEC points and want to go to Japan?
The short answer to your question is that there are not any BA flights to Japan that depart from anywhere other than the UK. (or indeed LHR)
But depending on what you want to do, there may be some options that don't require you to travel to the UK.

Caerbannog

I agree that there is no way to avoid a LHR origin because a) you need to start from the UK to use the 241 voucher; b) it's the only BA metal flight to anywhere in Japan at the moment. There are often 2 flights per day depending on day/season.

If you can find availablity for your 241 then it's well worth the effort of travelling from wherever you are in Europe to Heathrow the night before because You will save £thousands, depending on class of travel.

However, having been to both NRT and HND I would definitely prefer HND which has plenty of Japanese character (eg very efficient and friendly) and is a 15min monorail ride from Tokyo city centre with frequent public transport to everywhere. NRT is 70 miles to the North by relatively inconvenient train and only preferable if you are planning a domestic connection.

Swanhunter

I guess the OP could fly or train from Tokyo to somewhere more representative?

Lonli_Lokli

We currently reside in the UK but plan to travel in Europe next summer (as far as I know, not the best time for Japan). Our plan is to construct an itinerary in such a way that we make a final stop somewhere in Europe (e.g., Frankfurt), utilize a voucher, and fly with BA or Iberia directly to Japan. Afterwards, we would return to London.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, the days of BA going to Osaka are seemingly over. But have a look at the JAL forum regarding their pass system - it's quite cost effective (relatively speaking) to get from either HND or NRT to somewhere else. You can't link it in to a companion voucher booking so given the risk of a separate booking you may have to spend at least one night in Tokyo or an airport hotel, but Japan is such an easy place to get around. Another option would be to go to say HKG on the CV and then use either Cathay or JAL for the last leg to somewhere else in Japan, on a separate booking.

DeathSlam

Japan is a country of many faces. In a lot of ways Tokyo is the most Japanese place in Japan
If you want feudal countryside retreats you will need to go elsewhere, but your entry point to the country is perforce through one of the main industrial centres.