Gold-2K - 02/06/2011 21:02 GMT
I have been looking to use miles to upgrade on an LHR / USA flight in the summer - flexible on dates and looking at a number of destinations. I see that now AA flights come up as options as well as BA. The slightly concerning thing is that in most cases where there is availability to upgrade from club to first or WTP to Club, the only options offered are in fact AA flights and sometimes indirect via JFK or ORD. Having had a few bad experiences with AA I would not choose to fly wth them and consequently always ensure I am booked on a BA plane on all trans Atlantic code shared flights.
I assume that AA Frequent flyers can now book redemption flights on BA, so does this mean there are even more people chasing BA redemption tickets? Has redemption ticket availability on BA been increased as a result or is this just more people competiting for a shrinking pool of seats?
VintageKrug - 02/06/2011 21:06 GMT
For Transatlantic only, it's more people chasing the same amount of seats (although as BA increased most of their aircraft's Club World capacity 3-4 years ago there are more premium seats when compared to five years ago, in absolute terms).
If you're a BA Exec Club member, you get a 20 day lead time head start on AAdvantage members, so there is still priority for BAEC members.
Having said that, there is a trend towards offering redemption seats closer to travel, so check back regularly.
Gold-2K - 02/06/2011 21:14 GMT
Thanks VK, good info. Also, do you know is there is a BA premium cabin sale on the horizon. In previous years I have got some great CW and First deals for August travel. Doesnt seem to be any around at the moment?
VintageKrug - 02/06/2011 21:20 GMT
First and Club Sale valid to 21 June:
https://www.britishairways.com/travel/business-flights/execclub/_gf/en_gb?
Nothing stellar for flight only, but flight/hotel bundled deals are rather good value.
I do think that AA having access to awards is having an effect - since that change, I am finding it much harder to get premium class awards on my regular route PHL-LHR. Another good reason to look elsewhere
to place some business. US has a fantastic new BIZ sea, food better than BA, service less stuffy and they do at least try.
stevescoots - 03/06/2011 05:46 GMT
I have never been able to book a Longhaul rewards flight that suited my plans anywhere near the dates I have wanted.
Yesterday I actually booked my first ever reward flight! well over half a million points in my BAEC account thought it time to use some. 2 tickets to prague next week for me and she that must be obeyed. 30K points plus £160 in charges wasnt too bad and they had plenty of reward seats.
VintageKrug - 03/06/2011 07:17 GMT
CE is not a very valuable use of redemption miles.
I redeemed several hundred thousand miles last year and was able to get the seats and dates I wanted on BA without invoking my Gold "double miles" or guaranteed economy seat - though once had to redeem in F when I'd rather have saved the miles in J - so I wouldn't say it's that difficult to get the flights you need, though some element of compromise is always required.
It is of course sensible to have miles stashed in other pots so you can redeem on Star/Skyteam or independents though I didn't have to.
Next year may indeed prove more challenging, though so far I can report 100% success on BA for my Easter hols.
stevescoots - 03/06/2011 07:24 GMT
I have sizable amounts on Star, Sky and QR. QR i often use as they gurantee a seat but points used varies. LHR to HKG can vary from 80K-300K depending on time of year, as its a route i do every month I watch the points needed and when its low I use them and get the value back in cash from the company. I must start to use the others though as I unfortuantly lost about 90K Czech miles as they expired before I realised..:(
Gold-2K - 03/06/2011 07:52 GMT
In the past I have also had some success getting what I need. In Feb I used my Amex companion voucher to travel first to Dubai. I had to adjust dates by one day but that wasnt an issue. The difficulty seems to be on transatlantic where I have had a good degree of success in the past using miles to u/grade to a premium cabin. There just seems a whole lot less of them around this year and as I said in the first post, where they are available they seem to be on AA flights ...... a very poor substitute in my opinion.
Luckily BA miles dont expire. I have 900K miles to use and it may take me some time to use them. Unless I develop a burning desire to travel to Dusseldorf or Basle every weekend I fear I may find myself sitting on an expanding BA miles mountain at home while the AA Frequent flyers get to upgrade themselves to BA ..... lucky them!!!!
So remind me, removing open lounge access, accruing BA miles at the same rate as silver card holders ............. and now more competition for redemption seats .......... the value of my gold card is what exactly??? Im genuinely struggling with this one.
Binman62 - 03/06/2011 09:28 GMT
Gold 2k...I am with you 100% on this one.
On another site it has also been clear that the 100,000 giveway in the USA for obtaining a chase credit card could be repeated by individuals every 3 months simply by cancelling the card and starting again. How many gold card holders rack up 100,000 miles through flying in 3 months let alone every 3 months?
In Europe members could rack up 225,000 miles by using open skies 3 times to IAD and a silver card by doing so just once.
Like you, I have been a long standing loyal BA customer but the scales have fallen from eyes in the last few years.
Delighted you have obtained a seat for next april to wherever. Sdaly for 7 months to SIN and 5 months to BKK beginging in August there was as of 6pm last night not a single seat to SIN BKK or SYD in J class.
The BAEC club is broken and needs to be fixed.
VintageKrug - 03/06/2011 12:32 GMT
BA flies two aircraft to SIN and one to BKK every day.
That a very small amount of seats, and an even smaller proportion of which are available for redemption on a route which has very high demand (especially when including the onward flights to SYD).
In fact, two of my redemptions were on those very routes, the rest to the USA so I can categorically state that it has been possible to obtain such seats, if you are flexible.
That remains the case, although it is getting harder as more people become wise to Frequent Flyer plans, people short of cash seek to use them more aggressively post-downturn, and capacity is reduced.
This is not just a BA issue, but a global trend in Frequent Flyer schemes.
However, using a BA/oneworld partner airline does open up options, and it is clear that redemptions seats are now being made available closer to the date of travel, so it's worth checking back a few days prior to travel if you had to compromise on preferred cabin, date of travel etc.
jasonr01 - 03/06/2011 13:40 GMT
I am also looking to book some reward flights to orlando. 200k miles for 4 of us in the family in economy but BA quoting airport taxes total £1000. for the family. Is it me or does anyone else think this is quite a high charge for taxes. I accept still cheaper than booking through normal channels
Binman62 - 03/06/2011 15:25 GMT
I think it is very high for economy but it is not taxes, it is a mixture of tax and fuel surcharges, the latter being almost three times any tax the government may have imposed and is money which goes straight to BA and not the treasury. It excludes and credit card fees which add even more.
Do you know that 200,000 could get you 4 seats in Club if you have a 241 vouchers from Amex?
For Club BA's "low cost airline model extras" bill is a eye watering £450-£550 on per person but whilst I think that is outrageous it is a little more palatable given the seat.
Nor can you avoid these costs by starting in Europe. From AMS the UK government charges are almost eliminated as the Dutch have little departure tax. BA simply add another 2 sectors of fuel surcharge which brings the costs right back up to the UK level only this time they get it all.
On another site there is a huge debate on the level of BA surcharges on redemption seats which from what I have read, appear to the highest in the world. Given the lousy availability this is a double whammy for long suffering BA exec club members.
VintageKrug - 03/06/2011 17:22 GMT
While Binman suffers, the rest of us are happily flying around the planet on BA in Club and First using the BA Miles scheme.
Speak for yourself.
My experience aligns with Binman's.
Loyal_BA - 03/06/2011 21:43 GMT
My experience is somewhere in the middle. I find North American routes reasonably easy to find redemptions seats, with a bit of compromise on dates either way and if you book long enough in advance, then I've never really had a problem. Flights to BKK/SIN/SYD using miles are as rare as hen's teeth, unless you want to travel within a few days of looking, when there does seem to be more availability, probably as BA release seats which they know they are not going to sell. I've not had many problems with redemptions to Europe either. Flights to Africa, South America and the Middle East are also difficult to obtain unless you book a long way out, which suits some people and doesn't suit others.
jasonr01 - 04/06/2011 13:18 GMT
thanks for the info Binman, I do have an Amex card but its linked to my chairman who then has the pleasure of using towards virgin miles so up the creek so to say.
It doesnt surprise my that BA are stinging me. On my last trip to Jordan I had to come home early as this was a code share i spoke with BA about changing my ticket. They had the cheek to try and charge me £750 to come back in economy. I knew i would have to pay a surcharge for change of ticket etc but this was crazy. Ended up purchasing a ticket direct from RJ using the same plane in the same class for £287. Complained later to BA and just got the usual rubbish reply..
I regularly use miles to upgrade to club to north america and have rarely had a problem and I think it is excellent value for money. I generally have been able to get a flight within a day or two of what wanted. In actual fact, I have found greater availability of recent, though within the 6 weeks prior to travel (which makes sense as BA will have more idea of what seats are left). This usually works fine as the world traveller plus fares are very reasonable as long as not within 21 days where you can only get fully flexible tickets. I actually think BA are very generous with this, especially considering the high level of miles you earn for the actual flight if you are silver / gold.
Gold-2K - 05/06/2011 19:55 GMT
It's good know know that availability seems to be increasing closer to travel dates, as there seems to be little currently showing for August or Sept to USA. I will check back later.
Award availabitly is next to non-existent - Gold EC for 15 years and never any Club availabilty in less than 6-8 months and even Fist very limited 4-5 months out now. This is for PHL-LHR where very often only 3-4 First seats taken ( and most of those Glaxo-SmithKline discounts or upgrades) and many Club seats open as 2 daily flights. Not renewing Gold this year as US Airways will have the new Business seat this year into Manchester, so can spare myself the heathrow hassle and do my Asian travel on SQ or TG. If I take the miles on LH M&M they hve good premium award availability.
