[BeckyBoop]

you need to be more specific with your council/county becuse they can vary sometimes by upto a week either side. Usually its mid feb for spring ht for 1 week or late March-early April for easter for 2 weeks

try this
http://www.halftermdates.co.uk/

xx

[dutchyankee]

Many Thanks BeckyBoop!

[BeckyBoop]

oh and you also have summer half term in late may for 1 week you also need to be careful because some private school the dates alo vary from state schools. Summer hol go from the end of July till 1st week of Sept, autum half term end of october for 1 week and xmas for two weeks from mid Dec. I am red hot on these because when i have to plan the bosses travel and his kids go to both private and state schools makes my life hell when planning his life xx

[dutchyankee]

I could use someone helping to plan my life!!! 😉

[NTarrant]

Oh and there is also the Scottish school hoidays which start at the begining of July to mid-August.

[LuganoPirate]

Mrs. LP plans my life. But as it starts with breakfast in bed, I cannot complain!

I don’t think school holidays have a big impact if booking C or F as mostly families are travelling Y and there always seems to be a school holiday somewhere. New Year, Carnival, Easter, Summer break, Autumn break, winter break and finally Christmas. No wonder the Asians are so much more productive than the West.

I think it’s important to book those seats as far in advance as possible and try and be a little flexible varying intended travel by a few days or so.

The only time I’ve had trouble getting mileage tickets is Christmas / New Year to the warmer destinations.

[Binman62]

I post the following factual information for info and for individuals to draw their own conclusions about how BA manage redemption availability

Some months ago I needed to book seats from SFO in F using miles. I needed 4 seats and as always had a devil of a time getting them, but I got them. I did not however get my preferred return dates with just one date being available over a 2 week period beginning today.

I note that when checking BA.com today that my flight which was booked to just 4 two weeks ago my group, is now booked to 12 (based upon seats allocated in MMB. There are 2 seats remaining on m flight and 2 F redemption bookings available. Indeed over a 4 day period there are over 35 seats available in F from SFO to LHR and all on dates that would have suited me if they had been available some months ago. Indeed very different vacation plans would have been made. On one day alone there are 14 equivalent to the entire F cabin on one flight.

This levels availability is great for those booked in J and looking for a upgrade, indeed it is fantastic for anyone who also got 2 seats for £2012 earlier this month and makes the upgrade superb value.

It simply frustrates me however that again availability is badly managed at least from the perspective of this customer who simply wishes to plan a vacation with the family some months in advance.

[VintageKrug]

There’s always plenty of availability for forward bookings at this time of year.

You can even pop to Sydney for a fortnight next week in F.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

“You can even pop to Sydney for a fortnight next week in F.

That’s really going to help Binman in booking his family holiday, in advance.

[dutchyankee]

VK I hardly think you got the point of Binman’s frustration and perhaps need to remove your BA supplied Rose Colored glasses. His point is there is limited availability for advance bookings, and then when the dates come closer, low and behold seats open up for redemption. Similar to now having seats available to Sydney next week. I sincerely doubt those seats were available for next week had you tried to book them 6 months ago. That said, I understand why this is done as BA will only open up seats if they do not see the opportunity to sell them, which makes perfect business sense of course, but is very frustrating when someone like Binman (and me for that matter) likes to book and plan a holiday well in advance. I have just tried to book two F seats to LAS in September, only two dates available, neither of which work for me. Perhaps if i wait until the end of August 2012, I will be able to ‘pop over’ on redemption afterall.

[RichHI1]

This trend is happening all over the place. AA is cutting down inventory they open in advance and all the time it is “we will waitlist you…”. JAL started it, they are nott oo bad to UK but flights between US and Japan they only allocate 2-3 weeks out.
I guess in thes straitened times, the accountants and revenue maximisation holds more sway than FFB loyalty and marketing. I suspect the trend will continue and in 5 years time it will only be about lounge access and airport upgrades. The worth of FFB’s is devalued continually.

[MartynSinclair]

Are the airlines required to keep a certain number of seats for redepmption purposes or is it purely a case of a discretionary allocation, decided upon by a few managers or “suits”.

I presume that over the London 2012 period, there would have been no redemption availability at all by BA, inbound to London.

Are there any legal obligations the airlines have in passengers being able to use airmile / reward tickets, (at some point in time) or can the airlines just turn the tap on or off as they see fit?

[Binman62]

Whilst there may be seats next week to Sydney there is not a single day for the next 12 months when there are two seats. Pretty pointless if planing a family getaway and unfortunately I like to plan my escapes including accommodation car rental etc.
If inventory was actually being controlled I would not mind, but clearly with the levels of last minute availability there is no control.

[MartynSinclair]

29/12/2011 15:54 GMT

I, along with many others share the frustrations. In my case, I have been trying to take Mrs S to BKK for over 2 years and so far failed misrebaly.

I would be very interested though to hear how the airline account for the airmiles in circulation. There was the story some time ago that if the airlines had to account for the number of airmiles in circulation it could cripple their accounts.

If these rewards are so difficult to use, would it not be better to replace them with cheaper fares and provide loyalty “gifts” in another format. Free flights are great, but only if you can use them.

I am trying to book for a BKK trip in January and am amazed by the cost differentials from BA (direct and mid £3000) to using TWO stops (around £1300 using BA & Qatar or Emirates).

Personally, I now prefer cheaper flights (even over 60J), but I know I am not in the majority.

Happy New Year

[travelworld]

I thought that FFP seats were simply those which the airline wasn’t expecting to sell. Allocation of them depends on the airline’s yield management software. On some routes (LHR-JFK used to be a good example, but I haven’t checked for a while) you could pretty much always expect to find seat availability months in advance whilst on others (LHR BKK-SYD is one) it’s much more difficult. However, if forward sales are lower than anticipated, seats may well be released much nearer the departure time- hence LHR-SYD in two weeks’ time in F now being available.

Unfortunately it’s all down to the luck of the software. I’d view FFP seats as a bonus rather than an expectation. If you manage to get one (or two, or four) to SYD in F or J then well done.But an airline isn’t going to give them away if it can sell them. To that end, BA are no different than anyone else.

Having said that, EK seem to be very good at offering last minute FFP miles upgrades to F from Business online on DXB-LHR-although they have a lot of F seats on that route.

[Author]

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