We seek them here….BA Miles Seats
Back to Forum- This topic has 89 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 21 Feb 2011
at 15:11 by Travellator.
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Binman62Participantok any suggestions……..almost a million BA miles and just planning annual ski trip to the USA. January to April LHR SEA and return in First and only 6 seats available over 4 months!!!
Now this was a route where you could generally get not one but 6 or 7 seats on any flight over the winter. Great for the Amex 241 offer. And it is not just SEA…. LAX, SFO, DEN have either limited availability or simply none at all. Even OZ for next August is offering just 1 seat out and back on August 1st.
And it is not just long haul. LHR to DUS with up to 5 flights a day is offering BA miles seats in Nov/Dec on just the 1st of each month.!!!!!Am I missing something? Can anyone else see availability to some of these destinations?
Given the disruption and uncertainty all BA passengers have had to put up with since the start of this year, one would have thought that miles redemption would have been made as straightforward as possible in order to reward those who have been loyal. My own loyalty has been stretched and BA have showered me with service recovery miles…these now seem a very hollow gesture.
7 Sep 2010
at 20:26
MartynSinclairParticipantBinman
Try ringing the USA airmiles office. They will probably not take your booking, but they will tell you what their allocation of seats are and I bet it differs from the UK allocation.
7 Sep 2010
at 21:14
DisgustedofSwieqiParticipantBinman
Per my MFU rip off thread.
From my experience today, BA quoted over 5K€ more for 4 x MFU flights to Capetown next summer, than it would have cost to book Club World for cash.
Depsite VK’s smears, it is true and I have PDFs of the quotes, which are enroute to Walsh with a request to explain why.
Perhaps my experience and yours are telling us something about how BA values our business?
7 Sep 2010
at 21:33
VintageKrugParticipantWell, my research was based on checking ba.com for the exact same fares you did, and I found them cheaper in Club than you did in WT+ as well as being able to get WT+ to Club World MFUs for £1275, the only increase over a WT+ fare being because of the increased APD tax element for flying Business Class.
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On the point of the LHR-SEA redemption availability I can postulate the following reasons for the low availability.
1. Club and First availability gets swallowed up like billy-o the minute a sale is announced as people use that as an opportunity to MFU to Club and First. The sale launched on 26-ish August, so you just missed out.
2. The US has seen a recent credit card promo which has allowed many to apply for a credit card and qualify for 100,000 BA Miles almost instantly, whcih has also affected availability.
3. There is only one flight per day to SEA; in a cabin with only between 12-14 seats (depending on configuration) that severely limits award space, and it is also a key route for premium travel (HNW leisure travellers such as yourself as well as the Microsoft and Boeing brigade etc.). BA can and does sell its FIRST cabin (unlike many other airlines) and so it does keep some seats back for revenue customers.
4. You will find there are more dates with just one or two seats available for redemption; these may not suit you schedule, but that is the compromise with using BA Miles – awards are restricted and multiple availability is not always available.
5. What I would suggest is that you try booking the maximum number of seats using you award travel (say two round trip) or some of you in Club and some in First, and then check nearer your departure date when availability frequently opens up; you could pay for the other seats as required.
In reality, when booking trips for 2 or more people when you have specific date requirements, especially on low volume routes like SEA, you really need to book them at the earliest opportunity eg 350 days ahead of travel, or last minute a week or so before you plan to leave.
I know that’s not easy for everyone to manage, but it is the best way to get value – and the seats you want – out of the BAEC.
Probably best to put this one down to experience and start booking up for next August’s break to ensure you get the flights you want.
Also, another tip is to consider requesting a oneworld award via the callcentre who can route you on BA to, say Chicago, with a connecting flight to SEA (or Jackson Hole etc.) on AA.
Another option is just to opt for the “use partners” option on the website which shows other oneworld carriers.
7 Sep 2010
at 22:25
AdrianHenryAsiaParticipantThis may not be an ideal solution but one I had to resort to in the past. Assuming you are a gold card holder, have you tried using the Priority Reward service via BAEC? You’ll have to blow double the miles and pay the service fee for booking over the phone however if travelling on a certain date is key and you have plenty of miles, then it could work.
Personally, I resent having to blow double the miles although on occasion its saved my life when travelling in a group and there being insufficient redemption seats!!
8 Sep 2010
at 07:39
Binman62ParticipantHi, Thanks for the points being made. I think that ordinarily I would accept what is being said and I also accept that redemption seats are always going to be a bit hit and miss. But to have just 6 seats in 4 months on a route like LHR SEA and just 2 seats in Nov /Dec on LHR DUS and only on the 1st of the month (as well as the other examples) suggest that BA are deliberately withholding seats. Sadly not a gold ec member and given the issues I have personally had this year with BA unlikely to be so. This inability to access seats, even when being flexible is a nonsense.
I was aware YVR had seats which struck me as being very odd as that is the route with high demand, SEA was highlighted as it is has in the past been a great alternative to YVR for Whistler.
SFO, LAX were considered which with 2 and 3 a day would suggest availability would be better but not a bit of it.8 Sep 2010
at 10:05
VintageKrugParticipantI am not privy to the schedules for the release of seats.
But I have noticed that historically much more availability pops up just after the end of the sale in late September.
That rather makes sense, as those who might purchase in the sale might also check award availability; if there is none then they might be tempted to fork out a reduced price for the same routings.
So offering plenty of reward availability until the sale ends would be against BA’s commercial interest.
Just a thought, but I think you are searching for reward availability at about the very worst possible two weeks to do so. Leave it a couple of weeks, check again for award seats, and I think you might be in better luck.
8 Sep 2010
at 12:59
Binman62ParticipantVK…I think your right and this is what i will do. An example is the lack of seats to SYD in F for next year but there are seats next week!!
I also think there is a potential system fault. Have looked at JFK for a long weekend in Nov/DEC and lots of J most days. Change the search to F and only the 1st of the month shows up for both outward and return legs. Seems odd that the 1st of any month seems to have seats. Even thought it might be my PC but have cleared history and the cache but still have same problem.
If I were desperate to book I would probably telephone but for the moment happy to leave it.8 Sep 2010
at 15:06
BABenjiParticipantBinman62,
I had the same problem yesterday. I was looking at F redemptions to Miami in July and all that was showing was 1st. In fact LHR – MIA/SFO/LAX in F were all only showing availability on the 1st of June, July and August, yet a reasonable dates for the return leg.
I phoned BAEC and was offered 2nd July, so I assume it is just a problem with the website.
8 Sep 2010
at 15:27
TurkmanParticipantDo seek assistance from the booking line – I had problems a few weeks redeeming reward seats on JFK/LCY flights (where there appear to be some odd wrinkles in the on-line booking facility) – the level of care and attention from “Danny” on the gold booking line was exemplary, involving various confirmatory return calls and all was swiftly sorted.
8 Sep 2010
at 21:51
continentalclubParticipantThere is indeed an issue with the ba.com website display of redemption availability at present.
Whilst it’s both normal, sensible and perfectly acceptable for mileage inventory to be restricted around peak periods (never let it be forgotten that redemptions were originally only ever a means of gifting unsold seats to loyal customers, not giving saleable seats away before they’d had chance to be sold), if you are seeing ‘odd’ patterns of availability (or lack thereof) then it would be advisable to call the Executive Club for further assistance.
Oddly, Virgin Atlantic are also suffering from a problem with their website and mileage seats, although I believe in their case it is showing seats which don’t in fact exist. A warning message is currently being displayed on their site.
8 Sep 2010
at 23:22
Matinée-AllstarsParticipantThe BA website also shows availability for flights that don’t exist !!!
Do a Reward Flight Availability search from LHR-GIG in Economy on 25 Feb 11. It shows availability on FRIDAY 25 Feb 11. British Airways don’t fly LHR-GIG on that day….
BA staff know and admit that both booking options don’t work but they don’t seem to care and don’t bother to fix it
9 Sep 2010
at 09:48
continentalclubParticipantba.com shows Economy availability to GIG from LHR in February 2011 on 12th, 15th, 17th, 22nd & 24th.
As I noted above, there is currently a fault with the Reward Flight Explorer, which is being attended to contemporaneously.
Whilst this situation is ongoing, you should use the booking engine on your BA Executive Club homepage or call your local Executive Club Service Centre.
9 Sep 2010
at 10:04 -
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