[MartynSinclair]

It does amuse me when people seem able to speak on behalf of other posters. I am sure VintageKrug is big enough to offer his first hand explanations of what he meant rather than relying on another poster to offer a interpret the postings and comments.

Captains are not “Senior Managers” they are PILOTS and are extremely well paid. I believe that the current base salary for a 4 bar BA pilot is in the region of £140,000 + benefits – and – they deserve every penny of their pay packet.

Why on earth the BA pilots union or the pilots themselves feel that there is a need to negotiate a prime revenue seat as part of their employment package, under the heading of “Crew Rest” and then have the ability to give this seat away to whoever, staff, family or friend borders on “theft” in the same way that cabin crew can be accused of “theft” for upgrading a friend. The B747-400 was designed as a long haul aircraft and anyone who knows the layout knows that the Pilots rest area was designed to enable pilots to rest or SLEEP, during the cruise.

Perhaps one the BA 747 pilots who read this forum could explain this more clearly. After all, if there is one extra revenue seat available on long haul flights, shouldn’t this be considered as a way to help the company increase profit?
British Airways cabin crew get a hard time on this forum, but I think the pilots also have things to answer for, especially regarding seats that could otherwise be used as revenue or Air Mile redemptions.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Martyn

I see this issue has become an obsession for you, so there is really no point trying to debate it further.

Simply, the world is full of oddities arising from historical agreements, why do MPs get 1st class travel? Why do ex board members of airlines typcially get free travel? Why does the Inland Revenue make agreements with trade bodies that see their members get special deals? Why do some airline employees get heavily discounted travel? WHy do BA and Virgin pay cabin crew allowances in different ways?

There is nothing to see here, move along please.

[Tim2soza]

Remember also that on ultra long haul routes, a relief crew is mandated by the CAA/FAA. They need to sit somewhere. I believe it is 10+ hours where this applies.

I once missed a BA flight to Singapore, and found myself in the famous 60A seat given up to me by the Pilot, so it does sometimes work both ways. It was at the time in my life where I re qualified for Gold every 6 weeks.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

“It was at the time in my life where I re qualified for Gold every 6 weeks.”

*&*&(&%(^$$”£%$£^&%*%&$%^*****!!!!

[MartynSinclair]

Disgusted – there is plenty to see in terms of equality and the differences employees of the same company are treated.

Why is it OK for a BA Pilot to be able to “gift” his “rest seat” to family or friends whilst a cabin crew member moving a friend to a spare seat could result in a disciplinary. As you well know, if this seat is used in any other way than a crew rest seat, there would be a taxable benefit to be paid!

There is a difference between “odditites” and taking advantage.

If all the BA “oddities” were reviewed, I wonder what shape the finances would be in.

The real oddity though is one poster advising what another supposed anonymous poster “meant” to say and putting a cushion around him – being too hard??? – I think not……………..

Next time you feel the need to complain about BA, think about all the financial seepage in terms of freebies and BALPA negotiated add ons to a profession which is already highly (not over) paid.

@Tim2SMS,the “relief” crew on a 10 hour+ flight is incorporated into the 3 or 4 pilots aboard. Generally but not always 2 x 4 bars and 2 x 2 or 3 bar pilots. The flight deck can easily accomadate this number of pilots, even for 12 hour sectors.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Still tilting at windmills, I see.

[MartynSinclair]

peek a boo, what are you hiding from??

[cmb4golf]

As a long time BAEC member who accumulated over 3M miles, I have switched all my loyalty to AA as I can almost never get to use my miles for either award travel or upgrades. BA has one of the worst programmes i have ever been a part of and with all there problems I finally decided to just give up on them. AA just treats the Executive Platinum customers a whole lot better than BA. This doesn’t answer your question but I can tell you I have had the same problems with limited seat availability. Good luck!!

[VintageKrug]

Balderdash!

Errm, AAdvantage customers have almost exactly the same access to BA’s redemption seats as BA Miles customers do (the only difference being that BA customers get a 20 day head start on reserving redemptions on BA flights).

And BAEC members can also redeem on AA in the same way AAdvantage members can.

I have made literally dozens of long haul premium cabin redemptions/upgrades on BA in the past few years and, with some planning, have ALWAYS been able to fly within one day of my preferred date and almost always in my preferred cabin, though did once have to redeem in F on a short overnight exDXB which was a bit pointless, and I would have preferred J as I was just sleeping, but there was no space in that cabin.

I get exemplary treatment from BA as a Gold card holder.

[Deleted User]

There are many interesting points being made on this thread. I would be keen to understand the logic about the free seat to pilots on the 10 hour plus flights. As an employer I would be very concerned if employee benefits were being given away and more concerned if the give away was being made to thrid parties not connected to the company through employment as this surely could incur a potential tax liability by the employee that was being overlooked!

Seat availabilty is also interesting, however, I apprecite that like most airlines, seat availability in any class, including reward tickets, is price sensitive according to loadings.

[Binman62]

Well, the sales are over and BA have had some weeks to put back any redemption seats they may have held back because of the sale. So perhaps there would be a seat to SYD this year!!!!
Well yes there is….. out of London but you have to travel on June 14th. That is the only day from now till January next year when BA have a mileage redemption seat in club on LHR SYD route. 1 seat for an entire 11 month period. But don’t all rush at once as the return dates are not till August. There are just 10 seats coming back from August to October only.

This surely cannot be justified even by the most fervent supporters of BA. The executive club and BA miles are devailued by the day by the sort of shoddy sharp practice.

[batraveller2]

Often seats become released nearer the time. After all, miles seats are there for BA to fill spare capacity, and so generating revenue surely must be the priority.

I have never had a problem with miles seats as long as I have been flexible.

[VintageKrug]

Not sure where SYD popped up from; this thread was originally about flights to Seattle with which you were having problems for your annual Ski trip January/April time.

Without searching exhaustively I can see most days in January 2012 have at least one seat outbound in http://www.newclubworld.com available, many days have two. Seats now being sold up to February 8th 2012.

Best to get booking now for next year to avoid a similar complaint; seats are out there, you just have to either book early or risk waiting for availability to be released last minute.

And – you might actually note – there is currently a sale on exAustralia which is probably why you are seeing such little availability on that route (though being so popular there often isn’t that much availability anyway).

Try searching for your SYD flights again in a week or so and see what there is available.

[MartynSinclair]

I just had a look for LHR-BKK in NCW and found 2 seats, 1 on Sept 8th and the other October 18th for the next 12 months. DIdnt bother to check return.

I realise a degree a flexibility is needed, but I didnt realise that a miracle is also needed.

Alex McWhirter page 15 of this months BT explains that BA prefers to hold back selling LHR-BKK seats, in the hope that they can be sold through to SYD, which is understandable, but I still find it difficult to accept that there are only 2 seats available today, for the next 12 months for this route using BA miles.

[VintageKrug]

But as has already been explained (but obviously passed by your close attention to detail) there is currently a sale on exSYD and therefore it is likely the route is even lighter on redemption availability over the validity of the sale period than usual.

For the Kangaroo and associated routes, you really do need to either book 350 days in advance (assuming you are redeeming BA miles, not Finnair miles) or book a week before you travel.

Capacity is very limited, demand is high for premium seats on such a long trip, and it’s easy for airlines to actually sell these seats; given the low margins on such routes (compared, for instance to NYC) I don’t blame them for prioritising revenue maximisation, especially when the oil price continues to rise.

In fact, if you want to travel in Business, you only have to push the “search using partners” to find plenty of last minute availability in Business Class on Finnair from Helsinki; I can fly out on Thursday 25th February and back on multiple dates in early March using this approach.

You should also consider outbound using creative routings via HKG (with the HKG-BKK sector on Royal Jordanian..!), or redeeming in F.

There is a direct QF2 flight out in J on Sunday 27 Feb, back the following week on QF in F as well.

The point is that if you understand how to work the online tool, and are prepared to vary dates a little, vary class of travel, routing or carrier only very small amount you can normally get where you need to go even at the last minute.

Many people with a regular annual trip to SYD will book up that direct redemption the minute it loads into the system, at T-350 days; I cannot find BA redemption seats in J for that period, but checking the first week in February 2012 (which went on sale this week) there are two seats in F on BA available most days, and I haven’t even bothered to check whether there is partner availability in J over that period.

So, once again there mantra is:

1. Avoid searching over Sale periods (including sales ex your Destination).

2. Be prepared to compromise modestly on date, class of travel (redeeming in F rather than J), carrier or routing.

3. Always use the “search using partners” option if BA metal isn’t available.

4. Book high demand routes at T-350, or a couple of weeks before travel.

Being fully flex, you can always book your flights as one way journeys and having secured comfortable travel on the days you want (maybe in F or on a less convenient routing) well in advance you can then check back a few weeks prior to travel and see if anything more precisely meeting your needs has opened up.

Sometimes you might be lucky to find a single seat available, and might have to pay for the second seat; still a good deal, and a miles earning opportunity!

So, there you have it. No miracles required, just the application of that knowledge to get what you need; I redeem/upgrade to SYD at least once a year and always travel in my preferred cabin/within a day of my preferred dates and have never had a problem.

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