BOS-DUB or DUB-BOS using Avios
Mar 10, 2014, 9:17 am
#61
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We do indeed have plenty of reports that booking 2 J seats via a partner clears out the advertised availability (regardless of however many seats are shown by whatever tool you are using) which was what I stated above, and no reports of further availability being opened to partners subsequently.
Aer Lingus clearly likes to maintain award availability for its own fliers - which I think is only right.
Aer Lingus clearly likes to maintain award availability for its own fliers - which I think is only right.
Fair enough that EI holds award space for its own ff. My only point was that it is possible to book more than 2 EI award seats using UA frequent flier miles. They just have to be booked in one record.
Mar 10, 2014, 9:21 am
#62
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We have never heard from anyone having successfully booked 3 or more business class seats on a single flight, even if attempted in one booking.
My point is this - the "9" you saw must be interpreted as meaning "seat(s)" available - of which it is highly unlikely that there are more than 2 available.
Originally Posted by BigLar
It seems they make 9 seats available in Y for awards on pretty much every flight, but the CSR told me they only allot 2 per flight in J. Since I was looking for 3 seats, I got shut out.
Originally Posted by steveholt
Update: Called BA today to try and book two seats in Economy on BOS-DUB flights at the end of September/early October and was told that no Economy seats were available within several dates of my outbound or return legs. (Again, this despite the fact that 9+ seats were available for each flight as of a few weeks ago.) Two business seats were available for each day.
Originally Posted by fcgoal
Originally Posted by Rodeojones
It appears as if Experflyer is having issues with their EI inventory. If you see 9 seats, that means maximum of 2.
Last edited by irishguy28; Mar 10, 2014 at 9:29 am
Mar 10, 2014, 9:48 am
#63
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To be fair I have never TICKETED more than 2 EI J awards using partner miles. But I have been able to get to the point of ticketing them. For example, search four award seats one-way Feb 2, 2015 BOS-DUB on dot bomb and it'll return for you four award seats on each of the two EI nonstops. It will also want 70K per person. 
Mar 10, 2014, 9:56 am
#64
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It may be that UA somehow benefits from enhanced award availability, but it is fairly well documented that BA will never be able to obtain more than 2 tickets at a time. BA would appear to be the most frequently used partner for EI redemptions, so UA experiences are a bit thin on the ground.
It could, however, be that UA's ticketing falls over when it actually does try to obtain 3 or 4 tickets.
Should you ever in future again attempt to book 3 or more J tickets in the one go, please come back and report your experiences. But I think it likely that you may find that availability is actually restricted to just 2 seats as the UA tool is probably not designed to cope with the apparent EI discrepancy of not advertising the exact number of seats available to redeem, and therefore the "error" may not be uncovered by the UA tool until it actually does try to book those (possibly non-existent) third and additional seats.
It could, however, be that UA's ticketing falls over when it actually does try to obtain 3 or 4 tickets.
Should you ever in future again attempt to book 3 or more J tickets in the one go, please come back and report your experiences. But I think it likely that you may find that availability is actually restricted to just 2 seats as the UA tool is probably not designed to cope with the apparent EI discrepancy of not advertising the exact number of seats available to redeem, and therefore the "error" may not be uncovered by the UA tool until it actually does try to book those (possibly non-existent) third and additional seats.
Mar 10, 2014, 10:04 am
#65
Join Date: Jul 2002
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It may be that UA somehow benefits from enhanced award availability, but it is fairly well documented that BA will never be able to obtain more than 2 tickets at a time. BA would appear to be the most frequently used partner for EI redemptions, so UA experiences are a bit thin on the ground.
It could, however, be that UA's ticketing falls over when it actually does try to obtain 3 or 4 tickets.
Should you ever in future again attempt to book 3 or more J tickets in the one go, please come back and report your experiences. But I think it likely that you may find that availability is actually restricted to just 2 seats as the UA tool is probably not designed to cope with the apparent EI discrepancy of not advertising the exact number of seats available to redeem, and therefore the "error" may not be uncovered by the UA tool until it actually does try to book those (possibly non-existent) third and additional seats.
It could, however, be that UA's ticketing falls over when it actually does try to obtain 3 or 4 tickets.
Should you ever in future again attempt to book 3 or more J tickets in the one go, please come back and report your experiences. But I think it likely that you may find that availability is actually restricted to just 2 seats as the UA tool is probably not designed to cope with the apparent EI discrepancy of not advertising the exact number of seats available to redeem, and therefore the "error" may not be uncovered by the UA tool until it actually does try to book those (possibly non-existent) third and additional seats.
Will do. Although I'm curious - one of the earlier posts you cited was of someone who was able to book 4 Y awards on EI with Avios. Are you saying that BA doesn't have access to more than 2 J award seats but it does to more than 2 Y award seats, or that the experience of the FTer you cited (fcgoal) was an anomaly?
Mar 10, 2014, 10:06 am
#66
Join Date: Sep 2013
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Will do. Although I'm curious - one of the earlier posts you cited was of someone who was able to book 4 Y awards on EI with Avios. Are you saying that BA doesn't have access to more than 2 J award seats but it does to more than 2 Y award seats, or that the experience of the FTer you cited (fcgoal) was an anomaly?
Mar 10, 2014, 10:12 am
#67
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Gotcha. What are the chances of one more J award seat opening up at a later date now that I've already booked two J awards on that flight? FWIW, the flight isn't until December and I'd be using Avios.
Mar 10, 2014, 10:15 am
#68
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Will do. Although I'm curious - one of the earlier posts you cited was of someone who was able to book 4 Y awards on EI with Avios. Are you saying that BA doesn't have access to more than 2 J award seats but it does to more than 2 Y award seats, or that the experience of the FTer you cited (fcgoal) was an anomaly?
But we have never heard of more than 2 J seats being made available for partner redemption.
(Aer Lingus load factors are quite high and the business cabin is frequently full - so they clearly tightly restrict award space in the premier cabin).
Mar 10, 2014, 10:17 am
#69
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Like I said, the J cabin fills up fairly nicely for Aer Lingus, so they don't need to "give away" seats (yes, I know they get paid for these redemptions too, but it's probably not as lucrative as a cash redemption). December is also a very busy time on their transatlantic routes. If availability opens up at the last minute, it may just be for EI members.
Mar 10, 2014, 10:28 am
#70
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Very unlikely. Like I said above, we have plenty of reports of people being restricted to two seats - and BA agents stating that only 2 seats are opened up per flight - and no reports of subsequent availability opening up (which, of course, is not conclusive proof that it can't or won't happen).
Like I said, the J cabin fills up fairly nicely for Aer Lingus, so they don't need to "give away" seats (yes, I know they get paid for these redemptions too, but it's probably not as lucrative as a cash redemption). December is also a very busy time on their transatlantic routes. If availability opens up at the last minute, it may just be for EI members.
Like I said, the J cabin fills up fairly nicely for Aer Lingus, so they don't need to "give away" seats (yes, I know they get paid for these redemptions too, but it's probably not as lucrative as a cash redemption). December is also a very busy time on their transatlantic routes. If availability opens up at the last minute, it may just be for EI members.
Mar 10, 2014, 10:31 am
#71
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This is the impression that we have formed based on reports here over the last while. It is in no way confirmed so it is just a theory - but we have yet to receive evidence that would disprove the theory
Mar 10, 2014, 10:35 am
#72
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Mar 17, 2014, 9:07 am
#73
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BOS--DUB--Italy tips?
This may be a little bit OT, but I'm wondering how best to visit Ireland and Italy for about a week each, using Avios. I know there's lots of availability between BOS & DUB starting in September, but when I call BAEC they say there's no availability on EI to FCO or NAP (i'd pretty much take any Italian airport, but primary destination is near/south of Napoli.)
Any suggestions for a strategy?
If this could work out, I figure it would cost about 45,000 Avios + minimal fees per person. We'd prefer to go in June/July/August, but could move it later based on the fact that there is plenty of availability on EI in September.
Are there any tips or tricks to making this plan come together?
Thanks, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Any suggestions for a strategy?
If this could work out, I figure it would cost about 45,000 Avios + minimal fees per person. We'd prefer to go in June/July/August, but could move it later based on the fact that there is plenty of availability on EI in September.
Are there any tips or tricks to making this plan come together?
Thanks, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Mar 17, 2014, 10:34 am
#74
Join Date: Apr 2008
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afaik there is never any availability on intra European flights on EI using Avios. Your best bet is to book the BOS/DUB with Avios and buy the tickets to Italy. You can fly to Bologna or Rome from Dublin for very little money.
Mar 26, 2014, 9:03 am
#75
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Im trying to book a BOS-DUB for Nov 2014.. but the BA website only shows availability for BOS-LHR-DUB, which takes it to 45000 rt +$306 tax..
How do I search for Air Lingus and book that with Avios ??
How do I search for Air Lingus and book that with Avios ??