jimindc

I've also had the phone fee waived when booking an EI flight with Avios in the past. The agent didn't proactively offer to waive the fee, but I asked politely ("would it be possible to waive the fee, since I wasn't able to do this online?") and she said "sure" without skipping a beat. I don't see anything objectionable about suggesting that others try the same approach, unless one feels it is morally wrong to swindle BA out of the $25. The advice was not to "demand" an undeserved discount, simply a suggestion based on personal experience. I do agree it would be unseemly to push the issue or make impolite demands.

UA Fan

Were you responding to me? If so what is the relevance?

wripro

Exactly, jimindc. I askers politely both times and had the fee waived.

redtailshark

Give it to them. BA likes to swindle its customers out of issued tickets without refund.

amcn2201

Sorry for the silly question, am a complete novice. Probably first and last time as I don't see me saving enough avios to do anything like this again, being we spend some time abroad.
Looking at various options for my current avios balance. Can anyone confirm if I have this right? I did call BA and a nice girl quoted me these, but am a little worried it is correct.

Also can this be booked as one ticket and therefore no hassle if flight to Dublin was delayed on outward journey?

This is return for 2 people
ALC - DUB Economy 15,000 avios plus taxes
DUB - BOS Business 100,000 avios plus taxes
NY - MIA Economy 30,000 avios plus taxes

We are very flexible and are happy to go next year.

Thanks in advance.

jimindc

Your third leg (NYC-MIA) should be 7,500 Avios each if you're flying Economy.

jmw2323

QF shows more than 4 x J. However, when I call BAEC, they tell me only 2 seats.

checked EF as well. Shows J9(U9) as mentioned in earlier threads.

and just checked UA. Also showing more than 2 seats

amcn2201

Thanks jimindc. So that would be 3750 each way times 2? Don't know how I got that wrong think I got that thru BA for AA. Will go back and check what I've done wrong but that's even nicer. May have enough now for a 1 night hotel stay. Thanks again.

pawtim

No, it would be 7500 each way for each person.

You will also very much need the stars to align; getting across the Atlantic the way you've described is unlikely in the summertime, which is the most likely time to find NYC-MIA seats.

pawtim

If you want to use BA Avios, then the thing that matters is what BAEC tells you, as I'm learning from the many times Irishguy28 has said.

jimindc

Sorry, I was thinking one-way. It would be 30,000 for two people return.

ALC-DUB would price at the same rate (almost the exact same distance as NYC-MIA), so that would also be 30,000 return.

Here are the correct one-way prices per person:
ALC-DUB Y 7,500
DUB-BOS J 25,000
JFK-MIA Y 7,500

So, you are looking at 40K per person each way, or 160K for two round-trips.

As pawtim has said, finding availability on the DUB-BOS leg will probably be your biggest hurdle.

stifle

You will need to have the JFK-MIA on a separate ticket to the others as putting more than one non-BA airline on a BA award ticket results in the award being priced on an extremely expensive all-partner award rate.

jmw2323

read a few blogs as well last night. All say the same thing. EF, QF, and UA always show more than BA. Irritating

amcn2201

Thanks for all your replies, my avios requirement has just jumped up, but luckily still have enough. Pawtim, I understand that it is difficult to get the Dub to Boston flights but thought I would have a better chance as soon as they were released. Was thinking April/May next year. Are you saying we won't get the internal flights to Miami in these months. Sorry am not sure if I've picked you up correctly. Does this itinerary look impossible? (Did say I was a novice, lol). Thought we'd spend a few days in Ny then a 5/7 day cruise from Miami. Am I being naive?

Enigma368

From my allbeit limited experience of booking this route last October, there was plenty of availability in business about 2-3 months in advance. Not on every flight, but on many flights.

I did not get the telephone fee waived though, even after asking nicely.