America West FlightFund (Discontinued Program) - HP may block my dream flight to France.

I have a dream. It goes like this.

I arrive at the airport here in Phoenix.
I check-in at the BA counter in Terminal 4.
The ticket agent says "Hello Mr. Byrd. I see you'll be joining us in First Class today."
"Why yes." I reply
Since Im a couple hours early. I head to the America West Club to relax.
After 88 minutes I head to the gate.
I then board with the other FC passengers.
After seating myself, I prepare for the luxurious flight.....

BUT WAIT!!!! HP will more than likely put me on a NW award flight as opposed to a BA award since I assume its cheaper for them. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

What are the odds of actually getting a FC seat on BA versus NW to Europe?


[This message has been edited by ByrdluvsAWACO (edited 11-09-2002).]

[This message has been edited by ByrdluvsAWACO (edited 11-09-2002).]

Well, HP does have a hub in Las Vegas... may you should call there and find out?!

Have you tried to redeem an international award?

The procedure involves YOUR choosing the airline and flights that you want - not them telling you

And when you fly on that British Airways flight, I'd suggest using the British Airways First Class lounge instead of the America West Club. I think you'll find BA's lounge much more comfortable.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
Have you tried to redeem an international award?
The procedure involves YOUR choosing the airline and flights that you want - not them telling you
</font>

I've never redeemed an international award. I just read from the FlightFund membership Guide.

"8. AmericaWest is the final authority in choosing the FlighFund partner to provide Award Travel."

Can you tell me exactly how the procedure goes? I assumed that you fill out the International Award request and they book all the travel involved. There is no field for requesting the airline you want to fly on.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
I'd suggest using the British Airways First Class lounge instead of the America West Club. I think you'll find BA's lounge much more comfortable.
</font>

Whoah! I didn't realize that BA had a FC lounge in PHX.

I simply request the BA non-stop from PHX-LGW http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jan_az:
I simply request the BA non-stop from PHX-LGW http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

I'm thinking if you make that request, you're going to be waiting a while. PHX-LHR is completely within the realm of possibility, though.

I have had excellent experiences with the Flight Fund International people. I've booked many First Class seats on BA through them and every experience has been first-rate. (On one occasion I booked FIVE First Class BA seats to Europe for my family. They got us all on the same planes for every leg. Then our plans had to change and they did it all over again -- no problem again. I was stunned.) In my opinion, the international Flight Fund people have the best department within the airline. I don't think you have anything to be concerned about. Just be very specific about what you'd like (class of service, airline, routing -- if you care -- and dates) and they do whatever they can to make it happen.

I've got an upcoming trip that I just booked that has two of us flying out of one BA gateway in the US through LHR to Milan, open-jaw return from Venice to LGW, layover in London, then return to a different city in the US. No problem at all. First Class, all BA, 100K FF miles each.

Given all the HP FF options for Europe First Class, in my opinion BA is by far superior service and HP seems to have it wired.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
On one occasion I booked FIVE First Class BA seats to Europe for my family.
</font>

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif You must have a tons of miles.

So you did this over the phone? I looked on their website and the international reservations(800-363-2597) is supposed to be for Canada & Mexico.

You don't start the process on the phone. You put your requests for international (and Hawaii) trips in writing. There is an on-line request form that one can use if the request is pretty basic. I've always put my information in a FAX, which allows me to be more detailed in my request and they get it right away. They always tell me that the more detailed the information is, the eaiser it is fulfill the request close to the way you want it.

In my experience, when it comes to BA requests, they usually call back with an itinerary, or to request additional information the next business day -- two at the latest. From that point on in the process, the communication is via the phone.

FYI, the Flight Fund International FAX number is (480) 693-8023. To reach them by phone you just call any AWA reservations line and ask to be transferred to the International Awards Desk. There is a direct phone line, but, at the moment, I don't remember where I wrote it down.

And yes, I have gone through a lot of HP miles -- well over a million.

Thanks for the info dude. I really appreciate it. I now have more hope that my dream trip will happen. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

BTW-Im approaching 1 million myself.