America West FlightFund (Pre-2005 US Airways merger) - BA redemption requests must be in 6/26 5:30pm

A word to the wise - I just filed a redemption request for some BA tickets and got an email back informing me that redemption rfequests at the old rates must be in by tommorrow 6/26 at 5:30pm

So a word to the wise

Thanks, Jan AZ. Naturally, there is no mention of such a deadline on the HP website.

While we all know about this from FT and regularly watching the HP site, most of the HP frequent flyer universe still has no idea about these changes. No written notice from HP, that I received anyway, via mail or e-mail.

I'm just imagining all the people who are saving up enough miles to get a BA F ticket to Europe for next Europe summer and are going to hear, "Sorry, it will now cost you 170,000 miles instead of 100,000 for that ticket. Didn't you see the 30-day notice we posted on the Frequent Flyer tab of our web site?" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

On a related note, I wrote a letter to Doug Parker, HP's CEO, about this issue, expressing my frustration over the lack of notice provided given the magnitude of the changes. A few days later a woman from the executive offices called me to explain that, essentially, they had no choice in the matter. She said BA and HA forced them to make the changes to match their new levels and timing -- which they were requiring of all their partners. She said they were caught off guard that it was going to be required and provided as much notice as they possibly could.

"That's odd," I told her. "Alaska and Qantas are both BA partners, and neither of them have announced changes to match the new BA levels on July 1. And as for HA, they have not announced any changes to their award structure at all."

Naturally, she could not explain.

It is becoming clear that HP made these changes with this short notice because they could -- not because they had to. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif

Thanks for the reminder (both online and off http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif), jan_az! I have just submitted my request via the online form. Remember, you must initiate all requests in writing (via FAX, internet, etc.). As instructed by a telephone agent, I used the additional name boxes to note my routing, stopover, and openjaw requests.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Your International/Hawaii mile redemption request has been received.
This request has been forwarded to the FlightFund Fulfillment
department. You will be notified via email after your request has been
reviewed within 3 business days. Any new requests received after
Thursday, June 26th @ 1730 MST may be subject to the new mileage
requirements effective July 1, 2003. Thank you for choosing America
West Airlines!</font>

For some good advice on BA award redemption from our trusty moderator, please see:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/003760.html

Also, searching the BA Forum with a username search under "AZ Travels the World" brings up some other nice tidbits.

Thanks for the update; I will be sure to get my request in tomorrow.

Does anyone have any experience with First on BA 777 vs. 747.

I am noticing when I look on BA's website for a San Diego - London Flight out of San Diego it only shows "CLUB" even though I ask for First, what is the difference. It is on a 777, is it possible it does not have first?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SanDiegoShaun:
I am noticing when I look on BA's website for a San Diego - London Flight out of San Diego it only shows "CLUB" even though I ask for First, what is the difference. It is on a 777, is it possible it does not have first?</font>

It has been reported on FT that both the BA flights from SAN and PHX lose their first class cabins this fall. If you want to be assured of F, go to LAX and fly on BA's 747s.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SanDiegoShaun:
Does anyone have any experience with First on BA 777 vs. 747.</font>

Lots of it.
Some info from BA forum on BA F on 777 vs. 747:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/002129.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/002776.html

Since you have not done either, I would recommend working toward a routing that at least gives you one way on a 747. Perhaps you fly over out of LAX, SFO or SEA and return home to SAN (assuming that's home). It's always nice to arrive home in your own city without having a connection after an 11-hour flight.

Anyway, in my opinion, the experience is very different. Personally, I strongly prefer the 747. Mainly, in the 747, the cockpit is on the upper deck and the service galley is behind you. Only the nose of the plane, with a small closet is in front of you. It feels like you are in a small, private luxury airplane. All the service comes from behind you, where it is out of sight.

On the 777, the cockpit is in front of you (no upper deck) and so is the F service galley. The lights are usually on and bright. People are always running up and down the aisles to and from the front. It does not have the same quiet feel of the 747-400.

Other than that, the seats, food and service are identical so by no means will a 777 experience be bad, but if you experience both you'll see what I mean.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> I am noticing when I look on BA's website for a San Diego - London Flight out of San Diego it only shows "CLUB" even though I ask for First, what is the difference. It is on a 777, is it possible it does not have first?</font>

Not only possible -- it's official. Here's a thread on the BA forum that talks about this. It is now official -- for both SAN and PHX. They lose F -- in Oct as I recall.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/004037.html

I also prefer the 747 to the 777 for many of the same reasons as posted above.

BA has been substituting the 777 for one of the two flights from SFO-LHR fairly often. I think it tends to be the earlier flight of the day, BA 284 out of SFO using the 777.

By the way, when I send in my request to HP, the acknowledgement email is as follows:

Your International/Hawaii mile redemption request has been received. This request has been forwarded to the FlightFund Fulfillment
department. You will be notified via email after your request has been reviewed within 3 business days. Any new requests received after (added bold) Thursday, June 26th @ 1730 MST may be subject to the new mileage requirements effective July 1, 2003. Thank you for choosing America West Airlines!

Also, take a look at the BA seatmap link in my signature.

------------------
International airlines seat desirability map (http://www.seatexpert.com)

[This message has been edited by Jet2K (edited 06-26-2003).]

Just a follow up- I submitted my request late on Tues and have already heard from HP this morning - the very nice woman said they are trying hard to stay on top of these - but they need time to work changes - get BA approval and ticket before the 30th

Jan

"It has been reported on FT that both the BA flights from SAN and PHX lose their first class cabins this fall. If you want to be assured of F, go to LAX and fly on BA's 747s."

I just called the people at FF to check on this as I have my honeymoon booked in F (out bound in late Oct, coming home in early Nov) They said that the PHX/LHR flight will not lose the F cabin untill January of next year. So I'm in the clear at least.

Thanks for the posts, I think I will go for the 747 out of LAX. For a couple traveling together it only looks like there are a few seats together in First (Row 4-5 E&F). Will HP allow you to choose your seats or book a flight that has two seats together.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SanDiegoShaun:
Will HP allow you to choose your seats or book a flight that has two seats together.</font>

HP cannot assign BA seats. Once you are ticketed, call BA and ask for seats. They or may not give them to you. (Yes, even in F, and yes, even months in advance -- welcome to BA!)

If the two of you are in the same reservation and have the same last name they will likely seat you together in one of the middle pairs of seats even if you don't have them reserved. Except for couples, they are the least popular seats on the plane -- less personal space & less privacy. But when traveling with someone you want to be with, they are great. If you are not in the same reservation or have different last names, ask the BA res agent to put a note in both your reservations that you are together and request to be seated together in the center. In my experience, they pay attention to those comments when they plan the cabin a day or two in advance of the flight.

As for choosing a flight with two seats available, if you request two F tickets for the same itinerary, they'll only look for flights with two seats; they'll ignore flights with only one available.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FlyinMike:
"It has been reported on FT that both the BA flights from SAN and PHX lose their first class cabins this fall. If you want to be assured of F, go to LAX and fly on BA's 747s."

I just called the people at FF to check on this as I have my honeymoon booked in F (out bound in late Oct, coming home in early Nov) They said that the PHX/LHR flight will not lose the F cabin untill January of next year. So I'm in the clear at least.</font>

Keep an eye on this. Ultimately, HP FF will call you if they change the aircraft to the 3-class configuration sooner & need to re-route you, but it won't necessarily be immediately. If you notice via ba.com, Expedia, or other on-line booking engine that F disappears on flights on your date or around that time, verify it with BA directly -- not HP. Believe it or not, HP doesn't always know. If there is a change, you'll want them working on your re-routing as soon as possible so that you have options to your liking. If it were me, I'd check this once a week between now and then.

I just got this, what gives? I thought you could book up to one year in advance?


Thank you for your recent email.

Your email has been received; however, your request dates are more than
eleven months in the future. Please resubmit your request when your
return date is within eleven months from the date your request is
submitted.

Thank you for flying America West Airlines. We appreciate your
business!


Sincerely,
Barbara S
FlightFund Representative
America West Airlines

Flightfund Service Center
P.O. Box 20050
Phoenix, AZ 85036-0050
1-800-247-5691

The following from AZ travels the World is really great a great post on the BA forum and would of helped me a great deal had I found it before I just booked five BA award tickets.

AZ Travels the World

Posts: 253
From: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
posted 04-17-2003 04:13 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HP will definitely issue paper tickets for your BA trip. They will send them to you Airborne, signature required, even if you are in Phoenix. They will be on HP ticket stock, which always gets a funny look or two in Europe, as many European ticket agents seem to have never heard of America West. It's no issue, though.
I've had around 12 of these tickets (BA to Europe in First using HP miles) issued for me and my family over the past few years, so here are some tips to smooth out the process for you:

Let me say first of all that I have found the HP International Flight Fund department to be the best group in the airline and far better than similar departments at NW, DL, AA, CO & UA. I've been pleased with every interaction I've had with them and gotten exactly what I wanted each time.

When you are ready to make your request, write them a nice concise letter and FAX it to them. (You cannot initiate a trip by calling them. The first request must be in writing -- after that you talk through options and potential changes over the phone.) Don't use the on-line form, as it doesn't provide enough space for details & options. I would mention that it is your honeymoon -- it can't hurt. I've gone so far as to research & provide the exact schedule I want, down to BA flight numbers & times so that I get the exact connections I want. (This could be particularly important for you, given your additional legs).

These numbers will come in handy:

Flight Fund International FAX: (480) 693-8023
Flight Fund International Direct phone: (480) 693-6750

Give them some options in terms of the US gateway you want to fly out of. Most of their requests are from PHX, consequently the PHX-LHR flights can sometimes be hard to get in F, so if you have a preference as to another city to fly from (i.e. SF because you want to fly on a 747 or LAX because Grandma lives there and you'll meet her for lunch on the layover), specify it. They will look for the most convenient routing they can, but in my experience they will do whatever they can to accommodate your routing requests first. You can also do a layover in the gateway city in either direction if you want to. If PHX isn't available, I always ask for west coast cities as the BA starting point because I'd rather spend more time in BA F than HP F. Also, if flying the non-stop in and out of PHX is more important than the exact dates, specify that and they'll work route first, then date.

Give them options as to dates. For example, specify the outbound, intermediate & return dates you want as your first choice, then say first alternative outbound date is the day following the first choice, second alternative is day prior, third alternative is two days following, or whatever. Then tell them if you want to slide the whole schedule accordingly, or if you want to cut something short in the middle because you have to be back on a particular date.

They've told me several times that they appreciate my giving them this information up front so that they know what I'm trying to accomplish. It's not an interactive conversation at the beginning, so having the detail in writing makes it easier for them to get you want you want the first time.

Note from the web site request form that they want a bunch of other information provided up front, such as emergency contacts, credit card number for charging the taxes, FF number, etc. Be sure to include all of that in your letter.

Give them the best phone number to call you back at. It will be during the work day. In my experiences, they've always called back within 1 or 2 days -- 90 percent of the time it has been the next day. I don't know if that's because I've always been Platinum or not, but either way I suspect you'll hear from them with an potential schedule within no more than a week. At that point you can ask them to check whatever options you didn't get or that they may not have considered. In my experience it's a very fluid process from here. After you settle on a schedule you usually have to ticket with two weeks. Then, any changes cost you $75 per incident.

I've been through this a bunch, so if there is anything else I can help you with, don't hesitate to e-mail me off-line.

Good luck. If you've never experienced International First on someone like BA, Singapore or Cathay, you're in for a real treat. It makes the journey something to truly enjoy rather than just endure.

IP: Logged

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SanDiegoShaun:

Thank you for your recent email.

Your email has been received; however, your request dates are more than
eleven months in the future. Please resubmit your request when your
return date is within eleven months from the date your request is
submitted.

Thank you for flying America West Airlines. We appreciate your
business!


Sincerely,
</font>


330 Days

Just spoke with awa/hp internation award request dept...she said they "might" accept fax requests up do the last day of the month but yes email had to be in yesterday. I would think they would have to accept a fax requests up to the last day of this month if you made a stink.

Thanks to everyone on this board, I was able to confirm my BA F ticket after emailing the request in yesterday before the deadline.

It looks like we got the last of the available F award seats for both directions between SFO-LHR.

The best part is that HP was able to exactly match the itinerary on a BA F award ticket issued for my family; open jaw with a stopover in LHR, on the exact dates that I wanted. This definitely couldn't have been accomplished without contributions from fellow FTers.


------------------
International airlines seat desirability map (http://www.seatexpert.com)

That's great! Enjoy your trip!

So I get may reply from HP and they routed me from San Diego to Phoenix To Philadelphia To London To Milan. WOW! Not a good trip! I called and said I would prefer to even fly Business Class out of San Diego or Phoenix or LA so I could fly direct. The said sorry take it or leave it. We are not going to be able to confirm any changes at this point because BA will take at least 24 hours to get back to us and we don't have anyone in until Monday. HP said the people that book the flights are not in on the weekends even though BA has people there.(You would think that with this big of a deadline coming on Monday HP would have had a couple people in working on itinerary's.) I called BA and they said if HP requested the change then they Would be able to confirm it the same day but HP is not willing to do it. So it looks like a 20+ hour day or nothing for me. BTW the return is perfect London to LAX....

SanDiegoShaun, do you have a BA Executive Club (EC) account? If so, you can go to BA's site and try to look for awards yourself. These awards are meant for BA EC members, but it seems that HP might be using the same bucket for its award seats.

I just did a quick check, and it looks like most dates are available from SAN to LHR in first class, with the exception of all Tuesdays and Wednesdays; and LHR to Milan is available everyday for the next three months.

From LAX to LHR is much tighter, availablity for:
Jul: 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 26 and 27
Aug: Nothing available at all
Sep: 7, 16, 23, 28 and 29
Oct: 5, 6, 13 and 21

PHX to LHR is available about half of each month from July to September, and wide open the rest of the year. Although I think the PHX will be losing its F service in the near future.

Let me know you dates of desired travel, and I can take a closer look for you.

Sign up for the BA EC today if you don't have an account, after June 30, BA will not allow new members unless they are traveling full fare Y or above.

Good luck!

------------------
International airlines seat desirability map (http://www.seatexpert.com)

[This message has been edited by Jet2K (edited 06-29-2003).]

Hello,

Thanks for checking. Here is the problem, even if I wanted to fly out of San Diego in Business HP says they will not re-request anything because of the time-frame. They said BA takes 24 to 72 hours to reply ... However when I called BA they said it would not be a problem to confirm th request sooner because of the deadline but HP won't do it, and has no one in on the weekend that can do anything, they said any requests now will not be done until Tuesday. I tried to explain that my request id not a totally new request just a request for better routing or even that I was willing to use First Class Miles and fly Business on the outbound in order to fly more direct. No supervisor was willing to get on the phone and of course the Executive Office for HP is closed until Monday. Just out of curiosity I wonder if any First or Business Seats were even available May 14th, 15th or 16th from SAN or PHX or SFO or SFO to Milan.

Thanks

I also had a similar problem last week when I was trying to route PHX to LHR and HP international awards sent me to LHR via Philly how silly!

When I called back I was told by HP/AWA that having elite status would help me with my request and they did accomodate me somewhat by getting me a non-stop three days from my desired date and also by opening first class for five pax on my return connecting HP flight. So if you have elite status, see if it helps. Ofcourse the problem now is that it is going to be monday so who knows. I can imagine these employees are under a lot of preasure and way overloaded.

FYI: That is why I thought AZ TRAVELS THE WORLD post was so great and I wish I found it before I submitted my request since it would avoid the telephone calls.

[This message has been edited by Centurion (edited 06-29-2003).]

These are the award availability for using BA miles, as mentioned previously, HP MAY be using the same award buckets.

SAN-LHR: Only available on 5/7 for F and Club World (Biz), nothing else in May

PHX-LHR: F available everyday in May except the 7th and all Wednesdays, same availability for Biz.

SFO-LHR: F available everyday in May except the 7th. Biz available all month, except all Thursdays and Fridays, and the 22nd.

LAX-LHR: F available everyday in May except 5, 6, 7, 14, 20, 21, 23, 26, 28 and 30. Biz available all month except all Thursdays and Fridays, and 5th.

It looks like the connection from LHR to Milan is not a problem, there are 2 flights that coule be possible connections, and they are available everyday in May. BA flies into two Milan airports, LIN = Linate and MXP = Malpensa.

With an F ticket, you can use any lounge in LHR and get a shower and massage while waiting for your connection.

I think if you piece together the exact itinerary including the actual flight numbers, and talk to the international desk on Monday, it is possible that they can still do this under the old (until 6/30) redemption levels.

Here are the itinerary for LAX to MIL:

Option1:

Sat 15 May 2004 From Los Angeles to Milan

Time Airport Flight Operated By Cabin
20:40
15:00 Depart
*Arrive LAX
LHR BA0268 British Airways First

17:50
20:45 Depart
Arrive LHR
LIN BA0570 British Airways Club

Option 2:

20:40
15:00 Depart
*Arrive LAX
LHR BA0268 British Airways First

19:05
22:00 Depart
Arrive LHR
MXP BA0574 British Airways Club



<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SanDiegoShaun:
Hello,

Thanks for checking. Here is the problem, even if I wanted to fly out of San Diego in Business HP says they will not re-request anything because of the time-frame. They said BA takes 24 to 72 hours to reply ... However when I called BA they said it would not be a problem to confirm th request sooner because of the deadline but HP won't do it, and has no one in on the weekend that can do anything, they said any requests now will not be done until Tuesday. I tried to explain that my request id not a totally new request just a request for better routing or even that I was willing to use First Class Miles and fly Business on the outbound in order to fly more direct. No supervisor was willing to get on the phone and of course the Executive Office for HP is closed until Monday. Just out of curiosity I wonder if any First or Business Seats were even available May 14th, 15th or 16th from SAN or PHX or SFO or SFO to Milan.

Thanks</font>



[This message has been edited by Jet2K (edited 06-29-2003).]

Yes, I think it is the stress, and that fact that they do not have anyone working on it over the weekend. I am Platinum but that did not seem to matter. I think they just say Philly was a available and grabbed it. I wonder if it is better for them if they fly us from West to east on HP rather then non stop on BA from the west...The problem is they appear not to be willing to even try to get a better route until after the deadline.

Jet2K

Thanks!!!

I am surprised to see any availability in F from SAN or PHX in May. I thought they were removing the F seats...

Just out of curiosity which route do you think you would prefer if it was you?

I can only go out May 14th, 15th, 16th because I have to return no later then May 28th to be within the eleven months ahead that they will book. So my only choice is those outbound dates. LAX is no problem because I can drive there and PHX would be fine also because it is just a quick hop on HP to PHX. SAN would have been great but it looks like that is a popular choice. So Back to LAX and PHX. Do you happen to know the flight numbers of the flights on those dates that look open in First or Business, I will just try to request them and see what happens. The other questions is I am pretty sure PHX will not have First in May...Can anyone confirm?

Thanks for all the assistance.



[This message has been edited by SanDiegoShaun (edited 06-29-2003).]

The availability is as listed on the BA awards booking pages, whether F is substituted by Biz could be subjected to when the actual down-gauge date.

I usually fly out from SFO to LHR on BA, and have not flown out from other BA gateways except JFK. Depending on your exact location, I would think that LAX and possibly SFO would have the best chance of keeping the 747 service and therefore assuring F.

Discussions on the BA board seem to indicate that the BA LAX to JFK service competes with other airlines' non-stop service, and therefore are using showing the best BA service.

Call HP's international desk first thing Monday morning, and give them the dates that would work for you until getting the tickets confirmed. Good luck.

Do you happen to have a link to that page. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

The award redemption feature on BA's site requires you to log in as EC member.

1. Go to BA.com
2. Click the Executive Club Icon in the middle bottom of the page.
3. At the bottom of the page, "To become an Executive Club member click here.", click the link
4. Scroll to the bottom of the new page, and click "Continue"
5. Fill in your personal details
6. You should get a page with the new EC number.
7. Log out and log back in to make sure that the account is set up correctly.
8. On the right side, under Managing my accounts, click the link "Spend my miles".
9. Specify the origination and destination, the months, and the class of service
10. Specify stopover in London on both directions, this will give you the ability to see all the flight segments, and you can still select the same day connection in the next page.
11. The next page should show all the dates with availability on each of the outbound segments, select the dates you want, and "Select return dates"
12. Select the return dates you want for both segments, then "Select Available Flights"
13. All available flights for the outbound and inbound will be listed in the next two pages, select the ones you want, and then "Show Itinerary"
14. Normally the site should show you the miles required, and tells you if you do not have the miles, as well as any taxes due.

Lately, the site has often experience technical difficulty at this point, but the preceeding pages should give you all the flight availability info you need.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SanDiegoShaun:
Do you happen to have a link to that page. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Thanks for all your help! I will post tomorrow when I get a reply from HP...

I would like to thank everyone especially Jet2K for your help. With all the information in hand I sent a fax along with a note explaining everything I was looking for including specific flight numbers that appeared to have availability. I just called HP and they had made and confirmed all the changes.

Thanks!!!!

SanDiegoShaun, congratulations on getting your desired flights. I am glad that HP came through for you at the last minute http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

With you travel dates almost a year away, you should be able to get the prime seat choices. 1A and 1K were not available for my 747 segments, but almost all other seats were available for my flights in April. You might want to take a look at www.seatexpert.com (http://www.seatexpert.com) for comments on BA seat choices.

------------------
International airlines seat desirability map (http://www.seatexpert.com)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Jet2K:
1A and 1K were not available for my 747 segments, but almost all other seats were available for my flights in April. </font>

1A and 1K are never available for pre-assignment on a BA 747-400. Because they're the most secluded and private on the plane they hold them back until day of departure for VIP's & celebs. Then, you
typically have to be BAEC Gold to get one as many people (myself included) love them.