geo1005

New to Avios and need a bit of help!

Trying to book a flight for August from either BWI or IAD to LHR. I amflexible on the flights and dates (looking later in August).

If I use the "Book and Upgrade w/ Avios" page via the BA website WTP prices $2200 plus 40k Avios going into Club World.

If I book the identical flights via the AARP discount page I get WTP return for $1300. If I book these should I then be able to upgrade the freshly purchased itinerary using the "Upgrade using Avios on an existing reservation" page???

Any thoughts, speculation or experiences?

Thanks in advance! ^

golfmad

There are some WTP fares that are discounted and cannot be upgraded. You need to check that the fare basis starts with a W, E or T. It's possible that the more expensive ones on the BA site are those but the AARP ones are the discounted ones that cannot be upgraded to CW using Avios. There have been some recent threads on this and I'll try and find a link for you.

geo1005

Thanks golfmad -

In this case both fares offered were T.

Globaliser

Are you sure that you have the fare basis code rather than just the booking class?

The booking class is a single letter, eg T. But the fare basis code will be something longer and more complex, like TWAPGB (but probably even more complex than that, as it's a trans-Atlantic route).

geo1005

The fare basis code for both is T so both should be upgradable using avios.

golfmad

Here's a link to the post I wanted you to see yesterday.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27679984-post393.html

As Globaliser said earlier, you need to know the full fare basis code and not just the fare class letter. The upgrade will only work if the full fare basis code starts with a T in your case.

geo1005

Thank you.

I do note that in both cases (per this snip below from the booking page) the Selling Class is a T fare. Is it possibly the case that the stated selling class will actually book a N, K or some other economy fare and not a "true" WTP W, E or T???

Flight: BA0216 Non smoking
Operated by: British Airways
Departing from: Dulles International (DC) (Washington DC)
Thu 17 August 2017, 18:00
Arriving at: Heathrow (London) Terminal 5
Fri 18 August 2017, 06:20
Number of stops: 0
Flying duration: 7hrs 20mins
Aircraft type: Boeing 747 jet
Selling class: T

Globaliser

What we've been trying to tell you is that the "Selling class" does not tell you that you have a T fare. All it tells you is that T class is the booking (or selling) class in which you have a reservation.

For a trip from IAD to LHR starting on 17 August, all of the following fare basis codes (which are listed in ascending order of base fare) are valid, and all of them book into T class:-

• QKN8D1Z1/DIF2
• QKN8S1Z1/DIF2
• NKN2S1Z1/DIF2
• NKN4D1Z1/DIF2
• SKX2D1Z1/DIF2
• NKN8S1Z1/DIF2
• SKX5D1Z1/DIF2
• SKX2S1Z1/DIF2
• SKW2D1Z1/DIF2
• VKX2D1Z1/DIF2
• SKW5D1Z1/DIF2
• SKW2S1Z1/DIF2
• VKX2S1Z1/DIF2
• LKX4D1Z1/DIF2
• TKX4S1Z1
• VKW2D1Z1/DIF2
• LKX4S1Z1/DIF2
• VKW2S1Z1/DIF2
• LKW4D1Z1/DIF2
• TKW4S1Z1
• LKW4S1Z1/DIF2
• TKX7S1Z1
• TKW7S1Z1
• LKX7S1Z1/DIF2
• LKW7S1Z1/DIF2

sammyg901

There are some fares that are kind of like AAs "Y-UP" - based on an economy fare and all the rules with a fixed amount into WT+

These are upgradable as they are still T class but the tool online doesn't recognise these dual inventory fares so you'll have to call after booking (the call centre can't see the fares to book)

I'm surprised they haven't set up a separate fare class for these or blocked T upgrade as it is a very cheap way into CW at times !! (And Virgin doesn't allow upgrade from its lowest PE fare)

geo1005

Thank you! Sometimes I need help getting the mud out of my eyes to see clearly! ^

How does one, during the booking process on the BA website, see the actual fare basis code for chosen flights prior to purchase?

Globaliser

The short answer is that you can't.

One way to try to get this is to use ITA - matrix.itasoftware.com - to get a quote for the specific set of flights that you're interested in. If the amount of the quote exactly matches what ba.com is quoting, then the fare being used by ITA is almost certainly the fare being used by ba.com. The details of the ITA fare quote will show you the fare basis code being used for each component of the trip being priced.

If you easily can't get ITA to do it, then off the top of my head I don't think that there's any easy alternative. I would personally dig around in the information which ExpertFlyer gives, but that is a subscription service which some people may not find sufficient value for money.

As for the question of upgrading using Avios, which I hadn't looked at before now, my impression was that the position was as sammyg901 describes it: these fares are upgradeable using Avios, but you will need to book the underlying cash ticket first (because ba.com doesn't handle these properly) and then phone to do the upgrade using Avios. I had also had the impression that the position was different if you want to upgrade using a GUF (which may be what danielbk refers to in the post to which golfmad linked, as that is one of the things that danielbk's company specialises in) and that it is that kind of upgrade which is not possible with these fares.

skippythelizard

From recent threads, there are mixed reports of whether or not these discount fares are upgradeable with Avios. They are relatively new. (There are also mixed reports of whether or not upgrades are allowed with the AARP discount. I've done it numerous times over the years, but haven't recently, and some threads suggest this is no longer allowed.)

We know that ba.com will not offer them in conjunction with UUA, and neither can
you call BA to purchase and upgrade.

The best advice is to try:

Verify dates available for upgrades.

Book the discount WT+ fare online.

Call BA and ask to upgrade with Avios (expect to be charged < $200 additional 'taxes').

If the upgrade is refused, tell them you wish to cancel under the 24-hour rule.

Let us know how it goes.

Geordie405

As both Globaliser and sammyg901 state the only way to upgrade these fares from WT+ to Club is to call in and do it.

Last week I booked LAS - DFW - LHR - NCL / NCL - LHR - LAS for the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US. I wanted to do everything in one transaction so called BA to book but because the Dual-Inventory Fare I could see on ba.com couldn't be booked by the call centre I had to book online and then call back to have the upgrade processed.

The whole process was actually pretty seamless although the taxes on the upgrade were more than I would have liked, but that is mainly because this was a fare originating in the US as opposed to the UK. What I did notice was that the agent was able to process the upgrade and handle the reissue of the ticket all in the same transaction. There was no need for it to be queued to be processed by the back office staff. The agent I worked with on the upgrade specifically stated that the fare was a published fare that booked into T class and so was eligible to be upgraded using Avios.

I was also asked if I wanted to use my GUF2 but I declined. There was Avios availability on both the long haul flights and the GUF2 was better saved for booking via a TA into a revenue class when no Avios flights are available.