As a seasoned traveller but a newbie here, I recently posted a question about ex-EU flights. I have to write and thank people and share my positive experience. I'm afraid I'm not yet up to speed with the acronyms, so apologies for the longhand......

Having researched a Club Class (CC?) flight for 3 people to the Far East in November, I came across an option to fly from Milan (then return to IST) that saved me about £950 per ticket.

I was advised to try to book in the UK so that the option to upgrade to F with miles at a later date would be open to me. I was warned about a possible booking fee and despite feeling slightly unnerved about bucking the system I called up BA in the UK.

Well, the man who helped me couldn't have been more delightful. Not only did he not mention the booking fee, I managed to save another £100 pp because BA have an advantageous exchange rate. He also went to great lengths to check we were on a 747 (I'd already done my homework on that one) and made sure we were sitting upstairs in the exit row to boot! He then took the time to find out if my mum had an EC membership (she did) and made sure all the details were in the system. He also checked out the miles upgrade (MU? MFU?) for me - alas fully booked right now but he said to check again nearer the time.

He seemed absolutely bowled over that I'd found such a good deal, and told me there were no restrictions on the ticket. After buying three £60 flights to Milan and sorting out a hotel for one night, we've saved ourselves £3,000.

The saving is fantastic of course, but the icing on the cake was the friendliness of the BA assistant.

I'm truly delighted!

Now I need to check out the photography section - I'm a keen photographer and have just discovered a whole section devoted to my passion!