Originally Posted by
PWMTrav
This is great advice. Do you have any tips on shopping WT+ fares? I've noticed that premium economy doesn't always show up correctly on ITA Matrix. I'm actually looking at booking with cash and upgrading with Avios and noticed it's a decent redemption option.
I wasn't aware of a discount using the BA card, either. That's a great tip, especially because I'm right now looking to book a trip commencing on 12/31/2013 - the date the current promotion ends:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel...0/public/en_us
Any idea if the 10% discount applies when buying a ticket and upgrading with avios (meaning 10% off the base paid fare)?
I may need to get this card. It's a shame the 100k bonus isn't out there still. Thanks for the advice!
This thread on the BA board is helpful:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...dont-know.html, but be aware it's a catchall thread so sales are posted there from the UK or from Europe as well as news about current sales from the US. BA also sends emails announcing these sales to BAEC members.
There is a current WT+ sale, good for tickets purchased by 5/8 for travel from June into December, but it's not a deep sale. OK if you have to do some summer travel and BA is in your plans; as I noted in a post in that thread, I wouldn't book a trip for the fall on this sale as there's likely to be another sale sometime after the end of the summer and that fall sale, coming as the tourist season has dried up, generally offers steeper discounts. I went to Dublin in WT+ in December for $1080 on a sale; my booking for a trip to Dublin in June, made today during this sale, cost me $1500.
The WT+ ticket price, however, is still only $350 more than my sister is paying for WT on the same trip. Worth it to see if I can grab a CW seat on the way to Europe for 10K Avios and about $130. I tend to stay in WT+ on the day flight back--it's a comfortable enough seat for me so long as I don't need to sleep.
The 10% off with the BA card has saved me more than the cost of the annual fee on every flight I've booked with BA, including this trip to Dublin where I saved almost $170 on my ticket.
I understand the arguments against BA, but for whatever reasons, travels on BA and collecting Avios have hit sweet spots for my travels.