Originally Posted by ccqueenanne

I'm flying one-way JFK-LHR on July 19, and with my very tight schedule (must depart between 8-10am), there are only two flights I can take, one AA and one BA. I'd like to fly in C. If I don't want to pay big YQ I should avoid BA, correct?

Currently the AA flight has an award seat in Y available, but none in C. Does AA tend to release more C seats closer to the travel date? If I book the award seat in Y, and C becomes available, will I be charged a fee to "upgrade" to a C award?

The least expensive AA (Y) seat for purchase is currently about $1K, and it is refundable. I could book the refundable Y ticket, and cancel it if a C award becomes available. If C does't open up, I could still cancel the revenue ticket if the Y award remains available. Is there penalty fee for booking close to the travel date? And are there any logic flaws in this idea of purchasing a refundable ticket?

For an additional wrinkle, there's also a PE seat for $2K on BA (also refundable), which I'd much prefer over Y on AA. (I'm a POS and that little bit makes a difference, plus I prefer the solid divider between myself and my seatmate, even if I'm more squished.) But the $1K difference in price is very steep.

Finally, in case there are any UA experts lurking here, there's also an EWR-LHR option with just a Y award available now. Same question - might UA release a C seat closer to travel? For that, I'd be willing to slog JFK-EWR.

On a final note, I was surprised that the lowest cost tickets (still v. expensive) for both of the flights are refundable. Is that because the cheaper, non-refundable fares are all s/o, or is it something to do with my one-way ticket?

I know there are a lot of questions here - thanks for any insight you can offer.