Originally Posted by
manymany
I booked an ARN-LHR-BKK-KUL-LHR-ARN ticket in J yesterday for just over £1500. Matrix said it was a I sale fare.
Now I had read on here that you can book ex-EU's over the phone and pay in £ rather than departing country currency, Swedish Kroner in my case. So I thought I'd give it a go.
The first agent came back with over £2.2k. I explained I could see it cheaper, even on BA website. He was a little rude and said matrix and google flights are wrong and his system is correct and the price I'm seeing on BA is incorrect but try it and goodbye!
I rang again a few hours later and the chap this time could not have been anymore helpful. However, he was still getting the £2.2k price but was trying his hardest to match the price I had on the BA website - trying all sorts on his computer, even pricing up in Kroner.
Was I doing something wrong? Both agents weren't entirely convinced this ticket could be booked! I've done one AMS-LHR-BKK-KUL-LHR-AMS and two AMS-LHR-BKK-HKG-LHR-AMS this year already and they are valid routes selectable on BA using the normal flight selector and not multi city (I'm not staying over in KUL/HKG).
My guess is there was a segment that wasn't booking into I-class. I'd call them again, tell them specifically that you want to book in India class. If they come back with GBP 2.2k then have them check to see if there's a specific segment that's not booking into I. The AMS-LHR / LHR-AMS segments will generally book into J-class, but everything else should be I-class to get the price you saw online.
Question for the pro's- couldn't you put the itinerary on hold (paying the nominal fee to do so), then ring up and ask them to charge you in sterling?
That would be my recommendation if it's possible.