Reward, Upgrade or Companion
Would appreciate any advice on which of the above gives the best value and confirmation my thinking is correct.
I intend to fly to Johannesburg in Jan/Feb 2020 with my wife and trying to decide the best strategy for PE seats. I appear to have many options, the main three being :-
A) Purchase a PE seat and use a Reward seat with miles
B) Purchase two Economy Classic seats and Upgrade both with miles
C) Purchase a PE seat and use a Companion seat with miles
I am assuming for A I will need to pay the taxes and charges for a PE seat and 45k miles. For B I will need to pay the difference between taxes and charges for an Economy seat and a PE seat twice and 44.8k miles. For C I will need to pay the taxes and charges for a PE seat and 22.4k miles.
Looking at a random date in January, both A and B cost about £1730 plus 45k miles while C costs about£1730 plus 22.4k miles. However, using a random date in May (a cheaper time of year for SA) A is about £1420 plus 45k miles, B is about £1245 plus 44.8k miles and C is about £1420 and 22.4k miles.
So in January clearly C gives the best value, in May there is no clear winner between B and C.
Presumably there needs to be Award seats available in PE which I gather is generally an unknown quantity. As far as the mechanics of booking one of these options goes which is the recommended option with most chance of success? Is it best to book online or through Customer Services?
Are there any pitfalls with the ticket(s) I buy not being eligible for Reward, Upgrade or Companion?