"Your ticket is not valid sir. Have you any checked in baggage we need to off load?"

If you heard this at an outstation (when you HAD to be back in London for a meeting (an offsite one on a Saturday (with the boss no less! (two hours later))) Sorry... I'll stop nesting my brackets. The spellchecker is having a fit) would you slightly panic?

Yep. Welcome to Dusseldorf. The airport which has become as busy as FRA since CGN alas shut down BA operations.

I've been using the old nested tickets ruse for a while - booking via AA you can get up the pointy end in C for only £117 booking the initial out / return on LH via CGN to use the Q class booking trick on Expedia. It must be the cheapest I class TP run going (OK: I now wait to stand corrected).

So. MMB shows "booking unavailable". OLCI shows "please contact BA". And then imagine the trauma when I check in successfully. Curiously - although on an E ticket - my BP didn't say "ETKT NO COUPON". I enjoy the good Sauvignon Blanc that's in the Terraces. There's even good food now when the Emirates flights is using the Terraces too... and then... and then... I get to the GATE. And I'm told the above.

Why? What IS the problem with my booking?

It seems that I booked a ticket using Ex-Germany prices using a UK credit card on AA.

After a lot of arguing - when I tried the "EU prices - legally available to all" line I eventually was saved - just as the flight was closing - by remembering I'd moved my Exec Card to a German address to get gold for 800TP. Well, the gate dragon finally believed that I was in Germany and so I should be able to buy flights from Germany... despite just coming out from LHR on LH and back with them after my return on BA. But what gives?

Ok, I make it back to the UK. But does BA now have access to LH PNRs so they can spot when I fly out on LH and back on BA to bump up my TPs?

Are slightly dodgy (OK, I accept they are not really legit) nested tickets dodges the biggest thing BA has to worry about just at the moment?

On a separate issue but I suspected connected issue... BA seems to have made some close analysis of I class ticketing LHR-DUS... yesterday booking outbound from LHR on the 28th every flight had I class available. Today - every outbound flight is £215. Damn and blast.

Grrrr.......