kitbag1984

I booked two tickets in Y yesterday for August 2015.

Not one ticket available in J unfortunately (according to BA phone operator). Still 25k for a transatlantic trip is not to be sniffed at.

georgepds

I could find economy, but no business

DELLAS

Seats in J have been limited even GC Elite members have their redemptions looked at by revenue management who decide on a case by case basis who gets them. Apparently they do look at activity on the members account to see how valuable they are to EI.

georgepds

That brings up a question.. If I search expert flyer on J class (Business) I see lots of availability. If I do the same search on U class ( Business award) I see nothing

Now I know the rule is to call BA if you want to book with avios because the BA award availability on EI suposedly shows more than one finds on expert flyer. Is the clue that there has to be a business seat (J) available before it is even worth the call?

Those business class seat to europe really call to me, and I want to master the rules

whimsey21

I'm trying to find four seats in Y BOS-DUB for March/April. I found dates that would work for me showing lots of availability on both the UA and QF websites, called BA and was told that only 2 Y seats were available on those days... From reading this thread and some of the related ones, I know that this isn't uncommon. Given that there are some reports that people have found 4 seats available in Y in the past, do you all think that BA may suddenly "see" more seats on the flight, or are we close enough now that it is unlikely anything new will appear in their inventory? With other airlines I would just keep checking every few days, but the very long wait times to get through to BA are too painful to contemplate if the likelihood of success is low.

eireman

could you secure the 2 available and then see if 2 more open up after these have been taken, or book 2 more for the day before or after if available or book 2 BOS/SNN for same day and arrange to meet up in DUB/SNN

whimsey21

Apparently the BA agent was seeing 0 or 1 seats for the days around the days I wish to travel (those days also showed little or no availability on UA and QF). I somehow hadn't realized there was a direct BOS-SNN flight when I called initially; I'm going to try to call back to see if that is available at all for the dates I want, or potentially do the 2 seats to DUB and 2 seats to SNN that you suggested.

sofasurfer

I've just booked BOS-DUB-BOS for three in July; there were only 2 seats in Y available for the flights I wanted, but the agent saw a single seat in the alternate EI flights in each direction so snapped that up as we can at least all be travelling on the same day (with 3-4 hours between us).

The BAEC agent mentioned something about typically only 2 x Y seats are visible on any EI flight right now. Not sure if that is true, but I can't see availability improving on what I'm sure is a very popular route these days.

I may try and check availability on UA/QF engines in the coming days/weeks and see if anything opens up, but not sure how likely this will be.

Managed to take advantage of a 1.5x multiplier on the Canadian RBC Avion card last week, so I'm hardly complaining at what is a great deal for summer flights.

kelly622

I'm in the same boat - party of four trying to get to Ireland this summer. Same reply from BA, only 2 seats per flight if you can get them. My husband is not keen to separate us, which makes it nearly impossible to book the trip! Does anyone know if I could book using another points currency to get us on the same flight - ie United miles? I know I'd pay more but we'd be together.

flyaxa

Are you looking for Y or J? Also are you seeing availability on QF for the dates you are inquiring with BA?

kelly622

Looking for economy. I did see availability for 4 on UA, transferred the points to avios and then called to book only to find out there's really only 2 seats.

Enigma368

Biz availability on this route with avios went from excellent a year ago to almost non existant this year.

At least thats my experience trying to book in Autumn 2013(sucessful) to trying to book in Autumn 2014(impossible, even Y was scant)

endingstrife

I've been watching for availability from BOS-DUB, JFK-DUB, ORD-DUB, JFK-SNN, and BOS-SNN (I'm not picky) in J in either August or September of 2015 for the past few weeks with no luck. I'm really hoping they open up availability soon, because I'd like to take advantage of the 40% MR transfer bonus.

stifle

Aer Lingus award availability to other programmes has always been sporadic. It appears this is continuing and it is favouring Gold Circle Club members.

MBDublin

As a GC prestige I have experienced the same issues as the previous posters. I think the recent success of the TA routes has reduced availability across the board. Maybe it is different for the GC elites?