diver858

The subject relates to the use AS miles for TATL flights to the UK, Europe, beyond. Despite offering nonstop service between SAN-LHR, BA does not offer convenient options in Y and J to LHR, most European cities - and the few available options are "mixed cabin", J limited to the European connection - which in most cases is not true J service.

PotomacApproach

Typical One Way J awards SFO/LAX- LHR on AA and UA are around 130k miles, and DL/VS is around 300k SkyPesos, so only giving up 60k miles is not a bad deal, especially if you're in a Club Suite.

steveholt

Politely: your posts have not been coherent and are the ones that have been condescending and inaccurate. I'll try to run through what you said.

Yes, my prior post is about AS availability in J on TATL flights to the UK. My impression from your post was that AS was not offering J availability connecting to the SAN-LHR flight, which has plenty of availability if you're flexible, as a service like SeatSpy can make clear.

Again, having picked a random day and actually gone through the searches, that date in question has J available for each leg. Each domestic connecting leg in the US *and* the TATL leg on BA have availability in business/first. I did not search for LHR-XXX availability in Europe, but as you just put it, "J" is not true J service within Europe. I also haven't found much trouble finding J availability from LHR to European destinations. Again, since you can't be bothered to actually do the work, let's take FAT-SAN-LHR-XXX and see what we can book in J *all the way* on that day on BA using AS miles. I'll pick some European cities:

BRU
CDG
NCE
MUC
FRA
CPH
FCO
BCN
ATH

The only intra-Europe flight I looked for that was not available is HEL. And again, since I apparently need to make this clear - every leg is in J/F.

I actually went and did the work and found the availability. You don't like it because it invalidates your point and you're being smug and condescending (and xenophobic, on top of it). While you're entitled to your own opinions, you're not entitled to your own facts.

etiene

I've no idea what point you think you're making, but to clarify: BA release 4 Club seats on every flight at 355 days before departure. They don't commit to keeping four seats available - it's a finite supply which may or may not be topped up later. Your likely issue here is that BA [and some other] fliers can book for 25 days before AA/AS fliers can, and I suspect San Diego is a fairly popular route. In contrast, to my knowledge AA don't commit to making any J seats available and AAnytime awards are not available to partners [maybe AS? IDK there].

diver858

Thank you for the SeatSpy reference; I no longer fly TATL often enough to justify another subscription service (required for J searches), as Expert Flyer serves most of my current needs quite well (alerts for U space on AS to use GGUs). Based on the limited free information I was able to find on the SeatSpy website, much of the claimed availability appears to be for off-peak, low season flights.

My most recent experience attempting to book 2 seats in J on the AS website, found a majority of the options requiring 2 stops, final leg is on Y on AS, BA TATL is more often than not in J. Specifically: attempts to return from Paris or Rome in mid-April 2023 in J. I researched 3 different 4 day windows that fit our schedule using AA, AS and AF miles. AA and AF offered options, most with 2 stops, required significantly more miles (and the latter significant taxes and fees) than I have available, willing to spend. If my memory serves, the only 2-stop BA itinerary with TATL in J required a long layover in AUS; while the AS website lists many more options, they all appeared to be mixed cabin, with TATL in Y or Y+. Willing to risk playing the cancellation lottery, ultimately end up with a better itinerary, I held my nose, booked one of the 2-stops connecting through AUS. A few days later, 2 J seats on IB FCO-MAD-LAX became available on the AS website for 75k miles each, on a suitable date. Given the choice, SAN is our strong preference, but consider LAX to avoid a domestic connection for TATL.

stephem

Booked a trip in August, admittedly w AA miles but same basic deal. Our AA awards on JL would no longer work for Christmas so we found 5x biz awards YVR-LHR and only paid $311 in taxes/surcharges. Also able to get IST-LHR-AUS-LAX return booked w only about $300 in taxes/surcharges. $615 per person roundtrip seemed tolerable…

diver858

1/17 is mid-week, middle of the winter in Europe - lowest of all season. Try during a shoulder season, like my late April example.

notquiteaff

I wonder why that is…