bigRW

Hi All,

sorry for asking some fairly newbie type questions. I'm going on honeymoon in December and it's a pretty special thing for us. spending quite a bit of our money on it because we're both apart a lot and so our honeymoon is very important to us. out to bangkok and then back via maldives so two very long flights.

my questions:

on the way out we are in a 747 and have club world seats. i've gone for 2 in row 62 (upstairs( next to each other. is this sensible?) i can still easily change at this stage

on the way back i'm in world traveller plus. the front row is booked but i can go either in the middle or at the back. opinions?

on the way out i could JUST afford to upgrade to first but I think it would be old first on that aircraft? is that correct? if it was old would it be worth it? if new would it be worth it? also, i've read couples in first isn't really ideal and actually the experience would be better in club?

finally, i've joined the executive club. i do travel quite a bit so are there really obvious things i should be aware of to get the most miles, things like credit cards etc etc? anything obvious or links you can give me much appreciated.


thanks so much, i've really appreciated reading as much as i can on here and you seem like a great group of guys.

RW

Fruitcake

Welcome to FT bigRW!

I would definitely stick with the Row 62 seats. These are great seats with loads of room around and you will be facing each other with reasonable privacy. Did you get these seats through payment?

With regard to the WT+ seats, I'm not sure it'll make much difference but you'll have teo together.

Many of your other queries can be answered through the sticky at the top of the board.

Have a great trip when it comes! ^

BA304

Welcome to FT, bigRW. ^

You can see how likely it is that your flight will have new F here:

http://ftdashboard.net/overview/baflights.htm

I don't think it would be worth over-stretching to upgrade to F. If anything the money would probably be better spent on the return flight.

Have a perusal of the dashboard for more info on BAEC.

henkybaby

Welcome to FT, congrats on the upcoming marriage and subsequent honeymoon. Nice trip too by the looks of it.

Stick to 62. Best seats in the house and F will not add very much. That being said, some people (like me) prefer Old F to NF. I can see the point of F if you fly alone and prefer to be left that way too. A wee bit more room than in J and not that much bother of your seat mates. When on honeymoon it is probably a waste unless you can get 1A/K.

As suggested, better upgrade to J on the way back.

If you have an US address get a Chase card. That comes with 100K miles and after some spending you will get a 241. You can then start annoying topics on how this is absolutely worthless.

If UK based then AMEX and Tesco will provide you with miles. No doubt there are some willing fellow FT members who would like to introduce you to AMEX to get more miles at signup.

If you are in neither you are basically screwed.

Sixth Freedom

Welcome to FT bigRW. ^

To be honest, my belief is that if you can only just afford to go F, then F is probably not the best use of cash. Stick with CW.

CT-UK

I am going to say if you can afford the upgrade from J to F without messing up the rest of your holiday then go for it.

Don't worry about OF or NF infact I would hope for OF as I think it is a LOT better, so much so I will now go in J if I know I will get NF.

sunrisegirl

Firstly, congratulations. I hope you'll both have a wonderful future together.

Have you managed to pay for row 62 on your BKK flight? I only ask as this is not normally available until OLCI at T-24 as it is a seat held for golds and silvers. I just want you to be sure you have it actually assigned as I imagine, having only just joined the BAEC, you're not at gold or silver yet.

If you're returning from the Maldives with BA please be aware this is operated on a 777 which doesn't have the UD, nor does it have a First class cabin. I would go as close to the front of the WT+ cabin as you can as the rear of the cabin is next to the bassinets in WT, which could be a little noisier.

Whether old or new F, I think if you can afford it go for it. It's a special occasion and, even though I've been lucky to travel in F twice, it's still a special experience.

Have a wonderful honeymoon.

lwildernorva

If it happens that you are US based (and reading between the lines, I'm guessing you're not), there are two other credit card options for building miles. American Express Gold cards of various flavors and the Platinum card have run various sign up bonuses over the past year of up to 100K Membership Rewards points, and Amex and BA have had several different transfer bonus promos (the current, running through the end of the month, gives you 1.5 BA miles for every 1 MR point transferred to BAEC).

Also, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card has a current sign up bonus of 50K Ultimate Rewards points that transfer at 1:1 with BA. In addition, Chase has just announced that this card will have enhanced earnings of 2 points per dollar on spending for travel, including airfare, rental cars, and hotel reservations, and for purchases in restaurants.

The BA/Chase card has a current 50K sign up bonus (but twice in the past 18 months has offered 100K promos) and earns at 1.25 BA miles per dollar.

As I said, not too useful if you're not US based, but very good options if you are. And congratulations!

bigRW

thanks so much for al the help. proving what a nice bunch is on here.

I am able to got these row 62 seats just by logging on to my executive club account and accessing the booking. we've booked through Kuoni but ever option seems to show up except upgrading which I think we have to do through the agent....

are people suggesting that even though it's showing as allocated on my executive club page we might not get these seats? i know my agent could access them and allocate us seats also.... any thoughts gratefully received....

i'\m based in the UK for all those asking. I'm a HHonors member (probably hit gold soonish) so i've linked the accounts. also a clubcard holder so any quick tips onmaximising miules through these things or any other way through GB thank you. of course i'm working my way through the forum to find out also.

cornishsimon

Three credit card ways to maximise your miles......
BA Amex
Amex gold card
Tesco MasterCard (for places not accepting Amex )

Both the Amex cards can be taken out via quidco with rebates on the first years membership fees, gold card offers 20000 bonus miles and I think that the BA card via quidco is 6000 plus 2for1 voucher

cs

bigRW

i'm a little concerned about why people are questioning that i can choose those seats without having to pay... i don't want to choose those and get bumped off. i haven't had to pay but is there something i am missing???

thanks

sunrisegirl

Reason I've not responded is I honestly don't know how you've got them - whether there's been another policy change, or whether Kuoni are allowed to have them for their passengers as part of their contract with BA.

The policy is supposed to be that only gold or silver card holders can pre-assign row 62 and a couple of other rows on the UD. This is in recognition of their status with BA.

When the paid seating was first introduced NO seats on the UD were allowed to be purchased and the whole UD was only allowed to be pre-assigned by golds and silvers, or those on a full fare flexible J ticket.

A few months ago policy was changed and most of UD was able to be purchased by those not entitled to pre-assign free of charge. The exception to this was row 62 could not be purchased, nor could (IIRC) row 60.

Hence my uncertainty as to how you've been able to get row 62 so far in advance. And I honestly don't know the answer.

You may want to ask Kuoni as it could be that their contract with BA shows the booking to be in J class, which would allow you to pre-assign. Or perhaps their contract with BA allows it and that I'm not privvy to.
If Kuoni are unsure, you might want to call BA reservations to put your mind at rest.

Sorry to be so unsure, but if this is a policy change and row 62 can now be purchased this is going to be another nail in the coffin for our gold and silver card holders who were already upset at another chipping away of their benefits.

Padmeister

as sunrisegirl has rightly pointed out been able to choose row 62 in club world on the upper deck should only be possible through status. i.e doing lots of flying with BA for e.g and gaining silver card status and then on to gold status. As you have only just joined the BAEC then you start off as a blue member which does not entitle you by rights to reserve row 62 on the upper deck in club world. In fact the only way you bag a seat on the upper deck in cw by being a blue member is by paying for it which is �80 per person each way. But row 62 should be excluded from choosing even when offering to pay for it.

IAMORGAN

If the seats have been allocated, then I wouldn't worry about how or why.