Also, certainly not complaining... now that I share the same understanding. Cracking deal if you can find redemption seats in the cabin you want to upgrade to.

Yes rather too good a deal if you ask me.

… or is it "the number of Avios"? I'm a bit undecided on that one.

"Amount", IMO, implies "quantity" [as in people, vegetables, etc.] rather than a simple numeric.

Or am I dribbling?

GUF2 to revenue fare buckets?
 

Great resource - thanks! ^

Can you give a little more detail on this, please? How does the TA do that? Is there a thread which discusses it?

Thanks,
mgiarc

Excellent reference.

Reading the section on UuA, I am not sure all eligible booking classes have been listed. I certainly upgraded a CW itinerary in R to F when Z is available. I bookings are not upgradeable using Avios on AA, but I think they may still be on BA (I have in the past, but not recently).

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

An excellent compilation!
A couple of minor suggestions:

1) The discussion of "infant" fares needs to be qualified by noting that on certain routes, lap infants are carried free of charge. (I'm thinking domestic U.S. flights on AA and AS; not sure if there are other exceptions.)

2) I believe that Reward Flight Savers are also offered on BA's intra-Caribbean flights.

I bookings are upgradable to F (Z) on BA.

Thank you for your feedback, comments, and suggestions.

I've made a few amendments:

• Added a reward booking code matrix
• Added a note about JL domestic bookings only being available from 2 months before the date of travel
• Added a note about LAN infant fares. guv1976, I'll looking into your comment about infant fares on AA. Thanks for that
• Added a paragraph on Reward Flight Saver and Fifth Freedom flights. Thanks again, guv1976
• Added greater clarity to the section on A&M
• Expanded on using GUF2s. Thanks r22r44bell47 and corporate-wage-slave

Please do continue to feedback your comments and any suggestions you have on how we can improve the guide.

This is a bit of the BA website where the wording could definitely do with more clarity.

I'm confused on the ability to use BA Avios points to book for other people.

I know that I can book for anyone on my household account. But my friend has a lot of BA points and wants to book tickets for me. We can't figure out any way to do that. As best we can tell, he'd need to NOT have a Household account, and then he might be able to book in other names.

Does that sound correct?

If your friend is not in a HHA, then he should have no problem booking tickets in other names (although always subject to the general restrictions about booking tickets for others - eg not selling, bartering etc).

Yup - he just has more points than he'll use anytime soon.

I guess that's the tradeoff with HHAs. You pool points, but you can only book for those within the HHA.

If he goes off HHA, can he book in any name online, or would he have to call?

I know the feeling well.Once he's out of his HHA, anything that he can book online for himself he will be able to book in someone else's name. It's the same booking process, just as for cash tickets.

I think this is a very good thread covering short haul Euro tickets. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...ost-saver.html

companion award
 

Did I understand that right that if I have 2 companion passes I can use them both with only 1 paid ticket? also if I booked a short haul flight and a better award becomes available will BA change for me? thanks.

Great thread, answered a good few questions.

Using your companion vouchers (Germany)
 

Great Job ^

Concerning the 241 BA Barclay Credit Card Voucher in Germany :

It can also be used one way starting from Germany.

There's instructions for the travel agent at http://www.speedbirdclub.com/res/en/...tions%20v3.pdf

Correction to post 6: it says all CE tickets can be Upgradiosed, which they can't.

Can't upgrade a booking with Avios - any suggestions?
 

Hello all, great thread.

I've encountered a problem trying to upgrading with Avios online (or even see if there is availability).

Our company travel is booked out of the US head office (direct to BA website, not through a TA I believe) using the company credit card (in the name of our CFO, US registered address) and I am UK based.

However the error message I get is odd -

Sorry, you can't upgrade this booking with Avios because at least one passenger is not part of your Household Account.

I am the only passenger on the booking :)

Anyone come across this before? I have spoken to BA and they couldn't help & have passed it to their web team.

Could the US registered CC in another name used for the booking be the issue?

Thanks for any help!

I am really hoping to try Cathay pacific first class. Perhaps NY to Hong Kong or Beijing. What is the best way to get about going on those while using avios( I am able to transfer in via amex) I am a bit new to using partneres, etc and os on so any advice would be helpful thanks!

The best and only way is to spend Avios and book the first class straight up.

This is a great guide but I would like to point out two things:

"Since there is no online functionality, unless you are a Gold card holder, you should expect to be charged a booking fee for an open jaw redemption."

They have always waived the fee, in my experience, because one cannot be expected to make a booking online where no such facility exists.

"Bookings can be made up to 24 hours before departure."

It is possible to make bookings closer than 24 hours to departure. I had no trouble making one around 11 hours before flying recently. I do not know the exact cut-off. Also, if you need to make a booking but it appears to be too late, it may be possible to make a later booking and then change it to within 24 hours.

I understand the official policy, inconsistently applied, is that a booking that just can't be made online has the fee, but a booking that normally can be made online but isn't working at the moment because the site has fallen over, the sun is too high, or there's an R in the month does not attract the fee.

This is, of course, infinitely cheaper than actually making ba.com fully functional. ;)

Whatever the official policy is, the point is that one does not get charged by a sufficient number of operators, so if one is about to be charged, further discussion is worthwhile.

So I want to change my return flight (class or date), but based on the above rule, after I depart I can't make changes after I depart? What chance do I have of a later change?

I am just waiting for space to open on the sectors.

If I want to change class of service, CW up to First, can this be done without paying cancelation/change fees?

Depends on the fare rules of your CW ticket and whether you are wanting to upgrade with cash or Avios.

IB redemptions
 

When using Avios (through BAEC) on IB flights, are the T&C for cancelations etc the same as when booking on BA metal? i.e free cancelation for GCHs etc?

Using Avios for Alaska Airlines flights?
 

Thank you very much to the original poster on usage of Avios. I really didn't understand the new program at all until I went through this. I have heard that some shorthaul travel within the US can be a really great deal...

So my question is about using Avios to fly Alaska Airlines.
If I find A (first) availability ... will I pay a business class price or a first class price? Alaska is only a two cabin carrier. The coach awards for shorter flights are a good deal but if I had to pay a first class price to be in first when they don't even have business, it wouldn't seem to be such a good deal.

Can anyone enlighten me?

First Class prices I'm afraid.....3x the Y price.

Good thread here regarding Alaska redemptions.

Another piece of info that might make sense to add to this thread (and info I don't have) is: how are redemptions from household accounts calculated? I can't figure out how this works - it's not like a specific person's miles get drained first. There seems to be an allocation per person's account, but it's one I don't understand.

To many, it may not matter, but in the event you'd want to later book an award for someone who isn't in your household, you have to remove the household feature, and then each former participant is left with some unusual amount of miles. If you could organize the household redemption to keep the leftover miles in one person's account, that would be most efficient.

It's a simple system … the Avios are taken pro rata from each member's account, based on their individual account balances.

I did a TP run [subsequently proved unnecessary] so I have a few more than the OH. As that was the only time I never flew with her holding my hand, it was only a minor distortion. But that's the way it works.

As you note, you can't juggle between a HHA and being able to buy other people's tickets without a lot of complication. But that's what HHAs are for … the Household, not anyone else you suddenly feel charitable about! I may have this issue next year, with non-HHA members. It will undoubtedly cost £££ instead of Avios, because that's the system! ;)

There is a mine of additional information which can be accessed quickly via the forum dashboard sticky. Look there for the existing guide on Household Accounts...

http://www.flyertalk.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/WidgetHHA.jpg

That's jacked up to pay 3X the price when AS doesn't even have a 3 class plane... (hardly can call their First Class actually FIRST CLASS but that's for another discussion)...

Thanks for the info and I'll review that other thread as well. I still think there can be some money saving redemtions with Avios domestically.

Thanks all, a very useful thread!

This is a great sticky - well done all! :)

I've spotted a minor typo: JHB rather than JNB in the Reward Flight Saver post (#4).

I'm a bit confused about combining companion vouchers (see related sticky info in bold below) -- apologies if my Qs have been addressed elsewhere.

[*]Combining two vouchers with a single booking is permitted. This allows the travelling card holder to take three travel companions. A maximum of two vouchers can be used towards any single booking.

We are a family of four and my wife will soon get a BA companion voucher based on 2012 spending (i.e., $30K on Chase BA Visa CC). If she spends another $30K in the first quarter of 2013 and gets another companion voucher, can she use both of these vouchers for our kids and travel together in late 2013? Also, when she uses the voucher, can she travel on an award ticket or does she need to purchase a ticket?

Lastly, what is the max number of companion vouchers that a person can use for same travel, i.e., how many companions can a single person sponsor on the same ticket.

If your card's vouchers' T&Cs permit it, she could use two vouchers so that four people, including her, can travel together on award tickets. Obviously, that means that she and her three companions will be restricted to flights on which there are simultaneously at least four award seats available to be booked.As the text that you quoted says, two vouchers to be used at once for a total of four people travelling together - if your card's vouchers' T&C permit two to be used at the same time.

I can't see what's unclear about the words "This allows the travelling card holder to take three travel companions. A maximum of two vouchers can be used towards any single booking."

I'm not sure that this is "standard" across all cards. For example, the UK BA Amex Premium Plus allows this, but the standard UK BA Amex does not. See http://www.britishairways.com/travel...blic/_gf/en_gb, in particular clause 8 compared to clauses 12 and 14.