Kristen68

ok LOL, Well I did it myself online like I always do, not thru a travel agent. Not sure about what 125 paper is. Booking def. not ticketed, it's not until November. BA system might be crap, had a terrible flight yesterday with my baggage lost by BA and the whole check in online not feasible due to the power outage. As far as not being any award availability on my dates, how would I know/have known? I was really hoping to enjoy CW.

My info is BOS to LHR, round trip on Nov 4 returning Nov 26, flight numbers BA0214 and BA0215

Wozza2404

No CW availability showing on either of those dates on that route.

stifle

It's 1. There is no availability to upgrade with Avios on those flights. Try again in a week or two.

Globaliser

If you booked it online directly with BA, you will almost certainly have been ticketed immediately.

"125 paper" means a ticket issued by BA. The terminology refers back to the days when paper tickets were printed by individual airlines. The "125" is the numerical code allocated to BA to identify tickets issued by that airline.

Although tickets are now electronic and intangible, they are still numbered and the numbers on BA-issued tickets still start with the digits "125". You will see this on your e-ticket receipt emailed to you after you book, or when you ask for a copy of your e-ticket receipt through ba.com.Log on to ba.com and use the Executive Club pages to look for an award seat in Club on the flight you're interested in. Pure awards and award upgrades use the same inventory.

Kristen68

OK, I see. So if I try again in a week or two as suggested, is it a possibility?

Globaliser

It will be a possibility at any time up to departure. There is no fixed pattern of release of award space. It's been noted that recently BA has often been some award space closer to the date of the flight (during the last week or so before the flight). But there is no guarantee that any award space will be released for your flights at any time between now and the flight; nor at what time of the day or day of the week any releases might take place; nor can you be assured that you'll get to it before someone else does.

You just have to keep checking and hope you get lucky.

Kristen68

Cool, ok I'll keep checking. I had planned to get WTP tickets anyway, as I wanted the tier points and the little extra comfort that goes along with it. But I finally have lots of avios to use toward upgrades and am looking forward to the first planned CW trip (I was once bumped up from WT to CW at check in due to overbooking and I was travelling with my child). Might still happen this time. Next time I'll look ahead and also recheck here to make sure I'm doing it right.

elscorpo

Hi, I'm hoping get two seats to go to either JNB or CPT early November for a week and while there is a good amount of WT Inventory available, there is little or nothing in WTP or CW. (Really hoping for CW). I know availability can change at the drop of a hat, but does anyone here know from past experience if CW seats show up often on the South Africa routes? or is it a complete waste of time holding out for it, and should I look at somewhere else?

Thanks to anyone who is able to give a heads up on this.
elscorpo.

Globaliser

Yes, particularly to/from JNB. But you need to have nerves of steel and some flexibility in your plans if you really must travel in Club, because Club award seats most often show up during the week before departure (and sometimes just a couple of days before).

One option is to book the economy seats that you can see and change later if it becomes possible, so that you know you can travel in any event even though it may have to be in economy.

EuropeanPete

CW on those routes can be extremely difficult to get at the best of times. I don't know if it's an option, but I've generally found First to be easier to get on Avios as there aren't quite so many businessmen fighting for the seats.

elscorpo

Globaliser and European Pete, Many Thanks for the help. First shows as blocked out for eternity for both routes, so like you say, might just book WT and use those nerves of steel in the hope that CW opens up closer in.

Would be the first upgrade for me, so fingers crossed!

MiMart

Hello. I don’t fly very often so I’m not very familiar with the best use of these frequent flier programs. I’m planning a first time trip to Europe next year in September. The trip will start with a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, FL that ends in Barcelona, Spain. We will spend a few days there, head to Paris, then our final destination, the UK before heading home. The plan right now is to fly one-way back home non-stop to O’Hare (ORD) out of Heathrow (LHR). I have 110k Avios miles & 146k AA miles. I would like to fly First Class or Business Class using these miles.

Based on my research so far, I know I can book up to 355 days on BA and 331 days on AA. So I have about a month more to go before I can start booking. Looking at what’s available now (just to see what to expect when it’s time to book), AA doesn’t have any First Class or Business Class seats. BA has First Class but the surcharge is extremely high (a common complaint, I found) – and I’m 10k short to use the maximum number of miles (60k), but I can use less points and pay a higher surcharge or I have 6k Amex points that I can transfer and purchase the remaining 4k Avios miles.

Any tips, suggestions, or secrets on how & when best to redeem my points/miles for this trip would be very much appreciated. This trip is for two passengers.

LupineChemist

I would use the aa miles for lower transatlantic fees. Use the avoids to get around Europe. Open an Iberia plus account and you can use the avoids for getting from Barcelona on vueling. Also a flight from Paris to London. Look into the Eurostar though. It may be comparable price and arrives/departs city center.

schooleydoo

I have been searching for a pair of First seats to SYD for three weeks now and haven't seen anything open up at all. Even 1 week prior to departure...

I am not fussed on dates but am planning ahead and want to know if it is even an option in 6 months time.

Is this a route that is in such high demand that they don't release "free" seats? Or is it that they are booked as soon as they are?

IMH

Sounds as though ba.com is playing games with you. I just used aa.com to search for 2 x F from LHR to SYD in March 2014 (i.e. roughly the six months that you mention) and saw availability on 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25 March.

I didn't look at exactly what flights were being offered on all of those dates, but for those I did it tended to be QF2 (LHR-DXB-SYD) and/or QF10 (LHR-DXB-MEL) followed by a MEL-SYD domestic.