Ask the staffer
Apr 15, 2018, 5:47 am
#3031
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Apr 15, 2018, 5:55 am
#3032
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: BAEC Gold, LH M&M Member
Posts: 2,705
Your LHR-OSL flight might be changeable (depending on fare class) but the OSL-LHR leg of your next ticket won’t be changeable.
(I’m happy to be corrected, of course).
Apr 15, 2018, 5:55 am
#3033
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,990
Yes that's my experience too. Plus fares including SDC (and also basic fares) are not offered for connecting flights atm. You are offered “economy plus” as the only economy option and that does not includes SDC.
Apr 16, 2018, 11:43 am
#3034
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold; Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 3,228
Can someone please shed some light on how codeshare flights are linked to the operating carrier's prime flight number in a reservation system? The reason I ask is that I was looking to book flights from LAS to LGW in September. Booking with AA was significantly cheaper than booking with BA but each time I tried to move from selecting flights to paying AA's website would tell me that the flight / fare was no longer available and to pick different ones, before offering the exact same combination. ExpertFlyer also showed the flights as being available so I was stumped for a moment.
Then I noticed that BA's LGW - LAS flight was timed to depart at 12:00 whereas the AA codeshare flight was scheduled to depart at 11:55 Obviously there's Amadeus and Sabre at play but I would assume that there must be some data link / synchronisation between the two in terms of prime / operating carrier flight numbers and partner codeshare flights. How does it work in practice?
As it happened, the glitch worked in my favour as when I was booking through AA's UK website it offered me the BA275 / AA6182 as an equally priced alternative to the LGW flight whereas if I'd booked through aa.com it would have been an extra $500 for the same WT+ seat.
Then I noticed that BA's LGW - LAS flight was timed to depart at 12:00 whereas the AA codeshare flight was scheduled to depart at 11:55 Obviously there's Amadeus and Sabre at play but I would assume that there must be some data link / synchronisation between the two in terms of prime / operating carrier flight numbers and partner codeshare flights. How does it work in practice?
As it happened, the glitch worked in my favour as when I was booking through AA's UK website it offered me the BA275 / AA6182 as an equally priced alternative to the LGW flight whereas if I'd booked through aa.com it would have been an extra $500 for the same WT+ seat.
Not a staffer but an enthusiast.
You've got a few different things going on here.
Codeshares are not aliases of the prime flight. They can (and are designed) to show completely different availability numbers and therefore the pricing can be totally different. Also if a particular fare is valid on one flight doesn't mean it would be valid on the same flight sold under a different code. AA & BA mostly synchronize fares across the Atlantic but it's not an exact mirroring especially when we look at very discounted fares or special upgrade fares.
The Sabre/Amadeus link is pretty poor and it is not unusual for it to take several days to synchronize flight time changes, equipment changes, cancellations, and other schedule changes.
In terms of your aa.com/aa.co.uk differences, that sounds like point-of-sale pricing discrimination. Although, that is complicated by the fact that aa.co.uk does use Amadeus in stead of Sabre if I remember correctly.
You can check availability at different points of sale in EF and on Matrix by changing the Sales City.
You've got a few different things going on here.
Codeshares are not aliases of the prime flight. They can (and are designed) to show completely different availability numbers and therefore the pricing can be totally different. Also if a particular fare is valid on one flight doesn't mean it would be valid on the same flight sold under a different code. AA & BA mostly synchronize fares across the Atlantic but it's not an exact mirroring especially when we look at very discounted fares or special upgrade fares.
The Sabre/Amadeus link is pretty poor and it is not unusual for it to take several days to synchronize flight time changes, equipment changes, cancellations, and other schedule changes.
In terms of your aa.com/aa.co.uk differences, that sounds like point-of-sale pricing discrimination. Although, that is complicated by the fact that aa.co.uk does use Amadeus in stead of Sabre if I remember correctly.
You can check availability at different points of sale in EF and on Matrix by changing the Sales City.
In terms of the sales city and currency, I had assumed that the price / availability would be the same irrespective of whether I was pricing it based on LAS (which is the origin of my flight) or LON. I had assumed that LAS - NYC - LGW / LHR - LAS would have been priced on the basis on my itinerary starting in the USA, and that it would have been the same price (albeit quoted in USD or GBP) whether I looked on aa.com or aa.co.uk
I do remember posting a while ago whether I could ask BA to price an itinerary based on a UK point of sale (whether there was T or I class availability) as opposed to a US point of sale (where there wasn't that availability) and the answer at the time was no, they wouldn't. It's something to bear in mind for future flights where it may be possible to get better availability and pricing by booking flights through aa.co.uk rather than aa.com.
Thanks again!
Apr 16, 2018, 12:50 pm
#3035
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
So how does that work in terms of availability? Assuming that EF is showing (for the sake of argument) W7, E5, T3 for a BA flight and W7, P5 for the AA codeshare then I suppose it follows that either carrier selling a seat in the T or P buckets wouldn't necessarily deplete the number of seats available on the other carrier's flight? So you could end up T2 on the BA flight and retain P5 on the AA flight?
I do remember posting a while ago whether I could ask BA to price an itinerary based on a UK point of sale (whether there was T or I class availability) as opposed to a US point of sale (where there wasn't that availability) and the answer at the time was no, they wouldn't.
Apr 16, 2018, 1:28 pm
#3036
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: MSN
Programs: AA, BAEC Gold
Posts: 3,933
I had two odd cases this year on BA metal with US POS. In one case the prices were the same but BA were combining TATL F/A with domestic Y/K while AA were using J/I. In the other case the fare classes were the same for an EU destination but BA was about $2,000 more. In the first case BA were offering an upgrade to domestic J/I for about $2,000 because it required a higher TATL fare class!
Apr 16, 2018, 4:46 pm
#3037
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: LON, ACK, BOS..... (Not necessarily in that order)
Programs: **Mucci Diamond Hairbrush** - compared to that nothing else matters (+BA Bronze)
Posts: 15,138
I'm not a staff member either but......... When I went to CMB via BOM I checked the visa situation carefully. I was told that if I stayed airside then there was no visa required. If I was going to go landside then I would. As my connection was only around three hours I couldn't see the point and in any event the flight from London arrived late. UL also refused to let me into their business class lounge at BOM despite my having a business ticket and OWS status. They were happy to pay for me to go to the shared lounge that BA use but not to use theirs.
Apr 17, 2018, 9:42 am
#3038
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: BAEC bronze
Posts: 52
Thanks for further replies to my visa question when transiting at Chennai.
As of today I have purchased a tourist visa for each for both of us after being told about recent stories of arsey immigration officials. The last thing I want is an argy-bargy (with the new wife) in Chennai at 0330 about why we didn't buy visas when it was suggested we *might* need them!
Getting a bit tired of it all to be honest - despite being an Avios-paid flight, with the visas and seat reservations both ways (OK, all of these our choice of course), it's getting quite pricey!
Cheers!
As of today I have purchased a tourist visa for each for both of us after being told about recent stories of arsey immigration officials. The last thing I want is an argy-bargy (with the new wife) in Chennai at 0330 about why we didn't buy visas when it was suggested we *might* need them!
Getting a bit tired of it all to be honest - despite being an Avios-paid flight, with the visas and seat reservations both ways (OK, all of these our choice of course), it's getting quite pricey!
Cheers!
Apr 17, 2018, 1:43 pm
#3039
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
Thanks for further replies to my visa question when transiting at Chennai.
As of today I have purchased a tourist visa for each for both of us after being told about recent stories of arsey immigration officials. The last thing I want is an argy-bargy (with the new wife) in Chennai at 0330 about why we didn't buy visas when it was suggested we *might* need them!
Getting a bit tired of it all to be honest - despite being an Avios-paid flight, with the visas and seat reservations both ways (OK, all of these our choice of course), it's getting quite pricey!
Cheers!
As of today I have purchased a tourist visa for each for both of us after being told about recent stories of arsey immigration officials. The last thing I want is an argy-bargy (with the new wife) in Chennai at 0330 about why we didn't buy visas when it was suggested we *might* need them!
Getting a bit tired of it all to be honest - despite being an Avios-paid flight, with the visas and seat reservations both ways (OK, all of these our choice of course), it's getting quite pricey!
Cheers!
Apr 22, 2018, 8:26 am
#3040
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Bracebridge, ON
Posts: 341
I’m sure this is a silly question, but...
My dad recently had his first experience in BA first. He absolutely loved the yogurt, and said t was the best he ever had. Does anyone know what type / brand it is?
My dad recently had his first experience in BA first. He absolutely loved the yogurt, and said t was the best he ever had. Does anyone know what type / brand it is?
Apr 22, 2018, 8:31 am
#3041
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Programs: Mucci des Hommes Magiques et Magnifiques
Posts: 19,106
I don’t think that we can find this out but where was the flight originating?
Apr 22, 2018, 8:33 am
#3042
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,622
I have a staffer question. When a short haul flight is coming in to land there's always a chirrup sound in the galley at the front. Obviously it's related to landing, but has it any specific meaning?
Apr 22, 2018, 8:37 am
#3043
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Programs: Mucci des Hommes Magiques et Magnifiques
Posts: 19,106
For the life of me I cannot imagine what a “chirrup” sounds like?
Apr 22, 2018, 8:37 am
#3044
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,990
Apr 22, 2018, 8:41 am
#3045
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,622
It's not that noise. More like the chirrup of a phone, but it's not the phone