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Old Jan 27, 2014, 2:49 am
  #1  
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Understanding GUF2

Hi all,

This year my travelling on BA has significantly increased and I have moved from Silver to very near GUF2 territory in the last few months.

Could somebody please confirm how the GUF2 works.

If for example I book a WT+ ticket paid fully by cash can I always upgrade it to CW using the GUF2 or does there need to be rewards availability in the CW cabin?

Thanks!
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 3:11 am
  #2  
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There are 2 ways to use a GUF2.

Either you can use it to upgrade one class of travel using redemption availability (best use J to F) for either redemption bookings or bookings made with BA and upgraded via BA.

You can use it with TA to upgrade a booking if there is revenue availability in the cabin you want to upgrade to (T, I and A I think).
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 3:27 am
  #3  
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Hi Land-of-miles

Thanks for your help, I want to use it to save money in CW lhr-Syd so redemption is basically out of the question.

Best use seems to be WT+ to I class CW booked through a TA.

Cheers
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 3:38 am
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I would only consider WT+ to CW as half an upgrade in terms of value from a GUF2. Obviously on LHR-SYD it would save a significant amount of cash, but you're still looking at £2k or more r/t. You can have CW from OSL for that and use your GUF2 to book into F revenue bucket (A).
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 5:35 am
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Last edited by crazyarmadillo; Jan 27, 2014 at 5:41 am Reason: duplicate deleted
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 5:38 am
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same situation, will be getting my first GUF2 later this year.

so one can book the cheapest WTP fare and as long as revenue availability in CW exists, one can upgrade via a TA, such as Amex?

sounds a v good deal to me.
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 5:49 am
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Originally Posted by crazyarmadillo
so one can book the cheapest WTP fare and as long as revenue availability in CW exists, one can upgrade via a TA, such as Amex?

sounds a v good deal to me.
No, only books into certain revenue classes via a TA.

In CW these are I and another I think... possibly D?

Amex has messed up every single one of my GUF2s but we have managed to get there in the end. They make the booking and then queue it to BA for confirmation within 24 hours.

There used to be a page on batraveltrade.com which contained instructions for travel agents on use of GUF2 but the site appears to have been taken down and the URL just directs to ba.com now.

If you use the GUF2 direct with BA then there has to be Avios availability in the cabin you are moving up to. As we all know, that is a lottery
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 5:56 am
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Originally Posted by crazyarmadillo
same situation, will be getting my first GUF2 later this year.

so one can book the cheapest WTP fare and as long as revenue availability in CW exists, one can upgrade via a TA, such as Amex?

sounds a v good deal to me.
Not quite

There has to be I availability.

I personally think that W to J upgrades are a bit of a waste as highlighted above.
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 8:14 am
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I've just used my first GUF2 and I've gone from Bus to First - it's the most cost effective way to use GUF2s in my opinion. I've attempted to upgrade an existing booking directly with BA and have had problems with redemption seat availability.

For my next GUF2 I will definitely be using it via a TA revenue booking so that I'll get more flexibility with availability of seats in First.
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 9:00 am
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Originally Posted by billinghamn
I've just used my first GUF2 and I've gone from Bus to First - it's the most cost effective way to use GUF2s in my opinion. I've attempted to upgrade an existing booking directly with BA and have had problems with redemption seat availability.

For my next GUF2 I will definitely be using it via a TA revenue booking so that I'll get more flexibility with availability of seats in First.
You need a GGL Joker to unlock the F availability and then you can use your GUF2 with ease . I used one this way last week and combined it with a 2-4-1. 2 return transatlantic tickets in F for 100,000 Avios, $2.3K taxes a 2-4-1 and a GUF2.
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 9:08 am
  #11  
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Originally Posted by golfmad
You need a GGL Joker to unlock the F availability and then you can use your GUF2 with ease . I used one this way last week and combined it with a 2-4-1. 2 return transatlantic tickets in F for 100,000 Avios, $2.3K taxes a 2-4-1 and a GUF2.
I don't think a GUF2 with a 241 is great value either, as you are only saving 50% of the avios difference compared to a non-241 booking. You have only saved 25,000 avios each in your case, valuing the GUF2 at 50k avios.

An upgraded revenue fare doesn't need award availability.
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 9:44 am
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Originally Posted by nux
I don't think a GUF2 with a 241 is great value either, as you are only saving 50% of the avios difference compared to a non-241 booking. You have only saved 25,000 avios each in your case, valuing the GUF2 at 50k avios.
nux, everyone's situation is no doubt different. I can see your logic but in our case I currently have 3 GUF2s and 2 Chase travel-together tickets with the oldest of each due to expire soon. I may as well save 50,000 Avios as there's no point keeping hold of them for them to simply expire.

Without this specific information I can see your general point though.

Originally Posted by nux
An upgraded revenue fare doesn't need award availability.
Only if booked through a TA with the upgrade done at the time of booking.
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 9:45 am
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Originally Posted by nux
I don't think a GUF2 with a 241 is great value either, as you are only saving 50% of the avios difference compared to a non-241 booking. You have only saved 25,000 avios each in your case, valuing the GUF2 at 50k avios.

An upgraded revenue fare doesn't need award availability.
Indeed I think it is a bit if a waste using a GUF2 n combination with a 2-4-1 redemption, you only save 50k Avios. If you use it without the 2-4-1 you can save more than 100k Avios depending on route.
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 9:45 am
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Originally Posted by HighLife
There used to be a page on batraveltrade.com which contained instructions for travel agents on use of GUF2 but the site appears to have been taken down and the URL just directs to ba.com now.
This one still works, but don't know if the info is current.
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Old Jan 27, 2014, 9:51 am
  #15  
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Originally Posted by golfmad
nux, everyone's situation is no doubt different. I can see your logic but in our case I currently have 3 GUF2s and 2 Chase travel-together tickets with the oldest of each due to expire soon. I may as well save 50,000 Avios as there's no point keeping hold of them for them to simply expire.

Without this specific information I can see your general point though.



Only if booked through a TA with the upgrade done at the time of booking.
Agree everyone's situation is different but if you travel enough to get 3 GUF2s why wouldn't you apply them to a revenue flight?
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