Weereen

So3003

Thanks, I get it now, I think...

On your up and coming flight how are you getting to OSL from GLA, are you going from GLA to DUB then DUB to OSL?

I see what you mean about becoming addictive, I'm hooked already, and all because I lost my BAEC Silver - could end up being a good thing as my travel plans will expand good style because of this - hopefully

so3003

So DUB is just being used as an example of a European starting point that's easy to get to from GLA (as Aer Lingus fly direct, and fairly regularly through the day) - but the principle applies to lots of European airports, and particularly those where BA has stiff competition from non-oneworld airlines! DUB tends to have good fares a lot of the time, whereas the other European airports vary - Milan, Dublin, Lisbon, Oslo, Stavanger (and others) are all favourites for cheap BA ex-Europe fares.

When I'm searching for good fares I use the ITA matrix (as in the other linked thread) and from that it's possible to find the best fare from one of several EU starting points. For the trip to SYD it was cheaper (by several thousand pounds) to start from OSL rather than DUB. We're doing a redemption (reward flight saver) GLA-LHR-OSL to position ourselves for that trip, although I suspect if you looked into it you could probably get to OSL more directly on Easyjet / Ryanair etc - the point being that for the purposes of BAEC status it's the longhaul premium cabin trip that earns the bulk of the TPs, and the positioning flight is more for practicality than for earning TPs. So our final route will be:

GLA-LHR-OSL (ticket 1)
OSL-LHR-SYD-LHR-OSL (ticket 2)
OSL-LHR-GLA (ticket 1)

It's very convoluted, at least in part because I enjoy flying and Mrs-so3003 puts up with this to get a cheaper CW seat

Later in the year, we're going to West Coast USA starting in DUB, ie DUB-LHR-SFO (the cost of First, flying ex-Dublin, is about half the cost of Club World flying ex-Glasgow). Our options for getting to DUB to start that trip included the direct Aer Lingus GLA-DUB flight, or a redemption GLA-LHR-DUB which is far more convoluted... you can guess which one I opted for...

The key thing to remember with ex-EU trips is that you MUST turn up for the first leg of the trip, else you'll be treated as a no-show and the whole ticket cancelled without refund, ie you can't just turn up to check-in in LHR for the second leg. Loads more information about this on other threads, written by people who are far more knowledgeable than me!

Weereen

Wow, First from Dub to SFO is half the cost of club from. GLA - I'm now officially hooked and am planning my TP run already.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks for the advice – I'll be at BAEC Gold in no time