Wife down the back
 

Hi
I've got a dilemma brewing whereby my wife and I on are the 293 to IAD on the 7th Aug. I'm ex-EU in CW, but she refused to do that (and thinks I am daft to boot), so she's on avios in WT (No avail in WTP or CW when booking, but she's in CW on the way back overnighter at least). Many rows therefore separate us.
I read the recent thread with interest about "can another pax sit with me?", and it seems that unless I can get in F it's a no-go, and even then it would likely be brief or just not possible at all.
At the moment I've been checking CW availability daily in the hope we might get another ticket for her, and for the sake of £35, some unknown amount of taxes and a few avios get her into the CW cabin with me. There has been nothing yet. Are any key release dates coming up?
The other possibility is that I get myself in F and maybe share that Champagne at least for a time.... that would appear to be a whopping £700 for a cash upgrade, BUT only 20k avios for a sadly unavailable reward seat. There seems to be a lot of availabilty in the F cabin, can anybody opine at all on what my chances may be? Possibly an impossible question. 20K avios and no cash element sounds quite appealing actually.
The unmentioned "third way" is that once on board I do the chivalrous thing and swap seats.....is that even allowed - is it crew discretion?
Thanks
Snuffi

Availability can open up quite close to departure time so do keep checking.

You are allowed to swap seats, but it is good practice (albeit not mandatory) to let one of the cabin crew know what you have done.

After you do the hard work of the status-friendly trip to Europe, alone at the insistence of your OH, you think about giving up your flat bed?

What's in it for you?

Seriously though, BA has IMHO not released any more availability post devaluation, not making this kind of redemption any easier. In fact, releasing what redemption availability there is earlier has made the short notice upgrade more difficult.

It is summer holiday time which means cabins are being regularly rolled forward. I was looking for F availability last week LHR-JFK and up to the day before departure it was showing F7 A5 but nothing on Avios. However, WT or WT+ must have been way overbooked, because the magic beep provided me with a now rare Op-Up to F.

Staying married. Depending on your view that's a bonus or a reason to firmly stay in CW.

:D

In more ways than one!

I'm tempted to leave her there so you can appreciate the value of a quick hop to Dublin (how well did you sell this?). By getting First and guesting her into CCR may do the trick of course, mentioning to her that her seat "costs" more than yours so it is the least you can do.

But yes, you can swap seats if you wish, just have a word with the cabin crew on boarding, and don't try and swap later.

That said, the key dates to be up at 01 hrs BST will be 5, 6 and even 7 of August to see if availability has come up for both/either of you. At OLCI you have an eternal dilemma, do you OLCI to force a last minute POUG, or wait until the witching hour to see if availability comes up on the day of departure? The answer may be to study Expertflyer and indulge in the necessary exegesis in the days leading up to departure.

If you take the logical choice, divorce is very expensive.....

And being daft is a sign of a true husband.

Keep looking out for availability - I had F open up a few days before my JFK-LHR flight in June, well worth the Avios to relax in CCR during an hours delay and get a better night's sleep

Am doing the same for LHR-HKG-LHR trip, sadly when F availability for return popped up the other day it was for the flight 15 minutes after mine (grrr...)

Hahahahahahaha. Well I'm 40, so perhaps 40 years....

I wondered if anyone would pick up that! It's one of the joys of the english language that small things like this can be made to work.

As for Dublin (yes it is Dublin) I've done it before and it works extremely well for me as I work in Canary Wharf and so can schedule the short hop from LCY at the end of a work day, return to work the next morning the same way, and then carry on from LHR in the evening. Ditto the final leg, and all for the sake of a couple hotel nights that barely dent the saving.

As for how well I sold it, I don't think I was even allowed to get to the economics before I was labelled a lunatic. Possibly economics not a factor as I got her ticket using my Avios and I think paid for the fees too. Some may say that's definitely a reason to keep my CW seat, all I can say is marriage sometimes isn't like that!

Thanks for the key dates, I'll try and stay up! Not that it makes any difference I suppose, but the return is via JFK (for both of us, albeit at different times), and the IAD to JFK part is on the Amtrak. This means no online upgrading for some reason.

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Swapping seats is always fine, if it's once, at the start of the flight, and you might even find a glass or two of CW champagne finding their way to the back of the plane when the crew learn of your chivalrous gesture :D

A mid-way swap, or switching back and forward is unlikely to be well received.

I would keep checking the F availability. If the seats aren't actually sold, I've found F availability often opens up quite close to departure. Many times I've seen a couple of F seats be made available at any point from a week to 24 hours out (not usually within 24 hours). They go fast though.

Last resort could be an airport upgrade - far from guaranteed though

Deleted. Misread the original post.

It would appear you need to do lots of duty free shopping to try to make her happy... :D

If I read the first post correctly, the OP is in Club World departing Europe and his wife is in Club World on the return. Sounds like a fair compromise. Seems like the OP's issue is being separated from his wife. Best solution would be keep checking Club Word award inventory, hopefully space opens up later.

Not getting at snuffi but some couples, even when booked in the same CW cabin can end up sitting apart due to BA's seating policy. Yet another reason why we fly IB....the wife wouldn't be happy if we were apart on a long haul flight.