TheChangingMan

Thanks @gustavmahler - you mean just do an Avios F search for the flight on a regular basis then call when / if it appears?

gustavmahler

Yeah - just a one way search for one person and it will then show you anything available.

ExpertFlyer Voice

No it is not: https://www.expertflyer.com/sessionlessClassList.do

TheChangingMan

Thanks!

sky-rat

While I agree with all the advice here, Mrs.Rat and I just did something similar (LHR>YVR/SEA>LHR) and found the best thing if you really wanted the trip was to put it i the book and then keep poking at it until it's exactly what you want. This might incur one or two change fees, but when you've already spent >Ł1k on taxes and "fees" for your avois booking, a little more to get to perfection is usually worth it. For the really long rides like this, F is worth a couple of extra quid.

There are usually bits of availability that come in over the year: book at T-355 but there's often scope to improve

Flying12345

I've booked a 2-4-1 trip to Joberg. Can I add connecting flights with Comm Air to either CPT or VFA on the same booking, how do I do that? I'm concerned if I just book cash tickets they won't check my bags through. I presume I'm not the first person to want to do this given how tough CPT availability is to find!

TheChangingMan

Thanks @sky-rat - I really would like F - it would be our first time. I'm a frequent J flyer on business but this is a one off holiday for us. So, just for clarity, keep looking at F avios availability?

sky-rat

That's it exactly-- just keep on checking. When there's a booking I'm looking to improve I'll just make it a thing where if I need a minute's break between tasks at work or whatever, use that as a minute to recheck if anything's come up. It's manual and there's no way to set an alarm (not that I know of) but the recheck soon becomes habit and if it pops up then it's worth the bit of work. If I remember correctly, the last few times I played this game, the availability for a late spring or summer booking came up around Christmas/January, but of course that's no guarantee it'll happen same way again. If you've got something good enough (and J is good enough) then that's good...and improvement to F is gravy. Fair warning, though: once Mrs.Rat did her first F flight (which was also YVR, a decade ago) it's been difficult getting expectations back down again...


@Flying12345, there's threads on this, mostly negative. The last time I myself did that was many years ago (connecting to Windhoek) and they were still checking through back then, so cannot advise. But you're right, I'm sure you're not the first-- the only tip I can give is make sure you lock your suitcase if transiting JNB

SeattleDavid

The advantage of the ExpertFlyer strategy is that you can set an alert that will email you the moment F is available on the flight / date you want (you can set multiple alerts if you have multiple options).

I think that you stand more chance of timely notification that way than having to check it yourself at regular intervals.

BenSenise

I believe that it's 1 a.m.

ATCOlad

Can anyone briefly explain this " 2 for 1" thing to a novice !! Thanks

KARFA

Lots of information in the guide here which may help http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...iscussion.html

TheChangingMan

Just wanted to thank folk for the advice - all booked up!

At T-355 01:00, full of Lanzarote gin, I booked the outbound to YVR in J. I've also taken a subscription to ExpertFlyer and set up an alert for F upgrade availability.

At return date-355 at 07:00 I checked for availability from YYC. Bingo - 2 seats in J. Called the call centre at 07:30 and was told that the flight from LHR-GLA wasn't available as that was the next day. However, they would put the seats on hold for me and I should call back the next day.

I wasn't entirely convinced how well that would work but it all went like clockwork. By lunchtime the following day it was booked, reticketed, avios adjusted and a pending transaction on my AMEX.

So, thanks team FT!

Brighterside

2-4-1 have to be on BA metal(mainline) only and can't be used on Comair.