chrisnj

Suddenly got some available time and thinking about going to Florida with my wife next week for 7 days. PE both ways looks like a great deal at around £780 but Club is around £2700 return. If I search on availability I can see at least 9 seats available in nearly all booking classes for the outbound flight, in fact I could still even book a Club avios seat on the outbound. Coming home PE looks quite busy with only a few seats left but Club looks quite empty but no redemptions available.

Both my wife and I are BAEC Gold holders, does anyone have experience of this route and likelyhood of us getting an upgrade or whether if I book PE now am I likely to be able to pay cash or use avios to upgrade nearer the flight if the availability stays as open as it looks right now?

corporate-wage-slave

You may be offered a POUG upgrade, but that normally will only show after 48 or 72 hours so in that sense the sooner you book, the greater the chances, this is recalculated daily. There are some reports of offers coming sooner than that. You also have the AUP option at the airport. Redemption availability is also calculated daily at midnight GMT but it's real crystal ball territory, particularly since we don't have your proposed travel dates.

Note there is no lounge at FLL. Terminal 3 and 4 are linked if security at terminal 4 looks a bit busy.

chrisnj

Dates I'm looking at are out on Thu 3rd May - Return Thu 10th May (I think the FLL flights are only on Mon,Thu & Sat) We can be flexible departing Wed, Thu or Fri and returning Wed-Sat the week after and have also looked at MCO, TPA & MIA but the FLL flights look a bargain. Pain there is no lounge but can live with that, even more curious though that the CW flights are still so expensive. Thanks for the tip on security.

corporate-wage-slave

They never cannibalise the CW fares, so even if it's empty they won't do much to reduce it from what seems a disproportionate fare. However when you see this:

J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
that is the time I would look to see if there are any BA Holiday deals. WTP is reasonably covered, so there is scope for CW to open for upgrades (it would need to be LGW-FLL only, no domestic add ons etc)

For the return it is:
J9 C9 D9 R6 I0 W4 E3 T2 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
so a fuller flight as you knew. WTP is nearly totally full, in fact I think overbooked, so someone is going to have to go forward somewhere down the line. However WT is empty on the way back.

On these occasions I tend to say that if you have a WTP bargain, then go for it, and if anything else happens that's an added extra. AUP/POUGs/Avios aren't cost free either, and I imagine you can spend that saved money very enjoyably at a fish restaurant thereabouts.

teledude

I took my first PE sector to MCO a week ago (£520 ex INV) and honestly if you have your own IFE sorted it's perfectly acceptable. The food and service won't excite you however

Coming back via JFK with a UUA into club mind

steve170461

[/QUOTE]

Hi c-w-s. If you have 5 minutes can you please explain your deductions on WTP being oversold and also WT being empty.
Thanks

corporate-wage-slave

I'm also looking at a seat map that says this, and there will be more than 6 people without seat reservations:

Now, OK there are potential equipment changes that could open up the cabin, but given the numbers they seem to be happy to sell WTP, knowing that they have space in CW to do some upgrades if needed. G9 says the flight isn't oversold (at this point) and that's traditionally dominated/determined by WT selling, so essentially they are trying to fill up the aircraft with competitive WT and WTP fares, so without cannibalising CW fares they can nevertheless get the aircraft better filled up. There are just 9 reserved seats in CW out of 40 seats.

chrisnj

One last question from me :-) If I book via BA Holidays as a flight + car the deal is even sweeter than if I booked just flights and car hire separate, especially with the BA hols extra discount this weekend. My question is do you know if booking as a package with BA hols rather than just flight only will that affect ability / chances of POUG/AUP/Avios opportunities or even Gold member comps on the day?

corporate-wage-slave

You won't get a POUG with a BA Holidays booking, that is for sure. If Avios availability comes up for CW then yes you can take advantage of that, but you need to call up for it, it is never possible online, so instead you check via dummy bookings. AUP is ok, no difference there, "Involuntary" upgrades are also unaffected, it also makes no difference, positive or negative. Booking as a Holidays also gives you a bit more support if (as sometimes happens) FLL gets cancelled due to LGW equipment shortages - FLL is second to JFK in terms of risk there. Plus you get some extra Avios (and more so if using BA Amex).

FlyerTalker39574

Btw the return flight is early, so those passengers on Florida time may not sleep for most of the flight.

chrisnj

Thanks for the info on here learnt some useful stuff. All booked now for 2 in WTP to FLL via BA hols with car hire for £1434 all in. Seems a good deal to me. Just need to decide now whether to stick with WTP and enjoy it and see if we get any frequent flyer upgrades or keep checking if any avois upgrades make themselves available.

Does WTP or BAEC Gold let you use the premium security lanes at Gatwick or do you have to use the main one as not in business or above?

teledude

You can use premium security and the F lounge

chrisnj

Perfect, Thanks

chrisnj

Nice BA! Got an upgrade.

As its a day flight we decided not to spend the avois on an CW outbound upgrade and see what WTP+ is like. That will have to wait. When we checked in at the desk this morning I noticed the seat numbers on our boarding pass were different to what I'd picked online. Check-in agent didn't say anything but on reviewing the boarding pass both of us have been upgraded to CW. Would have preferred it for the return flight as its overnight, but mustn't grumble as an upgrade is always nice.

Return flight looks more overbooked than outbound was and no avois upgrade option at the moment... could we be lucky both ways????

mikeyfly

Wow well done !

Enjoy

Few thousand Avios BA could have taken from you but didn't