Smartest way to book open leg
Oct 22, 2019, 1:30 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2017
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Smartest way to book open leg
Maybe that's for the fare thread? Very specific though.
As we are planning a cruise with parents, being 4 in total starting in Vancouver to Tokyo.. Brings the question on how to book this.
I had always loved to try jal first.. But that won't be possible. Everything out of ba is probably way more expensive.
Most effective I guess is to book one ways to van and back from nrt and then use 2 guf1 and a joker for 4 first places...
Or do you have an idea of a multi leg cheap fare starting anywhere in Europe to those destinations?
800k avios is quite a lot, too for all..
As we are planning a cruise with parents, being 4 in total starting in Vancouver to Tokyo.. Brings the question on how to book this.
I had always loved to try jal first.. But that won't be possible. Everything out of ba is probably way more expensive.
Most effective I guess is to book one ways to van and back from nrt and then use 2 guf1 and a joker for 4 first places...
Or do you have an idea of a multi leg cheap fare starting anywhere in Europe to those destinations?
800k avios is quite a lot, too for all..
Oct 22, 2019, 1:52 am
#2
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Posts: 38,644
The airport code for Vancouver is YVR. If you search for VAN, you will be looking at an airport in eastern Turkey.
Have you actually tried pricing such an itinerary using ba.com? Have you tried using ITA?
Using published fares, your main issue will be potential combinability problems. On the quickest of searches, it looks like the only trans-Atlantic fares that will combine are the most expensive full-fare fares (Y class in economy, J class in business - that's as far as I got). This seems to apply whether you start in the UK or on mainland Europe.
So this is a scenario in which one idea might be to get a price from the cruise line, which may be able to sell you the flights at fares closer to I class published fares in both directions.
Have you actually tried pricing such an itinerary using ba.com? Have you tried using ITA?
Using published fares, your main issue will be potential combinability problems. On the quickest of searches, it looks like the only trans-Atlantic fares that will combine are the most expensive full-fare fares (Y class in economy, J class in business - that's as far as I got). This seems to apply whether you start in the UK or on mainland Europe.
So this is a scenario in which one idea might be to get a price from the cruise line, which may be able to sell you the flights at fares closer to I class published fares in both directions.
Oct 22, 2019, 2:11 am
#3
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Gloucestershire
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Posts: 6,199
Cruise line would be my first port of call, as it were.
Failing that, one-ways from Asia are usually much less painful than from Europe to the US. For instance, MH currently has NRT-KUL-LHR for under £2k one-way in F. This is on the A350 and should bring 450 TP too.
And of course, BA's A fares to YVR can be combined with cheap T fares from the US.
Failing that, one-ways from Asia are usually much less painful than from Europe to the US. For instance, MH currently has NRT-KUL-LHR for under £2k one-way in F. This is on the A350 and should bring 450 TP too.
And of course, BA's A fares to YVR can be combined with cheap T fares from the US.
Oct 22, 2019, 2:25 am
#4
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Thinking one step further, how about looking for a one-way award from Tokyo to a BA port in North America, and then buying a round-trip/open-jaw ticket to/from North America in both directions? That would then be priced at I class levels in both directions.
Oct 22, 2019, 4:32 am
#5
Original Poster
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And then just use avios for a one way C trip to Vancouver before starting the cruise.
Oct 22, 2019, 4:40 am
#6
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Cruise line as first solution, failing that this is a case where buying award tickets is best as you don't get penalised for one ways.
Oct 22, 2019, 5:53 am
#7
Join Date: Oct 2018
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Using the thread to go a little off-piste ... would the optimal way to get this route on Avios be via a BA 241 voucher open jaw LHR-YVR-surface-Tokyo-LHR.?
The YVR to either Tokyo airport distance is (just) less than the flights out/in to LHR.
Just asking as this is a serious option in fall 2020 for us.
The YVR to either Tokyo airport distance is (just) less than the flights out/in to LHR.
Just asking as this is a serious option in fall 2020 for us.