aahjnnot

I want to ski near Bozeman, Montana (BZN), in Jan 2022. It's a tricky place to get to from the UK, and the best route seems to be BA via SEA or DFW with an onward connection from AS (operated by Horizon).

BA currently has some great first class prices to SEA but the AS flights aren't yet released for my dates and won't be released before the sale ends. Also, although AS is joining Oneworld, it doesn't seem to be possible to book the full journey on ba.com whatever date I choose.

I'd obviously prefer to have the full booking on one ticket, as it then becomes the airline's problem if wintry weather means I miss a connection. If I book now, will it be possible to add the AS flights to my ticket at a sensible price when they're eventually released? Or will I have to take the transfer risk myself?

I know I could wait for the next sale, but that's not guaranteed and I'm a buyer at this price.

TravelNew

I’d look at A350 to Chicago and then American flights the next day.

aahjnnot

I'm sure Chicago is a great place to visit, but an overnight there means one less day on the slopes.

Confus

Unless your fare specifically allows end-on constructions (ITA/EF are your friends here), it will not be possible to add your domestic sector to your ticket without a full reprice. If the same fare isn’t available to your final destination it will be invalid and won’t ticket. Fares are filed to a specific destination (or set of destinations), unless marked otherwise.

TravelNew

Are you hoping to maximise the last day skiing? If so what’s your preferred routing?

corporate-wage-slave

Usually buying things early is a bad idea, we are moving into a buyers' market and fares are generally highest at this point in the cycle. But regardless of that, you may be able to amend the booking to add (e.g.) a BA codeshare on AS, if that becomes available, currently there is no change fee, but that is bound to change at some point. AS is also in a stage of transition, maybe we will see more codeshares, for example, but I think it will take a few months of normal operations before we see the end result. If you buy something now, you best assume you will be stuck with it, and perhaps have limited ability to change things.

Basically I don't think this is a good idea. You are best to monitor fares in the 6 weeks to 6 months area.

aahjnnot

Thanks, corporate-wage-slave. First class return to Seattle at Ł1,692 is probably unlikely to drop much further, though? I know that times aren't exactly normal, but, in recent years, I've found that the best BA prices for the ski season in North American have tended to be in the first sale where the flights have opened.

Often1

I would look at this in November. Any schedule today is purely notional and aircraft, timing, whether there will be F and so on are all iffy at best.

Particularly given your destination, it may be that you are not looking at a BA fare construction at all and may want to consider other carriers, particularly if the connections become awful. While you will have BA rebooking flexibility, that won't include DL or UA combinations, both of which may suit better for a BZN destination next year.

corporate-wage-slave

I very much doubt Seattle will stay a First route, that has to be A350 territory. If things change, then BA will be fighting with the competition to get passengers and cashflow. Margins will be secondary at that point.

mikeyfly

That’s a great price, I’d secure with the minimum deposit as a booking (probably Ł400ish for two) and have something to look forward to. Buy the internal flight nearer the time

Dave Noble

BA doesn;t seem to be the best option to BZN from what I can see ; UA has some decent journey times via Denver and American has decent journey times via DFW
Both are offering GBP1567 r/t in business class for LHR-BZN in December and don't seem to be special fares

It would seem better to wait until the booking period opens for these airlines rather than book to somewhere that you dont want to go to and then gamble on domestic add on fares later. If you can get a BA fare to BZN, it will be repriced to fares available on the date of making the change, so locking in a price to Seattle doesn't seem that worthwhile if wanting the journey on a through booking

Confus

Yes, indeed, make all the Boeing execs travel on a far superior aircraft. Who knows, maybe they’ll even take a few of the design features back with them

DelTroon

"Usually buying things early is a bad idea": interested to hear if you think this is the same for booking BA Holidays?

corporate-wage-slave

I am not aware of research in that specific area, but BAH bookings are effectively a fusion of either flight + hotel or flight + car hire (on the whole). The flight aspect is of course subject to the general cycle of fares, typically cheapest at 6 weeks when buyers have most power, and most expensive at 330 or 355 days, when sellers have most power. Hotels have their own cycle but as a personal anecdote, hotels too can be cheaper when they are desperate to drum up trade and consumers have many options - typically close in, unless it is (e.g.) Milan or Geneva during one of their cycle of big events. You're not going to get a cheap room at 48 hours during Fashion Week. Car hire I suspect is less prone to variation. A lot will depend on the specific location and local factors, for example the USA vacation period is different to the UK, and England has a different timetable to Scotland in summer.