Neil Scrivener

Hi Guys,

Here's a question for you Matrix Wizards...

Just had some great fares on ITA Matrix, in I Class. Used PowerTools to take me to the BA website - and it's changed a couple to J and of course price is now twice as much! Sneaky move!

I've updated ITA to show I Class fares on BA only. Still getting the right numbers - but BA is automatically changing the fare basis over to J again.

Is there anything that can be done - or is a call to BA to specify the fare basis?

RichieMc

Powertools only ever worked for me on BA when it’s six sectors or less with all BA flight numbers. I think your best options are to either a.) call BA and give them the flight numbers line by line, or b.) use powertools and click through to the AA link. If choosing b.) and it doesn’t work you can try a few things: clicking on the Europe/Asia AA link. Or failing that try going back to Matrix to choose AA itineraries.

There are some compromises and trade offs when booking with AA vs BA.

EDIT: Ive made the assumption that these are Europe to US itineraries.

Neil Scrivener

Alas, I very specifically wanted to book with BA because I have vouchers I needed to use!

The very helpful lady on the Gold Line (after 1hr of waiting) found that BA's system was also pushing through BA's J fares, when Matrix was giving I.....but in the end we did DUB -> PHL -> LAS -> JFK -> LHR -> DUB for just over £1,300. Would have been less booking with AA - but never mind!

It's become an issue for me searching ITA for only BA ticketed flights - when often AA offer cheaper ones, etc. Good news is vouchers are spent! So that takes me to the free market next time!

RG1X

I'm struggling to decide between doing a TPR for speed, and doing a little double points holiday for value. I do enjoy the whole plane / lounge hopping thing but I'm just not seeing the deals I used to so the £ per TP seems better on the holiday stuff.

c1223

Any tips on trying to find a TP run? I need to be in SMF on 3rd June. Can leave from the UK (to position anywhere - plenty of Avios etc) on 1st June. Is it possible to find one of these on a one-way ticket?

mmxbreaks

But when your flight is cancelled you'll be unable to reach Holidays team for days. Standard BA line can't handle their itineraries.
And then the double TPs won't post in correct time frame and you'll have to follow up repeatedly for weeks.
That was my experience and I won't ever use Holidays again.
Booked two standard runs instead, some of which have changed several times since (even a LHR-JFK cancellation!), but I've been able to contact and adjust on the phone.

mmxbreaks

There'll be nothing cheap this close to departure and SMF is rarely on the radar.
Try searching from CDG, AMS, BCN, ARN, INV, DUB, MAD.
That already cuts two thirds off the London rate.
Adjust arrival airport to a major like LAX or SFO instead to see if that helps.
But time is your enemy here, unless you have a pretty generous budget anyway.

Fossiebear

Not sure if already covered in this thread but this fare creates some interesting opportunities for US based Exec Club members or as an add on to an Ex-EU to US TP run:

AA/G3: JFK to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia from $1212

Best deal I could see was LAS-LAX-MIA-GRU-VVI roundtrip for 965 GBP (at current dire FX rates). LAX-MIA and MIA-GRU on lie flats. 640 TP. Not the easiest to search but all the info is in the link.

The thread refers similar prices from HNL but I could only see in the 1400 GBP range

RG1X

Yeah, those are all very good points, and I'm factoring them too.

I certainly wouldn't be doing a holidays trip that I needed the points from within a couple of months.

Smid

I've come up with my near perfect TP holiday for BUD to HNL near christmas, and realise now it's much harder to book. Book with matrix website did get me through to an AA website with about the right price in US dollars, but said some of the flights had changed class and I had no way to see what the itinerary I was booking was at this point (plus not sure of book with confidence on AA, and would prefer to book in UK pounds). I've never used Priceline or Onetravel before (and both seemed to fail to provide even close to the itinerary). Book with matrix the extension only said: "BookWithMatrix can only work with the final results pages. Click on the price to view the final "Itinerary details" page before using it!", when I'm on the final itinerary page. Does it not work with the new matrix?

I'd ideally prefer to book with BA, but I'm not sure if I went through the faff of seeing if I can through on the phone, whether they'd even provide the price on the matrix.

Suggestions anyone? I think I've phoned up BA and booked such things successfully before, but wary of their post-covid phone line.

ceej123

If you have an Amex card you could try to book with Amex Travel - It will be priced in GBP...I actually booked a BUD-HNL fare through them a week ago successfully. Alternatively Propeller Travel have been mentioned on here before and should be able to book no problem with just a copy and paste of your matrix itinerary.

ISTFlyer

As another reminder, Book with Confidence would not apply if your original booking is not completed by September 30, 2022 unless there are further extensions into the policy.
If you would like to book with AA in GBP, you could specify the sales city in ITA Matrix as London, UK and change the currency option to GBP and then use Powertools to the AA UK website which would charge you in GBP.

Flyer1508

Hi All,

Does anyone know of any current TP runs from JFK domestically?

sondra_finchley

This. We've used the Avios stash to reduce the cost of some "speed" based tier point runs lately because I refuse to have to deal with Holidays until the phone situation is sorted. I also don't trust that in the end we will get what we are due, especially as it seems redemption times keep extending from when we first used the double avios deal last year.

Right now with the state of BA you need to consider your sanity as part of the booking equation. Eliminate a major stressor (Holidays, anything requiring a phone call) and consider other value alternatives for TPs (e.g. other carriers, ex-Scandi starts, etc). BAEC is merely a vehicle at this point, I have (mostly) loyalty to that but not the actual airline. Waiting for a good Star A match offer to come along!

Panix

Hey, does anyone have a tip for a Tierpoint-Run from Zero to BA Silver ex-Europe to NYC (alternatively MIA/ORD). Outgoing 10-12 June, Incoming 17-19 June.