Flying Yazata

Good point.

Wrong, the schedule has it until 7 Aug 2022, which is currently EOS for GDS data.

ISTFlyer

Could I please ask you to show an example bookable date?
A screenshot would be more helpful.

BA.com and ITA Matrix does not show any BA flight to/from SOF on Tuesdays & Thursdays for S22.

Nephoi

i corrected that for you

Flying Yazata

Like I mentioned, it's in the schedule. However it doesn't show up currently as an available flight for booking on those days and thus ITA Matrix won't find it. So there may also be just an EOS coding in the schedule data, despite it's not going to be operated. Or then COVID-19 is considered easing and they're in the process of opening it to booking. I always recommend DYOR, but I consider the timetable search the best one to spot upcoming e.g. route changes, when used in tandem with availability.

Nephoi

but obviously not bookable! i could not care less if its "in the schedule" or not. they only two questions that are important for me is a) is it bookable b) does it operated once it is booked. we have to make planes in the next three weeks - considered that ppl want to book asap. if its bookable by then, its an option. otherwise - its not. they might plan to do so - but as it stands today, im on the "is not operating" side of the argument.

also - without being pedantic - ISTFlyer statement isnt "wrong" - for all a) we know and b) BA wants us to know, BA doesnt operate SOF-LHR on Tuesdays and Thursdays. otherwise the would let us buy tickets for that flights. from my point of view there is absolutely no point in operating 2 out of 7 flights a week without PAX.

Flying Yazata

Indeed, but I didn't try to suggest it's right now available for bookings. All I was saying, was a mere reference to the fact it's not entirely ruled out that the flight operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Thus it's something good to notice, since it may become available at some point and also provide options for participants. Just a detail one may want to keep an eye on. No need to implode or something along those lines, if somebody is just merely providing information.

No worries, I've already drawn conclusions of my own, based on your tone. I won't come up with any further ideas/suggestions/comments regarding the DO plans, since I draw your ire obviously.

Nephoi

please dont get me wrong.
the operations on Tuesdays and Thursdays would help us alot in the planning and i would love to seem them operate. but as of today, they (most likely?) wont. and i dont see your "wrong" as true as you do. thats all. and we can not consider "maybes" or some kind of background entries in a system. we have to deal with whats bookable. No reason to feel offended or to withhold insight/knowledge/suggestions. it wasnt my intention to offend you or show any kind or ire.

ISTFlyer

So thank you Flying Yazata for sharing the Expertflyer timetable option, never aware of it.
Those flights might be available at some point as you mentioned and I think that BA are holding those slots for a reason in case of increased demand.
As our main concern is availability when planning the schedule, we would probably stick with Wednesday's at the moment; however, we might also think about Tuesday and Thursday flights if it gets active.

I personally appreciate your help and suggestions and it's nice hearing from you.

**************

By the way, I am sorry from the community for the delay on our major update that was planned to be published last weekend. We are both still working on scheduling events and we are still inside multiple e-mail conversations so that we could make the maximum out of community organized events.

However, we are looking suggestions in addition to the potential Alaska HQ Tour and the Boeing Tour within the Seattle Area. We are hoping that you have suggestions for the organizing committee so we could add them to our schedule. Feel free to share them below in the thread.

As a reminder that the poll would close on 15 August 2021 23:59 ( GMT +3 ) so if you haven't got your suggestions recorded, please fill out the form or send me a PM regarding your personal preferences.

Flying Yazata

I meant the opposite, chap. And no, I wasn't angry at you. It's all fine and dandy, especially as we've now cleared up this unfortunate misunderstanding. I do agree my one word sentence may have looked abrupt (my fault, pardon me), since I was meant to mean, that as a matter of fact it's not all set that Tue and Thu aren't possibly materialising.

Indeed, which is why I wanted to communicate that, since originally I thought the two of you had probably noticed them, since the two of you seem to work so thoroughly with the planning, which is indeed very admirable as an effort for the FT BAEC community.

The root cause for your planning woes is that SOF is the hardest of the 80 TP destinations in that corner of Europe to get enough FT'ers into the Club Europe cabin with BA, since it has been a once daily flight and not even daily at all times. IST, ATH and LCA would've been easier, but we of course know this has to do with ex-SOF faring. Thus, we just need to adjust accordingly. And which is also why I thought it's better to mention it, since it would indeed help you in the planning.

BA, may we have some ex-AYT flash sale soon? And we wouldn't mind it including the states of HI and AK, please.

(I know it's outside the scope of the TATL JV, so it's up to BA actually. AYT would be a perfect, economic starting point and differ from the usual old SOF, OTP, MAD, PAR, BUD, AMS, DUB and BER options.)

Last, but not least: in case BLADE is something that interests enough participants, I can volunteer to communicate with them for a quote, when the time comes. I see that as just a transportation alternative for NYC, which I doubt should cause any major planning issues. That's of course depending on the DO schedule and such for my participation, but happy to take care of that enquiry, if it looks like it would be worth it. We just need to have some date and passenger number by then.

Nephoi

with the difficulty of english not being the native language for one/two of us and the complete lack of tone and mimic it is way harder to understand that, than one might think. your sentence appeared way harsher than intended to me. everything is fine on my end

ISTFlyer

I really hope there is an ex-AYT sale in the future

BA is unfortunately not known for sales out of Turkey, we had a $1800 r/t to GRU once in CW when LATAM was still in the alliance ( IST-LHR-GIG-GRU was permitted ) but could not benefit from it. Also I recall a $1900 SJC but that had a BA marketed flight only requirement.


Then, we'll be reaching when you via PM when the poll is over and the schedules are confirmed.
At the moment for the first DO, we are in communication with the TWA Hotel ( the events team does not work every day ) so nothing is yet precise.

Nephoi

Dear Crowd, after some emails with TWA, I can tell you the following:

- we wont book a group rate at the TWA. ISTflyer and I, we would have to garantee for 90% of the reserved rooms. In the worst case, we would reserve 50 rooms and only 30 ppl would attend.Then we would have to pay for the difference - e.g. 15 rooms. We wont do that.
- what we can do is to book the Connie (https://www.twahotel.com/connie-airp...ocktail-lounge ) for a 2 hrs period in the afternoon/evening hours.

for the case of being in NYC (not sure yet, depends on the poll!) :
1. everybody would be booking a room on his/her own - either in the TWA or somewhere else. there would be cheaper options for those who might have to save some $$$
2. we could have a get together at the connies in the afternoon/evening hrs.
3. everyone could go to the pool afterwards on a pay for your own basis. (if you stay at the TWA)
4. The Connies costs 3500 plus fees plus Tax for the reservation. and 35 Dollars for open bar pp. The only option I see is, that I book it on our behalf. Once I got the numbers of attendees, I calculate the exact amount everyone should be paying. (3500+F+T div by number of ppl + 35+F+T per Person). and I tell you that amount and the number of ppl joining after the survey. With that number in mind, I would contact the TWA to put this booking on hold for 14 days. Once everything would be sorted out and posted, you'd have 8 days to pay me that amount over paypal. When everyone paid, I'd confirm the Connies, if a significant amount is missing, I'd send you the money back and cancel the plans. If others are joining later in the year, i'd collect additional money. after i made a final invoice i'd return money that was overpaid (cause everybody joining later would reduce youre share on the 3500+F+T). if you have to cancel, you only get back what we get back from TWA. consider it basically non-refundable. if someone else wants your seat, you can sell your seat. I know, this isnt the best solution but I dont see any other possibility to get at least a little get together in the TWA.

Please tell me what you think about that. or if that changes your opinion of staying at the TWA or NYC or if you see other options/possibilities of organizing the Connies.

Also as a friendly reminder: the poll ends Sunday night.

Geordie405

The bigger question is whether Connie's wine and champagne list meets with everyone's approval. This is FT after all

I definitely agree with your decision regarding the rooms at the TWA. Unfortunately large group bookings tend to come with that stipulation and while it's fine for large corporate events it doesn't work for this type of scenario. You made the right call there!

For Connie the alternative to booking a private event would be simply that people turn up on a walk-in basis, but that assumes (a) there isn't another private booking that clashes and (b) we can all get in as occupancy limits do apply.

The $35 per person open bar is a good deal in my view. I wonder if they know what they are letting themselves in for?

ISTFlyer

Just to let you know that champagne, spirits, digestives, cocktails are not included in the $35 open bar fee.
Unlimited beer, wine, prosecco and a signature drink would be included in the fee. The rest is extra.

Also, we would have a 2 hour limit.

Reetmafreen

I’m wondering how the issue of which Gold gets to sit in 1A on the Connie is going to be resolved! 🤭