Easiest way to find "I" buckets
 

Hi all, i have my very first GUF and have a 241 Amex alongside it which expires in May 22. Ideally i would love to do a Business to First but I also want to get back to Vegas next year now that the borders are opening up and space really is limited and of course no 1st.

I thought the best way to do it was to do PEC on the 241 and then use the GUF to Business.

I called BA as i wasnt aware of the exact rules and at first she told me there had to be Avios redemption availability in Business to use the GUF but from reading on here i now see its NOT that but its the fact there needs to be I fare availability.

I tried to have a look on Expert Flyer but only have the free package and im not sure if i need Basic or Premium.....but im also hoping there may be a better tool to identify any 12-17 day return I fares for Vegas in April or May and i would even consider doing LAX for one of those inbound/outbound assuming you can do that and still use GUF.

Any pointers would be super appreciated.

Depends when your 241 was issued and which BA AMEX card type you have

It used to be the case that there had to be reward availability for GUF but now it can just be revenue availability in the desired class, if you do it at the time of booking. You might want to try another agent. Clearly, if you book the reward flight first, with the intention of upgrading later, there would have to be reward availability initially in the lower class.

If you want to get First (for which you would need A class availability), I guess you could book 241 to LAX and then a separate connection to LAS. Otherwise, as you say, use avios for PE and upgrade to club for direct LAS, which in club suites on a 350 is as good as F seat-wise.

I think a basic ExpertFlyer subscription would work, it includes class availability but is limited to 250 searches a month. I can see more A class availability to LAX, than I class to LAS.

You can search using ITA Matrix.

Enter F BC=I in the advanced code for the leg you're interested in, and be flexible on dates.

This would be a game changer but I have tried and its giving me a message re bad route.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...38e5679d9d.jpg

it was issued pre covid and extended to end of May 22. Its the black card which I think is Premium Plus. Got 241 at 10k spend.

Because it's in the wrong box, enter one over to the right.

But also, as per my initial response, if you earned the voucher before 1st September 2021 then the agent is correct, you would need Avios availability to book. It's unclear when your voucher was earned and on which BA AMEX card type, each of which changes redemption potential.

Ah...then yeah this will also be an issue. Both were earned before 1/9/21. My interpretation was that the rule change mattered when booking it rather than when it was earned.

If that rules me out of using the GUF on I fare then unlikely be able to use it as Business redemption are few and far between..

Thanks for this and to the initial responder. Much appreciated.

and when you click on the ? mark, it gives you all the search criteria and examples you can use.

Does the 1 Sep change makes any difference here? The GUF is the issue surely, and it only requires A/I availability. As per the wiki (although not the posts further down) here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ki-thread.html

Indeed. Regardless of what variant of 241 you have, using a GUF has been possible with I and A class for a few years now.

I thought the new companion voucher only works with "I", not "A". So you can only use it for First, if there is dedicated First reward space.

Not really - the 'new' voucher allows access to additional I class seats, in addition to the normal reward space.

However, this is not a 241 problem - this is a Gold Upgrade issue - and about which class needs to available where, to upgrade into. The 241 does affects the problem slightly, as you couldn't book LHR-LAX-LAS with a 241 as that has to be on BA metal only, hence the 2-ticket comment.