mikesinla

Just a question (no flame necessary, thanks).
Today I ordered a 2 RT F class LAX LHR awards. I was able to confirm F on the return, but on the outbound only one seat was avail , so I booked CW. (I actually like my girlfriend -this one, the others I sent back while I enjoyed the fruits while they cried)
Back to topic, I asked if I was eligible to still fly F if it became avail, and the agent said sure, but that will be another 50.00 each and I must do it on the phone so BAEC could set it up for reissue since the airport doesn't know how or have the time.
So the obvious question is, why the reissue?
The fare basis( what ever the code for 100,000 miles) must be for F award even though the class booked is CW.
Why wouldn't the ATO just have to drive a F boarding pass since the ticket is in place, no redeposit necessary?
Anyone else experience this?
Thank you for your time.

whmere

mikesinla I think its because it isn't, in fact, booked into F. You can only book that fare code if there is inventory. You'll probably find when the tix show up that you're booked in Z and U (?) (F award & J award) and that your account has been debited appropriately.

The reissue is because they'd have to cancel out your first booking in U and replace it with a new one in Z: so its a new ticket not just a mod to the existing.

mikesinla

Hi,
thanks for your reply.
I just checked, they took 100,000 x 2 .
(2 F awards)
any opinion?
Now, I know 50.00 x 2 is not that much to pay for the diff between CW and First.
I am just getting at the question of a fee being charged in no reissue of award is really being done.
Mike

whmere

Hmmm. Maybe you're falling foul of the 'round-trip-only' rule: ie you can't book a one-way award ticket (only upgrades). Therefore they are booking you a round-trip F and just placing you in J inventory on the return.

IMHO if they were doing this, I think they should credit back 20k miles (ie the 1-way downgrade to J).

If I were you, I'd tinker around with dates etc to confirm F both ways. You won't be able to book at these miles prices for much longer so I'd try and make the most of it, even if it means taking another day off or something.

bagold

Here is what I would do but it may be too late.

Book your outbound ticket on a date that has F award. Issue the ticket. Now you have the paper ticket with the 'Z' class on it.

Call back and change it to the date you want and book it in business class as there are no F award seats. When you check in, they will revalidate your ticket at that time. Using a 'Z' class ticket for a 'U' class flight shouldn't be a problem and then if there is a F seat available on check-in, you already have the 'Z' class coupon.

Hope that makes sense.

mikesinla

That makes perfect sense

Gaza

I'm sure the rules say that a round trip ticket in mixed class is debited the miles for the highest class booked. I had a similar experience a few years ago with a EDI-LHR-BCN R/T. On the return there was no Club was available so I booked Club out and Y back. The agent quoted me the miles based on this. A couple of weeks later I noticed they had debited me for Club both ways. I called and was told this was in the rules. After a bit if dicussion they agreed to refund the excess miles.

Later when I queried this on FT Merry suggested that if I encountered a similar problem in furture that I book it as two single journeys, which under UK EC rules I can do. I'm not sure if you can do something similar under the current US NA rules.

mikesinla

thank you for the advice.
tickets came today. the fare basis was the 100,000 code. To my horror, my companion's name was missing a letter (in the middle of the surname) I cetainly hope this doesn't cast a dark cloud on my future with her.
So I inquired as to the availibity of F on LAX to LHR (from CW)
The wonderful BAEC agent said YES, but on the 850p flight, not the 540p.
I took it, said nothing about the 50.00 and she informed me that on the day of departure all I had to do was go to the airport, and they would sticker/revalidate the ticket and she was documenting record to reflect this. No 50.00 fee per tkt. Sounds great to me.
However, after reading the FT boards about how many people have gotten into trouble when BA said they documented the record and the pax shows up and there is nothing there I start to sweat.
Anybody?

again, thank you for the advice and have a great weekend.

Mike

mikesinla

Oh, and one more small question.
Does Pucci ever work the LAX LHR F hairbrush special?

whmere

mikesinla there's no $50 reissue fee as it isnt a reissue, its a revalidation (simple date change) of the same ticket.

If you want to be sure of your booking, call them up again and ask them to confirm your booking details over the phone. Also, if you booked it with your FF number, you should be able to see it on BA.com under the my bookings heading. Finally, use OLCI 24 hours out just to be sure (and giving yourself 24 hours to fix any snafus).

I'm glad you switched times and got F both ways, enjoy!

bagold

I think the question is because you have a 'U' class coupon and now traveling in 'Z' class do you need to reissue or revalidate?

I personally think (could be wrong) that it should be reissued in the proper fare class, however, I have had situations where the booking is documented and I showed up at the airport with different coupons (was suppose to fly BOS-LHR in Z, flight was cancelled, and ended up flying SEA-LHR and was booked in F because they didn't have Z class for that day even though coupon stated BOS-LHR in Z) and the check-in agent did say anything. I assume it is because the agent clearly documented my reservation.

I would recommend calling back and checking with another agent that it is clearly documented.

[This message has been edited by bagold (edited 05-24-2003).]