shark67

I have just noticed this on BA' Speedbird Club:

Feeders for Club World and First class

On 15 June we will be changing the European feeders on shorthaul to only permit bookings in J class (currently J,C,D,I can be used). The change applies to Club World and First class, not to Round-the-world fares.

In order to reserve the feeder in the correct class, please see the summary below :

First F, A: feeder J
Club World J, C, D, I : feeder J
World Traveller Plus W, T: feeder Y
World Traveller B,L,M,K,H,S,O: feeder same as longhaul sector
Longhaul Specials Q: feeder S


I am not an expert, therefore I would like to ask you: is this good or bad news for somebody (like me) who starts ex-EU?

Thanks!

shark67

BAHumbug

I'm not an expert either but I interpret this as meaning (for Club) the shorthaul sector must be in J (rather than I) which to me equates to a much more expensive ticket.

Failing that the other conceivable change is that the price remains the same but the short-haul sector automatically becomes J-class even though it's at I-class cost.

I know where my bet's going, and I bet BA are doing it deliberately...

BAH

xxxxx

This will be good for ex-EU. It just means that where previously, you needed I to link with I, you can now use J to link with l/haul I. The fares will not change.

MACH81

And am I correct in thinking that it would be easier as I is more likely not to be there on short notice, while J will be there unless the flight is highly oversold in J?

Bukhara

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edi-traveller

Should we be surprised by anything that BA do these days? There must be cost to be cut in doing this. Or perhaps the meeting that decided this were having a few left over bottles of that German Sparkling Horse Wee.

Rambuster

Good news I think as availability will be much higher in J for these feeders. I guess BA was limiting their long haul sales when for example the longhaul segment was open in D class but the D class feeder was not available.

Prospero

Question is will BA.com follow this methodology when constructing ex EU fares?

Similar rules also apply to ex. regional UK bookings. TA and BA telesales will book the I/D/C/J class feeder into J but due to the unique way BA.com is programmed we invariably find the feeders booked into K, Q, N, V or even E (Staff travel?)

Anyway, as Bukhara stated above, the customer will see no difference.

Smirnoff

This is excellent news. It means we will be able to construct ex-Eur trips, doing the first Eur-LHR leg at peak times (when I class is sold out) OR 11 months out (when I class has often not been released).

It will also make the fares more consistent. At the moment, an I class to SIN books in J on the FCO-LHR leg, whereas an I class to HKG books in I on the FCO-LHR leg.

Swanhunter

As noted by others, this is a good thing. It will make last minute changes of plan much easier to sort out.

frankvb

Excellent news for me as for my regular ex-EU bookings I class on the feeder flights usually sells out long before I class on the long-haul.

sdorling

Well, thus far things don't bode well. I am trying to book DUS-LHR,LGW-TPA returning YYZ-LHR,LGW-GVA.

ITA shows a fare of ~£1400, and AA.co.uk replicates this - but when it comes to the final page where you enter your e-mail for the e-ticket the website returns an error. BA.com gives a fare of ~6000 euros.

Phoned BA customer services to book, and the best fare they could offer was the dates and itinerary I am after but with the final leg (LGW-GVA) booking into full J bumping the cost upto £2000.

Now, i'm well aware that both ITA and EF show availability for the US and that they are not neccessarily 100% accurate but the flight looks to be wide open - J9, D9, C9 etc... additionally BA.com will let me book LGW-GVA-LGW all-in for ~£190 which sounds like I-class.

So, if I can book an I-class return seperately why cant the BA agent access I-class for the last leg on my itinerary?

I don't mind having to do a little work to get a better price - seems fair enough albeit this one is proving to be a bit of a PITA.

I think this whole J-class feeder policy is looking likely to push the pricing up to beyond a worthwhile level - at least for me!

Also, on a seperate note does anyone have any anecdotal evidence of U-class seats opening up close to departure for LGW-TPA in August? paging krug

I could do a turnaround in AMS on the morning of my departure to TPA which would be far more convenient and 'slum it' to TPA in WT+, if an award seat opens up then happy days, if not its a day flight and no problems. Leaves another £300 for drinks....!

Moomba

Use AA.com, use the multi city option and put in each segment separately and choose the None option in No. of Connections (otherwise it will try and route you on AA to the US).

£1554 tax inc.

sdorling

Quick update:

Spoke to AA web team who were exceptionally helpful. Problem is caused by AA not having live access to partner airlines' fares. Potentially they could be sold out by the time the booking is made so the website automatically creates an error.

Helpful chap put the itinerary together manually and came back with an all-in cost of £1305 including getting me on a far more pleasant Saturday morning LHR-GVA flight as opposed to a late night LGW-GVA flight.

^ AA. If only BA could do the same......!

frankvb

Not sure if that was the problem, but one time I booked on aa.com it was a bit temperamental about the post code. Booking went all the way, but was rejected at the last moment. If I remember correctly, the post code needed to be entered without a space in the middle...

Greetings from the HEL Finnair long-haul lounge where I am just starting an ex-HEL trip. Flying my first FIRST (MFU) to YYC tomorrow However starting with a one-hour delay on the BA799 which will be packed.