[PREM FARE GONE] Ba/aa cai-lhr-lax-hnl (840 tp)= us$1556
Oct 17, 2017, 2:55 am
#751
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Plymouth, UK
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 1,159
I was hoping to get one of these CAI-HNL before they pulled it... I think I was actually researching at the very minute they pulled it... One minute it was there then it wasn't... I thought I had got my search wrong but after about 15 mins of frantic searching I gave up.
Oct 17, 2017, 3:17 am
#752
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: WAW ✈ LHR ✈ GLA
Programs: BA GfL/GGL/CCR, HH Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,498
Oct 17, 2017, 12:10 pm
#753
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC GGL, BA Amex PP
Posts: 1,051
I wrote something similar to this on another thread when the transcon booking into A class anomaly was corrected last month and 3 weeks later the final nail has come. I'm really grateful for the existence of threads like this which gets the balance right between providing help, using plain English/coding and the amount of groundwork a member needs to do by themselves to understand how to price and book the fare.
However I'm pretty sure that the constant rebumping of this thread to the top with lazy spoon-feeding requests/ "I just can't do it"/"Link please" by a horde (usually with historic post counts between 1 and 10) unwilling to do any work whatsoever has lavished unwanted attention on the fare and killed it. Since the thread starting in March, there were 15 pages by September, that number tripling in just the last 6 weeks.
I can't say for sure how the telephoning BA impacted it but based on my experience of BAEC taking an hour to just process a date change on one of these, I can imagine the complexity to the average BA employee of booking one whole itinerary ends up involving at least 3 agents. Then the frequency of such calls ramping up until the whole office is complaining about Honolulu to an eventual "Erm.....hang on a sec....".
However the alternatives to calling are limited - there are friendly agent types here who can create the route in the system and then you phone and pay or you can use ITA powertools inputting the route into to priceline who you then pay (can't UuA this way though unless all BA flights), I've used both these methods. The airline websites usually failed for me.
The message with these routings is read, do some work and book it while you can and don't encourage the begging as mentioned above, the info was certainly here and sufficiently detailed when the thread was much smaller. A post a few pages earlier comes to mind where someone was asking about the expectation of this fare being pulled and that he/she didn't want to book until much nearer the time....aaaand what happens a few days later?! I can't be angry - this is the internet after all, I got two trips booked out of this and very happy and thankful for the info, just hope everyone else enjoys theirs and those who missed out will get another similar in future.
However I'm pretty sure that the constant rebumping of this thread to the top with lazy spoon-feeding requests/ "I just can't do it"/"Link please" by a horde (usually with historic post counts between 1 and 10) unwilling to do any work whatsoever has lavished unwanted attention on the fare and killed it. Since the thread starting in March, there were 15 pages by September, that number tripling in just the last 6 weeks.
I can't say for sure how the telephoning BA impacted it but based on my experience of BAEC taking an hour to just process a date change on one of these, I can imagine the complexity to the average BA employee of booking one whole itinerary ends up involving at least 3 agents. Then the frequency of such calls ramping up until the whole office is complaining about Honolulu to an eventual "Erm.....hang on a sec....".
However the alternatives to calling are limited - there are friendly agent types here who can create the route in the system and then you phone and pay or you can use ITA powertools inputting the route into to priceline who you then pay (can't UuA this way though unless all BA flights), I've used both these methods. The airline websites usually failed for me.
The message with these routings is read, do some work and book it while you can and don't encourage the begging as mentioned above, the info was certainly here and sufficiently detailed when the thread was much smaller. A post a few pages earlier comes to mind where someone was asking about the expectation of this fare being pulled and that he/she didn't want to book until much nearer the time....aaaand what happens a few days later?! I can't be angry - this is the internet after all, I got two trips booked out of this and very happy and thankful for the info, just hope everyone else enjoys theirs and those who missed out will get another similar in future.
Oct 18, 2017, 10:36 am
#755
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: PNW
Programs: AS 100K
Posts: 1,548
just to make sure i understand the refund policy on this fare (I fare code)...ita fares rules are below. What i get from it is that if I cancel before flying any leg, I would only be charged 350egp to get a full refund, is that correct?
CANCELLATIONS
ANY TIME
CHARGE EGP 350.00.
NOTE -
CHARGES APPLY PER FARE COMPONENT IF THE REFUND IS
REQUESTED BEFORE THE TICKETED DEPARTURE TIME OF
THE FIRST UNFLOWN COUPON WITHIN THE FARE
COMPONENT.
---------------------------------------------
CHARGE ALL PASSENGER TYPES EXCEPT INFANTS WITHOUT
A SEAT.
----------------------------------------------
WAIVED FOR DEATH OF A PASSENGER AND PASSENGERS
TRAVELLING COMPANIONS.
--------------------------------------------
REFUND PERMITTED WITHIN TICKET VALIDITY.
---------------------------------------------
WHEN COMBINING NON-REFUNDABLE FARES WITH
REFUNDABLE FARES
1. THE AMOUNT PAID ON EACH REFUNDABLE FARE
COMPONENT IS REFUNDED.
2. THE AMOUNT PAID ON EACH NON-REFUNDABLE FARE
COMPONENT WILL NOT BE REFUNDED.
3. WHEN COMBINING FARES CHARGE THE SUM OF THE
CANCELLATION FEES OF ALL CANCELLED FARE
COMPONENTS.
----------------------------------------------
REFUND OF UNUSED TAXES FEES AND CHARGES PAID TO
THIRD PARTIES PERMITTED. ASSOCIATED CARRIER
IMPOSED CHARGES ARE REFUNDABLE.
-----------------------------------------------
ANY NON-REFUNDABLE AMOUNT FROM A PREVIOUS TICKET
REMAINS NON-REFUNDABLE FOLLOWING A CHANGE.
----------------------------------------------
TICKET IS NOT TRANSFERABLE TO ANOTHER PERSON.
-----------------------------------------------
PARTIALLY USED TICKETS - REFUND THE DIFFERENCE -
IF ANY - BETWEEN THE FARE PAID AND THE FARE FOR
THE JOURNEY TRAVELLED.
------CANCELLATION REPRICING CONDITIONS-----
FLOWN COUPONS MUST BE REPRICED USING HISTORICAL
FARES IN EFFECT ON THE PREVIOUS TICKETING DATE.
THE FARE FOR THE JOURNEY TRAVELLED MUST BE CAPPED
AT THE TOTAL FARE AMOUNT PLUS CARRIER IMPOSED
CHARGE PAID ON THE TICKET BEING PRESENTED FOR
REFUND.
FULLY FLOWN FARE COMPONENTS MAY BE REPRICED USING
ANY BOOKING CODE WITHIN THE SAME CABIN PROVIDED
THE NEW FARE AMOUNT IS EQUAL OR HIGHER THAN
ORIGINAL.
PARTIALLY FLOWN FARE COMPONENTS MUST BE REPRICED
USING THE SAME OR HIGHER BOOKING CODE.
----------------------------------------------
FULL REFUND PERMITTED BEFORE DEPARTURE IN CASE OF
REJECTION OF VISA. EMBASSY STATEMENT REQUIRED
CHARGE EGP 1000.00 FOR NO-SHOW.
NOTE -
NO-SHOW FEE APPLIES IF THE FARE COMPONENT IS
REFUNDED AFTER THE TICKETED DEPARTURE TIME OF
THE FIRST UNFLOWN COUPON WITHIN THE FARE
COMPONENT.
----------------------------------------------
CHARGE ALL PASSENGER TYPES EXCEPT INFANTS WITHOUT
A SEAT.
----------------------------------------
ALL OTHER CANCELLATION CONDITIONS AS PER BEFORE
TICKETED DEPARTURE TIME.
CANCELLATIONS
ANY TIME
CHARGE EGP 350.00.
NOTE -
CHARGES APPLY PER FARE COMPONENT IF THE REFUND IS
REQUESTED BEFORE THE TICKETED DEPARTURE TIME OF
THE FIRST UNFLOWN COUPON WITHIN THE FARE
COMPONENT.
---------------------------------------------
CHARGE ALL PASSENGER TYPES EXCEPT INFANTS WITHOUT
A SEAT.
----------------------------------------------
WAIVED FOR DEATH OF A PASSENGER AND PASSENGERS
TRAVELLING COMPANIONS.
--------------------------------------------
REFUND PERMITTED WITHIN TICKET VALIDITY.
---------------------------------------------
WHEN COMBINING NON-REFUNDABLE FARES WITH
REFUNDABLE FARES
1. THE AMOUNT PAID ON EACH REFUNDABLE FARE
COMPONENT IS REFUNDED.
2. THE AMOUNT PAID ON EACH NON-REFUNDABLE FARE
COMPONENT WILL NOT BE REFUNDED.
3. WHEN COMBINING FARES CHARGE THE SUM OF THE
CANCELLATION FEES OF ALL CANCELLED FARE
COMPONENTS.
----------------------------------------------
REFUND OF UNUSED TAXES FEES AND CHARGES PAID TO
THIRD PARTIES PERMITTED. ASSOCIATED CARRIER
IMPOSED CHARGES ARE REFUNDABLE.
-----------------------------------------------
ANY NON-REFUNDABLE AMOUNT FROM A PREVIOUS TICKET
REMAINS NON-REFUNDABLE FOLLOWING A CHANGE.
----------------------------------------------
TICKET IS NOT TRANSFERABLE TO ANOTHER PERSON.
-----------------------------------------------
PARTIALLY USED TICKETS - REFUND THE DIFFERENCE -
IF ANY - BETWEEN THE FARE PAID AND THE FARE FOR
THE JOURNEY TRAVELLED.
------CANCELLATION REPRICING CONDITIONS-----
FLOWN COUPONS MUST BE REPRICED USING HISTORICAL
FARES IN EFFECT ON THE PREVIOUS TICKETING DATE.
THE FARE FOR THE JOURNEY TRAVELLED MUST BE CAPPED
AT THE TOTAL FARE AMOUNT PLUS CARRIER IMPOSED
CHARGE PAID ON THE TICKET BEING PRESENTED FOR
REFUND.
FULLY FLOWN FARE COMPONENTS MAY BE REPRICED USING
ANY BOOKING CODE WITHIN THE SAME CABIN PROVIDED
THE NEW FARE AMOUNT IS EQUAL OR HIGHER THAN
ORIGINAL.
PARTIALLY FLOWN FARE COMPONENTS MUST BE REPRICED
USING THE SAME OR HIGHER BOOKING CODE.
----------------------------------------------
FULL REFUND PERMITTED BEFORE DEPARTURE IN CASE OF
REJECTION OF VISA. EMBASSY STATEMENT REQUIRED
CHARGE EGP 1000.00 FOR NO-SHOW.
NOTE -
NO-SHOW FEE APPLIES IF THE FARE COMPONENT IS
REFUNDED AFTER THE TICKETED DEPARTURE TIME OF
THE FIRST UNFLOWN COUPON WITHIN THE FARE
COMPONENT.
----------------------------------------------
CHARGE ALL PASSENGER TYPES EXCEPT INFANTS WITHOUT
A SEAT.
----------------------------------------
ALL OTHER CANCELLATION CONDITIONS AS PER BEFORE
TICKETED DEPARTURE TIME.
just asking because my friend booked cai-lhr-sea (so)-phx-hnl (destination) -lax-sea (so)- lhr-cai
he already flew cai-lhr-sea. He's supposed to fly to hnl tomorrow but some stuff came up at work and he either needs to push the sea-phx-hnl to the day after or, if that is not possible, cancel the remaining trip.
can sea-xxx-hnl and back only be canceled while leaving the sea-lhr-cai intact? i assume no but I'm no expert.
if he cancels the rest on the remaining itinerary, based on the fare rules, he'd get refunded at least half of the fare paid (minus the 350epg fee). am i right?
Oct 18, 2017, 1:31 pm
#756
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold / Hilton Diamond / IHG Diamond Ambassador / Marriot Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 2,527
You are missing the point. The trick thread is tricky and not very useful except for a very tiny elite of people willing to spend days doing research.
I do agree with you that the premium fare thread is not like that. But on the other hand, inexpensive, non-error fares are fairly fragile. Too much attention and they die. Do you remember the ex-CMB fares? This is a similar story. When people keep wanting to push to the extreme, call the airline, bring attention to the fare, people at the airline end up thinking the price should be raised and we all lose.
What I saw and many others did, is that many people came in this thread looking to be spoon fed. When they were not successful, they called BA and brought even more attention from BA.
If you really look at the content of the whole thread, the useful part is contained in less than 10 posts. But this thread lived to over 700 posts. Look at the number of post that repeat that you could get the JFK-LAX in A class if I was not available. It was said about fifty times and of course more and more people did not want a ticket that would not give them that! Crazy.
If people did their homework themselves and accepted that tough things take a lot of work to figure out, this fare, like others, would have survived longer.
I personally have bought a dozen such tickets, not all to Hawaii, but to Denver and other US places. Not to do mileage runs, but because they were really useful to me. They got me places I want or need to go. I got to see Egypt and other places. I got to do the travel I wanted or needed to do in comfort at a reasonable price.
I did not push the rules nor called the airline. Same can be said for the ex-CMB fares. I did many of them and respected the rules and spirit of the fare. And I got to visit new places. I am sad to see this one go. And if people do not understand that such non-error fares are intrinsically fragile then we will keep losing.
Yes we can tell others about them and people like you who have used such fares for 10 years will figure out how to get what they need. But please don't entertain the begging from those who want you to do the work for them. I have seen in this thread so much begging and bragging that if I were a BA employee, I would have told management to look at it. It was crazy...
Now I'll put my flame proof vest on.
I do agree with you that the premium fare thread is not like that. But on the other hand, inexpensive, non-error fares are fairly fragile. Too much attention and they die. Do you remember the ex-CMB fares? This is a similar story. When people keep wanting to push to the extreme, call the airline, bring attention to the fare, people at the airline end up thinking the price should be raised and we all lose.
What I saw and many others did, is that many people came in this thread looking to be spoon fed. When they were not successful, they called BA and brought even more attention from BA.
If you really look at the content of the whole thread, the useful part is contained in less than 10 posts. But this thread lived to over 700 posts. Look at the number of post that repeat that you could get the JFK-LAX in A class if I was not available. It was said about fifty times and of course more and more people did not want a ticket that would not give them that! Crazy.
If people did their homework themselves and accepted that tough things take a lot of work to figure out, this fare, like others, would have survived longer.
I personally have bought a dozen such tickets, not all to Hawaii, but to Denver and other US places. Not to do mileage runs, but because they were really useful to me. They got me places I want or need to go. I got to see Egypt and other places. I got to do the travel I wanted or needed to do in comfort at a reasonable price.
I did not push the rules nor called the airline. Same can be said for the ex-CMB fares. I did many of them and respected the rules and spirit of the fare. And I got to visit new places. I am sad to see this one go. And if people do not understand that such non-error fares are intrinsically fragile then we will keep losing.
Yes we can tell others about them and people like you who have used such fares for 10 years will figure out how to get what they need. But please don't entertain the begging from those who want you to do the work for them. I have seen in this thread so much begging and bragging that if I were a BA employee, I would have told management to look at it. It was crazy...
Now I'll put my flame proof vest on.
I am a premium leisure passenger and generally travel with wife and kids. Mistake fares and Trick fares are not really my bag as I don't want the risks, but low fares either due currency devaluations or sales I am keen to exploit when possible.
Oct 18, 2017, 2:07 pm
#757
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,550
He would get a refund between the fare paid and the fare for a oneway ticket from cairo-Seattle plus a refund of carrier surcharge for the inbound journey. The cost of the one way from Cairo to Seattle does not look to be very much difference to the return fare to Honolulu - if I am reading it correctly, it may be that the oneway fare to Seattle is actually more
From Expertflyer , the base roundtrip fare to Hawaii seems to be around $972 whilst
the one way to Seattle seems to be at least $1400
The carrier surcharges seems to be around $256.50 each way
It would seem lquite possible that he would get nothing back if he did not travel onwards
He may be able to change the booking to be a r/t to Seattle as long as he pays the difference between the r/t to HNL and the r/t to SEA - which looks like it could be about $400
I may be misreading historical fares from EF incorrectlly, but that is what it seems to be
Oct 18, 2017, 4:21 pm
#758
Join Date: Nov 2016
Programs: QR - Plat, SQ, ANA, Delta, AA
Posts: 18
Cairo T2 to T3 - walk to Le Meridien
Cairo is a total ballache to connect through only if you allow it to be. Simple answer - for longer connection times, don't transit!
Instead do the following:
- Buy visit visa (USD25) immediately prior to passport control
- Go through passport control
- Collect bags (if any)
- Go through customs
- Exit terminal
If you are departing on BA (or any One World airline), CAI T2 departures is immediately opposite CAI T2 arrivals - it's literally a one minute walk between the two facing buildings. If you are arriving CAI T3 (Star Alliance airlines), CAI T2 is immediately adjacent to CAI T3. If you're arriving CAI T1 ('dodgy' airlines) you're too much of a cheapskate to follow this advice!
If the timings don't suit, this hotel:
http://deals.lemeridien.com/Le-Merid...language=en_US
is connected to CAI T3. As well as normal overnight rooms the hotel also offers day rooms. Alternatively, have a meal and/or a drink, or relax in the public areas.
Far better, in my opinion, than long hours in the "transit area", and well worth any minimal additional cost.
Instead do the following:
- Buy visit visa (USD25) immediately prior to passport control
- Go through passport control
- Collect bags (if any)
- Go through customs
- Exit terminal
If you are departing on BA (or any One World airline), CAI T2 departures is immediately opposite CAI T2 arrivals - it's literally a one minute walk between the two facing buildings. If you are arriving CAI T3 (Star Alliance airlines), CAI T2 is immediately adjacent to CAI T3. If you're arriving CAI T1 ('dodgy' airlines) you're too much of a cheapskate to follow this advice!
If the timings don't suit, this hotel:
http://deals.lemeridien.com/Le-Merid...language=en_US
is connected to CAI T3. As well as normal overnight rooms the hotel also offers day rooms. Alternatively, have a meal and/or a drink, or relax in the public areas.
Far better, in my opinion, than long hours in the "transit area", and well worth any minimal additional cost.
Oct 18, 2017, 9:44 pm
#759
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: PNW
Programs: AS 100K
Posts: 1,548
It he cancels , he would be very unlikely to get refunded 50% of the fare paid
He would get a refund between the fare paid and the fare for a oneway ticket from cairo-Seattle plus a refund of carrier surcharge for the inbound journey. The cost of the one way from Cairo to Seattle does not look to be very much difference to the return fare to Honolulu - if I am reading it correctly, it may be that the oneway fare to Seattle is actually more
From Expertflyer , the base roundtrip fare to Hawaii seems to be around $972 whilst
the one way to Seattle seems to be at least $1400
The carrier surcharges seems to be around $256.50 each way
It would seem lquite possible that he would get nothing back if he did not travel onwards
He may be able to change the booking to be a r/t to Seattle as long as he pays the difference between the r/t to HNL and the r/t to SEA - which looks like it could be about $400
I may be misreading historical fares from EF incorrectlly, but that is what it seems to be
He would get a refund between the fare paid and the fare for a oneway ticket from cairo-Seattle plus a refund of carrier surcharge for the inbound journey. The cost of the one way from Cairo to Seattle does not look to be very much difference to the return fare to Honolulu - if I am reading it correctly, it may be that the oneway fare to Seattle is actually more
From Expertflyer , the base roundtrip fare to Hawaii seems to be around $972 whilst
the one way to Seattle seems to be at least $1400
The carrier surcharges seems to be around $256.50 each way
It would seem lquite possible that he would get nothing back if he did not travel onwards
He may be able to change the booking to be a r/t to Seattle as long as he pays the difference between the r/t to HNL and the r/t to SEA - which looks like it could be about $400
I may be misreading historical fares from EF incorrectlly, but that is what it seems to be
anyway, it seems my friend was able to work out things at work so he'll be able to to continue on to HNL tomorrow...yay!
Oct 19, 2017, 12:21 am
#760
Join Date: Mar 2003
Programs: BA GGL; AA LT Gold; AS 100K; DL MM GM; Hyatt G*list, Hilton Diamond; SQ silver
Posts: 3,806
However I'm pretty sure that the constant rebumping of this thread to the top with lazy spoon-feeding requests/ "I just can't do it"/"Link please" by a horde (usually with historic post counts between 1 and 10) unwilling to do any work whatsoever has lavished unwanted attention on the fare and killed it. Since the thread starting in March, there were 15 pages by September, that number tripling in just the last 6 weeks.
I can't say for sure how the telephoning BA impacted it but based on my experience of BAEC taking an hour to just process a date change on one of these, I can imagine the complexity to the average BA employee of booking one whole itinerary ends up involving at least 3 agents. Then the frequency of such calls ramping up until the whole office is complaining about Honolulu to an eventual "Erm.....hang on a sec....".
I can't say for sure how the telephoning BA impacted it but based on my experience of BAEC taking an hour to just process a date change on one of these, I can imagine the complexity to the average BA employee of booking one whole itinerary ends up involving at least 3 agents. Then the frequency of such calls ramping up until the whole office is complaining about Honolulu to an eventual "Erm.....hang on a sec....".
However the alternatives to calling are limited - there are friendly agent types here who can create the route in the system and then you phone and pay or you can use ITA powertools inputting the route into to priceline who you then pay (can't UuA this way though unless all BA flights), I've used both these methods. The airline websites usually failed for me.
I used Amex, Priceline and two friendly travel agents to whom I made clear that calling BA if they were stuck was out of the question. All my efforts were successful. Because the availability was not always there, I sometimes had to choose less desirable departure dates and once had to take a less than ideal routing (i.e. having a stop not where I wanted but having to buy a second ticket from the stop to where I wanted to go and back). But because I know how fragile such fares are, I was happy nonetheless.
I do recommend using a TA. The ones I have approached with such tickets are usually willing to spend time with you and they seem to enjoy the challenge involved. Some even admit they learn some things out of the experience...
Oct 26, 2017, 4:44 am
#764
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
I suppose it's an unfortunate bit of human nature to seek to blame others when fares get pulled, changed or ramped northwards.
Imaginations work overtime to construct purely hypothetical discussions within the airline airline to account for the changes: blame is placed firmly at the door of other, usually less experienced folk.
Those who tell us they've benefitted from many multiple tickets at theses fares extol their own probity and faultless judgement. They tend not to express thankfulness for their good fortune while the offer lasted, but rather express bitterness towards those they identify as destroyers of that good fortune.
Next, sure as sure, we'll get a call for a ring of cognoscenti trying to preserve access to good fares among themselves via PM.