Any WAW tips?
 

Any tips about a goof agent (BA/AY?) in WAW that I could contact regarding a ONE ticket, seems the prices there are even lower than in CAI.

Thanks for your help!

As typos go this one is a dilly. :D


Try this thread.

Also have a look HERE.

Avoid BA at all costs. They are charging much, much more that AA.

Warsaw
 

From my exhausting if not exhaustive inquiries into ex-WAW ONEs it appears that the Sabre Star Files prices are wrong. I have been reliably informed that the correct prices appear in the Amadeus system and the incorrect price in Sabre. This both from BA and AY. The price increase occured in January this year.

OK, very confused now. Is it cheaper for me to book ex CAI or ex WAW? Any advice would be much appreciated as I plan to book the trip in the next 2 weeks.

Is this "Amadeus" pricing something that is only available through some airline or booking agent or is it somewhere available for public? Seems very odd that the airlines (alliance) are not having the correct base prices for different countries available more easily and that it always involves an inquiry.

I'm not so sure about this. I've been speaking to BA since the middle of last year and the prices have not changed. They are quoting the equivalent of around £1000 (including taxes and charges) than what I eventually paid AA.

Amadeus is the Global Distribution System (GDS) used by airlines such as BA and QF. If you book through ba.com then you are using Amadeus. Obviously you are only using a fraction of its orverall capability.

The prices are similar. My DONE4 ex-WAW was $5000. WAW was better than CAI for me for two main reasons.

(1) It is much easier to get to from the UK.

(2) It allowed me much more flexibility in how to use my two Middle East segments.

OK, fair enough but my real question was that are these correct prices available for normal customers somewhere or is the only way to make many querys to different airlines in different places...

Not really, and in fact nor are the Star Files 'public'. It takes someone with access to Sabre/Amadeus to pull these files from their GDS terminals and publish them somewhere in the web, so the rest of us, the 'normal customers', can see them.

I think the WAW issue is limited to BA and (maybe) AY or others who may use/consult BA's rate desk for RTWs (if such is possible or done.) It also appears to be limited to WAW. We're ticketing through IST and BA there agree with the USD-denominated fare that shows up on all the star files (and QF website) that are floating around, so no peculiar cost inflation over the "published" xONEx fares.

My hunch is that for whatever reason, BA at one point converted a "strong" USD dollar into Sterling, then into Zlotych in order to price the tickets. Subsequently the USD tanked, but nobody at BA has bothered to address the issue, so the PLN rate reflects the dollar's previous strength and current weakness, hence the "increase" over the USD ticket that AA/Tal sold Gaza and others.

I suspect that there's just not enough business through WAW to justify BA undoing its decision, and American's relatively inferior transatlantic premium service means anyone planning on going west on their RTW has to choose between higher priced BA tix v. dealing with AA's GSA and having to ride AA as their transatlantic carrier. Idle curiosity leads me to wonder how Tal would be using their CX GSA hat for itineraries going the other direction.

Gaza - I certainly defer to your greater experience of this. It was an AY rep. in Warsaw who told me the price in Amadeus was updated in January. BA simply confirmed that the Amadeus price was correct. Incidentally, I actually showed a print out of the STAR file for ONE Explorer to the AY rep. and she was completely stumped as to how they could show a different price to Amadeus.

Gaza, do you know how much the AONE4 ticket costs ex-WAW? Thanks!

As I said in response to your other post Spotwelder's Sticky at the top of the main Forum page is a good guide:-

Poland

AONE3 = £3,653
AONE4 = £4,029
AONE5 = £4,512
AONE6 = £5,103

If you are booking make sure you book through AA as BA are charging much higher prices. I would suggest booking an itinerary that has AA as the first leg after WAW-LHR even if it does not fit but then chnaging it once the ticket is issued. If you keep it to 16 segments or less then you shouyld be able to issue it as an e-ticket through Tal Aviation in WAW.

Is this actually necessary? Personally I am looking at flying in completely the other direction on a DONEx (ie via Asia) so putting an AA sector in will require me to go via NA first which is not practical for what I want to use the ticket for. Any suggestions would be most welcome on this.