Business class ticket buying tips

[djc206]

The G Kid said:

I'm not sure I have ever seen First redemptions available?

I just got 4 seats for LAX in Club for 380K points and £1800.

Really? There’s north of 1000 seats available in first to or from the US alone!

I do like the new flexible pricing structure for avios redemptions.

[The G Kid]

I'm guessing the First seats get nabbed pretty quickly on release? I have spend a lot of time in the last few months looking at options for my trip in October and didn't see First available at all.

ETA, some of those flights probably operate without a First cabin? However I just tired NYC and LAX for a random weekend in March next year and no First reward flights available at all.

Edited by The G Kid on Tuesday 9th April 17:05

Edited by The G Kid on Tuesday 9th April 17:07

[djc206]

The G Kid said:

I'm guessing the First seats get nabbed pretty quickly on release? I have spend a lot of time in the last few months looking at options for my trip in October and didn't see First available at all.

ETA, some of those flights probably operate without a First cabin? However I just tired NYC and LAX for a random weekend in March next year and no First reward flights available at all.

Edited by The G Kid on Tuesday 9th April 17:05

Edited by The G Kid on Tuesday 9th April 17:07

At popular times they can be as rare as hens teeth but often there’s additional availability close to the dates if cabins are light on bookings. NYC is always a good bet as there are so many flights each day.

There’ll possibly be a few major obstacles to any first redemption, firstly like you say there not being first class on a specific route, secondly the number of seats you’re looking for and lastly the need for specific dates. If you need those dates you need to be booking the second the seats get released and then phoning up to add the return leg when that gets released.

It really does favour people either travelling solo or to a lesser extent as a couple with flexibility. When I looked earlier before my initial message there were approx 90 dates with first availability for one to NYC in each direction for example. BA’s useless app is now not working for me so I can’t check how upping that to two pax affects that number the number is 40+.

There are certain websites which will send you an alert when extra seats get released, most are subscription services.

Edit: corrected as the app has finally started working again. Turns out Atlanta has the best availability. DC, Philly, Boston and Chicago aren’t too shabby.

Edited by djc206 on Tuesday 9th April 18:15

Edited by djc206 on Tuesday 9th April 18:15

[ffc]

The G Kid said:

I'm guessing the First seats get nabbed pretty quickly on release? I have spend a lot of time in the last few months looking at options for my trip in October and didn't see First available at all.

ETA, some of those flights probably operate without a First cabin? However I just tired NYC and LAX for a random weekend in March next year and no First reward flights available at all.

Edited by The G Kid on Tuesday 9th April 17:05

Edited by The G Kid on Tuesday 9th April 17:07

It looks like there are inward reward flights in first in march but nothing outbound. I was doing the same search.

[The G Kid]

djc206 said:

At popular times they can be as rare as hens teeth but often there’s additional availability close to the dates if cabins are light on bookings. NYC is always a good bet as there are so many flights each day.

There’ll possibly be a few major obstacles to any first redemption, firstly like you say there not being first class on a specific route, secondly the number of seats you’re looking for and lastly the need for specific dates. If you need those dates you need to be booking the second the seats get released and then phoning up to add the return leg when that gets released.

It really does favour people either travelling solo or to a lesser extent as a couple with flexibility. When I looked earlier before my initial message there were approx 90 dates with first availability for one to NYC in each direction for example. BA’s useless app is now not working for me so I can’t check how upping that to two pax affects that number the number is 40+.

There are certain websites which will send you an alert when extra seats get released, most are subscription services.

Edit: corrected as the app has finally started working again. Turns out Atlanta has the best availability. DC, Philly, Boston and Chicago aren’t too shabby.

Edited by djc206 on Tuesday 9th April 18:15

Edited by djc206 on Tuesday 9th April 18:15

Travelling with 2 kids and being generally limited to school holidays isn't ideal! My US trip in October is in to LAX and out of Seattle due to limits on seats in Club.

[djc206]

The G Kid said:

Travelling with 2 kids and being generally limited to school holidays isn't ideal! My US trip in October is in to LAX and out of Seattle due to limits on seats in Club.

No I think it’s safe to say that’s a tall order. Oh well club isn’t exactly slumming it.

[The G Kid]

djc206 said:

No I think it’s safe to say that’s a tall order. Oh well club isn’t exactly slumming it.

That's true. LAX and Seattle seem to have the new BA Club Suites too, which I have never experienced but look good and a big step up from the older product.