BA Club bargains to Hawaii

[Steviesam]

So do you just call the relevant airline and quote the flight numbers that website tells you?

Will they see those cheap prices?

[anonymous-user]

Steviesam said:

So do you just call the relevant airline and quote the flight numbers that website tells you?

Will they see those cheap prices?

That's how I did it.

Including having the BA agent say the price, then say "Wow. That's an amazing price!".

ETA: I think the sale ends tomorrow - 27 Jan - btw.

[Rollin]

Super quick question. The flight I'm looking at booking returns to Heathrow from the US. The flight to Dublin leaves from Gatwick. I'm assuming that I collect luggage at Heathrow and there's nothing stopping me not taking the flight to Dublin?

[Rollin]

Greg66 said:

Rollin said:

So is there any catch to this ? If so I can't see one. We're off to LA and flying back from Denver in August for 21 days and was about to start booking flights. It seems I can get business class for £930 each from Dublin and get a Ryan air to Dublin for about £50. Similar flight from Manchester is £2500 so I'd be saving about £3000 for two passengers.

If so, thanks OP!

The only catch is if you want to avoid taking the last sector and ending up back in Dublin.

Eg if you fly DUB-LHR; LHR-LAX; DEN-LHR; LHR-DUB, then when you check in at Denver the agent will check your bags through to Dublin, and if you want to see them again, you will have to travel to Dublin.

The workarounds are (a) book the final sector from Gatwick or City to Dublin, as your bags can't be transferred between airports and so you'll get them back at LHR or (b) book the final sector the day after you land at LHR, but within 24 hours. Overnighting a stopover will get your bags back to you.

FWIW, when I've done this, I take the locator flight to Dublin or Amsterdam on day 1, and fly the first sector (DUB/AMS to LHR) the same day. That's a day trip I can do with a passport and a wallet and nothing more. Day 2 I turn up at LHR with hold luggage to fly sector 2 to N Am. Just make sure sectors 1 and 2 are within 24h of each other.

HTH.

Sorted.

Booked Dublin to Seattle and Denver to Dublin (Get off in London). Road trip between Seattle and Denver. Cost £2000 BA Club World for 2...a saving of about £3000 and cheaper than economy from the UK.

I owe OP a pint. Thanks

[anonymous-user]

Rollin said:

Sorted.

Booked Dublin to Seattle and Denver to Dublin (Get off in London). Road trip between Seattle and Denver. Cost £2000 BA Club World for 2...a saving of about £3000 and cheaper than economy from the UK.

I owe OP a pint. Thanks

[Steviesam]

Another question.

Where the trip displayed includes more than one airline, do I call each airline separately?

[anonymous-user]

Steviesam said:

Another question.

Where the trip displayed includes more than one airline, do I call each airline separately?

No - just pick one airline and they will book it all (so long as they are all part of Oneworld).

Eg BA can issue you a ticket on an AA flight and vice versa.

Often though, the flight number is a bit of a red herring. Eg the BA London to Vancouver flight also has Finnair, Iberian and American Airlines flight numbers. Those airlines codeshare the flight with BA, but BA operates it and it uses BA "metal". Any of those airlines can issue you a ticket to fly on that flight though.

[Steviesam]

The flights I am looking at are

Swiss from Dublin to Zurich
Swiss from Zurich to Boston

Canada Air from Boston to Montreal
Swiss Montreal to Zurich
Swiss from Zurich to Dublin

So I just call Swiss?

[anonymous-user]

Steviesam said:

The flights I am looking at are

Swiss from Dublin to Zurich
Swiss from Zurich to Boston

Canada Air from Boston to Montreal
Swiss Montreal to Zurich
Swiss from Zurich to Dublin

So I just call Swiss?

Yes. Swiss and AC are both Star Alliance members. I'd guess each of those flights are codeshares with Swiss and AC flight numbers.

[Steviesam]

As an update, Dublin to Zurich, Zurich to Boston,same route return, business class all the way and I have just booked for £789

Bargain.

Virtual beer for you!

[anonymous-user]

Steviesam said:

As an update, Dublin to Zurich, Zurich to Boston,same route return, business class all the way and I have just booked for £789

Bargain.

Virtual beer for you!

[Bluebarge]

Greg66 said:

Good idea.

Except cheapest club ticket (above) £1097.

Cheapest currently available one stop (Vancouver out, Houston back) economy ticket in August showing on matrix.itasoftware.com: £1209. 21.5 and 24.5 hours in economy. Ouch.

Good luck finding a five star hotel for a week with a £112 hole in your pocket!

OK, but Kayak is showing a range of 2-stop flights (with a shorter overall flight time) for about £730. One-stop is not always quicker if there is a long wait in the airport.

[mouseymousey]

Very interesting find this, thanks!

I can fly MAN-LAS with one stop business class BA for £1010 per person on the dates I want. That's with 1 stop and includes a flight to Dublin to start the travel. Booking direct with BA on same dates but economy class, also 1 stop is £2250 each!

I can fly economy MAN-LAS with Condor (who??) direct for £850. It's about 5 hours shorter journey and £160 cheaper but I think I'd prefer a longer journey with BA Business.

[Welshbeef]

As said above its is poor folk who are paying higher short haul costs subsidising these Club World tickets.

. Enjoy

[Sheepshanks]

mouseymousey said:

Very interesting find this, thanks!

I can fly MAN-LAS with one stop business class BA for £1010 per person on the dates I want. That's with 1 stop and includes a flight to Dublin to start the travel. Booking direct with BA on same dates but economy class, also 1 stop is £2250 each!

I can fly economy MAN-LAS with Condor (who??) direct for £850. It's about 5 hours shorter journey and £160 cheaper but I think I'd prefer a longer journey with BA Business.

Each to their own but that sounds like a lot of faff when you could fly direct. However you look at it, it's a glorified bus.

Condor is part of Thomas Cook. You could fly Premium with them for not much more, although I'm always wary of the non-mainstream airlines.

Doesn't Virgin fly direct from MAN to LAS?

[mouseymousey]

Sheepshanks said:

Each to their own but that sounds like a lot of faff when you could fly direct. However you look at it, it's a glorified bus.

Condor is part of Thomas Cook. You could fly Premium with them for not much more, although I'm always wary of the non-mainstream airlines.

Doesn't Virgin fly direct from MAN to LAS?

Oh yes, Virgin do fly direct, I hadn't seen that option. At 1190 for economy they are about 180 more expensive than BA Club but 5 hours quicker. Premium economy is 1945 so significantly more expensive. I'm still tempted to put up with the extra hassle and flight time with BA though.

Having flown to Egypt with Thomas Cook there's no way I'd pay to fly on one of their planes again. I'm going to Cuba in May and they're the only company I could find who fly direct but I've still chosen to go via CDG with Air France. Their premium economy offering is a joke compared to other airlines.

[tim0409]

Sheepshanks said:

mouseymousey said:

Very interesting find this, thanks!

I can fly MAN-LAS with one stop business class BA for £1010 per person on the dates I want. That's with 1 stop and includes a flight to Dublin to start the travel. Booking direct with BA on same dates but economy class, also 1 stop is £2250 each!

I can fly economy MAN-LAS with Condor (who??) direct for £850. It's about 5 hours shorter journey and £160 cheaper but I think I'd prefer a longer journey with BA Business.

Each to their own but that sounds like a lot of faff when you could fly direct. However you look at it, it's a glorified bus.

Condor is part of Thomas Cook. You could fly Premium with them for not much more, although I'm always wary of the non-mainstream airlines.

Doesn't Virgin fly direct from MAN to LAS?

Your correct, it is down to individual choice, but I flew BA Club last year for the first time and I now actively avoid long haul economy where I can. I hate sitting upright for any length of time (bad back doesn't help) and all the associated hassle with economy. Last year it felt like the holiday began when we arrived at the airport - fast track security, lounge access (decent food/drink etc), service on the plane was superb and to me felt more of an event than something you dread, first off the plane, priority luggage meant we were out in record time, and most importantly the ability to sleep on a flat bed. I am by no means a snob (and can only really afford it when I hunt down deals), but a section of the general public seem to lose all common sense the minute they step in an airport/plane so anything that minimises the hassle is worth it. Those flights (Edinburgh to Tampa via Gatwick) including car hire came in at £1500 each - probably £500 more than economy when you take the Mustang hire into account but to me it was worth it - we were off to get married so saved a fortune on a wedding here

This time round we are flying Dublin - London City - JFK - Miami on the A318 32 seat club world only jet that clears customs in Ireland for £930 - yes its £280 more than a economy ticket (plus £20 for a ryanair flight to Dublin) but I am actually looking forward to the flights rather than dreading them. Once I booked the flights I searched for the LCY-JFK route (exact same flights) and it came in £5360 for 2 seats

[Sheepshanks]

tim0409 said:

Last year it felt like the holiday began when we arrived at the airport -

I know the travelling is almost better than the arriving for some people. We go to Orlando regularly and there are people in the north of England who fly to London to catch the Virgin flight from there as they reckon the Upper class service, including the lounge, is better than from Manchester.

tim0409 said:

This time round we are flying Dublin - London City - JFK - Miami on the A318 32 seat club world only jet that clears customs in Ireland for £930 - yes its £280 more than a economy ticket (plus £20 for a ryanair flight to Dublin) but I am actually looking forward to the flights rather than dreading them. Once I booked the flights I searched for the LCY-JFK route (exact same flights) and it came in £5360 for 2 seats

Well, you're actually flying Edinburgh - Dublin - London - Shannon - JFK - Miami.

I would like to try the 32 seat flight though - that sounds amazing. That must be a screw up on the price - it surely can't make sense to be carrying people on that flight who've only paid a few hundred pounds (after you take taxes etc out)?

[tim0409]

Sheepshanks said:

Well, you're actually flying Edinburgh - Dublin - London - Shannon - JFK - Miami.

I actually cancelled the original ticket and rebooked a slightly different (much better) schedule - I agree the EDI - Dublin leg isn't the best but I really like LCY compared to other London airports and we are having a lay over there as its the OH birthday so staying at the nearby Radisson Blu. The Shannon stop is all of 45 mins - the cabin crew take you to US immigration where by all accounts you are processed very quickly. We originally planned to stay the night in NY but given the hassle with luggage etc decided to head straight for Miami - because you have cleared immigration we should only be there for a couple of hours.

When I called BA the chap commented on what a good deal it is - I remember reading about the LCY-JFK service a while back and thought it was a great idea but way out of my price range.

[The Moose]

I can't get this tool to produce anything other than standard pricing it would seem?!