BA New York flights

[brissleboy]

Surely a First Class flight is a First Class flight and all the same benefits would apply? Does it say it is a reward flight on the ticket?

[K50 DEL]

BigBen said:

arfur said:

BigBen said:

K50 DEL said:

brissleboy said:

Spot on and that's good to know; don't too worried about a window seat, have seen it all before, and besides, I'll be far too busy drinking as much of their fine champagne and wine as I possibly can... ;-)

Don't forget that you're flying from LHR T5 so you've got dedicated F checkin in zone G.... go through the security at that end of the terminal and turn immediately right through the little door marked "Concorde Room"
Enjoy the waitress service restaurant and (if you're flying with your wife) pre-book a spa session for her, it's all complimentary and is a lovely way to start your vacation.

And the champagne is pretty good!!

Even better book a cabanna room in the F-lounge. You then get your own room and waiter service to the room at the press of a button

Ben

You cant use the Concorde room if its a rewards flight ...

Tried that myself ..

I have a couple of times, most recently early last year. You can't use it if you are a gold card holder and not travelling F.

No issues with using the Concorde room on a reward flight, as long as you're flying in F then you can use the Concorde and all F facilities.
What you can't do, as mentioned above is use the Concorde room as a Gold Card holder unless you're flying in F.
There is a specific Concorde Room card that allows access to the room no matter what class you're flying, but it's invite only and not given out often.

I have very seldom had my Ex-London F tickets actually bought for me, nearly all have been reward redeptions and I'm always told at checkin to make sure I enjoy every facility.

[brissleboy]

That is good to hear, I doubt I will ever reach Gold level anyway as I do not travel longhaul with my company; in fact, given the cost of travelling F, I expect I will only fly F on reward flights and I still have a long way to go until I will be able to do it again. For those reasons, I intend to enjoy myself as much as possible! It will certainly be an experience and I look forward to feeling my legs during the flight (I'm 6' and struggle at the back!)...

Thanks for all your input guys, much appreciated!

On a separate note, why are top rate hotels just so damned expensive in NY, we have stayed in some fabulous hotels all over the world in recent years and NONE of them have cost what they do in NY?

[LooneyTunes]

BigBen said:

LooneyTunes said:

Do BA points booking allow you to use the companion voucher?

(I queried Virgin's policy recently and was told that their scheme doesn't as the reward flight isn't in a qualifying ticket class, which is frustrating)

OP may mean the BA Amex companion voucher which is only for reward flight bookings

That's interesting: again something that Virgin doesn't seem to allow with their Amex programme... now that my flying is more fragmented I've been meaning to look into which of these programmes to go with in order to top up miles with either BA or Virgin.

[Cattleman]

brissleboy said:

Thanks to everyone for their replies, we booked the flights last night, companion voucher worked a treat and we can't wait to see what First Class is all about, only ever flown economy before...

Now for the hotel...

I would recommend Marriott Marquis times square. Excellent service and reasonable prices. Best f all is the location, you walk out the front of the hotel and your right in the centre of times square.

[Jonathan27]

You can use the 241 voucher with Avios. You will get the best answers to this on flyertalk - BA forum. They seem to know everything about BA flights.

HTH

[BigBen]

LooneyTunes said:

BigBen said:

LooneyTunes said:

Do BA points booking allow you to use the companion voucher?

(I queried Virgin's policy recently and was told that their scheme doesn't as the reward flight isn't in a qualifying ticket class, which is frustrating)

OP may mean the BA Amex companion voucher which is only for reward flight bookings

That's interesting: again something that Virgin doesn't seem to allow with their Amex programme... now that my flying is more fragmented I've been meaning to look into which of these programmes to go with in order to top up miles with either BA or Virgin.

The BA Amex companion voucher is ONLY for use with reward / miles / avios flights.

[LooneyTunes]

BigBen said:

The BA Amex companion voucher is ONLY for use with reward / miles / avios flights.

Cheers - and as per other posters will have a look on FT.

Not flown BA since their strikes a few years back but this, for me, would be quite a big differentiator vs Virgin.

[BigBen]

LooneyTunes said:

BigBen said:

The BA Amex companion voucher is ONLY for use with reward / miles / avios flights.

Cheers - and as per other posters will have a look on FT.

Not flown BA since their strikes a few years back but this, for me, would be quite a big differentiator vs Virgin.

Whilst Virgin arguably has a better product than BA (although not when compared to First) for me BA wins because:

i) They go to loads more places
ii) It is easier to get to a status level that allows lounge access
iii) Being in an airline alliance means more point scoring opportunities.

The BA forum at flyertalk will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about BA ever.

Ben

[oblio]

Hi OP

Could I ask how much you paid in taxes etc using your Avios points? By all means PM me if you want to keep it on the QT

I was an avid saver of Air Miles until they changed over. The thought of steep taxes put me off in terms of using Avios points...

ta

Graham

[mattdaniels]

brissleboy said:

Surely a First Class flight is a First Class flight and all the same benefits would apply? Does it say it is a reward flight on the ticket?

Thread drift: Yes, it's called the booking code. Generally speaking:

First Class -
"P" = full fare/flexible/all the trimmings
"F" = standard/less flexible/fewer trimmings
"A" = discounted/reward/miles

Business Class -
"J" = full fare/flexible/all the trimmings
"C" = standard/less flexible/fewer trimmings
"D" = discounted/reward/miles

Economy/Premium Economy -
"Y" = full fare/flexible/all the trimmings
"Q" = standard/less flexible/fewer trimmings
"H" = discounted/reward/miles

Not all airlines use the same set of booking codes but they are pretty common (there are gazillions for Economy!). Although they are booking codes you will hear people refer to them as "classes". So if someone has a J class ticket you know they have paid full whack and have the most flexible ticket (eg. no cancellation / transfer fees) and the most perks (eg. limo service both ends).

Edited by mattdaniels on Monday 19th December 14:35

[brissleboy]

Hi Oblio

A shade of £900.

Cheers

[DayTrader]

2pad said:

Novotel Times Sq, great location, good price, plus rated highly on tripadvisor...

I stayed there - it was OK. Cool bar outside but rooms were very dated.

I have stayed here and it is a million times better for the same(ish) price:

http://www.thompsonhotels.com/hotels/nyc/6-columbu...

[K50 DEL]

DayTrader said:

2pad said:

Novotel Times Sq, great location, good price, plus rated highly on tripadvisor...

I stayed there - it was OK. Cool bar outside but rooms were very dated.

I have stayed here and it is a million times better for the same(ish) price:

http://www.thompsonhotels.com/hotels/nyc/6-columbu...

I'm guessing that's next to Columbus Cirle, if it is then there are a couple of great restaurants in the mall there and you're also in a nice location for most of the mid-town attractions.

[oblio]

brissleboy said:

Hi Oblio

A shade of £900.

Cheers

Cheers Neil

[ffc]

oblio said:

Hi OP

Could I ask how much you paid in taxes etc using your Avios points? By all means PM me if you want to keep it on the QT

I was an avid saver of Air Miles until they changed over. The thought of steep taxes put me off in terms of using Avios points...

ta

Graham

We paid just under £900 in taxes for 2 x club world miles + companion voucher to San Francisco this year. Seemed like a
bargain as the web price for the tickets was over 4k.

[DCBT]

Hotels that I like to use regularly in NYK
The Intercontinental The Barclay
The Alex
The Helmsley Park Lane (great views of the park)

I'd recommend a high floor (it's always very noisy 24 hours)
Time Square can be crazily busy

[theaxe]

Looks like everything is pretty much covered, just a couple of points...

Award availability, late November is VERY popular for Christmas shopping and Thanksgiving. Early Jan should be very quiet and general availability to JFK should be good.

It's not a very long flight for F. Personally I'd go in Club instead (although I fully understand if it's a special occasion). If Club is acceptable then the flight from London City is pretty cool, see here for more.

By all means make full use of the First Class facilities if you do go F (including the 'secret' door to the Concorde room at LHR), read this guide to maximizing the experience.

Cabanas - I don't get it, unless you need a room the size of my downstairs loo to sleep in I really wouldn't bother. The main CCR is really very nice.

Finally, my inexpensive (relatively) hotel pick is Affinia Dumont the rooms are massive by NYC standards. Good location too.

Have a great time!

Edited by theaxe on Wednesday 28th December 18:49

[Nom de ploom]

I've just come back and our hotel was Hampton Inn west 31st street. perfect central location.

rooms not massive but there was a decent breakfast included and free soup / drinks in the evening - prob not an all year round thing.

we were 5 mins walk from ESB, and Macys. 10 to times square and 5 mins to madison sq garden. its a budget hotel for sure but it ticked all the right boxes for us as a family.