Curse of the Dollar-Pound Exchange Rate!!!

[mitchja]

I'm flying Virgin to SFO (reward flight in UCS I hope!!!) in Apr and have also booked a return first class flight on America West from SFO to LAS. I booked the America West flight in December at a cost of £402.

On checking the price today on Expedia it's now only £228!!!! [:0]

Oh well at least I'll get a better deal on the hotel rates.

Moral of this story - if you are booking internal American flights - leave it to the last minute!!!!

Hi mitchja,

I have done the same FC SFO-PHX-LAS-SFO on the 7th to 10th April ( now booked)

Originally it was in the £400's now down to £220 odd.

The reduction has very little to do with the exchange rate but rather America West announced a large reduction in the FC fares ( 50% approximately depending on route) and the new fares are non-refundable.

The coach fare for the trip was £ 150 so the extra ( considering I get 50% more miles plus tier points is worthwhile ( plus a wider seat and slightly more pitch)

When are you flying?

Regards

TBS

[mitchja]

I'm flying to SFO on Apr 18th then onto LAS with America West on 22nd Apr. Back to SFO on 26th connecting to VS20 on the same day.

Last time I used Amercia West I payed the $50 upgrade fee from coach to 1st at the airport but as you say - you dont get the tier points doing that.

With the BMI C class return flight MAN-LHR and the America West F class return flight SFO-LAS I should earn at least 4 Tier points. Is this correct?

Cheers

Hi mitchja,

Yes you will get 4 tier points ( 1 for each leg) for the return trip.

I'm flying to PHX via SFO on 7th April returning on VS 20 on April 11th.

Regards

TBS

[Nottingham Nick]

Curse of the Dollar-Pound Exchange Rate!!! ????? This is a very strange title for a thread - I think the exchange rate is great at the moment :D:D

All the supposed expert opinion I have read says it should remain at its present level or higher until at least the election in November - it MAY even reach the magic $2 to the pound!!

At BOS last week I noticed the Travelex bureau were giving 47 pence for each dollar to Americans - no wonder there aren't many US tourists planning a summer '04 trip to the UK.

Nick

[mitchja]

Hi Nick

I'm not knocking the current situation at all, I think it will mean more last minute travel plans that's all.

Did anyone see the stories in last weeks papers on shopping in NYC[?] The money you save on buying electronic goods in NYC will pay for the economy flight to get you there and you'd have change too!!!
BUT customs are having a clamp down on shopping trips now, not to mention the new immigration procudures required after October this year which basically ends VISA free travel to the US from the UK.

[Nottingham Nick]

James

You are right about customs - last week in LHR arrivals there were lots of officers on duty scanning the crowd as they filed past. This caused quite a bottle neck - and a few worried looks!!

For a long time now we have got used to seeing empty benches in the customs area as we wheel our trollies past with bleary eyes (unless we have been in UC of course )

Not any more!!!

Nick

James

quote: not to mention the new immigration procudures required after October this year which basically ends VISA free travel to the US from the UK.

Not quite - the VWP will still be applicable as long as you have one of the newer type machine-readable passports. If your passport isn't machine-readable, then you'll need a passport that contains biometric indicators (which won't be abailable until mid-2005 at the earliest). A visa will only be required if the passport isn't machine-readable, and doesn't contain biometric identifiers.

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3378717.stm

[Pete]

Mitchja,

Are you getting confused about the postponed machine-readable requirements & the VISA waiver programme? As far as I understand the VISA waiver programme stands, and the only change in October is the introduction of the requirement for your passport to be machine readable.

Additionally, passports issued on or after the 26th Oct must have a 'biometric' identifier. If you already have a passport issued before that date, as long as it's machine readable (ie, has the 2 lines of OCR characters at the bottom of the photo page), it's still fine.

Pix

Get your new uk passport before 26th october 2004 and you are ok after this date no VWS as passport will not have the required biometric stuff.The 2 times I have gone through LHR customs this year have been totally different early Jan packed with people and customs men last week late Feb not one customs man to be seen.

[mitchja]

Ok now I'm confussed!!!!-

this is what the UK Passport agency say on their web site:

http://www.passport.gov.uk/news/news.asp?intElement=695

a section from the text:

Machine Readable Passports (i.e. the current type of British passport) issued up to and including 25 October 2004 are valid for visa-free travel to the US until the passport expires.

Machine Readable Passports, issued from 26 October 2004 onwards will need a visa attached by the US Embassy to permit travel to the USA.

So yes I'm OK as my passport expires Jan 05 so therefore I'll re-new it before October 26th - going to do it after my SFO / LAS trip in Apr I think.

Indeed it is odd. When I passed through LHR customs about three weeks ago, suitcase fully expanded (and then stuffed some) there was not a single customs officer to be seen as I mentally calculated how many times over the £145 limit I was!

[Bazz]

Mitchja,

The problem arises because British Passports issued after 26 October 2004 will not have Biometric data incorporated until mid 2005 (according to current UK Gov estimates). The US requires all machine readable passports issued after 26 October 2004 to have Biometric data incorporated. Therefore any machine readable British Passport issued during the period 26 October 2004 until the issue of passports with Biometric data, will also require a US Visa for entry into the US.

This is UK Gov's current understanding and discussions are ongoing to determine if there is a workable solution to obviate the need for a Visa during this overlap but at present this is the way it cuts. Also the mid 2005 date for incorporation may be able to be brought forward, but it's too early to say.

I hope this clarifies the position?

I'm in the same position as Mitchja -- my passport needs renewing in Jan '05. I checked the Passport Agency website and they have a scheme in place whereby you can re-new your passport upto 9 months in advance. So come April, I'll be re-newing and avoiding the £65 charge for a visa.

[mitchja]

Yeah thanks Bazz

As I said earlier I'm just going to re-new my passport in May this year.