Reward seat availability experiences

Well, was looking for flights to the US East coast for second week in July.

I know, very late notice and all that, but as I had loads of VS miles stacked up and need to use them as I now fly BA, I thought I'd give it a go.

Couldn't get anything to IAD, BOS, JFK, EWR, ORD any time between 5th July and 19th July - should say, in Upper, PE was available.

So, have still got the VS miles!

Tried BA and got 3 seats in CW back from JFK...

What are other peoples experiences - I'm wondering whether you can only really get VS reward seats at the 330 day point?

Obviosly all depends on the route and time of year etc, but I only ever used to get VS reward availability when I booked the moment those flights were available for booking, never did manage a shorter time frame, whereas have had good success with BA.

[Neil]

As I mentioned in another thread yesterday, I am actively watching reward seats for our flight to LAX in August, we are in PE but want to upgrade to UC with miles.

When we booked in November, no G's were available at all, I am checking daily and it is quite interesting to see how seats just randomly appear on certain dates. Sometimes the flight calendar gives October as the earliest, then the next day there are loads of dates in August, a week later only September, it really is very random. Right now there are loads of dates in August (not mine!) but it literally changes every day and even throughout the day.

I certainly don't think it is true that seats are only available when the flights go on sale, and there really is no system or pattern that us pax are able to understand, follow or predict, it really is a bit of a lottery. I'm sure it all makes sense to the revenue management team who are controlling it, I just wish I knew what it was

Well I'm seeing Gs available right now from LHR to NYC on the 5th, 6th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 23rd, 24th and 25th July, so yes there certainly are UC reward seats available at short notice.

I only searched for one seat, mind - if you were looking for 3 that may well have been the issue.

BA, of course, have more flights to more East Coast destinations and bigger business cabins so more chance to bag a reward seat. Or perhaps they're having trouble shifting them with their newly downgraded lounge catering ...

Not sure how relevant this is but my experiences are ...

Last year (July), I booked EC flights to MCO for November. Then upgraded to PE with cash. Then I phoned FC CS in about September time about something and got talking to them about upgrades. She found an upgrade on my flight so I snapped it up.

Also, for this year, I phoned FC CS in March this year and bagged two G's for December (again, I was unable to flexible on dates as I already had a flight booked).

Last week, I booked EC return flights upgrading to UC G's but was flexible with my dates by a day either side. Staying with friends so not really an issue.

On the flip side though ...I fly BA to Spain a few times a year and have accumulated quite a few Avios miles, enough for a few flights. However, I can never find availability when I "need" to go! )

Early last December was looking for UC rewards to go to NYC just after New Year.

There was availability on the dates I wanted - both out and back - but the available flights just didn't suit my timings.

This thread made me smile, because BA availability has been dire for the last few months, and if you look at FT you'll see that it has put the cat among the pigeons. I suspect you just got lucky at short notice (well done, by the way) -- my experience has been that VS availability has been consistently better of late, although return sectors from the US seem to be much more scarce these days -- and very very scarce indeed from the West Coast.

Just yesterday I booked a return to EWR at the end of July and managed to get a G. Had a similar experience earlier this year for MIA when booking 30 days out although had keep and eye for the return as could only get a PE seat however snagged another G a few days before the fight for £50.

That said booked flights to HAV for Oct/Nov back in March and no G's to be seen!

Interesting responses - perhaps the fact that I was looking for 3 G's was the issue?

It just struck me that I've only ever got VS Gs (3 of them) when I've looked as soon as the flights become bookable, but yet have had joy with BA a number of times a month or two before travelling.

As Neil's post demonstrates, it's luck of the draw and the day, I guess.

Still got those VS miles though, must think about next year and snag something...

Forgot to mention. I have as yet never managed to use my BA Avios

My recent experience (all to JFK one person only)

Booked a reward in Upper Class 02/01/13 - 05/01/13 (dates I needed to travel) about two weeks before travel

Miles upgrade from Economy to Upper Class end of May - the G became available a week before travel

Miles upgrade PE to Upper Class tomorrow (21/06) - the G became available last night - in fact still waiting for my updated eticket.

They do appear if you keep checking - just make sure you're close to a phone so you can be straight onto reservations.

Jonathan

If you have a spare computer, KVS Avaliability Tool and know how to write a macro, you can easy set things up to search constantly and email you when availability is found

On BA availability, in F there seems to be loads to the east coast released about a week or two out.

If you have a spare computer, KVS Avaliability Tool and know how to write a macro, you can easy set things up to search constantly and email you when availability is found

Ha ha, brilliant |:)

Reward seats over to the East Coast come and go... when you want them they are not there, when you are 'just looking' there is a lot of availability. Just keep looking is the best advice I can give.

Last trip over to NYC, booked myself into Economy and there was no reward availability for upgrade until I got to the airport. Never hurts to ask.

3 seats CW.. nice one. Hope ya have an awesome trip. Don't forget to post a TR over on BAFlyer

Good morning,

I have been looking for a couple of G's to SFO in Feb from the day flights were released and no joy so far. A couple of weeks ago I called the AU FC to book an S fare all good with the view of upgrading at a later date, the agent looked on the system and told me that no G's had been released so far on that flight nearly three months after the flight became available to book so it would appear that G's are not always released the day the flight becomes available.

I've been looking for several months for two West Coast ( SFO or LAX) flights for later in the year ( and I've been ultra flexible over a 3+ month period).Whilst there is some availability on the outboard leg to both destinations on some dates there is zero return availability on any dates for 2 seats for either destination.
Any ideas to a solution? I don't really want to have to fly transcon to IAD/ JFK/ EWR from the West coast.
I've not seen such a dearth of seats in a long time...... !
DL

have you tried rewardseats.com

I must say that I have had reasonable success over the last year with reward availability. Last June my wife and I used miles for our seats in Y in the reward sale for ORD, this April 5 adults and 1 child used miles for a trip (out of school holidays v( ) to MCO and my wife and I have just secured G's to IAD and returning P (in PE) all on reward/upgradable fares ^)

Not bad for an amateur, if I say so myself

have you tried rewardseats.com

Yep but it's functionality only shows availability for one seat, so no real help.
DL

I've been looking for several months for two West Coast ( SFO or LAX) flights for later in the year ( and I've been ultra flexible over a 3+ month period).Whilst there is some availability on the outboard leg to both destinations on some dates there is zero return availability on any dates for 2 seats for either destination.
Any ideas to a solution? I don't really want to have to fly transcon to IAD/ JFK/ EWR from the West coast.
I've not seen such a dearth of seats in a long time...... !
DL

I don't know if this is part of it but a fair few people appear to be doing open jaws or looking at alternative return points - indeed we often recommend trying SFO if there are no LAX (and vice versa - and that might be affecting availability on the return legs from the 'new' departure point.

I've been looking for several months for two West Coast ( SFO or LAX) flights for later in the year ( and I've been ultra flexible over a 3+ month period).Whilst there is some availability on the outboard leg to both destinations on some dates there is zero return availability on any dates for 2 seats for either destination.
Any ideas to a solution? I don't really want to have to fly transcon to IAD/ JFK/ EWR from the West coast.
I've not seen such a dearth of seats in a long time...... !
DL

I don't know if this is part of it but a fair few people appear to be doing open jaws or looking at alternative return points - indeed we often recommend trying SFO if there are no LAX (and vice versa - and that might be affecting availability on the return legs from the 'new' departure point.

I've looked at this too ( just searching for a one way for 2 Gs from SFO and LAX to LHR) .There is no reward availability at all.
DL

[Neil]

I've been looking for several months for two West Coast ( SFO or LAX) flights for later in the year ( and I've been ultra flexible over a 3+ month period).Whilst there is some availability on the outboard leg to both destinations on some dates there is zero return availability on any dates for 2 seats for either destination.
Any ideas to a solution? I don't really want to have to fly transcon to IAD/ JFK/ EWR from the West coast.
I've not seen such a dearth of seats in a long time...... !
DL

What about YVR? Only a 2 hour internal to SFO, or you could drive/train and spend a couple of days at the start/end of your trip. Reward availability seems fairly decent too.

[honey lamb]

DL, have you thought about Vancouver as a possible point of entry? I've been trying for an SFO for yonks to no success. YVR opened lots of options but for me it was an easy option as one of my destinations was SEA

[honey lamb]

Bugger! Neil beat me by a minute!

DL, I would recommend YVR. While I haven't used it as a point of entry yet, I have as a point of exit and it was good. I'm using it as a point of entry in September (in 90 days time - just acquired my seats!) and I have an onward flight to SEA that night. Vancouver is a lovely city so what about a couple of days there before flying south. If you fly Alaska Airlines you get BA miles and their First product is not bad - as I experienced last year.

Bugger! Neil beat me by a minute!

DL, I would recommend YVR. While I haven't used it as a point of entry yet, I have as a point of exit and it was good. I'm using it as a point of entry in September (in 90 days time - just acquired my seats!) and I have an onward flight to SEA that night. Vancouver is a lovely city so what about a couple of days there before flying south. If you fly Alaska Airlines you get BA miles and their First product is not bad - as I experienced last year.

LOL
I'd already tried the YVR option. The route finishes for the winter on the 12th of October and there is nothing in AUG/ SEPT/OCT save for 2 seats on the 14th August ( too early for my needs).
I've never had this much trouble . NZ is as elusive as ever to/from LAX so I'm thinking about other options .Can I now spend on DL?? ( as in Delta not me ): )
DL

Back in march this year I booked LHR to NRT flying in December just over a week before Christmas and returning beginning of second week of January. I was told by the VS booking agent that there were no Gs available nor any reward seat upgrades from PE either so I took a Z for the outbound but did manage to get a G for the inbound.
From reading this and a few other threads since joining v-flyer I probably should have perhaps stuck with a PE for the outbound and just kept searching for the reward seat upgrade however I really wanted UC on the outbound to get the benefit of flatbed as the NRT flight is a red eye.

Back in march this year I booked LHR to NRT flying in December just over a week before Christmas and returning beginning of second week of January. I was told by the VS booking agent that there were no Gs available nor any reward seat upgrades from PE either so I took a Z for the outbound but did manage to get a G for the inbound.
From reading this and a few other threads since joining v-flyer I probably should have perhaps stuck with a PE for the outbound and just kept searching for the reward seat upgrade however I really wanted UC on the outbound to get the benefit of flatbed as the NRT flight is a red eye.

I didn't think a one way Z was possible?