A combined BA / VS query

Decided it best to post this under BA as a key element centres on BA Miles, so am hoping Jaguarpig and/or others can help? I'm also after VS expertise too, so here's the background....

I'm helping Steve's brother look at options for getting over to California in May - yes, he'll be running B2B as well! The key issue is that he needs to keep his return date flexible. He ideally wants to fly VS both ways and, like us, will be wanting to arrive into SFO and depart from LAX. He wants to fly UC and is happy to pay a sensible price but certainly not along the lines of full fare J! He doesn't have VS miles so will be using money as opposed to miles. However he does have around 70K BA miles so is looking at the possibility of flying BA on one of the sectors.

Questions arising:

As Jon is keen to inject BA Miles into this trip he's looking at options involving one way fares on BA/VS. I remember seeing threads relating to one way VS Z fares but for the life of me can't trace any of them. Is there such a thing as a one way Z? The reason I ask is that, no matter what dates I try on the VS site, it offers up 4,800 for a one way single. On examination of the fare type it is, of course, a full fare J. But the moment you make it a return it reverts to a Z fare at 2,950. So is a one way Z not possible?

Looking at the Fare Codes section am I right in assuming that 'heavily restricted' means that a Z fare is not changeable meaning that, if he is able to obtain a one way Z, he must do this on the outbound only given that, unlike his return, his outbound date is fixed.

If he's able to buy a sensibly priced Z fare on Virgin for then he'd also like to make the best possible use of his 70000 BA Miles. What is his best option here? Like me he is no expert on the BA Exec Club system, he's just amassed these miles over time and is keen to put them to good use. If he were to do this, does the BA system work in a similar way to VS in allowing changes to BA's equivalent of G class fares. In other words if, say, for the LAX-LHR leg he buys an Economy or WT+ fare and upgrades with Miles, can he then amend his return date like you can with VS on a G?

Might there be a recommendation to exclude VS from the equation totally and do BA both ways - perhaps their equivalent of Z allows changes?

All advice/guidance appreciated

Many thanks

James

[Neil]

Can't help on the BA side, but you can't buy a one way Z with VS. A one way UC fare will be booked as a J. You are also right, a Z does not allow any changes, even for a fee.

It seems to me, you are really going to struggle to get him to do a BA/VS combo, and sounds like using BA would be the best option because of his desire to use miles.

Neil

[Pete]

BA's equivalent of a Z almost certainly won't allow changes. By its definition, the most heavily discounted Upper or Club fare is going to be the unchangeable one. And I'm pretty sure you're going to find it impossible to by a one-way version of either, as I seem to remember something about the fare rules for these super-apex buckets being return-only; and that's very likely to apply to both VS and BA's equivalent.

As you mention, VS do allow changes to a G ticket, but remember that's only a 'free' change if you're a Gold card holder. There is a 25/$50 charge for non-Golds (although for a Upper Class ticket, that's got to be worth the expense). I don't know the Executive Club, but I'd be surprised if their rewards seats couldn't be changed, even for a nominal fee.

But the problem is not being able to get a one-way Upper / Club fare at a super-discounted level. So either Jon is going to have to put away his 70k BA miles and just by a Z return, or look at what BA's changeable (and upgradeable) WT/WT+ fares are like. That gets into an area that I have no expertise with on BA, so I'll bow out to someone else to pick up that part of the thread.

I'd go with Pete's suggestion of looking at changeable WT+ fares and using the BA miles to upgrade - if there is availability. Generally, BA has some more flexibility than VS on the SFO / LAX routes - since there are more flights (two each day SFO, three on the LAX route). But it's getting close now and while I can see availability on BA, flexibility is soon going to get difficult.

Note that you cannot use miles on BA to upgrade to Club World from Economy / World Traveller. Only WT+. If memory serves me right, it's 25k miles to upgrade each way. At least if he changes the return and there's no availability, there'll be more room in WT+ and new AVOD.

I've recently changed my BA MFU'd flight, upgraded from a WT+ sale fare to CW, for a 90 change fee.

Book a one way CW for 50k miles or F for 75k these are fully flexible fares up to 24 hours before departure.I think with MFU you have the same ticket restrictions as the purchased WT+ ticket.

Thanks everyone for your help - much appreciated. Just one final question....what's MFU?

[Neil]

Miles For Upgrade

Google revealed the polite version is for Mfwue in Zambia.

The less polite version could be interpreted as doing something with your mother (and I dont mean taking her shopping followed by afternoon tea)

Thanks Neil for the translation [8D]

Just picking up on JP's suggestion to get an all out CW one way for 50K miles, this would indeed fit the bill perfectly for the return leg LAX-LHR since it offers flexibility on the return date which is what Jon needs.

So that leaves the question of his outbound to SFO. As we know one ways in PE/UC on VS are sky high as are WT+/CW on BA. This has got me thinking...again views welcome please >>

The VS site is offering an outbound in UC (Z) with a return in Economy for 1711. He clearly doesn't need the return leg so will be a no show and instead will head home in BA CW paid for with miles as per JP's note above.

Have I hit on the perfect formula? [:)]

Thanks
James

That's a pretty smart combo [y]

quote:Originally posted by Vegascrazy

The VS site is offering an outbound in UC (Z) with a return in Economy for 1711. He clearly doesn't need the return leg so will be a no show and instead will head home in BA CW paid for with miles as per JP's note above.


For about 1800 you can get a Club World return ticket from Dublin in the BA Ireland Sale (ends at midnight tonight so you haven't got long). Just get a cheap one-way ticket to DUB and start the journey there. The saving in APD is worth that alone. For flexibility your mate can book an award ticket using his BA miles for his return journey. If he doesn't need to change the date of his return flight he can then cancel the miles redemption for 15 with no loss of miles. Either way, to change dates or to cancel a BA miles redemption it has to be done more than 24hrs in advance of departure.

In addition, the mileage he earns both ways (if he ends up flying the return as planned) will enable him to increase his mileage balance to around 100,000 miles, making even better use of miles for a future redemption.

you can change VS IT fares for 90 and buy them as one ways, providing of course you book some (usually minimum 3 nights) accom or car hire with your agent