How to book mixed class flights ?

Need some help from those in the know.

I am going back to the US in a few weeks for a conference and am struggling to find a booking engine that will give me prices for what I want.

My plans are..

30th Sep - MAN - LHR - LAX (LHR-LAX in PE)

I am then doing stuff that will eventually get me to Palm Springs, so my return needs to be,

8th Oct - PSP - LAX (or SFO) - LHR - MAN (LAX/SFO-LHR in PE)

When I called VS early this year to try to get a Econ MAN-LHR booked with my UC LHR-LAX, they struggled to give me decent prices (jump was £2K just by adding MAN-LHR)

Looking at the usual booking sites, they wont allow me to select classes for individual flights.

Any ideas ?

[Neil]

If you want to book it all on one PNR then you are going to have to call FC to do it. The problem you have is you can't book say econ on the MAN-LHR leg and then a PE on the LHR-LAX leg via the VS site.

You might find it a lot cheaper to book your internal flights a separately as VS will only be able to quote you a standard agreed rate, which in my experience are a lot more than booking direct. Of course doing this you lose the protection of it all being on one PNR, but it depends how important that is to you, and if you are willing to pay more for it.

Neil

Bmi do fairly cheap flights from MAN to LHR if you wanted to book that bit separately.

Thanks. I have priced up individual flights, BA do a £95 return, but I would like if VS, or really any other agent can put them all on a single PNR as I am then covered if any one of the flights is delayed.

[Neil]

Thanks. I have priced up individual flights, BA do a £95 return, but I would like if VS, or really any other agent can put them all on a single PNR as I am then covered if any one of the flights is delayed.

The problem is - VS have agreed rates with airlines (think they use BMI for MAN-LHR) and they will only quote you that agreed rate. It is the same for your internal US flight, VS will only book you on their agreed partner rates, even though you could easily get say a Southwest flight for a fraction of the cost.

As I said before, it is your decision if you want the cheapest option or pay more for the security of all flights being on one PNR, you can't have it both ways.

IIRC correctly, flights into Europe would book into a high econ bucket, for some reason, when tied to a VS PNR. This may be, as Neil stated, per agreement. I don't know if it had something to do with the booking being PE (BA connecting flights in econ book into Y when coupled with a WT+ leg, though at nowhere near the premium).

When I used to do it on the US side, it actually didn't work that way. I did an ORD-LHR-SFO a few times, I remember distinctly once connecting into ORD from MSP as there was a UA fare at 60 or 70 dollars or something, very cheap, and the Premier team person that helped me was able to tack that on to the VS flight for the same price. Very good thing too as I got to MSP and ORD was dealing with its typical "winds forcing delay" stuff, and UA seeing the connection had proactively rebooked me onto an earlier flight.

I would see about the PSP connection, that should be a lot easier.

[honey lamb]

As others say, in most cases it is the agreement reached with the various airlines which determines the cost of the connecting flights to/from the VS leg. I have to connect from Cork and Aer Lingus insists on the fully flexible economy fare which is approximately €200 per leg :0 I therefore sacrifice the benefits of having everything on one PNR for cheaper flights since some can be €0 plus taxes - a no-brainer in my opinion but I make sure there is enough padding between flights even to the point of taking an earlier one.

Mind you, Aer Lingus's fully flexible fare added to a VS flight wasn't half as bad as Singapore Airlines. The difference between ex-Cork and ex-LHR was €1K. I kid you not! :0 :0 :0

Thanks all.

Followed advice on here and have booked sep flights. There are 4 of us flying from LHR to LAX, so all meeting up at Heathrow, then getting a cab/minibus to palm springs from LAX.

Managed to get PE booked, so not as good as my recent UC jaunt there, but not too shabby