British Airways launches Nashville – Avios seats now available – and adds other US flights

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• Cal says:

  9 Aug9 August 10:13

  OT, Going to go travelling around South East Asia and Australia/New Zealand. I know I should keep my Amex MR until I need them but should I take advantage of the extra 20% Clubcard bonus for Virgin Atlantic? Or is Avios better for SEA and Aus/NZ? Do Virgin get a lot of availability on Air New Zealand? Also because of how cheap flights are intra SEA is it worth using points? Do any routes stand out?

  • Rob says:

    9 Aug9 August 10:15

    ANZ releases very little availability to anyone, even its own members, on London – LA – NZ. I think you’re pushing your luck hoping to get that.

    Virgin is good for Beijing (the Air China redemption to Beijing at 63,000 return in Business Class is one of the most generous redemptions on any airline to anywhere) plus its own flights to Asia. Obviously BA can access more flight options but Virgin is OK. However, it is better to ignore the bonus and keep your points in Tesco until you are ready to book – you can then look for availability and transfer at that point, the points hit overnight.

    • Cal says:

      9 Aug9 August 10:33

      Do you know much about availability on Sydney to Auckland on ANZ with VS? Or would that better with Avios on Qantas?

      • pauldb says:

        9 Aug9 August 11:03

        I would expect VS would see the same availability as other partners, which you can search on united.com without a log-in, but it’s not guaranteed. Would be the same 10k e/w Y, but cheaper in J: 15k VS or 20k avios (although avios would get you a LA longhaul spec as well as QF.
        VS stand out more over avios on Asia-NZ, especially now they allow more oneways. 42.5k on SQ SIN-NZ or particularly 40k on NZ HKG/PVG/TYO/SIN-NZ, when BA could be more like 70k on CX. But availability and ease of booking are less transparent.

        • pauldb says:

          9 Aug9 August 11:09

          Actually it looks like some SIN-AKL on NZ are op’d by 787-9 with flat beds which would be a nice outcome for 15k VS.

        • pauldb says:

          9 Aug9 August 12:32

          Sorry that’s meant to say SYD-AKL on NZ./

        • Cal says:

          9 Aug9 August 15:28

          Thanks that was really helpful. I’m having a browse on United now, but do you know about Hawaiian Airline’s availability with VS? So many questions, but it is going to be a big trip 😀

        • pauldb says:

          9 Aug9 August 16:42

          No real idea on that one – apparently HA would show on united.com too but I can’t pull any up; redemption rates look quite high with NZ again looking better value.

      • John says:

        9 Aug9 August 16:30

        Try LAN for SYD-AKL. I found paying to be cheaper than redeeming.

        For flights operated by Jetconnect (Qantas’ way of paying their staff less by basing them in NZ) you will need to check availability on QFF and phone BA to book if you want to use avios.

• h1tvd says:

  9 Aug9 August 10:42

  Not tried to meet all the targets before, I have a couple of q’s, hoping someone can help me
  1. Does a your rate bonus points booking count as a bonus points booking?
  2. If I book a reward night, will this count as one of my nights? Can I combine this with a paid night and still get the 2 nights in NYC bonus?
  3. Can I meet multiple targets with one booking? Eg a stay in September combined with 2 above if both nights are in September?
  4. I already have 3 nights booked for December, will these bookings count? They were done in app in June….
  Thanks, will hopefully net myself 49k points with a 2 night booking in NYC.

  • Genghis says:

    9 Aug9 August 11:20

    1. Yes
    2. No. Cash only unless redemption target
    3. Yes
    4. On my target, only the redemption target says ‘make the redemption’ and ‘consume’. Even the app stay this time just says ‘consume’. In short, check the T&Cs of your offer carefully.

    • h1tvd says:

      9 Aug9 August 11:27

      thank you genghis, font of all knowlegde 😉

    • h1tvd says:

      9 Aug9 August 11:47

      AHHHH… this is too complicated for my simple brain. My weekend stay target is a book and consume target, as I have already booked it, it won’t count. Will the 2 nights I have already booked count towards my stay 5 nights target if that is just a consume target?

      • Genghis says:

        9 Aug9 August 11:53

        Yes

• CV3V says:

  9 Aug9 August 11:03

  I have avoided the last few accelerate promos, this time however it looks like i can scoop up over 100k in points for 5 well planned out stays.

  • Alex W says:

    9 Aug9 August 12:35

    Nice! No chance I can do mine as I need 3 different countries excluding the UK!

  • RussellH says:

    9 Aug9 August 14:49

    Mine looks easier than the current one, but my partner’s is harder – and her current one was harder than mine…

    Half my nights so far this year have been reward nights, and given that three have been just 10000 and one 5000 I am dooing OK. Are they trying to encourage people who book a lot of reward nights??

• Frankie says:

  9 Aug9 August 11:03

  I’ve been to PHX three times now on the BA amex 2 for 1 as an alternative to LAS where I can never get seats. They are close together and it’s meant I’ve discovered really reasonably priced yet luxurious hotels in Phoenix and Scotsdale. It’s a great place to start a Vegas/West Coast holiday.

• Jason says:

  9 Aug9 August 11:16

  OTT the bulk head seats have just been released for my flight on Saturday however we still can’t access them because we haven’t got an infant travelling with us. Does anyone know if they get released before check in opens or even if they are available when check in opens?
  Thanks

  • C77 says:

    9 Aug9 August 11:44

    Seats in the bulkhead row which are designated as a basinette position (mainly long haul aircraft) open at T-24hrs when online check in opens.

    Seats in the bulkhead row which don’t have a basinette position (Short haul, Club Europe) open approx at time of booking to Golds and T-72hrs to Silver/Bronze. If no status you can pay at this time via manage my booking. Otherwise opened for general assignment at T-24 when online check in opens.

    • Jason says:

      9 Aug9 August 11:55

      Cheers fasted finger time it is then! Tricky with 3 different booking references…

      • John says:

        9 Aug9 August 16:32

        Normal window, private window and a second browser should sort you out easily

        But sometimes it doesn’t open exactly at T-24h but 15mins or even 1h later

• Carl says:

  9 Aug9 August 11:27

  Just looked for availability on this flight for next summer. It looks good for Business, but I don’t see anything in First at all. It doesn’t even have a section which says First is not available. Is First likely to get released later?

  • Genghis says:

    9 Aug9 August 11:33

    As Rob says, 788 and so no F.

• Rob says:

  9 Aug9 August 13:13

  Here’s a question about airline scheduling/equipment for the route.

  So BA’s 787-8 has 214 seats and they will have a flight 5x a week.

  Why not have say 3x weekly flights on a 777/747? I doubt frequency matters on this route (unlike JFK). With 2x spare slots a week they could open up new routes to Taiwan/Philippines/Bali etc or add frequency to high demand routes.

  Confused why BA ordered the 787-8 (or even -9). They seem to not be the best use of those precious LHR slots. Looking at the 787 routes, most are daily……

  • Rob says:

    9 Aug9 August 13:39

    BA has no shortage of slots, neither does Virgin. Don’t believe the hype. Why for eg is Iberia Express in T5?

    • Callum says:

      9 Aug9 August 18:54

      How would Iberia Express being elsewhere free up a slot? Surely they aren’t tied to specific terminals?

      • Rob says:

        9 Aug9 August 20:02

        Iberia Express should be in Gatwick, Stansted or Luton by rights. Vueling still has Heathrow slots too.

        And BA sold Qatar one of its 6 Heathrow slots. This was well before Qatar bought its shares in IAG …. as Willie Walsh told it, Qatar circulated a chunky offer for a slot pair at a certain time and BA thought it was stupid to turn down.

  • mark2 says:

    9 Aug9 August 16:26

    I suspect that the people who decide these things have all the relevant information and many years of experience.

    • Rob says:

      9 Aug9 August 16:46

      True, though this is BA we’re talking about; from my recent experience it doesn’t seem to attract (or hold onto) the same level of calibre of employee that it once used to and those that are there (aimed at present management) seem to make some questionable decisions which we’re all probably aware of.

      Anyway, interesting re slots Rob, always thought those were like gold-dust at LHR.

• h1tvd says:

  9 Aug9 August 13:46

  Last accelerate question I promise 🙂 Do stays booked using the Mastercard 30% discount qualify?

  • Lady London says:

    9 Aug9 August 13:55

    Does the mastercard require a code? or just a mastercard to be loaded as the payment card to guarantee the booking and then use it to pay as well

    • h1tvd says:

      9 Aug9 August 14:03

      Its via a special page I’ve been using from an earlier HFP post. No code. I’ve made one advance booking through the link so far, paid by mastercard, discount was applied albeit 30% off flexible rate not the cheapest available rate, stayed, points posted fine. Just wanted to double check it would qualify for accelerate….

      • Genghis says:

        9 Aug9 August 15:39

        I believe so. Points are awarded (take a screen print of booking page / look on the app).

  • Rob says:

    9 Aug9 August 15:49

    Yes, those are qualifying.

    • Tracy says:

      9 Aug9 August 19:35

      Thank you

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