Some British Airways First Class Avios seats to the US have appeared for July and August

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• Jonathan says:

  8 Jun8 June 18:48

  You get free seat selection whenever you feel like it with BA First, no status needed !

• S879 says:

  8 Jun8 June 19:36

  Anyone know if the new UK BA Amex vouchers allows open jaw with a long gap so say Dubai to London in July and then London to New York in September. Will they allow such a big gap (stopover) in between for UK citizens?

  • E14 says:

    8 Jun8 June 19:52

    I don’t see why not it’s two legs, with no surface sector in the middle

  • Harry T says:

    8 Jun8 June 20:11

    Won’t this fail because the distance between Dubai and NYC is greater than the distance of the two legs?

    • e14 says:

      8 Jun8 June 20:51

      Nope it’s not an open jaw but a one way with a stopover – which ba.com should actually be able to do online

      • e14 says:

        8 Jun8 June 20:58

        Just tried it 100000 Avios + £ 790.06 for one pax one way DXB-LON-JFK

        Good luck finding the seats though DXB-LON maybe there is some I class available

        • Thegasman says:

          8 Jun8 June 21:18

          Is that with >24 hours between the two legs ie. Stopover? That would generate UK APD liability plus ex UK rip off TFC’s.

  • JDB says:

    8 Jun8 June 21:25

    Yes – you asked the same question yesterday in the forum and got the same answer.

    You can also book the return JFK-LHR-DXB on the same 241 as long as it’s for the same people and you book that return before the first flight. You will pay the APD of c. £185 for each person for each London stopover over 24 hours + all the other carrier surcharges and fees/taxes.

• S879 says:

  8 Jun8 June 21:49

  Thank you for the replies.

• John Armstrong says:

  8 Jun8 June 22:49

  Promises , Promises that’s all you get from BA they cancelled our 1st.Class flights Glasgow to Norfolk Virginia in June without alternative travel arrangements.
  We won’t ever use BA again,they don’t even answer correspondence relating to cancellations.

  • john says:

    9 Jun9 June 10:51

    Find what alternate flights you want and ring them up to change to these.

  • Lady London says:

    9 Jun9 June 10:55

    Just persist @John A.
    Would be best in your case to look up BA, AA schedules and work out which flights you want instead before you call them and ask for them.

    You do have a right to be rebooked onto any airline(s) that can still do the timing you need.
    But the way of least resistance is to try to keep it under BA, AA or their pals in the transatlantic alliance

    Try BA around 8am on a weekday or a little earlier, or soon after 7pm as these have been mentioned as better times to try to get through.

    Also BA is obliged to get you from departure point to final destination – don’t let them fob you off with just the Transatlantic leg they are responsible for your ticket all the way. Be very sure, as all phones are recorded by them, to keep it clear you’ll be claiming the final alternative costs to Norfolk VA from them if they try not to ticket all the way. Take what you can get if you really can’t budge them. But keep it very, very clear you are not accepting this as a settlement and will be claiming reimbursement of the rest.

  • sayling says:

    9 Jun9 June 12:14

    And (ab)use the First line for the above purposes

  • numpty says:

    9 Jun9 June 16:18

    There’s been a few recent articles on news about not accepting refunds and vouchers for cancelled flights, airlines should be putting you on another carrier.

    My experience; when you do speak to BA, refuse the refund, refuse any voucher offered and simply ask for a flight with another carrier (they have a procedure for rebooking which states what carrier on what route to use). As Lady London stated, its path of least resistance to state you want them to put you on an AA flight – be nice about it, and if the CS advisor isnt being helpful just so you’ll think about things, hang up and call again.

• Ruth4325 says:

  9 Jun9 June 07:18

  I had the opportunity to upgrade to F on a recent 241 booking to NYC with my daughter. It was the old prime seat which was perfectly good, but it’s the crew that made it. Knowing it was my daughter’s first First and first trip to NYC they made a big fuss of her. I thought the food was very nice and the drinks were flowing. Really enjoyed it. The crew, especially the Irish FA looking after our cabin, were so genuine and welcoming, it made the whole experience wonderful. Which acutely contrasted with the less than welcoming border guard at EWR…

  • astra19 says:

    9 Jun9 June 14:17

    Always such a come-down isn’t it, arriving in the US from a lovely flight to the same horrible queue and achingly slow process?

    • Londonsteve says:

      9 Jun9 June 14:35

      I find it peculiar that many Brits are now outraged at being made to wait in the ‘other’ queue at EU airports and find the concept of a two-hour wait when getting off a Ryanair flight in Spain both offensive and unacceptable, yet doing the same on arrival in the US is totally normal and to be expected. No indignation that, ‘this is no way to treat friends and allies’. It’s odd how some Brits have a superiority complex vis-a-vis fellow European nations but are humble and accepting when it comes to what the US doles out. Long border queues and unfriendly staff are one of the key reasons why I no longer wish to holiday in the US. Often high prices, poor infrastructure, the bullying to leave large tips and now febrile political climate come on top of this. IMHO Europe offers way better holiday experiences for less, so why anyone would want to pay £1k this summer to fly in Economy and holiday in the US is beyond me. I appreciate that’s merely my personal feeling and I respect anyone that adores the US for everything it offers, we all have our ‘happy place’, so to speak, but I would rather put most of that £1k towards holidaying in Europe.

      • Rob says:

        9 Jun9 June 16:48

        You’ve clearly not looked at flight prices to Europe. Just randomly checked BA to Palma for a week in August and you’re looking at around £500 if you want to take luggage. And with few branded hotels in resorts, you’ll be paying massively inflated cash prices for your hotel – no points deals.

        • Londonsteve says:

          10 Jun10 June 21:30

          Eurotunnel and camping in the Dordogne awaits!

• Jason Wiltshire says:

  9 Jun9 June 08:20

  Just went on BA site to book and cannot see a single First seat to NYC available to book throughout Aug and Sept. All gone or usual BA IT issues?

  • HBommie says:

    9 Jun9 June 08:46

    Do you have NYC as the destination (not JFK), plenty there in August

    • Rob says:

      9 Jun9 June 09:20

      Yes, it is almost all Newark availability.

• Joshua says:

  9 Jun9 June 12:10

  Eye watering ‘taxes’ and other fees. For four when I looked I was cheaper to get four paid for ex Europe tickets on TAP instead. Earning star miles too

  • HBommie says:

    9 Jun9 June 13:14

    Do TAP fly first class?

    • numpty says:

      9 Jun9 June 16:22

      No, but you’ll get a cash Business Class return ticket for the price of the BA taxes in First on an avios booking.

      • JDB says:

        9 Jun9 June 16:35

        You still need to pay for the tickets to/from Lisbon and you will have probably have double the travel time, plus collecting luggage in Lisbon etc. so not really comparable on the relatively short flight to New York. Going to the east coast, Dublin seems the better opportunity and you can get the pre-clearance.

        • Rob says:

          9 Jun9 June 16:44

          Or Shannon, which has the benefit of actually functioning properly at the moment ….

      • HBommie says:

        10 Jun10 June 09:48

        Well, yes that’s an option if you can find them at that price.

        I haven’t flown TAP business but if I want a direct flight and the benefits of a good lounge, seat selection, cancellable ticket without the hassle (and it is to me at the moment) of ex EU, then the fee’s, surcharges etc are very, very reasonable.

• Adrian says:

  9 Jun9 June 17:44

  Thanks for the heads-up I’ve bagged 2 return F seats from Atlanta for August on the 781.

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