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Any tips on waiting for a 1st class redemption, have flights on the 30th April in business but would love to change to 1st.
Pretty sure seat spy doesn’t alert for first class.
Do I just need to check 17 times a day?I know that cancelled redemption seats go back in within about 30 mins so midnight doesn’t help in that case.
Thanx
If you have a subscription, shouldn’t SeatSpy send alerts for whichever cabin you set it up for? You do need to keep checking though, as someone else could book the seats before you see the notification.
Where are you headed? Some destinations have better availability than others. Cancelled redemptions don’t always go back into the inventory, especially this close to the travel date.
Seatspy will give 1st alerts, I once had one a couple days prior to my flight so there’s hope!
Yeah, I used SeatSpy alerts to get first class seats to Shanghai last summer and I currently have a few alerts set to see if I can upgrade this summer. SeatSpy isn’t always 100% accurate though, so occasional manual checks should probably supplement SeatSpy.
Thanx folks, Ive signed up to seat spy and set alerts for our date.
Fingers crossed.
Not sure the extra costs involved but I don’t think its any more.Any tips on waiting for a 1st class redemption, have flights on the 30th April in business but would love to change to 1st.
Pretty sure seat spy doesn’t alert for first class.
Do I just need to check 17 times a day?I know that cancelled redemption seats go back in within about 30 mins so midnight doesn’t help in that case.
ThanxI got mine (out to Tokyo on JAL and back again on BA last month) by checking manually a few times a day. In both cases the seats showed up on the first check of the day, around 3AM – perhaps it’s coincidence, but I suspect not… I reckon BA’s algorithm checks each night and if conditions are right, the seats become available.
The BA seats appeared 3 weeks out exactly, FWIW, and the JAL ones less than a week out.
In short – you don’t need SeatSpy, but you do need to keep checking regularly. Good luck!
Any tips on waiting for a 1st class redemption, have flights on the 30th April in business but would love to change to 1st.
Pretty sure seat spy doesn’t alert for first class.
Do I just need to check 17 times a day?I know that cancelled redemption seats go back in within about 30 mins so midnight doesn’t help in that case.
ThanxI got mine (out to Tokyo on JAL and back again on BA last month) by checking manually a few times a day. In both cases the seats showed up on the first check of the day, around 3AM – perhaps it’s coincidence, but I suspect not… I reckon BA’s algorithm checks each night and if conditions are right, the seats become available.
The BA seats appeared 3 weeks out exactly, FWIW, and the JAL ones less than a week out.
In short – you don’t need SeatSpy, but you do need to keep checking regularly. Good luck!
Thanx that’s really useful. As I have 2 business seats already ill need to call to do the ‘change’ is this what you did?
I need to get the number saved in my phone 0800 408 7667 I’m going to ring You First helpline which is a bit cheeky but hey ho. We go in 8weeks so prob a bit of a wait yet then.Any tips on waiting for a 1st class redemption, have flights on the 30th April in business but would love to change to 1st.
Pretty sure seat spy doesn’t alert for first class.
Do I just need to check 17 times a day?I know that cancelled redemption seats go back in within about 30 mins so midnight doesn’t help in that case.
ThanxI got mine (out to Tokyo on JAL and back again on BA last month) by checking manually a few times a day. In both cases the seats showed up on the first check of the day, around 3AM – perhaps it’s coincidence, but I suspect not… I reckon BA’s algorithm checks each night and if conditions are right, the seats become available.
The BA seats appeared 3 weeks out exactly, FWIW, and the JAL ones less than a week out.
In short – you don’t need SeatSpy, but you do need to keep checking regularly. Good luck!
Thanx that’s really useful. As I have 2 business seats already ill need to call to do the ‘change’ is this what you did?
I need to get the number saved in my phone 0800 408 7667 I’m going to ring You First helpline which is a bit cheeky but hey ho. We go in 8weeks so prob a bit of a wait yet then.You certainly call You First to upgrade a booking and pay the change fee and extra Taxes and possibly collect a small refund of Avios.
As has been suggested if you advise the route, we can check to see the sales buckets to give an estimation of whether two first class seats will open up.
I’m going to ring You First helpline which is a bit cheeky but hey ho.
If you are phoning to upgrade to First, I’m not sure why calling You First would be cheeky? As long as you are calling about a First-class itinerary, I don’t see any issue with this.
Not sure the extra costs involved but I don’t think its any more.
When I phoned to upgrade last year from Club to First (LHR-PVG), it cost me £220 total for three people (including £35pp change fee), but they also refunded me 50,000 Avios (so we almost seemed to be £280 better off after upgrading if valuing Avios at 1p). I have no idea how they arrived at that figure, as a fresh booking online was pricing out to be much more expensive, so had been expecting to pay more.
I called You First last year to upgrade a J redemption to F flying to SIN. The availability had popped up on seat spy that morning. Once connected I said I wanted to amend an existing booking. I gave the booking reference, and the response was “I shouldn’t really do this for you, as you’ve come through to the You First line, but I will do it for you this time”. I could imagine the look of embarrassment on her face once I told her the amendment I wanted to make.
First rule of good customer service. Listen, and never assume.
Thanx that’s really useful. As I have 2 business seats already ill need to call to do the ‘change’ is this what you did?
I need to get the number saved in my phone 0800 408 7667 I’m going to ring You First helpline which is a bit cheeky but hey ho. We go in 8weeks so prob a bit of a wait yet then.I had to make the choice on the spur of the moment – either cancel and rebook online (and risk having no trip at all if the seats went in the meantime) or phoning. Not fancying a potential long wait on the phone, as a lowly blue, I went down the cancel and rebook route for both.
Luckily it worked for both flights, the Avios and companion voucher (for the BA flight) were refunded within a couple of minutes. It was nervewracking, mind you, and my heart was racing as I clicked through the booking pages!
You First would be a better option, I reckon. And yes, you’re allowed to use it to book First flights, redemption or otherwise. I’d forgotten that in my excitement, and was thinking of having to phone the usual “bottom of the pile” line…
Thanx, this is all really helpful.
Sorry e14 I missed NorthernLass request for destination/date in the initial reply.Its LHR to SIN on the BA11 18:55 flight on 30th April. 2 people.
Its actually from Manchester but I wont need that amending as obvs no 1st on domestic flights.
Thanx, this is all really helpful.
Sorry e14 I missed NorthernLass request for destination/date in the initial reply.Its LHR to SIN on the BA11 18:55 flight on 30th April. 2 people.
It’s actually from Manchester but I wont need that amending as obvs no 1st on domestic flights.
Ask in a couple of weeks but at the moment it looks good for a couple of F seats to become available
May I ask where you check fare buckets, and what you look for when judging the likelihood of First seats being made available?
It’d be useful to be able to do that myself. Teach a man to fish and all that…
Ask in a couple of weeks but at the moment it looks good for a couple of F seats to become available[/quote]
Ooo great stuff. Exciting, I know it’s nothing like other airlines 1st class but it’ll be nice to experience something new.
May I ask where you check fare buckets, and what you look for when judging the likelihood of First seats being made available?
It’d be useful to be able to do that myself. Teach a man to fish and all that…
ExpertFlyer is the one to use – you can create a free 3-day trial, and it’s one per email address.
For the BA flight from Tokyo, I’d been watching like a hawk – it was F7 A5 for a long time, and still was when 3 First seats appeared for redemption three weeks out. It then became F2 A0 closer to the time, and on the day every seat was taken.
It’s the “A” bucket which is key to redemptions, as far as I can tell – if there’s good availability then there’s a good chance some redemption seats will appear closer to the flight date.
(Some flights seem to have First redemptions loaded right from the day they appear, e.g. the last daily flight to New York from London is a good one, but there’s a different algorithm used closer to the time when BA thinks they might not be able to sell the seats for cash.)
I’ve just checked on ExpertFlyer – my subscription has a couple of days left on it – and for the Singapore flight in question it shows:
Aircraft: 388
F7 A6 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9The A6 bit, as e14 says, is a good sign. Hopefully it’ll stay that way and the seats will appear for redemption!
For the BA flight from Tokyo, I’d been watching like a hawk – it was F7 A5 for a long time, and still was when 3 First seats appeared for redemption three weeks out. It then became F2 A0 closer to the time, and on the day every seat was taken.
Thanks @Retron.
I’ve just checked for my own journey (also a Tokyo flight).
It’s not until May, but it’s showing as F2A0. Safe to assume there won’t be any First reward availability released I gather?
For the BA flight from Tokyo, I’d been watching like a hawk – it was F7 A5 for a long time, and still was when 3 First seats appeared for redemption three weeks out. It then became F2 A0 closer to the time, and on the day every seat was taken.
Thanks @Retron.
I’ve just checked for my own journey (also a Tokyo flight).
It’s not until May, but it’s showing as F2A0. Safe to assume there won’t be any First reward availability released I gather?
Extremely unlikely there will be an F seat released as a reward on that flight.
I’ve just checked on ExpertFlyer – my subscription has a couple of days left on it – and for the Singapore flight in question it shows:
Aircraft: 388
F7 A6 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9The A6 bit, as e14 says, is a good sign. Hopefully it’ll stay that way and the seats will appear for redemption!
Hi Retron, could I please be very cheek and ask how the LHR to JNB flight looks on 12th Feb 26? The earlier one. We are hoping for first for our honeymoon. Currently CW booked for us.
Hi Retron, could I please be very cheek and ask how the LHR to JNB flight looks on 12th Feb 26? The earlier one. We are hoping for first for our honeymoon. Currently CW booked for us.
Here you go – looks like only 3 seats available at a discount rate, but that could change nearer the time. Note how there are no premium economy or economy seats showing as available, it’s as if they’ve not fully loaded all the seats yet.
It’s worth nabbing yourself a free trial of ExpertFlyer nearer the time!
BA 55
02/12/26 6:25 PM JNB
02/13/26 7:30 AM 388
79% / 24m F7 A3 J9 C9 D9 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0BA 57
02/12/26 9:15 PM JNB
02/13/26 10:20 AM 388
Daily
68% / 56m F3 A3 J9 C9 D9 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0Thanks so much!
Will keep checking regularly and give it a go. Fingers crossed
I have a SeatSpy sub but I probably check a few times a day every day anyway…
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