2 for 1 – Summer 2023

No guarantee of any first seats being released only 4 club seats. Your best bet is to nab them then if first becomes available call and upgrade. Remember there’s not a lot of first availability anywhere atm. Of course if 1st is released at the time grab them.

We have got GCSEs this year so I feel your pain! Having finally managed to do another trip in F (after 3 years) I would say it’s definitely worth going for, if you can. There are seats to be had if you’re prepared to be flexible, e.g. use your 241 to a different US city (and possibly have a few days there) then connect to the West coast. Try and do F on the outbound as the only CCRs are in LHR and JFK, and most return flights are overnight so you don’t get the benefit. F out and CW back is my ideal form of travel.
F to BOS gets released for Tuesdays and Wednesdays most weeks, but I’ve also seen seats available for NYC, ATL and a few others. There’s even the odd pair to LAX but they are few and far between and rarely get released at T-355.
If you’re quite flexible on dates, aim to fly on the off peak dates in summer (again Tuesdays and Wednesdays a lot of the time so that would tie in well if you did F to BOS as it’s only 68k avios outbound).
Do some research before booking as there are issues with the surcharges on US flights.
We’ve taken advantage of the end of the exams plus off peak dates to shave a good chunk off avios off our GCM flights this year.
Hope you manage to put an amazing trip together!

themightywab wrote:

1. Is it worth trying to redeem for First class for at least one of the legs (I fancy using the Concorde lounge at Heathrow)? Is First for one/both of these legs worth it over Club World, especially when traveling with a vegetarian teenager who can’t take advantage of the booze ;-)?
2. In terms of booking the open-jaw tickets, I phone up at midnight (or 1 am BST) on the 355th day prior to the date I want to travel out, book the ticket one way, and then phone back at the same time 355 days prior to the date I want to return and get them to amend the booking? I’ve seen some info that First tickets aren’t always released in this way?
3. Any idea when/if 2023 peak/off-peak dates will be announced? I may need to purchase some additional Avios if both dates are Peak?

Many thanks!

1. Yes, even if you decide never to do it again!
2. There are no guarantees on F tickets, phone up, ask, if it’s not available then book Club and keep an eye on two seats opening up later

Others might suggest F on the way back to London is a bit of a waste, as you are asleep so much of the time, however, the ground experience in JFK is worth it on it’s own, and from LA the flight is so long you will the benefit even if you sleep for a good chunk of it.

I’ve always been of the view that the best way to do long-haul travel for leisure is open jaw, I’d stick with that part of your plan if I were you. I’m less convinced I’d add a stop-over just to get a BA First seat over a Club one. I guess with enough time in the stopover city it would make sense.

It may also be helpful to note that you don’t need to phone to book the outbound. The only advantage of doing that is, for a destination seats redemption seats disappear rapidly, the call centre can hold the seats whilst completing the booking. The challenge at the moment is timing to get them to pick up just before midnight given the long hold times.

In practice, the online booking process is quick if you know what you want. Assuming it is your 2for1, your details will be pre-populated as the lead passenger. If you are in a household account, your son/daughter will need to be also (or on your friends and family list), so check that ahead of time but it then really is a case of select your flight and booking class, select 2nd traveller details from drop-down, enter payment details and submit.

Adding the return may be a bit more challenging as I believe it can be hit and miss as to whether they will do it if you call the US number at midnight. May be worth having fallback options prepared (route and/or date) just in case you don’t get your first choice but unless you are going for a route where the minimum release is being snapped up over night you may well be fine anyway.

OK, so the general advice for booking an open-jaw with the BAPP companion voucher is:
1. Book the outbound online.
2. Call to add the inbound to the same reservation. What do I say here? “I have the booking XYZ123 booked with a companion voucher, I want to now add a return that doesn’t start on the same airport”? Does having an infant in the reservation might create a problem here?

Thanks very much NorthernLass. Yes, infant is travelling on both directions.

I’ve also got this down to a fine art – often including connecting flights and a night a LHR on the outbound! It’s always nail-biting on the return booking, as I have to wait an extra day for the domestic connection back to MAN to appear.

@chelseafifi – I’ve also got Philadelphia on my list to visit at some point. Yes, book the AA flights then at check in they have card machines to pay for your checked bags, it’s the norm in the US and they will be expecting you to hand over your credit card along with your passport lol. I’ve even checked in on the pavement outside the terminal and done this.
If you can find award flights in AA domestic F (which is not as good as CW but better than CE), you’ll get bags included, plus F & B, but not lounge access, unfortunately.