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I understand the need to phone for CPT or SYD etc., but does anybody call at midnight to get seats back to the UK from WestCoast US ?
Getting there is, relatively easy, but getting back seems a whole new ball game.It depends on the level of demand. If you’re travelling at peak time you may well need to call for the best chance of getting the seats.
But with the US you’ve got lots of alternative options if you don’t get your first choice, so it’s not like you’re trying to get a flight back from MLE (or CPT/SYD).
Could someone please confirm US number to call please . I was on hold for 10 minutes before midnight last night so no chance of booking released seats
It depends on the level of demand. If you’re travelling at peak time you may well need to call for the best chance of getting the seats.
But with the US you’ve got lots of alternative options if you don’t get your first choice, so it’s not like you’re trying to get a flight back from MLE (or CPT/SYD).
It depends on the level of demand. If you’re travelling at peak time you may well need to call for the best chance of getting the seats.
As I am!
Could someone please confirm US number to call please . I was on hold for 10 minutes before midnight last night so no chance of booking released seatsI also did a dummy call last night and gave up after 10 minutes. Will do it on the website going forward.
You can find the US number to call on the app, under contact executive club. It says „gold, silver… etc” members, login to find their number. I tried that as hubby is gold, couldn’t do it on either phone or computer, called the UK exec number during UK hours and they gave me the number for gold in the US. ALAS, called at 23:45, and nobody still answered 20 mins later – even though it’s the dedicated number for Gold. Has to book online at midnight, JNB instead of CPT as the latter are like gold dust and my chubby fingers can’t compete with agents being able to grab them as soon as they become available. Still, an affordable trip for a family of 4, even though it means paying for extra internal flights.
I did a return journey for a family of 4 a couple of nights ago and the booking ref was shown at 00:01 so under 120 seconds doing it via the website – if your family details and credit card details are already in you can get through the pages quickly.
Do call if you wish but have the website open in case you are not lucky enough to get the switched on agent.It does seem extremely busy on the phone lines at the moment. I tried calling at 11.35pm (risky in case I got through too early to an agent who wouldn’t then wait…)
At 12.10am I still hadn’t got through!
At least by April 26 all this will be a thing of the past.
OOTL here: what’s happening on April 26th?
OOTL here: what’s happening on April 26th?
I think it refers to April 2026 when the BA cull begins in earnest. We might have dynamic pricing by then, but whatever happens I think it’s fanciful to expect that people won’t still be making these calls unless the system changes entirely. Whether it’s necessary to do so is another issue. It’s remarkable, given the effort people seem to go, just how many T-355 seats get cancelled in the ensuing weeks.
We booked on the website for LHR-DXB and managed to get 3 Economy seats. I was done by 12.04am and by 12.10 most seats were gone. Did the inbound leg also and was done by 12.03am.
Bit tired for work the next day, but it is what it is.
I did a return journey for a family of 4 a couple of nights ago and the booking ref was shown at 00:01 so under 120 seconds doing it via the website – if your family details and credit card details are already in you can get through the pages quickly.
Do call if you wish but have the website open in case you are not lucky enough to get the switched on agent.I’ve always got the seats I want online this way, you can add payment cards in your exec club settings in advance. Having co incidently been in the US at 7pm trying to do something with flights I do not have much faith in the phone method and would be trying to do both at least.
One “trick” if you want to do something that requires the phone or a voucher or something fiddly is to book yourself online and then cancel within 24hrs and have the agent rebook you etc. The seats always reappear at that point and I’ve done this many times
Agree with @JDB though, I think a lot of people do book T-355 and then cancel, I think maybe because they book multiple outbound in case they do not get the desired inbound and also to lock it in before firming up accomodation dates. I think on short haul CE this behaviour may go away somewhat now it’s at least £12.50pp to cancel. Seatspy is your friend here!
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