Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

I had a problem with the trip I booked using Dividend Miles. The last leg of my journey was in BA first class, but they bumped me down to business.

I'd appreciate it if anyone on this thread could let me know if they had a similar problem, and how US Airways handled it.

I booked this journey from London to Buenos Aires at the first class rate, but due to availability at the time of booking, I could only get London to Sao Paolo in first - the flights between Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires were in economy (LAN going out and TAM going back - as an aside, I'd advise avoiding TAM as the aircraft are old and have no entertainment system nor adjustable head rests in economy). In the end, out of four flights I got only 1 in the class I had "paid" for with miles. I did try to get upgraded from economy to business on the South American flights, but no luck - frustrating, as business class was half empty on each flight.

BA's excuse for bumping me in Sao Paolo was that they had called LAN and LAN said I wasn't on the flight to Sao Paolo from Buenos Aires....sounds fishy to me, especially as my luggage was in Sao Paolo (unlike the outward journey, where the luggage arrived only the next day after I arrived).

I should have checked in online, but had no Internet in the 24 hours window for that. So I checked in in Buenos Aires but they told they could not check me in for the BA intercontinental flight, and that I had to get my BA boarding pass at Sao Paolo. There is no transit desk at Sao Paolo, so I could only get my boarding pass when the gate opened, by which time first class was full.

I am very annoyed by this, since the return flight was overnight, where I would really have appreciated the wide seat in first to sleep. Business class seats on the BA Boeing 747 do lie flat but they are quite narrow.

I intend to ask US airways to refund the money I used to buy points.....what have other people done in this situation?

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

It sounds like your claim should be with BA not US. You should investigate the details of downgrade compensation under EU261 regs.

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

Thanks for reminding me of the EU rules. They say I can get a refund of 75% of the price of the ticket (according to Wikipedia). But what is the price of an award ticket? And how is the price divided between the different sectors? I flew 5 sectors.

BA at Sao Paolo said that my claim was with US Airways as I had got the ticket under their frequent flyer programme.

I'll try calling BA and see what they say.

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

I think you'd better prepare yourself for a right royal run-around, otherwise known as pass the buck :(

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

I decided not to bother phoning. Instead I made a claim in writing with BA for GBP 883 within 7 days under EU 261/2004. The miles plus the taxes, fees, etc came to GBP 2356, so I asked for 75% of one half of that as it was a return flight and the outward (daytime) flight was OK.

It took me about 3 hours to work out how much I had paid and gather all the evidence from emails, credit card statements, etc. Posted off my claim by Royal Mail Special Delivery to arrive by Monday lunchtime.

There is a special postal address for EU compensation claims at BA, so I hope that will expedite matters. If not, I will either complain to the Civil Aviation Authority or use the Small Claims Court.

It would have been my first overnight flight in first class - most disappointing.

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

Based on my one experience of BA first (overnight to Sao Paolo as it happens), I'd take Club + £883 like a shot. Thai is so much better that it makes BA first seem like business+. Good luck with your claim.

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

I agree that the BA 747 first is not the best (no better than business on Qatar's 787, for example), but the business class BA 747 seats are really quite narrow and the window passengers have to climb across aisle passengers when the seats are flat.

Qatar 787 business seats are 30" wide. BA 747 first class seats are 22" and business 20", according to SeatGuru.

he BA 747 is an old aircraft, and - although refitted - it shows. I was amazed that the entertainment system on my LAN economy flight had far more channels, films and CDs than BA First.

In my limited experience of business class, I find a huge variation in quality, even within one airline, depending on the aircraft type.

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

BA really packs in those biz seats to the max. 7 seats in a row makes things quite tight, especially when you compare this to the likes of Singapore Airlines and their 4-across layout in biz, even on the A380.

I only flew once in BA biz ("Club") after getting bumped up from economy+ during check-in, but in our case it was a perfect setup as we were flying with kids so we were able to "lock" them in by putting them in the middle two seats which form a sort of mini-cabin, with the two single seats on the sides facing the other way.

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

If you were in one of their really old planes, you might qualify for 50,000 Avios, which are great for using in internal flights in Australia. Have a look here - £250 or 50,000 Avios if BA flies you in Old First and British Airways compensation for 'old First'. In the latter post, someone has retroclaimed them.

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

But just because the SQ seats are wide, doesn't make them any good! They made them wide, but then put the rows much closer together.

Seat pitch on SQ - 55 inches, seat pitch on BA - 72 inches.

Coming back to the width, these seats are too wide...there's nothing ergonomic about them...it's like a bench seat in an old car! The Club World seat is much more comfy for sitting in my opinion. Even for sleeping i'd say it's 50/50.

The best layout is either the staggered one, or the reverse herringbone like Cathay have...the seat is narrow like BA but everyone has direct aisle access.

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

No such thing as a seat being "too wide." The more space the airline gives you, the better. :) The whole seat pitch thing cannot be felt as there is some leg space overlap due to the huge width and this makes everything work very well.

4-across in biz on the A380 is impressive to say the least. I'd say SQ biz is probably the best in the sky at present, though I haven't checked out Cathay's herringbone setup which I have heard is quite good.

BA just crams too many seats into their biz section, though as mentioned they are great for a family of 4 lucky enough to score an upgrade. :) Not sure it's a good choice for the single traveller through, especially compared to SQ where every single passenger in biz has unrestricted aisle access.

There are two things though that are rubbish about Singapore Airlines and those are: A) their luggage policy -and- B) their frequent flyer scheme. Oh, and there is a C) as well: pricing. Unsurprisingly I have flown BA on all my recent trips to from SIN to SYD and haven't paid for a SQ booking in many, many years...

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

Hi everyone. We have just come back from a trip to U.K. using *A mainly on Thai. We had 4 across seating all the way and it really is the biz! Also the food PER - BKK was probably the best I've had on a flight. They really have come on in leaps and bounds in the past few years and I shall miss flying with them.

I have just read Historymans post regarding booking with the remaining airlines that U.S. maintain relations with with great interest. Has anyone ele got any experience with this as it would seem to be the answer to a maidens prayer to me. Especially living in Perth. I know we got a list of 15 such airlines when the transfer happened but I confess that I haddened thought of trying them.

Also is there any kind hearted person out there that can provide me with a very simple step by step Idiots guide to using KVS. I am just not getting the results that some of you obviously are. I never had any worries with the ANA tool but boy do I need help with this. (I can't help being stupid!)
Thanks in anticipation.

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

Other than OneWorld airlines, US maintains an ability to burn on a select few partner airlines...that list is much smaller than it was when US first entered OneWorld. Probably the only ones that are of any interest are Air China for people on the east coast of Aus and South African Airways for those in Perth. They key thing to note...awards on these partners cannot be combined with any OneWorld partners...if you do an 'other partner' award it has to be solely on other partners.

I don't think there is such a thing as an idiots guide to KVS. I love it, but it's not a magic bullet and essentially a professional tool - using it properly requires a whole lot of inherent knowledge that only comes with time.

This thread from AFF might be useful:

How To Search For oneworld Award Availability

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

That's a great resource bcworld, thanks for posting it. I 'use' KVS but I know I don't get the best/most out of it, due to lack of knowledge. It did stand me in good stead for Scouse's two mercy dashes though, all the flights I found were available and able to be booked when I rang US Airways. Much of that was down to you and your help, though.

Not meaning to get mushy, but I wonder if you realize how many people you've helped on this thread? So many of us have cause to be grateful to you - thank you again.

Re: Business Class Airfares to UK / Europe - approx $2700 - $2800 rtn!
 

KVS is useful - especially if you can master the interface - plus if you ask on the FT forums their rep will often post with an example of what you're looking for: so if you ask "how can I search for X using KVS" then they will come back with the search result and show you how you go about getting it.

Another neat site to check out is EF, or ExpertFlyer. It's not as advanced as KVS, but it's really good with seatmaps (amongst other things) and has helped me secure the seats I want on more than one occasion.