BA to NYC £2100 - Virgin £3900. HELP

Hi,

My company is sending me over to NYC on the 6th Dec and back on the 11th. My company uses BA, and the cost using our corp rate is £2100.

As I work with nice people, they say I can fly ANY other airline (I really want virgin for TP's and Miles) if I can get the flight cheaper than the BA cost.

I have looked at special offers, and shopped around other websites, but cannot find anything even close to the BA amount!

I dont want to use my own miles to get a miles plus money flight...

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks

Dann:)

Update: Any of the upperclass bands. The dates will not move, so i dont need a flexi ticket.

[preiffer]

In what class, Danno? J?

If so, what about an S/W ticket on VS and upgrading with miles - at least you'd get some mileage back that way (and TP's)...?

All the 'cheaper' fares in Upper Class normally need 42 days advance purchase, and the sale fares all need 21 days, which is why VS are coing up more expensive. Probably the upgrade would be the best option.

[mitchja]

The problem is that you are now so close to the departure date, therefore the cheaper Z advance purchase (APEX) fares have gone as these have to be purchased at least 21 days in advance.

Your lowest fare available at the moment on VS will be a D fare (as these have to be purchased at least 7 days in advance)

If you look at BA fares, they will also be the same as VS now as well. The fare your company bought will have been purchased at least 21 days in advance.

Sorry I know this doesn't help you much though!!

Regards

My company has not booked the ticket yet, it will be booked in the next few days... I can only presume that because we are a large company with about 17,000 people working in the UK and over 10,000 in the USA who travel back and forth with BA, that we get some kind of mega corporate discount...

Thanks for the help...

Dann:)

If you're willing to fly via Amsterdam then the Upper Class return fare (including taxes) shows as £1715.60 on Expedia. You'll have to add the cost of getting to AMS to start, but you don't need to fly back from there - just close the trip out at Heathrow. I gather one of the advantages of ex-Eur flights is the disappearance of 42/21 day restrictions.

It might be a bit excessive on a business trip, but it would meet the requirement..

Good luck!

David

However, just shows once again that VS are consistently more expensive than BA (at least based on comments on this site). Which is a) great for VS business to get away with the fares and b) pooey for us on occasion!

[preiffer]

Originally posted by slinky09
However, just shows once again that VS are consistently more expensive than BA (at least based on comments on this site). Which is a) great for VS business to get away with the fares and b) pooey for us on occasion!

Sorry slinky - it doesn't show that at all.

It shows that Danno's company has a route deal with BA - and not with VS. My company has a route deal with VS that would certainly beat those prices now. (Fully flex J to PVG for < £2,500, would be just one example...)

If you compare BA's PUBLISHED price against VS', you'll find they're scarily similar...

Originally posted by DavidM
If you're willing to fly via Amsterdam then the Upper Class return fare (including taxes) shows as £1715.60 on Expedia. You'll have to add the cost of getting to AMS to start, but you don't need to fly back from there - just close the trip out at Heathrow. I gather one of the advantages of ex-Eur flights is the disappearance of 42/21 day restrictions.

David,

Thanks for that!

I have just been playing with Expedia, and I can get a business class trip from Ams to LHR with BA, then from LHR to JFK with VS and return via VS to LHR (and then on to AMS but I wont do that part).

I am sure this question has been asked a million times, but if I book this, and don't take the BA flight from AMS to the UK, will I still be able to take the VS flight from LHR to JFK???

How would VS know I did not take that flight? Would BA inform them?

Thanks for any advice.

Danno

Sadly, I'm afraid you have to do the AMS-LHR leg - if you don't the rest of the itinerary is likely to be invalid on the grounds that you didn't show at the beginning. When you check in for the first sector, it connects with later flights and if you don't then, best case, you would face the prospect of changing a (relatively) cheap AMS-NYC for a full fare LHR-NYC.

There are ways of avoiding the last leg, LHR-AMS, but you have to do the first one to get the benefit of the cheaper fare. Sorry!

Best wishes

David

Originally posted by DavidM
Sadly, I'm afraid you have to do the AMS-LHR leg - if you don't the rest of the itinerary is likely to be invalid on the grounds that you didn't show at the beginning. When you check in for the first sector, it connects with later flights and if you don't then, best case, you would face the prospect of changing a (relatively) cheap AMS-NYC for a full fare LHR-NYC.

There are ways of avoiding the last leg, LHR-AMS, but you have to do the first one to get the benefit of the cheaper fare. Sorry!

Best wishes

David

Thanks David,

I guess it was worth a try!

Dann[}:)]

Originally posted by Danno

Thanks David,

I guess it was worth a try!

Dann[}:)]

Just a thought - I'm not quite sure why you would choose the BA AMS-LHR flight: If you book it through VS they'll automatically default to BMI Business class (I'm assuming there is still such a thing), which will give you miles and an extra TP for each of the short-legs you do.

Good luck!

David

Just a thought - I'm not quite sure why you would choose the BA AMS-LHR flight: If you book it through VS they'll automatically default to BMI Business class (I'm assuming there is still such a thing), which will give you miles and an extra TP for each of the short-legs you do.

Good luck!

David

I used expedia, and did not have an option to book it with BMI. It was KLM or BA and so on... How can i book direct with Virgin? on their website? Do i need to call them?

Taa

Well the slightly more long term answer would be to make sure you get your Travel Manager/Procurement director to speak to Virgin Corporate sales office... the BA fare you have doesn't sound THAT great for a route deal if you have so many people travelling.

Originally posted by DavidM
If you book it through VS they'll automatically default to BMI Business class (I'm assuming there is still such a thing), which will give you miles and an extra TP for each of the short-legs you do.

There is no Business class on AMS-LHR with BMI. It's officially ticketed as BMI's "Premium Economy" product, but I couldn't see any difference between that and the rest of the plane (I wasn't even sat near the front of the bus).

If you book the BA connecting flight, the AMS-LHR leg is in the Club Europe cabin, but ISTBC.

Mike

Well, the flight is booked via AMS because I did not want to use my air miles to upgrade.

A quick question...

When i check my bags in with BA at AMS, do they arrange for them to be passed on to VS when I arrive at LHR?

If so, I presume that works the same on the way back.

So,the big question is... How can I terminate my trip at LHR on the return leg and get my bags???

Thanks in advance,

Dann:D

[mitchja]

Originally posted by Danno
Well, the flight is booked via AMS because I did not want to use my air miles to upgrade.

A quick question...

When i check my bags in with BA at AMS, do they arrange for them to be passed on to VS when I arrive at LHR?

If so, I presume that works the same on the way back.

So,the big question is... How can I terminate my trip at LHR on the return leg and get my bags???

Thanks in advance,

Dann:D

If you are on one booking reference for the entire booking then yes, you will be able to check you bags all the way though.

Coming back, make sure you dont get your bags checked to AMS, make sure you ask for them to be only checked to LHR. They should be able do it for you.

Regards

So,the big question is... How can I terminate my trip at LHR on the return leg and get my bags???

When you check-in for the VS flight back home ask for your bags to be checked to LHR as you are going to use revivals and need your bags to change your clothes.Never done an EX euro on VS but some BA agents can be very strict about checking bags to the final destination especially with tight connections.On ex Euro trips I take only cabin baggage;)

Thanks for your help everyone... It has allowed me to travel VS rather than BA.

I am really looking forward to this flight as I have never flown UC from Heathrow. So, I get the clubhouse in LHR and JFK.

Also, as I am on the VS45 and VS46, this will be my first time with V:Port.

Dann[y]

Just an update...

Originally posted by Danno
Just an update...

This suspense is not good for my heart...[:w]

Paul

Hi,

Suspense and drama........What will Danno Post next?

To be continued.......

Regards

TBS

I dont know where my reply went!! Strange!

Anyhow, The update I was going to give was about booking a flight to JFK via AMS.

I (and others) were not sure if I needed to actually fly from AMS to LHR to then fly onto JFK with Virgin.

When I checked in with BA @ AMS, they were unable to process me to JFK as it was with Virgin, and only checked me as far as LHR. I asked if the flights were linked in any way, and BA said they were not.

When I arrived @ the Virgin desk, I was told again, that the flights were not linked, and they checked me to JFK. I asked the virgin agent if I had now flown in from AMS, would that cause me a problem. The answer was no, none at all as they were 2 different flights with 2 different companies.

So, if I ever do this again, I wont need to actually travel via AMS. Just arrive at LHR 3 hours b4 the flight!

Dann[8D]