BA Avios upgrade availability

[brightongold]

I have a ticket booked in WT+ on BA from LGW to MCO in early November.

In the "manage my booking" on the BA website, it gives me me the option to upgrade this ticket using Avios, but when I try to proceed with this I get informed that there is no availability.

I can upgrade using cash (far too expensive) so there are still seats available in Club, and I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a set time before the departure when/if any more seats will be released for Avios upgrades.

[ExXB]

Suggest you try flyertalk (http://www.flyertalk.com) a frequent flyer forum.

[brightongold]

Will do.

Many thanks.

[mixture]

What BA card level are you ? They release more space to higher tier holders ? Also MCO is probably quite a popular route....so availability will probably be snapped up fast !

[mixture]

Suggest you try flyertalk a frequent flyer forum.

God no !

I've only been there a couple of times, its full of what can best be described as children moaning about their petty little problems with BA (e.g. no caviar, wrong type of wine, cabin crew not greeting appropriately for their card status, seeking compensation for petty little complaints ... the list goes on :ugh:).

The average person on FlyerTalk is not a frequent flyer, but a mile chaser .... the board prides itself on what they call "TP runs" (tier point runs in order to get higher status).... last time I was there there was a long running thread of a few hundred pages dedicated to people finding the routes with the lowest cost per tier point !

TightSlot previously summed Flyertalk up in alternative way :
The problem, I have found, is that the sense of self-importance of the various users frequently fails to match their actual importance to the airlines.

I have met a number of people who really max the miles. Adjectives that I would apply to them include - Courteous, Knowledgeable, Sanguine, Reticent and Unassuming. These are not the same adjectives that I would apply to a majority of the users on FlyerTalk.




In summary, don't waste your time on Flyertalk (or at least not the BA section of Flyertalk, the rest of the site may well be ok, but the BA sub-forum is to be avoided at all costs !).

[bkm]

Brightongold

The availability of club seats does in no way mean you can upgrade using avios via MMB.

An upgrade using avios is only available when BA release redemption seats. It is a black art to try and second guess when this may be.

It is more likely, though not guaranteed, that redemption seats will be released the nearer the actual time of departure -14 days perhaps. BA will only do this if they feel they cannot sell the seats, and MCO is a popular destination as another poster has hinted.

My recommendation is to keep on trying, evermore frequently, as your departure date nears.

For example, my last 3 flights to BKK I have managed to upgrade, from WT+ to Club, at least one of the legs within 10 days of departure.

[chrissw]

I flew that route in both directions in Club World back in May/June this year.

I doubt it's worth using up your Avios for an upgrade from WT+ unless you really want access to the lounge at LGW. You will be in the Delta lounge in MCO, and food offerings there are meagre. Granted, it is otherwise quite comfortable. I suppose you get nicer food in club as well, although I wouldn't describe it as outstanding.

Be warned that the "bed" in Club is a very narrow affair, and if you're in an aisle seat you will have people climbing over you. The Club cabin in general was in a less than perfect state of repair as well.

So at least for a daytime leg, if it was me, I would save the Avios for something else.

[brightongold]

The upgrade from WT+ to Club needs about 12,000 avios for each leg and as I currently have slightly in excess of 300,000 points, using some for this upgrade won't be a problem.

I realise that the "beds" aren't too wide but providing I get a window seat, I don't mind this at all.
I will be flying into the UK the night before the flight to MCO so will be pretty tired by the time I get on the aircraft and a couple of glasses of wine and a pair of good earplugs and I will sleep for much of the journey, something that I can never do in WT or WT+.

I'm a BA silver card holder so already have access to the lounges.


Many thanks for all of the advice so far.