sppunk

I will be flying British Airways from Dallas-Fort Worth to London Gatwick in two weeks, and have a standard class assignment. Is there any way (hints, tips, tricks, etc.) that I could somehow be upgraded to possibly World Traveler or higher?

I will have just gotten engaged and would love to suprise my fiance. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

rkkwan

BA called its economy class "World Traveller". I think you mean you want to upgrade to "World Traveller Plus". Unfortunately, I think it'd be very hard to get a free upgrade. BA's isn't known for its generosity towards infrequent casual flyers, and World Traveller + is actually a seperate product that they sell at a premium, with wider seats and more legroom. [Unlike UA's Economy +, which is the same seats with more legroom, and isn't sold as a seperate class.]

Plus, there are only 5 rows of 8, or 40, WT+ seats on the 777, so supply is very limited.

You may call them to see if they can do anything for you. That'd depend on the fare you're flying. If it's deep-discount, then probably nothing. And you can always call back a few days before the flight, and again at the airport. But I think you shouldn't have high hopes for that.

RachelG

You could call and find out how much more it would cost to upgrade to World Traveller Plus. Getting a free upgrade, particularly if you are not a frequent traveller with that airline, is not going to happen.

rkkwan

Just did a search on BA's website for fares for DFW-LGA in about two weeks. Actually, Premier Economy (i.e. World Traveller +) isn't that much more expensive than regular economy, for about $1,050 including tax, for certain dates.

You may really want to call to see if you can upgrade with money. It's probably worth it.

[And if you're a AAdvantage member, you'll get 110% of AA FF miles flown with a World Traveller +, compared to 25% for most regular economy fares on BA. That alone may be worth $80-$100 or so in value. Plus it earns 1.5x AA's EQM - very valuable if your aiming for elite status with AA. A DFW-LGW roundtrip in WT+ is halfway to AAdvantage Gold.]

rkkwan

Sorry, I mean LGW.

Louise

Just returned from a trip to Egypt with B.A. We arrived for the first leg from Seattle about three hours early. Don't really know why but we were upgraded to World Traveler plus at no charge from Seattle to London. The only frequent flier miles I use regularly is Alaska.

Sunnyboy

TO rkkwan: I think a clarification is needed regarding the accumulation of AAdvantage FF points when traveling on a transatlantic BA flight. It is my understanding that because BA competes with AA on those flights the points you earn when flying BA only count toward qualifying for Elite Status and they do not qualify for Award Travel.

rkkwan

Oh, thanks, Sunnyboy. You are absolutely right. No AA miles for US-UK flights flying BA! Forgot about that.

AAFrequentFlyer

The previous 2 posters are not totally correct.

rkkwan - No miles or status points on US-London(LHR/LGW) routes, not the entire UK. You could earn AA miles and status points flying BA to Manchester from some US cities as well BA miles and status points flying AA to Manchester from some US cities. They started codesharing on these routes few months ago.

Sunnyboy - as mentioned above, any US-London flying on one of the two airlines will not earn the others miles or status points. NOTHING, ZERO!

Now if one wants to earn or spend AA miles on BA to London, all one has to do is connect through Canada. Since many of us have to connect through at least one city anyway before getting to London, connecting through Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal is very realistic.

Sunnyboy

AAFrequentFlyer - thanks for the clarification. After reading your post I went back and re-read the "fine print" on AA.com and you are quite right about not accruing any status points on transatlantic flights. Don't know how I missed it the first time around. Thanks for the hint about connecting through Canada.

dutyfree

Without seeming to be rude-may I ask why everyone on this board always thinks that the airlines are going to "give away" their transatlantic business class seats because one is engaged,honeymooning,etc.? It always seems to be a very popular question on these boards.Perhaps in a perfect world but when one considers the cost of those seats...........? Sorry just an observation.