Greatam, please help with BA!

[Seabreeze8]

Hi Greatam:

Thanks so much for your flight to Lima. Just as we are going to book, we came across an Antarctica cruise with some really good pricing and want to take advantage of it. However we are having problem with the air.

 

Tried using our airmiles for end of Jan/early Feb. 2010 but no seats available. The cruise starts and ends in Buenos Aires (BA) and we need to fly from Winnipeg, Canada to BA. Checked the air online and it costs almost as much as the cruise. :eek: Do you have any suggestions on how to keep the cost down? My DH likes to have as few stops as possible as he's concerned about lost luggage. Thanks very much!:)

[greatam]

Hi Greatam:

Thanks so much for your flight to Lima. Just as we are going to book, we came across an Antarctica cruise with some really good pricing and want to take advantage of it. However we are having problem with the air.

 

Tried using our airmiles for end of Jan/early Feb. 2010 but no seats available. The cruise starts and ends in Buenos Aires (BA) and we need to fly from Winnipeg, Canada to BA. Checked the air online and it costs almost as much as the cruise. :eek: Do you have any suggestions on how to keep the cost down? My DH likes to have as few stops as possible as he's concerned about lost luggage. Thanks very much!:)

 

Dates, is this RT EZE or a one way ticket????

 

What airline are your FF miles with??? MAY be able to sign up for Expertflyer ($5.00 per month) to find those elusive award seats IF your airline is supported by Expertflyer.

 

I will try to help when I have more details.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

In addition to Greatam's help (and she is one of the very best) the following may be of help to you, We were in Buenos Aires in April of 2009.

 

During my search for one way flights from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires (we sailed all the way from Buenos Aires to San Diego), I heard from passengers on the cruise, that one of the best combinations of price and service was on Air Canada's flight from Toronto to Buenos Aires.

 

Another flight that fellow passengers on the cruise enjoyed, was from Atlanta Georgia to Buenos Aires on Delta.

 

We were om American Airlines' flight from Dallas Fort Worth, which wasn't the greatest but worth checking it out.

 

Check the travel websites and individual airline web sites for airfares. Good luck on this but please remmber that South America is very interesting in terms of cruises and ports, and well worth a visit.

 

Go at least two days early so that you get to see some of Buenos Aires and to give yourself some leeway in terms of reaching this city...due to weather, mechanical problems, flight cancellations, missed connections and so on.

[Seabreeze8]

Dates, is this RT EZE or a one way ticket????

 

What airline are your FF miles with??? MAY be able to sign up for Expertflyer ($5.00 per month) to find those elusive award seats IF your airline is supported by Expertflyer.

 

I will try to help when I have more details.

 

It's roundtrip to BA. The dates we are looking into is Jan. 30 - Feb. 18. Our airmiles are with Aeroplan with Air Canada. Thanks for your help!

[Seabreeze8]

Hello,

 

In addition to Greatam's help (and she is one of the very best) the following may be of help to you, We were in Buenos Aires in April of 2009.

 

During my search for one way flights from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires (we sailed all the way from Buenos Aires to San Diego), I heard from passengers on the cruise, that one of the best combinations of price and service was on Air Canada's flight from Toronto to Buenos Aires.

 

Another flight that fellow passengers on the cruise enjoyed, was from Atlanta Georgia to Buenos Aires on Delta.

 

We were om American Airlines' flight from Dallas Fort Worth, which wasn't the greatest but worth checking it out.

 

Check the travel websites and individual airline web sites for airfares. Good luck on this but please remmber that South America is very interesting in terms of cruises and ports, and well worth a visit.

 

Go at least two days early so that you get to see some of Buenos Aires and to give yourself some leeway in terms of reaching this city...due to weather, mechanical problems, flight cancellations, missed connections and so on.

 

Hi Fredr: Thanks for the tips on going to South America. Will definitely look into it. Hoping to make this works as we are really looking forward to it. Thanks again & wish me luck! Cheers!:)

[greatam]

It's roundtrip to BA. The dates we are looking into is Jan. 30 - Feb. 18. Our airmiles are with Aeroplan with Air Canada. Thanks for your help!

 

1. Award ticket-yes, Expertflyer supports Aeroplan. $5.00 per month will show award availability. Don't try to get a flight all the way to BA-one reason you can't find seats with Air Canada. Air Canada flies to Santiago nonstop from Toronto. But you can get strictly Air Canada seats from Winnipeg to Toronto to Santiago. There were seats available today per Expertflyer. Then PURCHASE a Santiago to BA RT ticket from LAN-should be about $250pp. Air Canada has NO partner that flies from Santiago to EZE for an award ticket. LAN is OneWorld, Air Canada is Star Alliance. So the chance of getting an award ticket all the way to BA is slim and none.

 

Getting an award ticket and purchasing the LAN segment would look something like this-

 

Whatever flight you get to Toronto via Air Canada-they start at 5:00AM and continue about every 3 hours.

 

Nonstop flight from Toronto leaves at 10:00PM, arrives SCL at 10:30AM. There is a LAN flight to EZE at 1:10 but it is the most expensive flight of the day ($350). There are also flights to EZE at 5:10, 7:30 and 9:15PM. However, with a 7 hour or more wait, I personally would want to leave leave the airport and go into Santiago (there is light rail and a bus). BUT unless you have already paid the Chilean fee, you would get socked the $132.00pp reciprocity fee.

 

On the return, leave BA at 12:30PM, arrive SCL at 1:50, nonstop flight to Toronto leaves at 9:15PM. Then you would have to spend the night in Toronto and fly home to Winnipeg the next day.

 

IF you can get the Air Canada award seats, you would still spend less than $1000-including the more expensive LAN flight to BA and a night in Toronto.

 

2. Purchase tickets-best I can find for your dates is $1157, using a combination of Air Canada, AA and LAN. GRUELING schedule-Leave home at 7:30AM, arrive EZE at 9:00AM the next day-4 hour layover in Chicago, 2 hours in Miami. And on the return, even worse, IMHO. Leave at 11:30PM, arrive MIA at 5:45AM, fly to Chicago/Montreal/Toronto about 8:30AM, and arrive Winnipeg about 4:30PM.

 

Better schedules are considerably higher prices. Delta flights total flight time averages 17 hours, while the AA/LAN/Air Canada options average 20. BUT the Delta flights are about $2200 in COACH.

 

You MAY want to find a cheapie (if that is available) into a US gateway. The Winnipeg leg is the real killer cost wise.

 

Let me know if I can help further. But I sure would sign up for Expertflyer and try to get award tickets to SCL. Actually the best schedule and a darn sight cheaper than anything else.

[Seabreeze8]

Greatam: I don't know anything about Expertflyer, how does it work? Do I book the air with them instead with Aeroplan? Does it require more airmiles? Just checked with Aeroplan, they don't have seat on the 18th, but do have it on the 19th to Santiago. Air Canada fly from Toronto to Santiago to BA. We haven't paid the Chilean fee yet. Thanks so much! You're an angel!:)

[greatam]

Greatam: I don't know anything about Expertflyer, how does it work? Do I book the air with them instead with Aeroplan? Does it require more airmiles? Just checked with Aeroplan, they don't have seat on the 18th, but do have it on the 19th to Santiago. Air Canada fly from Toronto to Santiago to BA. We haven't paid the Chilean fee yet. Thanks so much! You're an angel!:)

 

Expertflyer is another tool to see award availability. Generally shows more availability than the airline website AND it often shows partner airlines and optional routings. You find the flights you need with award availability and then IMMEDIATELY call the airline. Saves a lot of searching and phone calls and much less disappointment.

 

Example: There are no flights on AC from YYZ to SCL nonstop for the date you need. But there are flights on United from Washington DC to EZE nonstop. So you just need to find an AC flight from Winnipeg to Washington DC to connect to the UA flight. ALL bookable with AeroPlan miles. BUT there MUST be availability to find the few award seats available on flights. And that is what EF shows you-the AVAILABILITY on various routes and airlines.

 

Expertflyer has put all the info together in one easy to use place (after you play around with it for a while AND learn the award booking classes for various airlines). An invaluable resource for us FF looking for elusive first class/business class seats on premium flights, but even more valuable for the infrequent flyer with miles who is depending on the airlines' own website or a phone cal (website usually has limited or NO availability and phone calls are often disappointing.).

 

I believe W is the award booking class for AC. So use EF to search for W seats for a variety of routings. That works for AC only flights (like YYZ to SCL). To throw in United/US in the mix, you will have to do a google search for the fare codes. I only fly OneWorld (AA, BA, Cathay, LAN, etc) so can't help you.

 

IF you sign up for $5.00 per month plan, you can see award availability. If you sign up for the $9.99 per month plan, you not only see SPECIFIC dates, but you see dates three days before and after. There are also ALERTS to let you know IF the airline has loaded more FF seats. You get a free 5 day trial AND you only have to pay for the months you would need it. A VERY good service.

 

http://www.expertflyer.com/

 

I don't believe AC is flying from Toronto to SCL to EZE ON THEIR OWN METAL. The connecting flight between SCL and EZE is a LAN flight. I can't find it in the SABRE system, ITA, any place EXCEPT Air Canada website. But then when you try to BOOK it, it defaults to the LAN connector. And since LAN is NOT part of Star Alliance, you CANNOT get an award ticket with the LAN connector.

 

What is wrong with leaving on the 19th??? Sounds like a good plan to me, if you have the time. Either spend the 18th in BA or fly to Santiago on the 18th and enjoy almost 36 hours in Santiago. You WOULD have to pay the Chilean fee landing in Chile and leaving the sterile part of the airport.

 

Good luck and happy searching.

[Seabreeze8]

Greatam, thanks again for the wealth of the information. This is most helpful. Will check into it right away. You're definitely the best! Thank you,thank you,thank you!:D