This brings down the roundtrip all-in cost to $1,752!

Also, at this point several other airlines have matched the fare sale, including Delta, United, US Airways, and Virgin Atlantic.

If only my schedule wasn’t packed through early June…

(Tip of the hat to The Points Guy)

While $1,952 all-in business class fares aren’t too unusual from the east coast, what makes this such a spectacular deal is that these fares are also valid from the west coast. I don’t remember the last time I saw a sub-$2,000 business class fare from San Francisco or Los Angeles to London.

And based on my searches availability is still excellent for those dates. For example, Los Angeles to London prices out at $1,947 roundtrip:

What you’ve gotta love is that the base fare for this ticket is only $771, while the rest is taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges:

So this is a case where it no doubt makes more sense to book a revenue ticket than to use British Airways Avios, since the Avios you’re using would only replace the $771 base fare, and not all the other taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges.

While it’s by no means a mileage run, this is as tempting of a business class fare sale as I’ve seen in a long time…

To apply for a status match simply go to this page and input your Diamond Club account information.

Gary says that matched status is valid for 12 months from the time it’s requested. I’m quite excited about this, because British Airways Gold status gets you access to the OneWorld first class lounges whenever you’re flying, even domestically. That means as a BA Gold member I’d get access to American’s Flagship Lounges when flying domestically (I already get access to them when flying internationally thanks to my Executive Platinum status with American, though they don’t give you access on domestic flights).

It’s also worth noting that British Airways does soft landings, so if you don’t requalify for Gold you get Silver for the following year, and if you don’t requalify for Silver you get Bronze for the following year.

Lastly, while they’re now matching status, you can’t yet transfer miles from Diamond Club to Executive Club, or vice versa.

American Flagship Lounge LAX

Well, as a reader kindly pointed out to me on that post (“you’ve royally cocked this one up”), British Airways’ website now seems to impose fuel surcharges for award flights originating in Brazil. For example, take this September 16 flight from Sao Paulo to London:

When you price it out, the taxes and fees show as being $337:

As opposed to the previous total of $36:

Yet oddly when you price out a revenue ticket there are still no fuel surcharges:

And when you price the same award through American there are no fuel surcharges either (even though they usually impose them on British Airways redemptions):

Like I said, this wasn’t some loophole, but due to government regulations. So I’m curious to see how British Airways explains this one. Or maybe it’s a conveniently timed IT glitch? Can anyone come up with a plausible explanation?

They already added the ability to search Alaska Airlines award space on aa.com several months ago, and now they added the ability to search and book British Airways and Hawaiian Airlines award space on aa.com as well.

This is awesome for a few reasons, including:

• It’s now possible to avoid the $25 American phone ticketing fee for reservations on these partner airlines
• American’s search tool (as I’ll explain below) is much easier to use than British Airways’ and Hawaiian’s
• American imposes hefty fuel surcharges for award travel on British Airways, so being able to know the total taxes and fees upfront is awesome

Let’s break it down by airline:

British Airways

British Airways has a downright awful award search tool, so I’ll be using American’s website first every chance I get. When you start your award search, just be sure that the box reading “AA + AAdvantage Participating Airlines” is checked, assuming you want to see award space for Alaska, British Airways, and Hawaiian.

On the next page you can search by preferred cabin, but the other cool option is that you can select your number of stops by selecting either “No Preference” or “Non-stop only.” For routes that are only served by British Airways and not American, you know all your results will be British Airways if you choose the “Non-stop only” option, so if you’re flexible with dates that may be the way to go.

And as you’ll see, award space on British Airways is very good (not as good as it used to be, but still very good). It’s interesting to note that while American imposes hefty fuel surcharges for travel on American, they’re not quite as bad as what British Airways charges directly. For example, taking the same flight from Newark to London, here are the costs when booking through American:

And here are the costs when booking through British Airways:

So as you can see, they are still a bit less. As a reminder, British Airways’ USA destinations include Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington.

Hawaiian Airlines

I’ve always wanted to fly Hawaiian Airlines since they seem to be a cut above the competition when it comes to their service on routes to Hawaii, so being able to search their availability on aa.com is great as well.

The same trick above applies regarding searching for nonstop flights. For example, if you live in Portland and know you want to fly Hawaiian nonstop to Honolulu, just select “Non-stop only” in the dropdown menu.

And as you can see, the first option will be a Hawaiian Airlines option nonstop:

Hawaiian Airlines’ lower-48 destinations include Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Oakland, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Las Vegas, New York, Portland, and Seattle.

I’m also quite intrigued by how American is pricing some of these awards, like this one:

For this much:

Hmm….

What’s frustrating about this is that they determine the cabin based on how the airline markets their product, and not whether it’s actually a two cabin or three cabin aircraft. This means that business class on American’s Flagship Service between New York and Los Angeles only costs double as many miles as coach, while first class on a two cabin aircraft costs triple as many miles. That’s despite the fact that business class on a three cabin aircraft is almost always better than first class on a two cabin product, and American charges the same mileage for both.

Even more confusing is that the same first class seat on the same 737 sometimes costs double points and sometimes costs triple points. American markets the forward cabin on international flights as “business class.” So if you fly Dallas to Toronto you pay double miles for “business” class, while if you fly Dallas to New York (on the same plane) you pay triple miles for the same seat. You’ve gotta love the logic…

But that’s not really the point of this post. As of a couple of weeks ago I’ve noticed a change on the British Airways website which is rather frustrating. At first I thought it was a glitch, but I’m starting to think they have an ulterior motive. As a default, the British Airways award search tool looks like this:

But as soon as you enter a route only served by domestic, two cabin aircraft, the drop down menu looks like this:

So what does this mean? You can’t book domestic first class American flights online anymore, at least for routes only operated by two cabin aircraft. That means you have to call to book an American Airlines domestic first class award, which incurs a $25 ticketing fee.

Why is this happening?

Trusting Lucky says: “Relax guys, it’s an IT glitch and the kind folks at British Airways will fix it in the next decade soon.”

Cynical Lucky says: “These phonies, this change didn’t occur as a result of inaction, but rather as a result of action, so someone schemed this. American domestic first class is readily available and people actually redeem Avios points for it, and it’s costing British Airways money. By not displaying first class award space online they’re convincing 90% of people that it’s not available, and the other 10% have to pay $25 to redeem for an award. No soup clotted cream and scones for you!”

What say you, wise friends?

Update: Iain points out that after you do the initial search (just select economy or business class), the next page will let you redo the search at the bottom left and specify first class. I’m still not convinced it’s a glitch, though.

One day after I posted about the offer, award availability was spectacular. And I mean really, really spectacular. Unfortunately in the meantime availability has continued to dwindle, and there’s no accurate way to search for award space online anymore. While ExpertFlyer shows Aer Lingus award space, it doesn’t display a single date as being available in business class, which isn’t the case. At the same time United’s website also displays Aer Lingus award space, though in their case virtually every date shows as being available, which isn’t the case with British Airways anymore either. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

So there really is no point in looking online, since it’s in no way an indicator of what British Airways has access to. Out of Boston availability is still decent, though not great. Maybe every few days has a couple of seats available, though not every flight has availability anymore like before.

Stupidly I only got around to booking tickets yesterday, and as usual it was like pulling teeth. I’m pretty sure the performance of British Airways Executive Club agents is based on how quickly they can get you off the phone, because they almost always get impatient after just a few minutes. Therefore it’s a real pain to book these Aer Lingus seats, since there’s no way to know in advance what’s available, and British Airways doesn’t allow award holds of any sort.

In the end I snagged two seats in business class for 50,000 Avios points and $156.28 in taxes (including the $25 ticketing fee) per person on the following flights:

Aer Lingus 136 Boston to Dublin departing at 6:25PM and arriving at 5:20AM (+1 day)
Aer Lingus 137 Dublin to Boston departing at 2:15PM and arriving at 4:15PM

For anyone that’s interested, the breakdown of taxes is as follows (which doesn’t reflect the $25 ticketing fee):

Of course booking the ticket was like pulling teeth, as usual. First I started by explaining to the agent I was completely flexible with dates starting June 20. He said “that’s not going to work, I need specific dates.” Happy he appreciates my flexibility! I guess he was hoping I just had specific dates in mind, and when they weren’t available he thought I’d hang up. For the next few minutes the agent let out grunts until he finally had some options.

Once we started processing the ticket, he warned me repeatedly that there would be “taxation” on the ticket. When he told me the total due (after using the word “taxation” at least five times) I responded with “wow, that’s a lot of taxation without any representation.” He didn’t even chuckle. And I’m pretty sure he also wanted to be a cop when he was younger, since he read me the ticketing rules as if I was under arrest, and then finished with “do you understand your rights?” Oy, these British Airways folks in Jacksonville are something alright…

All that being said, I can’t even say how excited I am. I’ve always wanted to visit Ireland, and I’m especially excited to visit in the summer. No, there’s no glamorous world class first class product, but I actually get to stay in one place for a week, rent a car, and enjoy nature, which is even more fun!

With that in mind, I figured I’d share my observations thus far, and also ask some questions for those of you that have been in Ireland. I’m sure we can all help each other out if we all contribute in the comments section, since I doubt I’m the only one heading to Ireland over the coming months.

Once I get enough feedback my plan is to create an updated post with all of the suggestions consolidated, which will hopefully be a good starting point for those of us heading to Ireland.

Let’s start with the basics. Again, I’ve never been to Ireland so I’m just sharing my research thus far, and hope that others can chime in as well, whether you’re an Ireland pro or just in the planning stages of your trip as well.

Dublin Hotels

Westin Dublin

There’s a Westin in Dublin, though rates seem insanely high. The hotel is a category five Starwood property, so if you’re redeeming free nights it will cost you 12,000-16,000 points per night (with the fifth night free, if you choose to stay that long). Unfortunately cash & points seems to almost never be available. It’s worth noting that this hotel belongs to American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, so if you’re booking a paid stay and have an American Express Platinum credit card you can get some extra amenities, including a room upgrade upon availability, complimentary continental breakfast, 4PM late check-out, and free afternoon tea once during your stay. It’s worth noting, however, that this requires booking the flexible rate. Furthermore, the hotel is offering a complimentary fourth night when booking through Fine Hotels & Resorts for stays through August 31, 2012.

Four Seasons Dublin

The deal at the Four Seasons Dublin is probably the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen, so this is where I’m staying for substantially less than $200USD per night. The Four Seasons Dublin belongs to both American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts and Virtuoso (and by connection of course Four Seasons Preferred Partner). The benefits are as follows:

American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts:

• One category room upgrade upon availability
• Complimentary continental breakfast
• Guaranteed 4PM late check-out
• Complimentary afternoon tea once during your stay
• Third night free for stays through August 28, 2012

On the other hand, if you book via a Four Seasons Preferred Partner, you get the following benefits:

• One category room upgrade upon availability
• Complimentary full American breakfast either in-room or in the restaurant
• $100USD food and beverage credit per stay
• Third night free for stays through August 28, 2012

So the rates here are actually really good as well. They start at 210 Euros per night ($275USD). So I’m paying $550 for two nights with the third night free. That means for ~$180USD per night I’m getting a room at the Four Seasons with complimentary full breakfast and a $100 food and beverage credit. Amazing!

So in the end I decided to spend three nights in Dublin, and then the other nights roaming the countryside.

Where I (we?) need help

I plan on spending three nights in Ireland outside of Dublin. I realize there’s a lot to see from castles to cliffs to beautiful countryside. Any thoughts as to the best way to structure it? Does it make sense to pick one centrally located hotel for all three nights (is there such a thing?), switch hotels every night in different parts of the country, or something else? If anyone has a basic three day itinerary to hit all the highlights in Ireland outside of Dublin, I’d be eternally grateful.

Also, secretly I’ve always wanted to stay in a castle hotel. Can anyone recommend one?

Lastly, is it worth renting a car for the entire stay, or only while roaming the countryside? In other words, is transportation around Dublin and to/from the airport pretty good, or does it make sense to have a car?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, whether it’s a detailed itinerary, quick tip, or link to trip report that covers a similar trip. And I’m sure I’m not the only one that would be appreciative!

In general I’d say this is probably not the best deal since there are much more valuable points currencies out there than Avios, though at the same time there are many things Avios points are useful for. For example, I don’t think there’s a more valuable points currency for booking shorthaul award tickets, as they’re as cheap as 4,500 Avios points one-way.

That being said, if I wanted Avios points I’d probably either take advantage of the 50% transfer bonus from American Express Membership Rewards or take advantage of the Chase British Airways Visa 100,000 point sign-up bonus.

Anyway, probably not useful for most of us, though I’m sure it works for some…

Anyway, the really cool news is that any award ticket originating in Brazil isn’t subject to fuel surcharges, even if it’s for an airline that usually imposes them.

For example, I priced a first class award ticket between Sao Paulo and London on British Airways:

The one-way cost is 90,000 Avios points plus only $36 in taxes (business class would be 60,000 Avios points while coach would be 30,000 Avios points):

And even a roundtrip award ticket from Sao Paulo to London wouldn’t be subject to the fuel surcharges. It’s worth noting, however, that a roundtrip award ticket from London to Sao Paulo would be subject to the fuel surcharges, since it’s based on the country of origination.

British Airways and Iberia both serve Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

The results when pricing out an Iberia ticket are similar:

And the taxes for that would also only be $36:

I’m trying to burn some British Midland miles right now, and both Lufthansa and Swiss serve Brazil. Usually they’d have $300+ fuel surcharges per passenger for a longhaul premium cabin flight, though in looking at the business class fare on Lufthansa between Sao Paulo and Frankfurt, here’s the breakdown:

In other words, you’d only pay about $71.50 at most in taxes for booking this flight, instead of $400+ if it were originating elsewhere.

And business class award availability on Lufthansa and Swiss is actually pretty decent departing South America:

Keep in mind that British Midland only charges 37,500 miles (or 18,750 miles plus £127.50) for a one-way business class ticket from South America to Europe, which is a real bargain.

Now, how practical is all of this actually? Probably not very, at least for those based in North America with limited vacation time. It’s useful if you’re planning a circle trip and want to visit both South America and Europe on the same trip, since you can save a good chunk of cash thanks to the lack of fuel surcharges. At the same time, keep in mind that if you have a US passport you need a visa to visit Brazil. Fortunately I have a German passport, so that’s a non-issue for me.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that for those of you with a companion certificate from the British Airways Visa, it’s only valid for flights originating in the US, so it wouldn’t be useful in this instance.

So this is interesting, though I’m just trying to figure out a good way to capitalize on this, and I’m not coming up with anything especially good. I’d like to visit Rio de Janeiro, but I’m thinking there are more efficient ways to book a ticket down there that don’t involve a 5,000 mile detour. But then again, what’s the fun in that?

(Tip of the hat to Million Mile Secrets)

Unfortunately award availability is not as good as it was a couple of days ago, though it’s still decent enough.

On the first call as soon as I said the words “Aer Lingus” the agent responded with “we’ve been booking Aer Lingus reservations nonstop the past two days and I have no clue why.” On the second call later this afternoon, the agent immediately said “oh no, not another one of these.”

Keep up the good work, guys!