Spill the beans... on how to manipulate airline codesharing

DJBenson

molly_moo wrote: »

Sorry can someone explain to me what codesharing is?
thanks

It's in the first post molly moo

jjblondie

I often fly on a BMI flight which you can also book through Lufthansa. When I first started flying the route about 2 years ago, BMI were consistently £65 or £70 one way, which I was happy to pay (no, Ryanair do not fly from my starting point nor to my destination). Since then it has crept up to currently often £120+ one way. Lufthansa are occasionally similar or more expensive - but usually they are £70, and sometimes even £50. Bargain. Now if only the Lufthansa baggage allowances applied to BMI run flights...

Sopheline

Effervescent wrote: »

Its sometimes cheaper to book flights to Norway with bmi code than it is using SAS (SK) code

Most travel is cheaper on bmi than SAS! I bought tickets for the bf and myself to fly to CPH to see my best friend in Malmö via bmi and it was about £140 in total - and yet double that price via SAS!

stoneman

The problem with doing codeshare between AA and BA is that if you are on a BA flight but booked through AA you do not get the option to upgrade your ticket after purchase, buy legroom seats or choose your seat before 24 hours before checkin. You might want the weigh these things up before saving a couple of quid

teflon

I've recently been using the ITA Matrix website to find fares, and it can also be used to find cheaper codeshares on the same flight.

It's a wee bit fiddly, but can get you some good results.

1. Go to http://matrix.itasoftware.com/
2. Click the 'advanced search options' link
3. Put in your departure point and destination (it takes airline codes or city names) - for example, GLA to NYC
4. Enter some dates - you can enter exact dates; or give it a few days' leeway; or look for the best price for, say, a 7-day break
5. Set the sales city to somewhere in the UK to make it give you prices in pounds. (Your departure city will do.)
6. search for some flights

Once you get the results, I prefer the 'time bars' view - which shows you bar graphs of how long you'll spend in the air, and how long you'll be waiting around for a connection at an airport.

For the example above, it's shown me a bunch of BA flights to Heathrow, followed by either BA or AA flights to JFK. But if I buy the BA connection through AA on a codeshare, then the entire journey is £25 cheaper.

The site doesn't sell tickets, but it does give you all the information you need to book it elsewhere. You can then head through to the airline's website, or a travel agent (such as Expedia) to book it.

Vikki_74

stoneman wrote: »

The problem with doing codeshare between AA and BA is that if you are on a BA flight but booked through AA you do not get the option to upgrade your ticket after purchase, buy legroom seats or choose your seat before 24 hours before checkin. You might want the weigh these things up before saving a couple of quid

We just had a similar kind of situation to this on a Delta / Air France codeshare. Both outbound and return flights were operated by AF but our outbound flight was on a DL code. After some fiddling around we were able to pre-select our seats on the AF website for both legs of the trip, but were not allowed to do online check in for our outbound journey on the website for either airline...Delta just redirected us to the AF site and AF apparently cannot let you check in online unless you have an AF flight number, even though you will on their aircraft and can look at your booking on their website! Again, loss of convenience does need to be weighed up against saving a few £.

Doshwaster

stoneman wrote: »

The problem with doing codeshare between AA and BA is that if you are on a BA flight but booked through AA you do not get the option to upgrade your ticket after purchase, buy legroom seats or choose your seat before 24 hours before checkin. You might want the weigh these things up before saving a couple of quid

When booking a codeshare you also need to check on what it means for any Frequent Flyer scheme you are in. The details for BA's codeshares and partners is at http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ecpartnroneworld/public/en_gb

briley

When booking a link from a big airport to a smaller one, often in the same country, watch the connection fare. It can be 4x the fare if booked separately.

But if they are partner airlines you can still book your luggage straight through to your destination.

An example of this is flying to Chiang Mai in Thailand. Book to Bangkok and then use Bangkok Air to Chiang Mai. Using most of the middle East airlines you can send the luggage direct from the UK to Chiang Mai.

Doshwaster

briley wrote: »

An example of this is flying to Chiang Mai in Thailand. Book to Bangkok and then use Bangkok Air to Chiang Mai. Using most of the middle East airlines you can send the luggage direct from the UK to Chiang Mai.

Yes, a good tip. I'm a great fan of Air Asia for point to point flights within SE Asia but for the first flight in and the return flight home I will usually book with a scheduled carrier such as Bangkok, Malaysian or Thai as they will check through the baggage. Even if it costs a little more it takes a lot of hassle out of the journey.

megamezzosoprano

Flying to Oz & Thailand in a few weeks; booked with well-know Oz travel firm to get best deal on Thailand beach hotel for the way back. (7 nights for price of 5, suits me!) Best deal on economy flights came with Qantas codes but all BA operated flights, and we have a BA booking ref so we can check in online and get points/miles/whatever they are calling them these days.

However, we can't upgrade or buy seats on the deal - not sure if that is becuase of the Q codes, the deal, the agency, or all three! However, fingers crossed that my BA pilot cousin will be flying us, and use his influence to get us on the right side of the posh curtains...