 Poster: A snowHead
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Booked some SWISS flights for a Jan trip and there was some debate earlier about whether ski carriage was included on flights with Helvetica, particularly from LCY as the Helvetica website states it isnt. Spoke to their customer service centre and they said all flights sold via their website with LX codes include ski carriage in the standard (not light) fare, the different operater names are a legal distinction only.
Will try and get them to confirm in writing before I go too!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just looked at my flights
10.30 GLA arr GVA 18.00 on Fri 13th
leave GVA 15.05 are GLA 19.40 on 21st
Price on normal booking £172 and use 8,500 AVIOS to take it to £110
Or use 14,000 AVIOS to reduce by £90 to take the total cost to £82.
Now the same flights with a redemption ticket is 15,000 Avios +£90..... so 1,000 more avios and £10 more for a redemption.
Booking the redemption and aiming for the £110 price requires 13,600 avios so 5,100 more avios.
Taking someone with approx 10,000 avios in the bank. Using the direct above and 8,500 avios gets a fare of £110
Using redemption and 9,400 avios gets a fare of £170 (only £2 cheaper than a straight cash fare)
Using redemption even 10,600 avios gets you to a £150 fare.
So it is alway worth checking both ways.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sat 28-10-17 11:34; edited 1 time in total
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@GlasgowCyclops, there's a fair bit of variation then, like you say need to check both sites to make the most of your points.
The small amount of checking i've done so far tends to suggest the £ cost on the BA site can fluctuate a fair amount over time whereas the Avios site seems to stay the same points cost until the flights are gone.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@GlasgowCyclops, what is a redemption ticket?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@mmgg1988, if you just ask them to email you with special baggage confirmation. You will be fine
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| @GlasgowCyclops, what is a redemption ticket? |
A redemption ticket is a flight that BA (and other frequent flyer programs) "allows" you to buy with airmails (AVIOS in this case). IE one you use to redeem miles for cash or one you can use with an upgrade token or two for one token (EG AMEX benefits). However, some people think that to book with AVIOS you need to use the "book with Avios" drop down. However, even a normal "cash" flight allows you to use your AVIOS.
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Ah ok.. i thought you were talking about something different
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I obviously need to up my game and check more carefully. I hate booking travel and mostly I just book a normal, cash flight and use what Avios are available. And, if my ski flights are under £100 return, which they normally are, I'm happy. Lazy person.  (I would take more care long-haul and if I flew more frequently than I do.)
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@speachmaus, That's what I have done as I had to e-mail them about my airbag anyway.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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In hope and anticipation of Admin coming back with the goods on a family bash I have started looking at flights. At the moment I am looking for routes / options I should be looking at (if that makes sense). So I am looking to fly out from Bournemouth, Southampton, Heathrow or Gatwick (in that preference order). Flying to Chambéry, Geneva or Lyon for getting to Val Thorens
This is for flying out on the 7th and back on 14th April (which means that some routes have stopped).
Which airlines / routes should I be searching on? Have I missed any routes which are sensible? Thanks for any suggestions. Nb we will be wanting to take a big ski bag in addition to normal baggage.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Excellent thanks! I have also found Titan flights via another website (skiflights - iirc). Which gives me Gatwick to Chambéry.
So any other Options would be good to know as well. Flybe is well over 2k for the 4 of us 
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You know it makes sense.
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Outbound you could do LCY to CMF on BA using Avios which includes bags, assuming you have 4.5k avios per person.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I would normally suggest Swiss if you have a ski bag (see my posts above). They have several flights from/to LHR on those dates but issue is the return is either very early or very expensive! Easyjet from LGW are the cheapest generally but might not be by the time you add bags etc. BA somewhere in between from LHR or LGW.
Depending on where you are in Dorset/Hampshire/Wiltshire then Easyjet from Bristol at good times at £190pp might not be too bad
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Swiss Toby, I was looking into this yesterday while looking at flights to the EOSB. My impression according to the website is your ski carriage is free in addition to your normal check in bag, but you're not allowed to put things other than your equipment in the ski bags. It lists boots, skis and helmet as all applicable for free travel, but then talks about extra items not allowed in those bags
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I just flew with Lufthansa (same company as Swiss and same rules) I had 2 sets of skis plus clothes in one ski bag plus boot bag with boits and toiletries in it no questions no problem. They just care about weight not what's in them.
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Here's a question someone may be able to save me some time on. If anyone has any actual experience of this it would be handy to know.
I'm sitting in the UK, but I'm going to need to buy some North American flights in local currency. What's the best place to get that - the airline website, or expedia.com or is there another place I should look?
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Oh, I like the google flights multi-option search thing, that's cool.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| philwig wrote: |
Here's a question someone may be able to save me some time on. If anyone has any actual experience of this it would be handy to know.
I'm sitting in the UK, but I'm going to need to buy some North American flights in local currency. What's the best place to get that - the airline website, or expedia.com or is there another place I should look?
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Oh, I like the google flights multi-option search thing, that's cool. |
Do you mean USD?
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| philwig wrote: |
Here's a question someone may be able to save me some time on. If anyone has any actual experience of this it would be handy to know.
I'm sitting in the UK, but I'm going to need to buy some North American flights in local currency. What's the best place to get that - the airline website, or expedia.com or is there another place I should look?
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Oh, I like the google flights multi-option search thing, that's cool. |
One thing you may want to consider if you want one of the bigger airlines (EG One World) is to fly from a mainland european airport. Favourites just now are Oslo, Copenhagen and Sofia. You can do a positioning flight to those and save £500. Also having a stop in Dublin is a good option.
https://www.google.co.uk/flights/#search;f=OSL,CPH,SOF,ARL,LHR,LGW;t=PHL,JFK;d=2018-02-18;r=2018-02-22;a=ONEWORLD;eo=e
As for currency, the only one I know if is to use Expedia, scroll to the bottom of a page and you an see the locations of the "Global Sites" and click on them.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Where are you flying to and from and what dates?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@philwig, I use the airline websites, but then I have a deep dislike of using intermediaries. However, if you also have a transatlantic ticket, it's usually a lot cheaper to combine domestics with that.
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You know it makes sense.
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This should be a really useful thread - sometimes you can't even find out what a carrier is going to charge for a ski bag until you've booked your ticket - ridiculous! - so should be very useful to pool knowledge.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Jude1 wrote: |
| This should be a really useful thread - sometimes you can't even find out what a carrier is going to charge for a ski bag until you've booked your ticket - ridiculous! - so should be very useful to pool knowledge. |
...except I still haven't had a response from anyone who can answer my question from personal experience. 
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Swiss Toby, ok
Let me get this right, you have booked 2 flights. One classic and one light. Am I right?
You want to know if you can take 2 sets if skis plus clothes in a double ski bag? Plus take a boot bag plus one suitcase plus hand luggage for 2 people travelling? Am I right in thinking g that's what you are asking?
If so yes you can do that but you cannot go over 23kg with any item of luggage. So double ski bag with clothes is 23kg max. So is the one suitcase.
But you need to call and add the ski and boot bag to your booking.
They won't look in your bag they just check the weights.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@philwig, google search is based off ITA Software's "Matrix" app (which Google acquired some time ago). matrix.itasoftware.com
biggest downside is that it doesn't list all the LoCos, e.g. Easyjet.
I have on a few occasions saved significant amounts by e.g. purchasing through, say, Travelocity (based in LA) and benefitting from some form of APEX fare which I was too late to get purchasing in European time zone.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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When I've flown with Swiss yes, skis and boots go free in addition to your 23k checked bag. Boots don't have to be in same bag as skis. I've used a separate boot bag, no problem.
So the issue is weight for ski equipment, which I can't see mentioned, and can you get away with 2 pairs of skis?
As others have noted, I've never known them open a ski bag (even a double one) to check contents. Swiss and BA aren't Ryanair, they're not looking to sting you for being a gram overweight, but as they do state 'we are happy to transport your first set of skis and boots FOC' you ARE taking a risk putting 2 pairs in. Seems to me it all comes down to whether you're happy to take the chance that your ski bag won't be opened.
Has anyone been rumbled for having 2 pairs of skis? Does Swiss have a weight restriction on ski equipment?
Apologies if eggs and grandmothers springs to mind but just hopes this clarifies the questions
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks for clarifying the weight limit on ski equipment speachmaus!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Jude1, been a while since we've flown Ryanair and taken skis, but even they didn't check what was in the ski bag, just the weight of it.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Jude1, @Hells Bells, I flew Ryanair last year they too only check weight.
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| GlasgowCyclops wrote: |
| ... Do you mean USD? |
Or Canadian in Canada. Flights are zero rated so the cost differential is probably less than with other things, but I'm just wondering if there's an opportunity there somewhere. Maybe not. I'm not sure precisely where I'll go yet - which is one reason not to want to tie a lot off flights together.
But anyway, Generally I think it's a good idea to have somewhere with some focus on actual flights rather than package operators. The problem with the thread format is... that it's hard to maintain a "summary of current best knowledge" - it's all linear. Hmm.
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| speachmaus wrote: |
@Swiss Toby, ok
Let me get this right, you have booked 2 flights. One classic and one light. Am I right?
You want to know if you can take 2 sets if skis plus clothes in a double ski bag? Plus take a boot bag plus one suitcase plus hand luggage for 2 people travelling? Am I right in thinking g that's what you are asking?
If so yes you can do that but you cannot go over 23kg with any item of luggage. So double ski bag with clothes is 23kg max. So is the one suitcase.
But you need to call and add the ski and boot bag to your booking.
They won't look in your bag they just check the weights. |
Thanks, that answers the question perfectly (and it's what I wanted to hear). 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Swiss Toby, yay.
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Delta & Virgin codeshare. Delta owns a large slice of Virgin (& Soon Air France & KLM will as well - so maybe the Virgin Reward program will merge with KLM/Air France)
Its usually cheaper to book via Delta than Virgin & end up flying on the same metal.
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FAQ
