BOOKING CONDITIONS ON ONEWORLD AIRLINES

I’ve seen an attractive business class fare in the BA sale to the US in February 2015. My plans for those dates are essentially fixed as I am attending a conference as well as making personal visits. However, there is always the risk of events forcing a change, plus the possibility that a better fare will come up in a later sale nearer the time.

As well as checking the fare on BA, I also looked at booking the same flights using the American Airlines and Iberia sites. The fare is identical on all three sites but I was taken aback by the differences in booking conditions.

On BA, no changes or cancellations were allowed. On AA, no cancellations were allowed and changes incurred a hefty fee. On Iberia, cancellations were allowed for Ð75 and changes for Ð45.

I would be grateful if someone could confirm that I have read the Iberia conditions correctly as this seems to be a no-brainer for my particular circumstances. I have no experience really of Oneworld, but I have of Star Alliance and have noticed different fare conditions even though the price is the same. If the conditions on Iberia are clearly stated, then print them out just in case, however unlikely – then you can book with confidence. Looking into all the fine print, it really does seem that Iberia has far more generous booking conditions. The only thing that is not explicitly highlighted is that the “carrier charges” are not refundable. There are all the taxes, charges, surcharges, etc and, on the booking I am interested in, come to £580. Still very reasonable. I am confused, though. I thought taxes had to be refunded on all tickets if cancelled since they are departure taxes not sales taxes? The fuel surcharge part of the ticket may not be refunded, although normally only on a non-refundable ticket. Do note that if you are on an Iberia ticket stock then in the event of cancellation/changes it can be very difficult to get BA to do the change (even though it is operated by it).

Also, the inventory of seats is much lower on Iberia flight numbers (it can often show “sold out” near departure yet BA stock will have plenty of seats). So be aware of this if you think you will change as it may be very difficult to do if at a busy time of year. Thank you for the warning about the potential lack of availability in the event of a change. The flight I am looking at is actually on AA (773 with new J seats). In your experience, should I expect a similar issue with them? A quick look now at a date at the end of September shows differing availability for the same physical flights depending on the flight number. The same issue applies to Iberia/AA. Generally the operating carrier gives the best availability. On some AAoperated flights, BA/Iberia shows “sold out” but there is availability on AA, and some BA-operated flights show “sold out” on AA/ Iberia yet are available on BA. It is not to say it is impossible to change should you have to as that is not necessarily the case. Just be aware of the situation.