US Dividend Miles - Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[bcworld]

Called Thai up today and got a helpful lady on the reservation line, after explaining the situation she said that they could put me on the day before flight but that I would need to call up US to reissue the ticket, she then put me on hold and went to talk to a supervisor and after a bit came back and she said that calling US to reissue wouldn't work as they had left *A and what they had done was call the airport (assume Perth) and the workaround would be that they would leave the itinerary as it was showing a flight on the 20 Oct, but that i would turn up to the airport on the 19th and hop on the plane...

This is just bizarre advice to give! As mentioned, US will have no problems reissuing the ticket once Thai has correctly made the change.

 

[casanovawa]

I did check on the Thai website and on checkmytrip and the first leg on Thai is definitely showing the 19th now, so i guess as per usual you just turn up to the airport and show your passport and they would spit out the ticket for the 19th and according to everything else the itin could just stay the same, but if for any reason one system didn't see me flying on the 20th on a ticket it could then cancel the rest of the itin...

 

[bcworld]

I did check on the Thai website and on checkmytrip and the first leg on Thai is definitely showing the 19th now, so i guess as per usual you just turn up to the airport and show your passport and they would spit out the ticket for the 19th...

US should now reissue the ticket, I'm pretty certain of that.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I did check on the Thai website and on checkmytrip and the first leg on Thai is definitely showing the 19th now, so i guess as per usual you just turn up to the airport and show your passport and they would spit out the ticket for the 19th and according to everything else the itin could just stay the same, but if for any reason one system didn't see me flying on the 20th on a ticket it could then cancel the rest of the itin...

you must call USDM now

 

[travelislife]

I did check on the Thai website and on checkmytrip and the first leg on Thai is definitely showing the 19th now, so i guess as per usual you just turn up to the airport and show your passport and they would spit out the ticket for the 19th and according to everything else the itin could just stay the same, but if for any reason one system didn't see me flying on the 20th on a ticket it could then cancel the rest of the itin...

That's great that they have put the leg in there and corrected it as you wanted. All you need to do is call USDM and get them to revalidate it and you are good to go.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Good people - I will be flying TG F dep FRA in a week or so - which lounge do I get access to in FRA please?

 

[defurax]

Good people - I will be flying TG F dep FRA in a week or so - which lounge do I get access to in FRA please?

LH Senator Lounge: Lufthansa ® Australia - Airport lounge access around the world

 

[Marsonline]

Agree. Better to get it fixed.

you must call USDM now

 

[bismarck]

working with Asiana will be the best way to solve this. But if Asiana is unwilling, you may have to look for an alternative. I'm pretty sure there must have been a notification in your USDM booking of the schedule change at some stage?

Well I'm pleased to report that I think I have finally received some good news.

After being assured a supervisor was working on it from USDM 2 days ago and that I would be contacted when it was fixed, I called back first thing this morning to essentially learn that "not much has happened, they're still working on it".

I had spoken to Asiana earlier in the week who fobbed me off back to USDM, but I decided to give them another crack. This time I was more insistent, and stayed on the phone asking what they could do to fix it. I kept saying that I knew this was USDM's fault, but I just wanted Asiana to help me and the nice Sydney agent (Sophie....who was a pleasure to deal with) said she would put a waitlist in to try and get the segment back in SWMBO's ticket. She said she could not guarantee anything, but that she would do her best. She said that Seoul cleared the waitlist twice a week on Wednesday and Friday and to call back on those days and she would let me know how things were going.

I was not confident at all. The LHR-ICN segment was heavily loaded, and ICN-SYD is essentially full, showing C2 D1 Y1 B1 M1 H1 as the only seats available.

I was already conceiving of backup plans, but set up a reminder in my diary to call Asiana on Wednesday.

I had just opened my first beer on Friday night when my phone rang with a number I didn't recognise. I answered, and lo and behold it was Sophie. She said she had managed to get Seoul to clear the waitlist, and that I should call US Airways to revalidate the ticket.

Needless to say I was gushing with gratitude, drained my beer and immediately fired up Skype to get onto US Airways. The agent I got onto didn't seem the most competent, and had me on hold for a little while while she talked to the "help desk" and then came back on 10 minutes later to say all confirmed and it was revalidated.

Well I was relieved but had not totally unclenched as my experience has now taught me to double check with the operating carrier. I politely asked the agent to send me the itinerary again and ended the call.

I jumped back on the phone to Asiana to try and get hold of Sophie again to confirm all was well at their end but unfortunately they had closed (I have a feeling Sophie stayed back to fix this for me as she called after their recorded message said they had closed for the day). Needless to say I will be on the phone first thing Monday morning to confirm with each of the operating carriers but so far things are looking good.

As it stands, CheckMyTrip is showing the right things, and I've been able to select seats on all flights (which I couldn't do before, and twigged me to the problem).

So....thanks to bcworld and MEL_Traveller. I will definitely be babysitting all segments more closely from now on! Thanks for the lesson.

And for others....there were numerous times when I could've given up and got my miles back and been unhappy with the result. Be persistent but polite....grateful when people help you and explain clearly your situation and the agents will often work hard to deliver a good result for you. I had steeled myself for the worst and will be sending in the most sincere thanks to Sophie at Asiana and Brian at USDM for their kind ear and helpful attitudes.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Is the seat selection process on Thai's website a nightmare or am I just intellectually changed? I can access booking and current see the seat selections but cannot for the life of me work out how to change seats - or do I need to call them?

 

[bismarck]

Is the seat selection process on Thai's website a nightmare or am I just intellectually changed? I can access booking and current see the seat selections but cannot for the life of me work out how to change seats - or do I need to call them?

I have been able to select seats on the Thai website. If you click on the existing seat selection (which should be a hyperlink) a popup seat map comes up.

The design does look like it was set up when the internet was invented so it is a little confusing.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I have been able to select seats on the Thai website. If you click on the existing seat selection (which should be a hyperlink) a popup seat map comes up.

Yes I can click the existing seat links but on next page showing name, current seat selection and seat map it just will not allow me to make changes - just static pages that will not respond at all. One sector I cannot even see a seat map.

 

[bismarck]

Yes I can click the existing seat links but on next page showing name, current seat selection and seat map it just will not allow me to make changes - just static pages that will not respond at all. One sector I cannot even see a seat map.

Hmm...strange. I was able to click on the seats in the seat map. Sounds like a call may be necessary.

 

[Flashback]

Yes I can click the existing seat links but on next page showing name, current seat selection and seat map it just will not allow me to make changes - just static pages that will not respond at all. One sector I cannot even see a seat map.

There's usually a link to modify your food options, etc. It's in there IIRC. You can't change them by viewing the seating in the way you're doing it....

 

[baggyred]

Just a quick one - you can't book with Thai anymore right?

Just Oneworld and a handful of smaller airlines?

 

[Flashback]

Just a quick one - you can't book with Thai anymore right?

Just Oneworld and a handful of smaller airlines?

Just Oneworld OR a handful of partner airlines.

Details are available in the relevant award charts on the US DM website.

 

[hummel]

Quick question is it possible to do MEL-KUL-CAN(China)-HKG-BNE(stop for 2 days)-MEL

Would be a mix of MH, CX and QF. I was thinking the stop over might cause issue with zoning rules maybe?

 

[bismarck]

Well now I am just confused.

Called Asiana this morning and they said "nope, US haven't revalidated the ticket yet".

Woops....ring US - "yep, we've revalidated it. Here's the Asiana ticket number. Not sure what more you want us to do".

Fine....ring Asiana back - "yep, I can see everything, all looks fine".

Think....hmmm, I should check with Thai. Thai say "everything fine on our end, but did you know Asiana will auto-cancel if not revalidated by 21 August? We've removed our auto-cancel though, so don't worry about Thai."

Bugger.

Maybe Thai just haven't pulled the data yet? I will have to call Asiana again later today but this is getting a little tedious.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

OK spoke to Thai in MEL this morning - advice from them is that seat selection / changes online can only be done within 24hrs of dep - whether this is accurate or not I have no idea as I am a Thai virgin.

YES baggyred I think most AFFers would know that Thai no longer an option.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Just Oneworld OR a handful of partner airlines.

Details are available in the relevant award charts on the US DM website.

This one?

http://www.usairways.com/en-US/Resources/_downloads/dividendmiles/oneworldawardtravel.pdf

Travel on any one or combination of the oneworld member airlines - airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia1, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, SriLankan Airlines, and TAM Airlines.

Any feedback on availability on going from SYD to Europe? What are people generally using? CX vis HKG or BA via SIN?