US Dividend Miles - Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[sergeyvzn]

Apparently not she said I need to call whoever I booked it through to get eticket.

Your e-ticket number must be at the bottom of your US Airways booking page on their website. If it's not there it means your reservation hasn't been ticketed and you'd better call US Airways asap and find out why

 

[Limewood]

Your e-ticket number must be at the bottom of your US Airways booking page on their website. If it's not there it means your reservation hasn't been ticketed and you'd better call US Airways asap and find out why

Oh I didn't know that!, Ill go have a gander right now, thanks.

Update:
OK got it says #Ticket under that the No's. All done have eticket numbers etc.

If they made the type much smaller i'd need a magnifying glass

 

[anat0l]

according to this US Airways Award Stopover Rules And OneWorld Hubs - One Mile at a Time there is a rule that you're not allowed a stopover in the same region...

kreuky, did you read the "rule" incorrectly? (I assume you are reading this from the Comments section of this blogpost).

"You are not allowed a stopover for an award within a same region". It's poorly worded but what it is saying is that if your award is completely within a single region of the award chart, you are not allowed an en route stopover.

This is why for Australian domestic (or AU/NZ or AU/Pacific Islands) itineraries redeemed using US DM, you can't have a stopover (remember, there is a difference between the en route stopover and your destination; the latter one you always have!)

Usually a minor point and sometimes it slips by, but keep in mind that in continental US/Canada/Alaska, a US DM stopover is defined as a stay of more than four hours unless there is no scheduled connecting flight within that time frame. This is not a big deal most of the time, especially if you planned a stopover anyway, but if you are merely transiting it can be (consumes your stopover / another stopover, killing your itinerary).

The only inaccuracy from that old blogpost now is that AA have eliminated stopovers on their redemptions.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

kreuky, did you read the "rule" incorrectly? (I assume you are reading this from the Comments section of this blogpost).

"You are not allowed a stopover for an award within a same region". It's poorly worded but what it is saying is that if your award is completely within a single region of the award chart, you are not allowed an en route stopover.

This is why for Australian domestic (or AU/NZ or AU/Pacific Islands) itineraries redeemed using US DM, you can't have a stopover (remember, there is a difference between the en route stopover and your destination; the latter one you always have!)

Usually a minor point and sometimes it slips by, but keep in mind that in continental US/Canada/Alaska, a US DM stopover is defined as a stay of more than four hours unless there is no scheduled connecting flight within that time frame. This is not a big deal most of the time, especially if you planned a stopover anyway, but if you are merely transiting it can be (consumes your stopover / another stopover, killing your itinerary).

The only inaccuracy from that old blogpost now is that AA have eliminated stopovers on their redemptions.

Actually on second reading that seems to be the case. I too misread the question - it's a little ambiguous. (I'd better amend my original post before i get sued!)

 

[kreuky]

oh cool thanks..it makes sense now...now to call them to ticket again and let's see what happens.

Edit: Damn there's a note on it. They won't book it. I argued the point a little (still harping on about two stopovers) and then they said SYD to JFK via NRT exceeds the permitted mileage. They also said that they booked it as LAX as my destination with a stopover in JFK, hence their confusion (FML!!!). Just asked to cancel it. Once the awards are returned to the pool, i'll try again.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

worked it out

 

[MEL_Traveller]

oh cool thanks..it makes sense now...now to call them to ticket again and let's see what happens.

Edit: Damn there's a note on it. They won't book it. I argued the point a little (still harping on about two stopovers) and then they said SYD to JFK via NRT exceeds the permitted mileage. They also said that they booked it as LAX as my destination with a stopover in JFK, hence their confusion (FML!!!). Just asked to cancel it. Once the awards are returned to the pool, i'll try again.

JFK is your destination as it is the farthest point travelled on your ticket. USDM don't determine 'stopovers' and 'destinations' - they are default based on distance.

However, if there is a note in your booking, and unless they are absolutely wrong, you're going to have a hard time finding anyone to overrule the notes. Unfortunately the issue arises because they sometimes don't know the real reason why an itinerary has been rejected - so they'll just tell you what they think the problem is.

The best course of action is indeed to cancel the whole thing and start again.

Use bcworld's table on MPM to make sure you are within mileage for both your origin-destination, and for stopover back to home.

 

[kreuky]

Am I doing it correctly? According to the table, SYD JFK MPM is 14933. SYD-NRT is 4846 and NRT-JFK is 6745 for a total of 11591.
JFK-LAX is 2472, LAX-HKG is 7257, HKG-MEL is 4611, MEL-SYD is 439 for a total of 14779. Both under.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Am I doing it correctly? According to the table, SYD JFK MPM is 14933. SYD-NRT is 4846 and NRT-JFK is 6745 for a total of 11591.
JFK-LAX is 2472, LAX-HKG is 7257, HKG-MEL is 4611, MEL-SYD is 439 for a total of 14779. Both under.

Yes, kind of.

but there is a potential added restriction which I think anat0l mentioned... that MPM might be calculated for the individual 'journeys' of your trip - ie the group of flights getting you to and from the stopover point.

So while your total mileage JKF-SYD is ok, LAX-SYD might not. In that case, because the component MPM LAX-SYD is exceeded, your whole itineray fails. While this is anecdotal, it is the only explanation sometimes why USDM has rejected an otherwise valid itinerary. (this would only apply for itineraries where you have a stopover. And in a way it kind of fits with the rule 'stopovers can only be on a direct route')

 

[kreuky]

hmm ok thanks. I'll try again since they ticketed my previous itinerary JKF-LAX(stop)-HKG-SYD.
If I go JFK-LAX-HKG(stop)-MEL-SYD (or direct to SYD) then they should not be able to claim MPM issues since the stopover is in HKG? I think the agent was alluding to that before when he claimed that stopovers were not allowed in the same region.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

hmm ok thanks. I'll try again since they ticketed my previous itinerary JKF-LAX(stop)-HKG-SYD.
If I go JFK-LAX-HKG(stop)-MEL-SYD (or direct to SYD) then they should not be able to claim MPM issues since the stopover is in HKG? I think the agent was alluding to that before when he claimed that stopovers were not allowed in the same region.

sure, the agent might have meant 'this stopover' can't be in the same region... referring to LAX. because the rule is not a blanket rule.

but if they don't allow lax, I'd be on the non-stop cx flight from JKF if you can get it.

 

[kreuky]

HUACA works!! success!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

HUACA works!! success!

totally new booking? Or was it the existing one?

 

[kreuky]

just went for a new one. Once I confirm all the e tickets i'll cancel the old one.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

just went for a new one. Once I confirm all the e tickets i'll cancel the old one.

which seems to confirm in my mind that at least sometimes when agents say 'the system won't allow it' they actually mean they (personally) won't allow it.

same itinerary, same system, but allowed by today's operator.

while your previous booking will eventually auto cancel, you should try and cancel it yourself asap. Firstly, those seats can be used by a lot of other people and secondly, the operating airlines could cancel either one of your bookings if you hold a duplicate (you could be left with nothing).

 

[kreuky]

oh the previous failed booking has already been cancelled. I had to re-use some of the seats so had to wait for it to cancel anyway. I was referring to my already ticketed original itinerary which I was trying to change to this new one, but just created a brand new one instead of changing the old one.

The most recent agent I had was extremely competent. She knew exactly what to do and even provided PNRs without asking.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

oh the previous failed booking has already been cancelled. I had to re-use some of the seats so had to wait for it to cancel anyway. I was referring to my already ticketed original itinerary which I was trying to change to this new one, but just created a brand new one instead of changing the old one.

The most recent agent I had was extremely competent. She knew exactly what to do and even provided PNRs without asking.

as long as there are no flights in common with the old and new itinerary you'll be fine. if there are any duplicate flights on the tickets, the airline can cancel.

 

[kreuky]

yeah no duplicate flights. For those interested, my original itinerary was SYD-HKG-JFK in CX J on March 12, so once I cancel that, it should return to the pool. For the return, I found HKG-SYD very difficult to find during late April, so my original QF128 in J on April 26th should return to the pool once I cancel it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

yeah no duplicate flights. For those interested, my original itinerary was SYD-HKG-JFK in CX J on March 12, so once I cancel that, it should return to the pool. For the return, I found HKG-SYD very difficult to find during late April, so my original QF128 in J on April 26th should return to the pool once I cancel it.

cx allows its members to wailist for awards... so there may be no correlation between cancellation and an award returning to the pool. QF on the other hand should if it is still going to be designated as an award seat.

 

[hossein_au]

Is there any experience/consensus on a stop-over in Europe while travelling to or from US, or more probably, stopping-over in the US while traveling to or from Europe. From memory I think three out of these four scenarios are specifically disallowed?