US Dividend Miles - Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[Swan]

Important rule of US DM redemptions: The reason the agent tells you when they reject your itinerary is not always the correct reason.

Of course you can connect through DOH twice. There's not really much restrictions around going through the same city twice.

That itinerary has been booked before by an AFF member so unless they got lucky I'm not sure where the system is breaking down.

Thanks for the confirmation of my understanding, however I have called twice and moved from the Agent to a Supervisor on both occasions and the response has been from everyone that the routing is being rejected by the system as invalid. They are indicating that its not their decision. The booking is on hold so I can try to find some other way to do one of the legs. It maybe possible via LHR and HKG and come in under MPM, but of course it will be at a cost because BA will be involved.

It seems to be pointless to phone again, the first call was over 2 hours and the second was 50 minutes. Maybe if I let the on hold lapse and start again it is worth one final go.

I wonder if some of AA rules are creeping in as I informed them that I have other bookings where I am transiting through one city twice and this was not a problem. I was informed the problem was specific to DOH (ie Middle east).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for the confirmation of my understanding, however I have called twice and moved from the Agent to a Supervisor on both occasions and the response has been from everyone that the routing is being rejected by the system as invalid. They are indicating that its not their decision. The booking is on hold so I can try to find some other way to do one of the legs. It maybe possible via LHR and HKG and come in under MPM, but of course it will be at a cost because BA will be involved.

It seems to be pointless to phone again, the first call was over 2 hours and the second was 50 minutes. Maybe if I let the on hold lapse and start again it is worth one final go.

I wonder if some of AA rules are creeping in as I informed them that I have other bookings where I am transiting through one city twice and this was not a problem. I was informed the problem was specific to DOH (ie Middle east).

The problem might be that you have an existing booking on hold... and whatever they have done wrong is going to keep repeating. And they don't seem to be able to identify the issue.

I would cancel the entire thing, and on a separate call, start over and see how it goes.

 

[sergeyvzn]

might it be that going via Doha is considered "not the most direct routing"? It's quite triangular, really.

 

[Swan]

Going via SYD and the Pacific exceeds MPM, does it? Otherwise, by AA's chart that is the only way (without extra pricing) to get from Australia to South America.

During the discussions I was told that the valid routing was either through HKG or SCL and they had tried to use this routing but of course there was no availability.

I will get the booking on hold cancelled and give it another go, but will also look for alternatives as the MPM really works in my favour.

 

[sergeyvzn]

During the discussions I was told that the valid routing was either through HKG or SCL and they had tried to use this routing but of course there was no availability.

I will get the booking on hold cancelled and give it another go, but will also look for alternatives as the MPM really works in my favour.

It certainly sounds like AAdvantage rules concerning regions

 

[Swan]

might it be that going via Doha is considered "not the most direct routing"? It's quite triangular, really.

They have no problem with it for one leg, in fact they accepted PER-DOH-MAD-GRU but they called GRU-DOH-PER invalid.

As there is no ONE WORLD via South Africa, it seems to me via DOH is as direct as can be had and is within MPM.

 

[hossein_au]

might it be that going via Doha is considered "not the most direct routing"? It's quite triangular, really.

I am trying to book a ticket from Aus to Europe. The itinerary is on hold and I've just been told 1) Singapore is not a OneWorld hub and therefore not an valid itinerary, and 2) the maximum allowed number of flights per itinerary is 6 (even though I am going from a non-hub Australian city to a non-hub European city, which makes it impossible to get there and back in less than 8 flights).

I'm currently on hold on my 4th call tonight...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I am trying to book a ticket from Aus to Europe. The itinerary is on hold and I've just been told 1) Singapore is not a OneWorld hub and therefore not an valid itinerary, and 2) the maximum allowed number of flights per itinerary is 6 (even though I am going from a non-hub Australian city to a non-hub European city, which makes it impossible to get there and back in less than 8 flights).

I'm currently on hold on my 4th call tonight...

the usual number of flights, as you say, is 4+4.

Singapore is not a oneworld hub for stopover purposes, but is fine for transit.

Seems something might be up with USDM? Is the new system kicking in a couple weeks in advance of the merger?

 

[Swan]

I am trying to book a ticket from Aus to Europe. The itinerary is on hold and I've just been told 1) Singapore is not a OneWorld hub and therefore not an valid itinerary, and 2) the maximum allowed number of flights per itinerary is 6 (even though I am going from a non-hub Australian city to a non-hub European city, which makes it impossible to get there and back in less than 8 flights).

I'm currently on hold on my 4th call tonight...

Whilst Singapore is not a hub, I am unaware as to any reason why it would be invalid connecting through it. In fact itineraries have been posted SYD-SIN-LHR though not often but that is due to the cost associated with BA

My experience is they have not allowed a stop over at a non one world hub. However based on other posts this rule does not appear to be strictly enforced.
With regards to the number of flights per itinerary, I currently have a booking which contains 8 flights. Whilst other issues were raised when I booked, the number of flights was not queried. Maybe because it is two 4's.

I suggest if you are trying to stop over in Singapore change if possible to stop over in say KUl or HKG and pay return flight to SIN if you must go there.

I have found that a booking on hold with a problem remains a problem. I would remove the hold and start anew on a new call.

 

[hossein_au]

Whilst Singapore is not a hub, I am unaware as to any reason why it would be invalid connecting through it. In fact itineraries have been posted SYD-SIN-LHR though not often but that is due to the cost associated with BA

My experience is they have not allowed a stop over at a non one world hub. However based on other posts this rule does not appear to be strictly enforced.
With regards to the number of flights per itinerary, I currently have a booking which contains 8 flights. Whilst other issues were raised when I booked, the number of flights was not queried. Maybe because it is two 4's.

I suggest if you are trying to stop over in Singapore change if possible to stop over in say KUl or HKG and pay return flight to SIN if you must go there.

I have found that a booking on hold with a problem remains a problem. I would remove the hold and start anew on a new call.

Still on hold...

Just to clarify, I am not trying to put in any stop over anywhere in the itinerary, simply transiting through SIN with connection time of merely 1:20.

 

[hossein_au]

Still on hold...

Just to clarify, I am not trying to put in any stop over anywhere in the itinerary, simply transiting through SIN with connection time of merely 1:20.

I finally gave up waiting after 2 hours 45 minutes on hold... I'll try again about mid-night their time.

 

[d.diddy_13]

I finally gave up waiting after 2 hours 45 minutes on hold... I'll try again about mid-night their time.

FYI - i got straight through last couple of nights ringing at around 5pm Mel time

 

[hossein_au]

FYI - i got straight through last couple of nights ringing at around 5pm Mel time

Have been on hold for the past 30 minutes or so. Aaaarrrrrgh...

 

[Limewood]

I called a couple times when i booked and made alts around 11am think Phoenix time is 7 hours ahead so 6pm when they were not so busy.

 

[hossein_au]

Have been on hold for the past 30 minutes or so. Aaaarrrrrgh...

I was on hold for about 40 minutes followed by about 2 hours on the call with a knowledgeable agent. We tried a number of options, but the rate desk kept rejecting any itinerary with over 8 flights. At one stage I was asked (by the rate desk) that if I wanted to have over 8 flights, my Australian domestic flight as well as MEL-HKG needed to be in economy. I told them thanks, but no thanks!!!

Finally managed to get the itinerary I was happy with (with CBR-MEL in economy). Came up to 120,000 USDM points plus about US$385. I paid but I have not received my ticket yet. RJ shows it ticketed (with an e-ticket number), but it is missing the MEL-HKG flight. Argh. I'll wait a couple of hours to see whether US Air changes have any delay in propagating to GDS. If fails again, I'll have to give them a call back.

 

[hossein_au]

I was on hold for about 40 minutes followed by about 2 hours on the call with a knowledgeable agent. We tried a number of options, but the rate desk kept rejecting any itinerary with over 8 flights. At one stage I was asked (by the rate desk) that if I wanted to have over 8 flights, my Australian domestic flight as well as MEL-HKG needed to be in economy. I told them thanks, but no thanks!!!

Finally managed to get the itinerary I was happy with (with CBR-MEL in economy). Came up to 120,000 USDM points plus about US$385. I paid but I have not received my ticket yet. RJ shows it ticketed (with an e-ticket number), but it is missing the MEL-HKG flight. Argh. I'll wait a couple of hours to see whether US Air changes have any delay in propagating to GDS. If fails again, I'll have to give them a call back.

Called US Airways again, and got through in less then a minute. All flights are kosher in their system, but I still cannot see a couple of the flights on CheckMyTrip, Saudi, RJ, MH, CX, or QF sites. I think I'll sleep on it and see how the dust settles by tomorrow.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Called US Airways again, and got through in less then a minute. All flights are kosher in their system, but I still cannot see a couple of the flights on CheckMyTrip, Saudi, RJ, MH, CX, or QF sites. I think I'll sleep on it and see how the dust settles by tomorrow.

8 flights is pretty standard... 10 possibly if you have domestic US connecting flights.

The ticket should show all flights straight away. I've not had a situation where it's needed time to flow through. So hopefully everything is ok. You could call the individual airlines and ask them to read you back the ticket number.

 

[Cheatah]

8 flights is pretty standard... 10 possibly if you have domestic US connecting flights.

The ticket should show all flights straight away. I've not had a situation where it's needed time to flow through. So hopefully everything is ok. You could call the individual airlines and ask them to read you back the ticket number.

Thanks for this tip. I've got a Dividend miles booking which include flights on QF,MH, BA & CX. All flights were showing on all websites and checkmytrip and the Saudia site.

Now after the change(I removed a CX leg making it an open jaw ticket) all the remaining flights remain visible except the MH flight. The MH flight appears on the US Airways site and has a status of "Paid" on the Saudia site but doesn't appear on checkmytrip/QF/CX/BA sites. It does still appear on the MH site(weirdly only 2 of my 8 flights show up on the MH site, 1 x MH and 1 x QF flight)

I'm thinking there may still be some glitches/bugs in the Amadeus system when it comes to MH flights> But I'll call MH regardless and ensure they can see the ticket number.

 

[Oxy]

Called US Airways again, and got through in less then a minute. All flights are kosher in their system, but I still cannot see a couple of the flights on CheckMyTrip, Saudi, RJ, MH, CX, or QF sites. I think I'll sleep on it and see how the dust settles by tomorrow.

Is it bad news if I can't get my booking to show on check my trip? I have flights on CX,AA,US&JL, can login to each of their websites to select seats except CX, I lost the PNR.

 

[travelislife]

Thanks for this tip. I've got a Dividend miles booking which include flights on QF,MH, BA & CX. All flights were showing on all websites and checkmytrip and the Saudia site.

Now after the change(I removed a CX leg making it an open jaw ticket) all the remaining flights remain visible except the MH flight. The MH flight appears on the US Airways site and has a status of "Paid" on the Saudia site but doesn't appear on checkmytrip/QF/CX/BA sites. It does still appear on the MH site(weirdly only 2 of my 8 flights show up on the MH site, 1 x MH and 1 x QF flight)

I'm thinking there may still be some glitches/bugs in the Amadeus system when it comes to MH flights> But I'll call MH regardless and ensure they can see the ticket number.

Airlines will often only show a flight that directly precedes theirs as it could affect their own. If there is no directly preceding flight they might not show it at all so that is not unusual for your PNR's. But the e-ticket on Saudi's site should show all flights.