US Dividend Miles - Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[sergeyvzn]

thanks for your help guys! only thing is now 1 of you has said to leave it alone and another said to call!
only reason i haven't already called is because i'm worried about the agent potentially realising the whole itin was illegal and then cancelling the booking... so if you guys tell me not to worry then i'll stick with that i think?

thanks again!

can you see your booking on the USAirways site? Is a ticket number there? If yes, there's no reason to worry

 

[hossein_au]

thanks for your help guys! only thing is now 1 of you has said to leave it alone and another said to call!
only reason i haven't already called is because i'm worried about the agent potentially realising the whole itin was illegal and then cancelling the booking... so if you guys tell me not to worry then i'll stick with that i think?

thanks again!

Why not call the carrier airline to confirm? I have a USDM booking, but 2 out of 9 flights do not appear in ANY of the online tools. I called USDM a few times and they assured me it's all kosher. I finally called the carrier airline (MH) and asked them to email me the complete itinerary (complete with e-ticket number, etc). USDM web site cannot even find the itinerary.

 

[coolkid101]

can you see your booking on the USAirways site? Is a ticket number there? If yes, there's no reason to worry

yes the full itin is on the US airways website with a ticket number for the JL leg and the USDM confirmation/ticket number (no ticket/booking numbers for the CX or QF legs but got PNR by calling).

Why not call the carrier airline to confirm? I have a USDM booking, but 2 out of 9 flights do not appear in ANY of the online tools. I called USDM a few times and they assured me it's all kosher. I finally called the carrier airline (MH) and asked them to email me the complete itinerary (complete with e-ticket number, etc). USDM web site cannot even find the itinerary.

thanks for the tip.i called qantas and CX at the start to get the PNRs and went online to confirm the flights. the JL sector already had the booking number on the USDM website and it worked on the JAL website showing the flights so didn't call them.

 

[sergeyvzn]

yes the full itin is on the US airways website with a ticket number for the JL leg and the USDM confirmation/ticket number (no ticket/booking numbers for the CX or QF legs but got PNR by calling).



thanks for the tip.i called qantas and CX at the start to get the PNRs and went online to confirm the flights. the JL sector already had the booking number on the USDM website and it worked on the JAL website showing the flights so didn't call them.

You've only got one ticket number, that's what is issued by US Airways and covers your whole itinerary. Not to confuse with PNRs which is a record locator and are different for different airlines
Your US Airways ticket number is just a series of numbers that starts with 037, if you have it (normally shows at the bottom of your US Airways reservation page) then I wouldn't worry at all

 

[coolkid101]

You've only got one ticket number, that's what is issued by US Airways and covers your whole itinerary. Not to confuse with PNRs which is a record locator and are different for different airlines
Your US Airways ticket number is just a series of numbers that starts with 037, if you have it (normally shows at the bottom of your US Airways reservation page) then I wouldn't worry at all

awesome... that's great help mate. really appreciate that info. will stop using those terms interchangeably now.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

only reason i haven't already called is because i'm worried about the agent potentially realising the whole itin was illegal and then cancelling the booking... so if you guys tell me not to worry then i'll stick with that i think?

thanks again!

Once ticketed, even if the itinerary is illegal, it won't be cancelled simply by making an enquiry. There are US DOT rules against this.

However, if you want to make voluntary changes to your itinerary, they may be rejected because it is illegal. However, USDM won't cancel the ticket outright - they will give you the option to 'leave as is'.

 

[coolkid101]

You've only got one ticket number, that's what is issued by US Airways and covers your whole itinerary. Not to confuse with PNRs which is a record locator and are different for different airlines
Your US Airways ticket number is just a series of numbers that starts with 037, if you have it (normally shows at the bottom of your US Airways reservation page) then I wouldn't worry at all

on USDM it shows all the sectors as they should be, even though CX and QF and JL only show their own sectors and maybe another 1 or 2. but as you said everything on USDM is as it should be. probably no point calling any of those carriers as they all show their own sectors correctly.

Once ticketed, even if the itinerary is illegal, it won't be cancelled simply by making an enquiry. There are US DOT rules against this.

However, if you want to make voluntary changes to your itinerary, they may be rejected because it is illegal. However, USDM won't cancel the ticket outright - they will give you the option to 'leave as is'.

thanks! makes us feel a lot better knowing this. hopefully we won't be needing to make any changes to our itinerary then..

 

[d.diddy_13]

If you need to call them now what's the best number for us

 

[serfty]

If you still have it, call the (NSW) USairways Australian number - it'll be answered by AA in the USA.

(Not sure if this will still work:US Airways Reservations Contact Phone Number for Australia: +61 02-9101-1948)

 

[d.diddy_13]

I have a upcoming US miles trip MEL - PER - BKI and wondering

Will QF check my bags all the way through (guessing so)
Do you guys typically do the online checking for each leg
Never been to Perth so guessing have to transfer from domestic to international and clear customs

Any other notes.

 

[anat0l]

I have a upcoming US miles trip MEL - PER - BKI and wondering

Will QF check my bags all the way through (guessing so)
Do you guys typically do the online checking for each leg
Never been to Perth so guessing have to transfer from domestic to international and clear customs

Any other notes.

QF should check your bags through to BKI, as it is all oneworld.

Personally I don't bother with OLCI and here I don't see a significant advantage in doing so; if you want, select your seat for QF (and MH) then just check in at the airport.

At Perth, you will need to transfer terminals. I believe there is a terminal transfer bus that will drive you from Domestic to International. The cost is, I believe, free for bona fide transfer passengers (not sure if you just show your boarding pass or you need to get a transfer ticket from a service desk or what not). Once at international, get your next boarding pass if required then go through immigration etc. as you normally would.

Don't be too excited by the Qantas lounge in Perth International, assuming it will be open for the MH flight you are catching.

 

[Kangol]

This question may not be specific to USDM but here goes:

I have the first half of a SYD-xNRT-GUM trip that I want to change. It was booked under USDM rules (30k J) when the outbound seats opened but not the inbound. I thought I would have had time in April to add the return segments but it didn't work out. Long story short, I want to change the SYD-xNRT-GUM to a date a few months later (allowed), and use that as a positioning flight to the US (prob NRT-LAX) under a separate ticket. ie. get to HND and no-show the NRT-GUM.

So if I book a separate NRT-LAX, departing on the same day of arrival into HND, will the system "see" that I have an impossible connection (to/from GUM) and cancel the ticket to LAX?

SYD-HND is QF25: 2130-0530(+1),
NRT-GUM is JL941: 1045-1525 and
NRT-LAX is JL62: 1705-0950

In theory I wouldn't be able to get back to NRT in time for the LAX flight (the GUM-NRT is JL 942: 1655-1940).

I haven't pushed back my SYD-xNRT-GUM flight yet (but can do so for free with AA rules), but my provisional plan is to get them to cancel the NRT-GUM with no penalty (wishful thinking). To avoid the "risk" of them cancelling the NRT-LAX ticket. But then again if the SYD-xNRT-GUM is revalidated on USDM ticket stock and I have a new NRT-LAX on AA ticket stock, maybe the systems won't recognise each other?

My rationale in a very roundabout way is:
South Pacific to Asia 2 (GUM) is not allowed via Asia 1 (HND/NRT) so they have to drop the last segment!

As an aside I thought I'd be able to go NRT-xHKG-LAX to go on CX F but alas, no backtracking. JL F it may have to be.

 

[Beta4Me]

As an aside I thought I'd be able to go NRT-xHKG-LAX to go on CX F but alas, no backtracking. JL F it may have to be.

Is JL F really that bad #firstworldproblems

 

[Kangol]

Is JL F really that bad #firstworldproblems

Ha, no - it's just that I have JL F booked for a few months prior and want to mix it up. Only flown CX F once and given that availability seems to be drying up, I'll take as many opportunities as I can get!

 

[Beta4Me]

Ha, no - it's just that I have JL F booked for a few months prior and want to mix it up. Only flown CX F once and given that availability seems to be drying up, I'll take as many opportunities as I can get!

Completely understand. TBH, I'd like to try JL F at some point. The perfect time would have been some time before the start of this month when one could of have done SYD-NRT-JFK all in JL F.
I've done CX F once before to JFK via YVR (wish I'd had the non-stop) and I've got a ZRH return in a couple of months so JL would be a nice change up. Hard to beat CX F on a 77W though.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This question may not be specific to USDM but here goes:

I have the first half of a SYD-xNRT-GUM trip that I want to change. It was booked under USDM rules (30k J) when the outbound seats opened but not the inbound. I thought I would have had time in April to add the return segments but it didn't work out. Long story short, I want to change the SYD-xNRT-GUM to a date a few months later (allowed), and use that as a positioning flight to the US (prob NRT-LAX) under a separate ticket. ie. get to HND and no-show the NRT-GUM.

So if I book a separate NRT-LAX, departing on the same day of arrival into HND, will the system "see" that I have an impossible connection (to/from GUM) and cancel the ticket to LAX?

SYD-HND is QF25: 2130-0530(+1),
NRT-GUM is JL941: 1045-1525 and
NRT-LAX is JL62: 1705-0950

In theory I wouldn't be able to get back to NRT in time for the LAX flight (the GUM-NRT is JL 942: 1655-1940).

I haven't pushed back my SYD-xNRT-GUM flight yet (but can do so for free with AA rules), but my provisional plan is to get them to cancel the NRT-GUM with no penalty (wishful thinking). To avoid the "risk" of them cancelling the NRT-LAX ticket. But then again if the SYD-xNRT-GUM is revalidated on USDM ticket stock and I have a new NRT-LAX on AA ticket stock, maybe the systems won't recognise each other?

My rationale in a very roundabout way is:
South Pacific to Asia 2 (GUM) is not allowed via Asia 1 (HND/NRT) so they have to drop the last segment!

As an aside I thought I'd be able to go NRT-xHKG-LAX to go on CX F but alas, no backtracking. JL F it may have to be.

On a separate ticket the system won't pick up that you have an impossible connection.

The only thing airlines won't allow, and will pick up at some stage, is a duplicate booking (two seats for the same person on the same flight)... which you don't have.

I wouldn't bother to cancel the NRT-GUM sector and interfere with the price for the total itinerary (30k reutrn). Cancelling the one segment will trigger a reprice, which will be 45K AA miles one way for SYD-NRT. You'll lose all the remaining segments anyway... the NRT-GUM and GUM-NRT-SYD.

 

[Kangol]

On a separate ticket the system won't pick up that you have an impossible connection.

The only thing airlines won't allow, and will pick up at some stage, is a duplicate booking (two seats for the same person on the same flight)... which you don't have.

I wouldn't bother to cancel the NRT-GUM sector and interfere with the price for the total itinerary (30k reutrn). Cancelling the one segment will trigger a reprice, which will be 45K AA miles one way for SYD-NRT. You'll lose all the remaining segments anyway... the NRT-GUM and GUM-NRT-SYD.

Thanks. I don't have the inbound segments - booked the outbound first to secure the QF J availability and was going to pay the $150 change fee once the inbound opened up, but that didn't end up happening with the merger. Plus my plans changed.

I guess it's unfortunate that I "wasted" half of a 30k return award (if you consider USDM and AA miles to be 1:1) but then again 30k one way is better than 45k, and now I'm not going to use the return anyway..

On a slightly related note, I once had a few SYD-DFW AA bookings on hold for consecutive days (I wasn't sure about my exact travel date and there was availability on each of those days), but after a day or two the system cancelled all but one because it recognised that it would be an impossible connection. All separate PNRs but not ticketed. I guess that's what I was concerned about.

 

[burmans]

Thanks. I don't have the inbound segments - booked the outbound first to secure the QF J availability and was going to pay the $150 change fee once the inbound opened up, but that didn't end up happening with the merger. Plus my plans changed.

I guess it's unfortunate that I "wasted" half of a 30k return award (if you consider USDM and AA miles to be 1:1) but then again 30k one way is better than 45k, and now I'm not going to use the return anyway..

On a slightly related note, I once had a few SYD-DFW AA bookings on hold for consecutive days (I wasn't sure about my exact travel date and there was availability on each of those days), but after a day or two the system cancelled all but one because it recognised that it would be an impossible connection. All separate PNRs but not ticketed. I guess that's what I was concerned about.

Not 100% convinced it would have been the impossible connections bit that caused these to be cancelled. While I have no idea where I saw this I do remember seeing somewhere that AA had been cancelling tickets which appeared to be multiple tickets for the same itinerary. While duplicate tickets is the most obvious example I do believe there were examples given which were same day/next flight (and where there are only daily flights next flight would be the next days flight). Essentially I believe the issue was that people were booking multiple options and cancelling late and AA were getting a bit peeved about it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks. I don't have the inbound segments - booked the outbound first to secure the QF J availability and was going to pay the $150 change fee once the inbound opened up, but that didn't end up happening with the merger. Plus my plans changed.

Ah... understand now. No, I wouldn't be too concerned about the continuation/second ticket. You have to collect your bags anyway. I'd cancel the flight to GUM asap when you land in Tokyo however.

 

[anat0l]

I've done CX F once before to JFK via YVR (wish I'd had the non-stop) and I've got a ZRH return in a couple of months so JL would be a nice change up. Hard to beat CX F on a 77W though.

Having just done CX F on a 77W, I wouldn't quite say it's hard to beat it! Not having flown JL F before, but I'd harbour a guess that CX F would still come slightly on top.