US Dividend Miles - Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[stueyjones]

HI All. Relative newbie. Spent an hour last night on the phone to a USDM agent piecing together a BNE>EZE trip via southern Europe. All went ok in the end, until it got sent to the rates desk. It had 9 connections so I don't think there was any chance it would not. However, I then got put on hold for another 45m, with the occasional interruption by the agent apologizing but telling they could not get it to price. In the end, she came back and said she would have to let me go as calls were coming in, but could I call back tomorrow as the flights are on hold.
I suspect I have no chance now of getting this one through. Just a bit surprised that the desk did not come back and say not allowed? Any thoughts out there?
cheers
S

 

[smit0847]

HI All. Relative newbie. Spent an hour last night on the phone to a USDM agent piecing together a BNE>EZE trip via southern Europe. All went ok in the end, until it got sent to the rates desk. It had 9 connections so I don't think there was any chance it would not. However, I then got put on hold for another 45m, with the occasional interruption by the agent apologizing but telling they could not get it to price. In the end, she came back and said she would have to let me go as calls were coming in, but could I call back tomorrow as the flights are on hold.
I suspect I have no chance now of getting this one through. Just a bit surprised that the desk did not come back and say not allowed? Any thoughts out there?
cheers
S

I suspect it was an MPM issue. South America is probably the hardest region to get to from Australia. I believe you are only allowed a maximum of 8 flights anyway, so you were over that too.

You can keep calling different agents as there are some that will just ticket it without caring about the rules but this make take many calls and several hours of patience.

My advice would be keep it as simple as possible with as few flights as possible. Make FRA, ZHR or VIE your stopover, and just make your own way down to Southern Europe. The more complicated you make it the more chance it won't be allowed. It's a great program but there are still (fair) rules.

EDIT: just looked at the EZE wiki page to see who flies there. BNE-BKK/SIN-IST (stop)-EZE (dest) seems like a very straight forward and logical routing and gets you to Southern Europe.

 

[jgm]

Call back tonight. They were having system issues last night.

 

[travelislife]

Posted this on FT as well, just a little bit annoying.

Here's one I haven't had before and may be a little OT. Have been helping a couple of friends out with booking their first trip using USDM, they signed up for accounts (one each) on Sunday the 4th of August. On Wednesday the 21st I called up and put their reservations on hold for them. On Thursday the 22nd my friend went and bought the miles 100,000 with the bonus and 10,000 without for a total of 110,000. They all went fine in to his account. He did the same for the other account (his girlfriends) with the same credit card but the miles haven't shown up >24hrs later. He called up the credit card company and confirmed all transactions were approved. He called up US airways and they said that when transactions from one card happen on multiple accounts they put a freeze on it to check it out for fraud prevention. They said it can take a couple of days to clear it.

So annoyingly at the moment the funds are off his card but only one account has the 110,000 miles in it but the reservation is on hold with the expiry coming up soon.

I have never had this issue before and have always used the one credit card across multiple accounts so it is a little annoying for this to happen to my newbie friends who I am walking through the process. Has anyone else had this before? I have always had the miles credited within 24 hours.

I haven't been there when he has had the conversation with US so am getting the info second hand. As an aside should he contact points.com?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Posted this on FT as well, just a little bit annoying.

Here's one I haven't had before and may be a little OT. Have been helping a couple of friends out with booking their first trip using USDM, they signed up for accounts (one each) on Sunday the 4th of August. On Wednesday the 21st I called up and put their reservations on hold for them. On Thursday the 22nd my friend went and bought the miles 100,000 with the bonus and 10,000 without for a total of 110,000. They all went fine in to his account. He did the same for the other account (his girlfriends) with the same credit card but the miles haven't shown up >24hrs later. He called up the credit card company and confirmed all transactions were approved. He called up US airways and they said that when transactions from one card happen on multiple accounts they put a freeze on it to check it out for fraud prevention. They said it can take a couple of days to clear it.

So annoyingly at the moment the funds are off his card but only one account has the 110,000 miles in it but the reservation is on hold with the expiry coming up soon.

I have never had this issue before and have always used the one credit card across multiple accounts so it is a little annoying for this to happen to my newbie friends who I am walking through the process. Has anyone else had this before? I have always had the miles credited within 24 hours.

I haven't been there when he has had the conversation with US so am getting the info second hand. As an aside should he contact points.com?

i think one of our esteemed members has had the same problem in the past. maybe they will volunteer their experiences.

 

[anat0l]

i think one of our esteemed members has had the same problem in the past. maybe they will volunteer their experiences.

I think basically it all came out in the wash, though their intentions were slightly more fraudulent than this one.

I wonder if you could just call US DM in advance and inform them of the fact, then could they note the file to expedite the process (if it comes to it) with the relevant department?

 

[travelislife]

I think basically it all came out in the wash, though their intentions were slightly more fraudulent than this one.

I wonder if you could just call US DM in advance and inform them of the fact, then could they note the file to expedite the process (if it comes to it) with the relevant department?

Definitely no fraud at all involved here, each person has an account in their name, their own credit card has been used to buy the miles. The only thing raising a flag is the same credit card (in the guys name) has been used to buy miles for his girlfriend. But in the amount of transactions undertaken this would most likely be the case for 50% or more transactions if one member of the family is managing the accounts.

At least it is not the weekend yet in the states but Thursday has already come to an end so hopefully it sorts itself out on the Friday day USA time.

Hold was put on at approximately 10pm Wednesday (5am LA time ), so 72 hours would give till Saturday 10pm. So 'hopefully' the points get credited overnight and he can call up on the Saturday morning and ticket both itineraries.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think basically it all came out in the wash, though their intentions were slightly more fraudulent than this one.

I wonder if you could just call US DM in advance and inform them of the fact, then could they note the file to expedite the process (if it comes to it) with the relevant department?

but how to distinguish between a 'legitimate' purchase and a dodgy travel agent ringing to advise of a miles purchase and then selling the ticket at twice the price to an unsuspecting customer?

i think the resolution in that case was the closure of the accounts, and a refund of the $$ paid for miles which triggered the audit and closure (ie they were never credited and the card was refunded).

Definitely no fraud at all involved here, each person has an account in their name, their own credit card has been used to buy the miles. The only thing raising a flag is the same credit card (in the guys name) has been used to buy miles for his girlfriend. But in the amount of transactions undertaken this would most likely be the case for 50% or more transactions if one member of the family is managing the accounts.

At least it is not the weekend yet in the states but Thursday has already come to an end so hopefully it sorts itself out on the Friday day USA time.

Hold was put on at approximately 10pm Wednesday (5am LA time ), so 72 hours would give till Saturday 10pm. So 'hopefully' the points get credited overnight and he can call up on the Saturday morning and ticket both itineraries.

you may find the hold is less than 72 hours depending on how they calculate it. it is not uncommon for the hold to expire at midnight on the third day, which could bring it as early as midnight central time (usa) on Friday.

i have never had a problem buying for other family members, but the credit card has always shared the same surname as those I have been buying for.

miles are not supposed to be traded, bartered (etc etc). prima facie you have to admit there are few circumstances where person A would buy miles for an (apparently) non-related person B and receive no payment in return.

just out if interest was the 'gift miles' option used?

I hope, given the straight-forward nature of this problem, it will be resolved in time. but prior reports suggest it might not be so quick.

 

[travelislife]

Thanks for the tips. The flights I have on hold are good but am not too concerned, the trip is not until April 2014 returning in June 2014 so inventory should return or will be able to find something else. Saying that they are currently booked on 2 flights with myself and my girlfriend so don't really want to lose that. The annoying thing is I have been so clear with them along the way of all the risks involved etc. and this was one I hadn't brought up! It is also their honeymoon trip! Ah well time will tell with this one.

 

[Nizar]

When do people estimate (roughly - I know there are no guarantees, etc) that USDMs convert to AA miles ?
More like November or more like April/May next year-ish ?

 

[travelislife]

When do people estimate (roughly - I know there are no guarantees, etc) that USDMs convert to AA miles ?
More like November or more like April/May next year-ish ?

Maybe never. Depends on the outcome of the current lawsuit which could run for a while.

 

[Nizar]

Maybe never. Depends on the outcome of the current lawsuit which could run for a while.

Damn lol that's not good.
I was hoping to buy some USDM during the current promo with the aim for using them for an AA/QF mel-lax F redemption in mid-2015.
Hmmmmmmm.

 

[bcworld]

When do people estimate (roughly - I know there are no guarantees, etc) that USDMs convert to AA miles ?
More like November or more like April/May next year-ish ?

Really, no one can estimate that now. Given the recent roadblocks to the merger mid next year world seem more likely than late this year.

But I would not now buy US miles on the assumption of being able to move to AA.

 

[sergeyvzn]

When do people estimate (roughly - I know there are no guarantees, etc) that USDMs convert to AA miles ?
More like November or more like April/May next year-ish ?

considering the merger with AA is now being contested in the US I would think it won't happen in November

Battle lines growing in AA-US Airways merger fight

 

[anat0l]

but how to distinguish between a 'legitimate' purchase and a dodgy travel agent ringing to advise of a miles purchase and then selling the ticket at twice the price to an unsuspecting customer?

i think the resolution in that case was the closure of the accounts, and a refund of the $$ paid for miles which triggered the audit and closure (ie they were never credited and the card was refunded).

I believe he got his miles back eventually, or at least he / others got to fly on trips that were "fraudulently" booked.

I have no idea how he did it, or if he had to kill someone to make it happen, but given the stories of his escapades I'm convinced not to think too logically about it any more.

 

[burmans]

When do people estimate (roughly - I know there are no guarantees, etc) that USDMs convert to AA miles ?
More like November or more like April/May next year-ish ?

No chance of November. From all the noise I've heard they have no chance of getting this legally resolved by then and everything is on hold until they have got past that DOJ suit. Conservatively I think this put at least a 4 month dent in their timeline and as noted there is (depending on whom you listen to) a serious chance this will never get up.

 

[serfty]

Damn lol that's not good.
I was hoping to buy some USDM during the current promo with the aim for using them for an AA/QF mel-lax F redemption in mid-2015.
Hmmmmmmm.

See here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/travel-news/us-aa-not-such-sure-53047.html

 

[Nizar]

Thanks all.
Looks like I have to reconsider my plans. Hmmmm.
I will be keeping an eye on the developments.

 

[burmans]

Thanks all.
Looks like I have to reconsider my plans. Hmmmm.
I will be keeping an eye on the developments.

In the meantime there are plenty of people who dont want the merger to happen and are happy to have US Air miles not AA miles. Do you have a strong preference for AA miles?

 

[Nizar]

In the meantime there are plenty of people who dont want the merger to happen and are happy to have US Air miles not AA miles. Do you have a strong preference for AA miles?

I just think that AA miles can be used on better quality airlines than US miles: such as CX, Etihad, and QF, all of which seem to be largely bookable J and F class.

US has SQ but not much else at the top level.