US Dividend Miles - Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[MEL_Traveller]

Many thanks Mel_Traveller - clearly a newbie being too greedy and thinking they can run before they can walk

Yes, I also thought it would be cheaper to buy the second PNR outright. Looks like this is the best outcome and way better that economy. I did double check with the last agent and the Sydney - Bangkok leg was in first, granted on a 747 and he quoted 110,000 miles, will check again when I confirm payment.

Thanks again.

well... it's not uncommon for an error in pricing.

first class on a 747 is just fine... I think it's better than the a380 (cabin humidity being the only advantage to the a380).

you might want to check out Philippine airlines... they used to have a 5th freedom tag-on flight YVR-LAS. not sure if that is still operating now they have introduced their 777 onto the route. but it had very competitive one way and return fares. economy one way including tax could be had for as low as USD130.

 

[wittont]

well... it's not uncommon for an error in pricing.

first class on a 747 is just fine... I think it's better than the a380 (cabin humidity being the only advantage to the a380).

you might want to check out Philippine airlines... they used to have a 5th freedom tag-on flight YVR-LAS. not sure if that is still operating now they have introduced their 777 onto the route. but it had very competitive one way and return fares. economy one way including tax could be had for as low as USD130.

Great thanks, again. Will check it out. This evening is allocated too sorting out the Las Vegas leg and buying the miles for the long haul flights, so I can call back US Air tomorrow and confirm the flights. I think I've got a pretty good deal even if it ends up being 140,000 miles. Would love first in the a380, but that would just be plain greedy and I'm trying to kick the habit - however didn't someone once say "greed is good"

 

[cove]

I think that was Gordon Gekko in Wall Street played by Michael Douglas.
We are travelling with a couple who did a US Air miles to London and they are very,very happy to have moved from economy to first on Thai.

 

[stueyjones]

Just an update from post #341. Never could get that booking on hold to ticket, so cancelled it and tried an alternate this morning. Bne>bkk>jnb>gru destination, then gru>mad stopover, mad>bkk>bne. All in j, Paid and ticketed this morning. 120k point, $250 tax. Although over mpm, my impression was the agent was much happier because of the reduced no of segments. Just reinforcing that tip seems a pretty good one. Looking forward to the World Cup, and a quick stop off in the motherland on the way back.
thanks for the advice those that contributed!!
s

 

[Nizar]

We are travelling with a couple who did a US Air miles to London and they are very,very happy to have moved from economy to first on Thai.

Lol who wouldn't be ! :mrgreen:

 

[Alanslegal]

re: Rimowa amenity bag in F

We flew BKK-LHR a few days ago and received Rimowa amenity bags even though the flight was not operated by the A380. If it makes any difference we were flying the upgraded F cabin which is a nice improvement.

 

[anat0l]

re: Rimowa amenity bag in F

We flew BKK-LHR a few days ago and received Rimowa amenity bags even though the flight was not operated by the A380. If it makes any difference we were flying the upgraded F cabin which is a nice improvement.

Well, we'll see what my folks got on their flights when they return home. Both their BKK/LHR flights are operated by new B747s.

Interestingly I had them in 1A/1K originally, but at check-in (first port, not BKK) the agent offered 3E/3F, which are the only seats in a connected pair in the cabin. Originally I couldn't select these, probably due to blocking, even by calling TG.

 

[Nizar]

Interestingly I had them in 1A/1K originally, but at check-in (first port, not BKK) the agent offered 3E/3F, which are the only seats in a connected pair in the cabin.

Aren't 2E/2F middle connected seats as well ?

 

[anat0l]

Aren't 2E/2F middle connected seats as well ?

I think only 3E/3F. 2E (or 2F, whatever it is called) stands alone in the middle. Add that to 1A/1K, 2A/2K and 3A/3K, that makes a cabin of 9 seats (for the new B747 layout).

Happy to be proven wrong, but I think I remember the new B747s only have one connected pair.

 

[robcuk]

Anyone flown to HNL from SYD or MEL if so did you snag a direct flight or go via SE Asia?

Quite tempted to visit Hawaii as its on the bucket list and doing a simple search brings back flights via ICN
and more tempting via HND! I presume MPM may flag going via Japan? Any thoughts guys?

Cheers

 

[robcuk]

I think only 3E/3F. 2E (or 2F, whatever it is called) stands alone in the middle. Add that to 1A/1K, 2A/2K and 3A/3K, that makes a cabin of 9 seats (for the new B747 layout).

Happy to be proven wrong, but I think I remember the new B747s only have one connected pair.

We recently flew in the 10F config in seats 2E & 2F and they are sat together as are 3E & 3F. Agree that in the 9F config row 3 is the only option if you want to sit together.

 

[wittont]

well... it's not uncommon for an error in pricing.

first class on a 747 is just fine... I think it's better than the a380 (cabin humidity being the only advantage to the a380).

you might want to check out Philippine airlines... they used to have a 5th freedom tag-on flight YVR-LAS. not sure if that is still operating now they have introduced their 777 onto the route. but it had very competitive one way and return fares. economy one way including tax could be had for as low as USD130.

Well flights are now all booked, excluding the Anchorage / Las Vegas / Vancouver portion. I thought that this process would be pretty straight forward, how wrong could I have been ! To be honest I read many, many posts telling tales of "agent roulette" and I must admit I was thinking - how hard could this be !!! Well apparently I'm not only greedy but stupid !!! I wouldn't go into all the details but let's just say the 5 agents I spoke too ALL told me different stories on what could and couldn't be done

Anyway I'm now confirmed and paid - all in Business as, the cost of just one First class leg pushed the miles up to 140,000 which I thought was a bit of a waste for only one First Class leg. The below is 110,000 mile -

SYD - BANGKOK- TOKYO-VANCOUVER

VANCOUVER - SYDNEY

Thanks again for all the help thus far, and not thanks to the 4 US Air agents prior to my REALLY helpful 5th Agent. Lots leant during this process so the next time will be far easier, and who knows I maybe even be able to post one of those celebrated routing that makes everyone gasp - clearly not there yet !

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Well flights are now all booked, excluding the Anchorage / Las Vegas / Vancouver portion. I thought that this process would be pretty straight forward, how wrong could I have been ! To be honest I read many, many posts telling tales of "agent roulette" and I must admit I was thinking - how hard could this be !!! Well apparently I'm not only greedy but stupid !!! I wouldn't go into all the details but let's just say the 5 agents I spoke too ALL told me different stories on what could and couldn't be done

Anyway I'm now confirmed and paid - all in Business as, the cost of just one First class leg pushed the miles up to 140,000 which I thought was a bit of a waste for only one First Class leg. The below is 110,000 mile -

SYD - BANGKOK- TOKYO-VANCOUVER

VANCOUVER - SYDNEY

Thanks again for all the help thus far, and not thanks to the 4 US Air agents prior to my REALLY helpful 5th Agent. Lots leant during this process so the next time will be far easier, and who knows I maybe even be able to post one of those celebrated routing that makes everyone gasp - clearly not there yet !

glad it worked out! when you have the time please tell us the details of the booking problems. might be useful data points.

I would have sprung for first on one leg. the buggy pick up on arrival, vastly better seating (getting a good sleep on that flight is good if followed by an asian connection) and much better lounge in bangkok is worthwhile.

 

[Nizar]

I would have sprung for first on one leg. the buggy pick up on arrival, vastly better seating (getting a good sleep on that flight is good if followed by an asian connection) and much better lounge in bangkok is worthwhile.

I remember reading somewhere that TG J pax can use the F lounge for a fee ? Do you know if this is true or if it ever was ?
Cheers

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I remember reading somewhere that TG J pax can use the F lounge for a fee ? Do you know if this is true or if it ever was ?
Cheers

Thai offers a paid lounge access program for economy class pax transiting bangkok, giving entry the business class lounge.

i have never heard of paid access to the first class lounge.

 

[bcworld]

i have never heard of paid access to the first class lounge.

It's definitely been mentioned somewhere before, with prices...I remember it being in excess of AUD100. No idea how I'd go about finding the thread or post it was mentioned in though.

 

[smit0847]

Anyone flown to HNL from SYD or MEL if so did you snag a direct flight or go via SE Asia?

Quite tempted to visit Hawaii as its on the bucket list and doing a simple search brings back flights via ICN
and more tempting via HND! I presume MPM may flag going via Japan? Any thoughts guys?

Cheers

Use the route planner on the official Star Alliance website which will show you all valid routings between 2 cities. You shouldnt have any issue with booking a valid routing (provided there is availability) - you can point the agent to the *A website if they say it is not valid.

If you want something more complicated, longer and fancier that is not a valid routing it then you may have to HUACA.

 

[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?

Okay, so just to close this out. After about 48 hours the miles did show up in the other account. He called up and managed to ticket the booking on hold a couple of hours before expiry. We are actually travelling with them on the first two flights which will be fun considering it is their first ever J experience! the booking was as follows all in Business for 2 people. The booking was as follows all in Business for 2 people:

Outbound
MEL-BKK TG 777
16 hours in BKK

BKK-NRT TG A380

Stopover: 1 week in Japan

NRT-SFO UA 747

Destination: 6 weeks in NA

Inbound
SFO-NRT UA 747
NRT-BKK TG A380
BKK-MEL TG 777

All inbound on about 2 hour connections. Unfortunately the direct flight back from SFO-MEL was gone when United announced they were downgrading to 777 with less business seats, prior to that there had been availability on the 747. All done for 110,000 miles bought during the current promo plus $145 in taxes, plus $50 booking fee. No talk of or issues with MPM.

 

[MaxLaughton]

Hey all, hoping someone here knows how to deal with an issue that's popped up for me.

I made my booking earlier this month and now checking it on the US Airways site it says there's an issue. "Your reservation containing flight number 174 departing from Sydney, Australia on March 24, 2014 has been changed." This is Air China 174 specifically, and a quick Google suggests that the flight now departs at 8PM instead of 9PM as it states on the booking. Is this an issue? The reservation page also says to "Please contact us as soon as possible to book new flights. Call us at 800-428-4322" but I'm not sure if this is really necessary and I'm concerned it could lead to a fee for changing my booking. What should I do? Just call up tonight and see what they say?

 

[burmans]

Hey all, hoping someone here knows how to deal with an issue that's popped up for me.

I made my booking earlier this month and now checking it on the US Airways site it says there's an issue. "Your reservation containing flight number 174 departing from Sydney, Australia on March 24, 2014 has been changed." This is Air China 174 specifically, and a quick Google suggests that the flight now departs at 8PM instead of 9PM as it states on the booking. Is this an issue? The reservation page also says to "Please contact us as soon as possible to book new flights. Call us at 800-428-4322" but I'm not sure if this is really necessary and I'm concerned it could lead to a fee for changing my booking. What should I do? Just call up tonight and see what they say?

I had this on my flights but if the flights are acceptable there was also the ability just to click through and accept the changes which mean you dont need to call.