US Dividend Miles - Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[robcuk]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

No, she is correct by the book. USA is your "destination" but you passed through a more expensive zone, which thus sets the price.

Some exceptions are made for forced routings through an auxiliary zone, but they are difficult enough to argue anyway.

Yes, people have gotten away with less but the agent was not wrong.

Could she have pulled you up on going over a maximum of 4 legs to get to your destination too?

 

[zainman]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

any other destinations worth visiting with USDM that fall in the South pacific region except GUM?

 

[robcuk]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

any other destinations worth visiting with USDM that fall in the South pacific region except GUM?

Anywhere if can snag J seats!! PPT is great value

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

No, she is correct by the book. USA is your "destination" but you passed through a more expensive zone, which thus sets the price.

Some exceptions are made for forced routings through an auxiliary zone, but they are difficult enough to argue anyway.

Yes, people have gotten away with less but the agent was not wrong.

jfk is indeed the destination... but... passing through a higher zone does not set the higher price, stopping over in a higher zone may trigger a higher price.

 

[burmans]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

PPT is great value

Next to impossible to get to PPT in J though, I've looked many times and it seems to have gone from rarely to never available recently.

 

[robcuk]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Next to impossible to get to PPT in J though, I've looked many times and it seems to have gone from rarely to never available recently.

Yeah, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga etc would all be tough to find J availability but PPT is good value whatever class you fly in

 

[hummel]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Anywhere if can snag J seats!! PPT is great value

Good luck! Had to pay for flight in... Economy for our honeymoon! :shock:

 

[robcuk]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Good luck! Had to pay for flight in... Economy for our honeymoon! :shock:

Saw quite a bit of economy availability for next May, June when I looked a few months back obviously via
AKL. Accommodation prices were a bit scary though..... Thailand it is

 

[smit0847]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Saw quite a bit of economy availability for next May, June when I looked a few months back obviously via
AKL. Accommodation prices were a bit scary though..... Thailand it is

If you're happy with Y there will be very few limitations on availability anywhere!

 

[Alanslegal]

Has anyone here recent experience with booking US redemption flights to America?

Okay, thanks for that- this answers my question- bugger that! Add Air Canada to that list of airlines which never have availability.

FWIW, last week my friend booked SYD-xICN-(either LAX or SFO)//then YVR-SYD on the return with AC for 2 pax in J. The YVR-SYD legs are for late August 2014. So yes it happens, it's just very very rare.

 

[anat0l]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Could she have pulled you up on going over a maximum of 4 legs to get to your destination too?

5 legs per in or out journey is OK. It's just quite difficult to arrange without some agents pulling you up for messing around.

My parents flew recently BNE-SIN-BKK-LHR-FRA-EWR, then EWR-FRA-LHR-BKK-BNE. So that's 5 + 4. Admittedly, the first set of legs was broken with a stopover in LHR. Conceptually it makes the 5 legs a bit more acceptable.

 

[robcuk]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

5 legs per in or out journey is OK. It's just quite difficult to arrange without some agents pulling you up for messing around.

My parents flew recently BNE-SIN-BKK-LHR-FRA-EWR, then EWR-FRA-LHR-BKK-BNE. So that's 5 + 4. Admittedly, the first set of legs was broken with a stopover in LHR. Conceptually it makes the 5 legs a bit more acceptable.

Stopover in LHR too, just shows if you get a 'good' agent the rules are only loosely applied.

 

[robcuk]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

My in laws have been over several times and some agents have allowed SYD as a stopover others haven't - perhaps I should have HUACA!

 

[spudwa]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Will sharing keep my miles active?

 

[Flashback]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Will sharing keep my miles active?

Yes as it is activity on the account.

 

[casanovawa]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

I guess i'm just lucky my stirling personality comes across over the phone then...

But anyway i'll call back to book tonight, i assume it will be 110,000 but we will see...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

I guess i'm just lucky my stirling personality comes across over the phone then...

But anyway i'll call back to book tonight, i assume it will be 110,000 but we will see...

have you already been quoted 120k? in order to change that, an agent has to manually override a previous agent/system quote. which is fairly unlikely (unless there's been a genuine error).

but as always, YMMV. (finger crossed)

 

[casanovawa]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

I was talking with the operator last night, most of the reservation was on hold from the night before, so i was just adding two flights to complete the booking, she then said that she would have to send it off for manual pricing as it involved other airlines, she came back a couple of times apologising for the time on hold and on one of them she said that the person doing the pricing had said it was going to be 120,000, i don't think i let her finish the sentence but said "no (politely) US is furtherest point and the destination and that i had booked several of these before and they had all been 110,000 miles" and she "Oh" or something and then ok need to put me back on hold etc...

Anyway, long story short, called up tonight as my miles had shared between accounts this morning, took and inordinate amount of time to pay taxes and confirm (30 minutes+ !!) but ended up being 110,000 miles, although where as last night the taxes were quoted as $221 + the processing fee of $50 for $271, tonight the lady was trying to charge me a $75 fee and so $296 or something... I again told this lady that i didn't think this was right although wasn't sure if the extra day had ticked it over into some higher fee for last minute bookings (still 3 weeks to go), anyway she was quite sure the computer was saying it, so wasn't worth dying in a ditch over $25 and was ready to pay it but something happened with my suburb/city being wrong on my CC billing address or something so she put me on hold and when she came back she admitted that it was $50...

Really helps to know what you think you're talking about anyway ( ) as just about anything can happen on these USDM booking calls... I've had one or two doosies, but this years one were relatively painless...

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

I'm looking to book next year

LAX - BUE (stop over) - GIG - LAX - Would that be an acceptable routing? I've no prob doing LAX - GIG - BUE (stop over) - LAX either.

My other option was looking at LAX - BUE - NYC and I'll use up some more points for BUE - GIG return. Not sure if worth trying to do in F or just stick with J??

I do so wish US Airways had online booking like life miles. Makes life so so much easier.

 

[avk]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

It's awesome how often they have these promos.