US Dividend Miles - Oneworld Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[get me outta here]

Yes, that is my experience too. I am waiting out the waiting period to book the rest of the flights, and pay the $150.

no, no, it's not the reason, I was looking at departure on 03 May 2015 which is under the 330 days mark. They can see the flights but cannot see any seats

 

[sergeyvzn]

Yes, that is my experience too. I am waiting out the waiting period to book the rest of the flights, and pay the $150.

That's exactly my strategy. What I don't understand is why my partner could book his QF F flight from SYD to LHR leaving Sydney on 03 May and this was perfectly visible to the agent, at just the 330 days mark, and my proposed flights on MH were not showing any available award seats, in ANY classes, on the same date
I am going to keep ringing in hopes the situation might change and agents will be able to see them soon, maybe MH seats come across into their system later than QF ones?

 

[get me outta here]

I don't know about the MH flits showing up, mine is also for QF. But, although when logging on to USDM my bkg is noted there, but will not open. They said it would be a few days. My bkg is for 05 May, can he see his for 03 May?

That's exactly my strategy. What I don't understand is why my partner could book his QF F flight from SYD to LHR leaving Sydney on 03 May and this was perfectly visible to the agent, at just the 330 days mark, and my proposed flights on MH were not showing any available award seats, in ANY classes, on the same date
I am going to keep ringing in hopes the situation might change and agents will be able to see them soon, maybe MH seats come across into their system later than QF ones?

 

[sergeyvzn]

I don't know about the MH flits showing up, mine is also for QF. But, although when logging on to USDM my bkg is noted there, but will not open. They said it would be a few days. My bkg is for 05 May, can he see his for 03 May?

Yes, he got an email with the booking straight away and he can see the booking on their website as well. It does not show the QF PNR though but all other info is there

 

[get me outta here]

I did get my QF PNR (but not on QF site yet). The last time I bkd w' USDM they gave me the MH PNR straight away too. This time I did not get an email confirmation. I'll give them a couple of more days. Some inconsistencies here me thinks.

Yes, he got an email with the booking straight away and he can see the booking on their website as well. It does not show the QF PNR though but all other info is there

 

[shellthom]

Just cancelled our tickets so there are some TG flights potentially back into the pool (but I haven't double checked they can be booked for new flights but might give you something to change too if you need to change flights I guess). TG SYD-BKK-FRA 16th June and 23rd July FRA-BKK-SYD TG x 2 in J (1x BKK-SYD flight was in F) our flights also included an LH FRA-LHR and AC LHR-YTT thought I would post here in case it is of use to anyone. If it need to be moved please put in a more appropriate thread.
Points are back in our account already, didn't have to pay the cancellation fee as there was a schedule change on one of the flights so the guy basically hit "did not accept - refund" option. Works well for us. Will keep an eye on the refund though.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

didn't have to pay the cancellation fee as there was a schedule change on one of the flights so the guy basically hit "did not accept - refund" option. Works well for us.

Damn frustrating isn't it - I had 3 x USDM bookings - 2 had schedule changes so I also had to cancel 2 times - still a USDM virgin - hoping no changes to MEL-BKK-ZRH/FRA-BKK-MEL in Aug.

 

[get me outta here]

Points are back in our account already, didn't have to pay the cancellation fee as there was a schedule change on one of the flights so the guy basically hit "did not accept - refund" option. Works well for us. Will keep an eye on the refund though.

Hmm, a good reason to wait to accept any minor changes, just in case a complete xx may be needed.

 

[Kangol]

Just cancelled our tickets so there are some TG flights potentially back into the pool (but I haven't double checked they can be booked for new flights but might give you something to change too if you need to change flights I guess). TG SYD-BKK-FRA 16th June and 23rd July FRA-BKK-SYD TG x 2 in J (1x BKK-SYD flight was in F) our flights also included an LH FRA-LHR and AC LHR-YTT thought I would post here in case it is of use to anyone. If it need to be moved please put in a more appropriate thread.
Points are back in our account already, didn't have to pay the cancellation fee as there was a schedule change on one of the flights so the guy basically hit "did not accept - refund" option. Works well for us. Will keep an eye on the refund though.

I don't know if voluntary changes are permissible now that USDM are in OW and not *A...

 

[shellthom]

We had to cancel because we aren't going on the trip any more, the changes on the itinerary meaning we didn't have to pay the $150 cancellation fee was a bonus for us. If we were going, time changes etc would not have been an issue for us.
Now we need to think of something else we can do with these points before they expire…. I'll come up with something

 

[Beta4Me]

Now we need to think of something else we can do with these points before they expire…

How long have you got? :O

 

[shellthom]

How long have you got? :O

We have another 12 months, if we don't bother with earning any points. But I think we will take some SWP trips in the next 6 months to stay closer to home (keep mum happy while she's on chemo). But we will have a proper think about it today and tomorrow, where we want to go. Might just book a big trip in for Next year for the +1's 30th or who knows whats going to happen in the next few months really. Mum might want to go somewhere so we will use points more than likely to take her in style. She missed out on Palm Cove so we owe her and Dad a trip… probably somewhere better then Palm Cove now though.

 

[Kangol]

We had to cancel because we aren't going on the trip any more, the changes on the itinerary meaning we didn't have to pay the $150 cancellation fee was a bonus for us. If we were going, time changes etc would not have been an issue for us.
Now we need to think of something else we can do with these points before they expire…. I'll come up with something

Oh, I meant for other people - response to your "thought I would post here in case it is of use to anyone".
Even if they went back to inventory and people wanted to changed already booked USDM tickets to include those routings you mentioned, I don't think it would be possible.

 

[Myrna]

Have a question about searching OW for USDM. Been looking at QF and BA websites and put in LHR to MEL or SYD - both showed F available. So, I thought great and phoned USDM trying to see if bookable, and agent said LHR to DXB in F, but DXB to MEL or SYD in Y. Then I checked AA and JL, both showed what agent said (I should have checked these first, leg by leg). The strange thing was that QF showed F for both legs, but when I search DXB for MEL or SYD it only showed Y. So, the question is why QF and BA both showed F for both legs? Could it be that F only available for using their FF points and not USDM?

 

[anat0l]

Have a question about searching OW for USDM. Been looking at QF and BA websites and put in LHR to MEL or SYD - both showed F available. So, I thought great and phoned USDM trying to see if bookable, and agent said LHR to DXB in F, but DXB to MEL or SYD in Y. Then I checked AA and JL, both showed what agent said (I should have checked these first, leg by leg). The strange thing was that QF showed F for both legs, but when I search DXB for MEL or SYD it only showed Y. So, the question is why QF and BA both showed F for both legs? Could it be that F only available for using their FF points and not USDM?

It could be possible that the availability is only for QF or BA, but I highly doubt that somehow. If QF can see something that BA also sees, it is likely fair game across the entire alliance (except for CX, perhaps). I could believe if QF only could see it...

Only thing that springs to mind is that are you searching as LHR-MEL/LHR-SYD or each leg separately? The availability can vary depending on how you search for the marketed sector(s). It is quite possible that you can get F on LHR-MEL (which goes via DXB), but if you were to search LHR-DXB and DXB-MEL, you wouldn't necessarily get F seats on both. Makes sense? Not really, but that's the way it is.

When you feed these flights to the agent, you may need to tell them to try and get the entire sector and flight you have found, i.e. "<date> Qantas Airways Flight QF 10, London Heathrow to Melbourne, Australia"; viz. don't mention DXB (they may bring up that it is a 1-stop flight, which is fine). Don't try and feed them the individual segments, or it may 'fail' as you've found out. This also works the other way, i.e. if you find F seats on the individual sectors but not on the marketed single long one.

Now if that doesn't work then I have no idea.

 

[Myrna]

Thanks, anat0l.

I said to agent QF10 LHR to MEL on [date]. She said the flight going via DXB so she must do each sector separately! I also mentioned to her that both QF and BA showed F availability for the entire trip, but she would not buy into that. She kept saying only Y from DXB to MEL or SYD. I am on a mission trying to find another agent now - fingers crossed tightly. Will let you know how I go.

It could be possible that the availability is only for QF or BA, but I highly doubt that somehow. If QF can see something that BA also sees, it is likely fair game across the entire alliance (except for CX, perhaps). I could believe if QF only could see it...

Only thing that springs to mind is that are you searching as LHR-MEL/LHR-SYD or each leg separately? The availability can vary depending on how you search for the marketed sector(s). It is quite possible that you can get F on LHR-MEL (which goes via DXB), but if you were to search LHR-DXB and DXB-MEL, you wouldn't necessarily get F seats on both. Makes sense? Not really, but that's the way it is.

When you feed these flights to the agent, you may need to tell them to try and get the entire sector and flight you have found, i.e. "<date> Qantas Airways Flight QF 10, London Heathrow to Melbourne, Australia"; viz. don't mention DXB (they may bring up that it is a 1-stop flight, which is fine). Don't try and feed them the individual segments, or it may 'fail' as you've found out. This also works the other way, i.e. if you find F seats on the individual sectors but not on the marketed single long one.

Now if that doesn't work then I have no idea.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks, anat0l.

I said to agent QF10 LHR to MEL on [date]. She said the flight going via DXB so she must do each sector separately! I also mentioned to her that both QF and BA showed F availability for the entire trip, but she would not buy into that. She kept saying only Y from DXB to MEL or SYD. I am on a mission trying to find another agent now - fingers crossed tightly. Will let you know how I go.

yeah, another agent would be good

 

[Myrna]

I wanted to cry now. Just got off the phone with another agent - was on phone for an hour. She asked me if I knew the code for Sydney. I told her I would like to book in F - after several prompts by me on flight numbers for each airline etc. She came back and said all flights ok in "coach". I said no, f i r s t as in Z and business as in U. She said they only do bookings in coach and business. She got a bit crossed with me, then she said she was not sure if the code she got would be allowed. So, I held my tongue and pleaded with her to continue. Then she told me that it would be 200K miles plus (wait for this, almost $1,600 in taxes !!!) I said the taxes seemed to be high. She said she would check and came back to say it was correct! I was about to have a heart attack. Then she said the miles would be 400K miles. I said it should be 200K in total. I asked her to read out the flights to me - 4 in total (should be 3 in first and one in business). She read out 2 in first and 2 in business. I had to plead with her to check one of the flights for first availability. Then she said she changed it. But, I had no idea if they were correct. The problem was that she could not ticket the flights because all points came out of hubby's account! So, she had them on hold until hubby came back in 2 days time.

What should I do? Should I call again to ask for someone else to check for me that all the flights were booked in correct classes? Also, how can I check about the taxes?

THANKS!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I wanted to cry now. Just got off the phone with another agent - was on phone for an hour. She asked me if I knew the code for Sydney. I told her I would like to book in F - after several prompts by me on flight numbers for each airline etc. She came back and said all flights ok in "coach". I said no, f i r s t as in Z and business as in U. She said they only do bookings in coach and business. She got a bit crossed with me, then she said she was not sure if the code she got would be allowed. So, I held my tongue and pleaded with her to continue. Then she told me that it would be 200K miles plus (wait for this, almost $1,600 in taxes !!!) I said the taxes seemed to be high. She said she would check and came back to say it was correct! I was about to have a heart attack. Then she said the miles would be 400K miles. I said it should be 200K in total. I asked her to read out the flights to me - 4 in total (should be 3 in first and one in business). She read out 2 in first and 2 in business. I had to plead with her to check one of the flights for first availability. Then she said she changed it. But, I had no idea if they were correct. The problem was that she could not ticket the flights because all points came out of hubby's account! So, she had them on hold until hubby came back in 2 days time.

What should I do? Should I call again to ask for someone else to check for me that all the flights were booked in correct classes? Also, how can I check about the taxes?

THANKS!

It seems like you got an agent who specialises more in domestic rather than international travel.

A good time to call is usually evening/night Australian time. Those agents seem better equipped to work with partner airlines.

Some agents really are that frustrating unfortunately.

If you have a PNR you should be able to check the booking classes via USDM.

As for the taxes, USDM has been known to calculate taxes incorrectly in the past, but usually that can be fixed once it goes for ticketing. There shouldn't be any fuel surcharges for QF flights. I think there has been some problem with this previously and I've read one or two reports where fuel has been added, but shouldn't.

As for the miles - you say 200K in total? For a LHR-MEL that should be 150K each in F and 120K in business. per ticket.

 

[Myrna]

OK, I have some good news - after almost having a heart attack! Flights are now booked and paid for, so I will post in the successful thread.

MEL_Traveller: You are correct. When ticketed, a new agent corrected the miles to 300K in total for London to Australia (not 200K as quoted) and the taxes have gone up slightly to $1,610 Now hubby's account is cleaned out. I have checked the US website to make sure flights are booked in correct classes (F and J). Agent also gave me the ticket number to check the booking reference in other airline - QF.

Thanks again everyone - particularly to anat0l for suggesting that I should tell agent just one flight from London to Australia and not two sectors (well, I did not but agent said she must check both).