US Dividend Miles - Oneworld Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[serfty]

Surly you can't be serious ..

On another matter, married segments can be circumvented by having more than one ticket on the PNR with a further fiddle to keep the cost down. I suspect the initial high point level quote was indeed two awards per pax without the 'fiddle'.

 

[casanovawa]

He can be serious, and don't call him Surly!!!

But yes not everyone is up with all the lingo, 'married segment' is hardly something i use in my day to day language either and would have had to have a think about what it means...

The funny things airlines do, a few years back on a OW 140k redemption i was trying to fly from Europe down to JNB and when i called to change one part of the itinerary the operator managed to cancelled the segment from MAD to JNB i think it was and when we tried to refind it it wasn't there but after quite a bit of searching different options i found a seat IB was offering on the same flight for BCN-MAD-JNB so flying from Napoli as no direct flight to MAD on a OW airline I had to fly NAP-MAD-BCN-MAD-JNB basically hop on, hop off, hop on, hop off...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Surly you can't be serious ..

On another matter, married segments can be circumvented by having more than one ticket on the PNR with a further fiddle to keep the cost down. I suspect the initial high point level quote was indeed two awards per pax without the 'fiddle'.

can you explain what this 'fiddle' means?

 

[Myrna]

Flights booked, miles deducted, money charged to credit card etc, but I have not got the email from US so I will have to call them today. I saw the booking in BA and got our seats selected. However, they did not have booking refs for QF and KA. I would like to get seat allocations with QF and KA, so how should I do this? Thanks!

 

[tm.smile]

I believe the BA, QF and CX pnrs are all the same. It's def the same for QF and CX and I'm pretty sure it the same for BA but I could be wrong

 

[Myrna]

That is brilliant, tm.smile. Thanks!

I have done the seat selections for all flights The pnr is the same for BA, QF and CX/KA. Still not received the email confirmation from US, although all booking airlines have got the confirmations, so I will not chase up US.

I believe the BA, QF and CX pnrs are all the same. It's def the same for QF and CX and I'm pretty sure it the same for BA but I could be wrong

 

[thehound]

Data point for what it's worth. I've booked PER-MEL-PER, 2 pax, 30k each in J. Once booked in with USDM I asked about adding an infant to the booking. USDM couldn't do it and suggested I call QF. A brief call to the QF call centre and our infant was added to my wife's booking, albeit with a new separate PNR. No charges as per QF policy.

Nice to know for anyone wanting to add infants post booking.

 

[serfty]

can you explain what this 'fiddle' means?

Not really¹ - there is inference in the FT that I linked to.


¹ Since I don't actually know what it is ... just that one exists ...

 

[get me outta here]

I don't know the difference between 'add' and 'change' either. Are there any suggestions from others who have say booked CBR SYD LAX (no stop) and then want to add/change (?) through to JFK (destination) SFO (stop) LAX SYD CBR?

did is they get confused between 'add' and 'change'?

you can change your booking for the $150 fee.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I don't know the difference between 'add' and 'change' either. Are there any suggestions from others who have say booked CBR SYD LAX (no stop) and then want to add/change (?) through to JFK (destination) SFO (stop) LAX SYD CBR?

my question was what you specifically asked the agent on your call. did you ask to 'add' a segment, or did you ask them to 'change' your booking? the agent may have thought you wanted to add something for free.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Not really - there is inference in the FT that I linked to.

I read the link but didn't see the reference to the 'fiddle' you mentioned.

 

[get me outta here]

Has anyone had success doing this? I did emphasise that I knew there was a change fee and he still said that I couldn't do it. Next time I call shall I say change to be sure ... he just kept saying it was out of the question what ever I said. The previous agent said it would be fine when I explained the issue of the 330 days.

I'll call at 2pm here as it's midnight there and I think the night shift is more on the ball.

 

[shellthom]

I read the link but didn't see the reference to the 'fiddle' you mentioned.

So sometimes airlines reserve seats for specific markets - i.e. J is available SYD-HKG-CDG but you want to go to HKG… no J is available… how can that be, there is at least one seat available because I can book the same flight in J all the way to CDG … SYD-HKG-CDG are married segments and the J seat is only available to those going to Paris, they want to sell the ticket the whole distance not part of the way. So if you want to get the SYD-HKG you have to book SYD-HKG-CDG, now some airlines make it easy and all you have to do is hx the HKG-CDG flights and you get to keep the J flight to HKG… but thats not usually the case. Most airlines with wait list the J seat as soon as one of the married segments are separated, as the ticket isn't available for the individual segments. fiddling with this isn't always successful. but basically it involved changing the segment you don't care about to a city pair where the booking engine/airline will allow you to keep the seat on the segment you do want and cancel the part you don't want, so then you can get on with building the rest of your itinerary. Its time consuming and unless you know the best options to check, rarely fruitful. You need an agent who works on commission and has done for a long time, they know the tricks, because thats how they get you the best seats at minimal cost to themselves… so I don't think airline staff will know a whole lot of tricks because its not their bread and butter.

 

[sergeyvzn]

Has anyone had success doing this? I did emphasise that I knew there was a change fee and he still said that I couldn't do it. Next time I call shall I say change to be sure ... he just kept saying it was out of the question what ever I said. The previous agent said it would be fine when I explained the issue of the 330 days.

I'll call at 2pm here as it's midnight there and I think the night shift is more on the ball.

An incompetent agent. No surprise at all.

As per the Dividend Miles rules you can change your destination and it does not say it is by adding or deleting a segment or by rerouting so it;s perfectly within your rights. See below (from their Membership Guide):
[h=3]Change rules[/h]

• Contact Reservations to change award travel. The change fee is $150.
• A reissued award ticket keeps its original expiration date. You must complete your award travel within one year of the original issue date.
• You cannot change award levels, airline carrier or city pairs once travel has begun.

[h=3]Travel on airline partners[/h]Changes are not permitted once travel has begun. Before travel begins, you can change the point of origin, destination, airline carrier and stopover for a fee if the new itinerary is allowed with the original award redeemed. A fee applies if you change flight times and dates before travel begins. Changes are subject to award seat availability. Paper tickets may need to be reissued at an authorized US Airways ticketing facility.

Airline partners cannot change Dividend Miles award reservations or tickets and will accommodate members only in the cabin for which the ticket was issued, including instances in which a member accepts an award ticket for a cabin class lower than intended for the award redeemed.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

thanks shellthom.

the issue for the OP is that USDM is wants to ticket segment by segment, which I don't understand why. a single flight would remove the problem.

 

[get me outta here]

Ok thanks sergeyvzn. Next time I call I will make sure to have the membership guide open at the ready whilst making good use of the HUACA if necessary.

 

[Beta4Me]

Not really - there is inference in the FT that I linked to.

That sounds like an FT-style answer. I thought we were proud that we did not have the secretive and unwelcoming traits for which FT is often criticised.

 

[shellthom]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

thanks shellthom.

the issue for the OP is that USDM is wants to ticket segment by segment, which I don't understand why. a single flight would remove the problem.

No worries..
I was just explaining my understanding of married segments and how they affect bookings and class/fare bucket availability

 

[bcworld]

Has anyone had success doing this? I did emphasise that I knew there was a change fee and he still said that I couldn't do it. Next time I call shall I say change to be sure ... he just kept saying it was out of the question what ever I said. The previous agent said it would be fine when I explained the issue of the 330 days.

I'll call at 2pm here as it's midnight there and I think the night shift is more on the ball.

At what point is the agent shutting you down? As soon as you say you want to make any change? Or when you tell them you want to add a stopover at SFO?

 

[get me outta here]

They shut me down when I said I wanted to add my next / connecting flt LAX to JFK ... 'no can't do that'.