US Dividend Miles - Oneworld Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[MEL_Traveller]

I was asking because the wife and I would like to see what it's like as a place, and as we love Japan, getting a stopover in Tokyo would be perfect

A stopover is allowed in Tokyo, but the correct pricing of the award should be 90K (AU-Asia). By rights there is no allowed stopover on an intra-zone award. If they say no, and if they add notes to your booking, it can be a tough choice between keeping the availability you find, and giving it up to start a new booking (fresh without notes).

 

[Questor]

A stopover is allowed in Tokyo, but the correct pricing of the award should be 90K (AU-Asia). By rights there is no allowed stopover on an intra-zone award. If they say no, and if they add notes to your booking, it can be a tough choice between keeping the availability you find, and giving it up to start a new booking (fresh without notes).

Yep, it's one of those that, if we can get it, then great, but if not, no harm done

 

[boomy]

Had some free time so decided to call US and try my luck with a GUM booking.
I only tried once and it wasn't successful but I got an experienced agent who knew how to deal with JL bookings and she was happy to explain to me how it's done so I would like to share it here and I hope it will help anyone who wants to book flight on JL.
If the agents can't see any award availability or they are hit with the 60 days rule (it happened to me) the solution is to open a new window and search for a standard fare class in J or F, reserve a seat and then "upgrade" it to an award ticket. When the agents change the ticket they can see the same award availability that is shown in the JL website.
After booking the flights we were hit by the MPM wall and no matter how creative we tried to be (the agent was very helpful and patient), we could not bypass that obstacle.
So, if anyone have any ideas how to solve the MPM issue on that particular route please post here or send me a PM.
Cheers

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So, if anyone have any ideas how to solve the MPM issue on that particular route please post here or send me a PM.
Cheers

other than waiting another billion years until Guam and Australia are closer together?

 

[bcworld]

other than waiting another billion years until Guam and Australia are closer together?

In which case the MPM will be reduced!

So, if anyone have any ideas how to solve the MPM issue on that particular route please post here or send me a PM.

You can't solve it. You have to rely on agent / system ineptitude. It's up to you how many times you try...

 

[boomy]

Initially I thought that it can only be done if the agents go ahead with the booking without passing it through the fare department (or whatever it's called) but in my case the agent did it only after the system didn't allow her to ticket so now I'm completely clueless how some still managed to do it.

 

[hummel]

Initially I thought that it can only be done if the agents go ahead with the booking without passing it through the fare department (or whatever it's called) but in my case the agent did it only after the system didn't allow her to ticket so now I'm completely clueless how some still managed to do it.

Perhaps the system has changed since *A days? FWIW I booked 2 trips via GUM/SPN however only took one (the SPN one)

 

[boomy]

Perhaps the system has changed since *A days? FWIW I booked 2 trips via GUM/SPN however only took one (the SPN one)

No doubt it has changed but apparently some still managed to do it on JL.

 

[smit0847]

You can't solve it. You have to rely on agent / system ineptitude. It's up to you how many times you try...

This. Sometimes you can get away with whatever you want, sometimes (more likely now) you are forced to stick to the rules. It depends on how much you value your time - i.e. if you would be willing to make a dozen hour-long calls to try and book it just to save the miles or is 12 hours of your time not worth it?

I assume they would let you ticket it for the 'proper' 90k miles Nth Asia price but then you'd have no reason to go to GUM so probably pick somewhere obscure in Nth Asia you actually want to go?!

 

[bcworld]

I assume they would let you ticket it for the 'proper' 90k miles Nth Asia price

If the reason is exceeding 25M then no, it should be booked as 2 awards.

 

[drivatruk]

Does anyone know how far CX can be booked??
Is it 14 days or 330??
Sorry im old and get confussed sometimes.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Does anyone know how far CX can be booked??
Is it 14 days or 330??
Sorry im old and get confussed sometimes.

SQ is within 14 days ex AU/NZ and vv. No such restrictions on CX. 330 days if you can find it!

 

[drivatruk]

SQ is within 14 days ex AU/NZ and vv. No such restrictions on CX. 330 days if you can find it!

Thats where i got confussed then. Thanks for you help...
If i find it on QF website will US be able to see it???

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thats where i got confussed then. Thanks for you help...
If i find it on QF website will US be able to see it???

not necessarily. QF and BA sites show phantom CX availability. And the JL website often shows nothing when there is actually some.

treat anything you find on QF as a guide (a fairly good one) but be prepared to be flexible when calling USDM.

On my booking USDM couldn't see the CX flight out of Australia - so don't be put off if they tell you that - the rest of the itinerary might still be available, then you can sort out the Australia leg.

 

[ferni]

not necessarily. QF and BA sites show phantom CX availability. And the JL website often shows nothing when there is actually some.

treat anything you find on QF as a guide (a fairly good one) but be prepared to be flexible when calling USDM.

On my booking USDM couldn't see the CX flight out of Australia - so don't be put off if they tell you that - the rest of the itinerary might still be available, then you can sort out the Australia leg.

Are you using an asia pac or USA JAL account to search? They give different answers... Found it is better to use the USA JAL account.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Are you using an asia pac or USA JAL account to search? They give different answers... Found it is better to use the USA JAL account.

asia pacific.

 

[ferni]

asia pacific.

Yeah that didn't work well for me, create a new JAL account with usa region and think you will get better results...

 

[drivatruk]

MEL Melbourne Metro / Tullamarine VI AU = MEL AVV [YMML]
HKG Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl HK [VHHH]
SUN 19 Jul 2015 | 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive St Availability
CX 134 MEL 7:40 HKG 15:20 0 CS+ YS+


HKG Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl HK [VHHH]
LON London Metro UK = LHR LGW STN LTN LCY SEN QQS ZLS XQE
MON 20 Jul 2015 | 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive St Availability
CX 255 HKG 0:35 LHR 6:20 0 FS+ CS- WS- YS-


CDG Paris Charles De Gaulle/Roissy FR [LFPG]
HKG Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl HK [VHHH]
THU 13 Aug 2015 | 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive St Availability
CX 260 CDG 13:15 HKG 06:45 +1 0 FS+ CS+ WS- YS-


HKG Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl HK [VHHH]
PER Perth WA AU [YPPH]
SAT 15 Aug 2015 | 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive St Availability
CX 137 HKG 22:05 PER 05:50 +1 0 CS+ YS+

PER Perth WA AU [YPPH]
MEL Melbourne Tullamarine VI AU [YMML]
SUN 16 Aug 2015 | 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive St Availability
QF 648 PER 0:40 MEL 6:05 0 CS+ YS+
QF 762 PER 8:15 MEL 13:40 0 CS+ YS+


Used KVS to find this.... Does this mean US should be able to find me the 2 seats in J to HKG and F to LON. I did try calling them and they found only 1 seat per flight.
HUACA or am i reading it wrong?

 

[bcworld]

MEL Melbourne Metro / Tullamarine VI AU = MEL AVV [YMML]
HKG Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl HK [VHHH]
SUN 19 Jul 2015 | 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive St Availability
CX 134 MEL 7:40 HKG 15:20 0 CS+ YS+


HKG Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl HK [VHHH]
LON London Metro UK = LHR LGW STN LTN LCY SEN QQS ZLS XQE
MON 20 Jul 2015 | 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive St Availability
CX 255 HKG 0:35 LHR 6:20 0 FS+ CS- WS- YS-


CDG Paris Charles De Gaulle/Roissy FR [LFPG]
HKG Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl HK [VHHH]
THU 13 Aug 2015 | 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive St Availability
CX 260 CDG 13:15 HKG 06:45 +1 0 FS+ CS+ WS- YS-


HKG Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl HK [VHHH]
PER Perth WA AU [YPPH]
SAT 15 Aug 2015 | 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive St Availability
CX 137 HKG 22:05 PER 05:50 +1 0 CS+ YS+

PER Perth WA AU [YPPH]
MEL Melbourne Tullamarine VI AU [YMML]
SUN 16 Aug 2015 | 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive St Availability
QF 648 PER 0:40 MEL 6:05 0 CS+ YS+
QF 762 PER 8:15 MEL 13:40 0 CS+ YS+


Used KVS to find this.... Does this mean US should be able to find me the 2 seats in J to HKG and F to LON. I did try calling them and they found only 1 seat per flight.
HUACA or am i reading it wrong?

I know it's not what you're asking, but your proposed itinerary is invalid as you have both an openjaw AND a >24 hour stopover at HKG.

 

[drivatruk]

I know it's not what you're asking, but your proposed itinerary is invalid as you have both an openjaw AND a >24 hour stopover at HKG.

Thanks for that. Ive been going in circles and forgot where me start point was.....