US Dividend Miles - post your SUCCESSFUL award bookings here.

[mos]

Agreed - for the reasons you mentioned I was happy to get it confirmed and rationalised the extra 10k as part of the cost of booking with USDM.

 

[Limewood]

One is a stopover the other one is the destination

Its giving me ideas now

What is the max miles one can go using UDSM?

 

[sergeyvzn]

Its giving me ideas now

What is the max miles one can go using UDSM?

No limit officially but you can't exceed MPM (and some say it's really more like MPM+25% in line with AA rules) and do a "significant" backtracking

 

[anat0l]

Was wondering how you achieved two stopovers JFK 14 days & LHR 4 days? (thought only one allowed).

Its a hell of a lot of flying for 16 days on ground.

One is a stopover the other one is the destination

Exactly - in line with the rules. In this case, JFK would be the destination and LHR the "en route stopover".

No limit officially but you can't exceed MPM (and some say it's really more like MPM+25% in line with AA rules) and do a "significant" backtracking

The maximum permitted mileage allowed (and when checked) for US DM has been the 25M indicator for as long as I remember. At times it was largely enforced and other times not.

exceladdict actually did well to get that ticketed. The return routing could have posed a problem with JFK-HEL-LHR (on its own in isolation, this exceeds the 25M indicator); I had a similar problem when creating an itinerary for someone else with an en route stopover - the overall MPM (25M) wasn't exceeded, but en route it was and this was an issue. Again, it could be just one of those things not checked on and off.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Its giving me ideas now

What is the max miles one can go using UDSM?

you should have a quick read of the US dividend miles membership guide. I contains the allowed stopovers/open-jaw information, as well as routing restrictions.

 

[Limewood]

you should have a quick read of the US dividend miles membership guide. I contains the allowed stopovers/open-jaw information, as well as routing restrictions.

I did have a "quick look" now understand the routing rules. I wondered what the max MPM it looks like 25,000 miles.

 

[sergeyvzn]

I did have a "quick look" now understand the routing rules. I wondered what the max MPM it looks like 25,000 miles.

It's not 25000 miles, it's 25MPM which is the MPM (maximum permitted mileage) for a city pair +25%. You should google MPM to see what it is

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I did have a "quick look" now understand the routing rules. I wondered what the max MPM it looks like 25,000 miles.

MPM is determined city by city. There's no easy way to access or determine MPM unless you have a paid tool. Bcworld provided a list of MPMs from major Australian cities to major overseas cites, which compares different routes and which ones are alllowed/not allowed. I don't have the link saved, but if you google australianfrequentflyer MPM the thread will come up.

Generally if you are looking at a fairly direct routing, MPM won't be an issue. So MEL-LAX is pretty easy, so would MEL-HNL-LAX. But if you can't get availability on the non-stop QF service, routing via asia will push you right up to the limits.

 

[exceladdict]

Its a hell of a lot of flying for 16 days on ground.

Hopefully I'll be able to sleep in the air

 

[bcworld]

MPM is determined city by city. There's no easy way to access or determine MPM unless you have a paid tool. Bcworld provided a list of MPMs from major Australian cities to major overseas cites, which compares different routes and which ones are alllowed/not allowed. I don't have the link saved, but if you google australianfrequentflyer MPM the thread will come up.

Generally if you are looking at a fairly direct routing, MPM won't be an issue. So MEL-LAX is pretty easy, so would MEL-HNL-LAX. But if you can't get availability on the non-stop QF service, routing via asia will push you right up to the limits.

Here's the link.

​https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=D7C78FAF91097DA0!224&authkey=!AEJvjK3l-h_-SVM&ithint=file,xlsx

It hasn't been updated since day dot so not vouching for its accuracy.

 

[Limewood]

It's not 25000 miles, it's 25MPM which is the MPM (maximum permitted mileage) for a city pair +25%. You should google MPM to see what it is

In future I'll Google FF questions I may have first then do AFF search before asking if you like . MPM Google gives this, USDM MPM is this.

As there is no easy way to find the MPM's and I don't have a flight tool, I'll go back to my seat

 

[sergeyvzn]

In future I'll Google FF questions I may have first then do AFF search before asking if you like . MPM Google gives this, USDM MPM is this.

As there is no easy way to find the MPM's and I don't have a flight tool, I'll go back to my seat

very funny

if you are serious about getting the maximum value from USDM you might find an expertflyer subscription useful (expertflyer.com), you can look up MPM there or I can tell you if you PM me

 

[hossein_au]

very funny

if you are serious about getting the maximum value from USDM you might find an expertflyer subscription useful (expertflyer.com), you can look up MPM there or I can tell you if you PM me

Just booked CBR-MEL (in J), LHR (F), DUS (J), return, on QF and BA, for mid 2015. Total of 150,000 points plus $384.39 in taxes and fees. Availability found using KVS, which had quite a few phantom CX availability which US Air could not see. Ended up booking plan B (QF and BA).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just booked CBR-MEL (in J), LHR (F), DUS (J), return, on QF and BA, for mid 2015. Total of 150,000 points plus $384.39 in taxes and fees. Availability found using KVS, which had quite a few phantom CX availability which US Air could not see. Ended up booking plan B (QF and BA).

F the whole way beats the CX J/F combo! You got the best deal.

 

[hossein_au]

F the whole way beats the CX J/F combo! You got the best deal.

I was naively dreading YQ on QF and BA. Also had the LHR long-haul departure fees in mind. Turned out USDM does not charge YQ on QF, and transiting through LHR does not attract the hefty fees... Doh!!

(I'm now glad Plan A did not pan out ;-) )

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I was naively dreading YQ on QF and BA. Also had the LHR long-haul departure fees in mind. Turned out USDM does not charge YQ on QF, and transiting through LHR does not attract the hefty fees... Doh!!

(I'm now glad Plan A did not pan out ;-) )

i pretty quickly worked out from seeing your taxes/charges that BA was limited to the connections from London!

USDM/AA only pass on fuel surcharges for BA/IB. everything else is safe.

 

[kreuky]

Success!!! After my struggles (documented in the Questions thread) I managed to get my supposedly illegal itinerary ticketed. 140k miles and A$227 in taxes. SYD-NRT (JL F) NRT-JFK (JL F) and for the return JFK-LAX (AA F) (stop) LAX-HKG (CX F) HKG-MEL (CX J) MEL-SYD (QF J)

 

[anat0l]

Success!!! After my struggles (documented in the Questions thread) I managed to get my supposedly illegal itinerary ticketed. 140k miles and A$227 in taxes. SYD-NRT (JL F) NRT-JFK (JL F) and for the return JFK-LAX (AA F) (stop) LAX-HKG (CX F) HKG-MEL (CX J) MEL-SYD (QF J)

Getting something ticketed which is "illegal" is not necessarily impossible with US DM!

"Illegal" in the sense with US DM just means:

• The propensity of ticketing it decreases compared to a "legal" one
• If your booking gets screwed up along the way (schedule change, etc.), the chances of it being easily fixed are less than a "legal" one, unless you turn it "back" into a legal one
• In very rare cases, depending on how much and in what way your booking flouted the "rules", you may be audited and the ticket cancelled; worst case, your account is cancelled

A fairly close analogy is jaywalking.


Congratulations on getting your booking. Keep an eye on it regularly and ensure that all the respective carriers have attached your e-ticket number.

 

[kreuky]

yep thanks i'll keep an eye on the etickets before I cancel my existing reservation. It's only 4 months away so hopefully won't be any issues.

 

[hossein_au]

i pretty quickly worked out from seeing your taxes/charges that BA was limited to the connections from London!

USDM/AA only pass on fuel surcharges for BA/IB. everything else is safe.

Indeed; it is Oz to and from LHR on QF, and intra-EU on BA.