US Dividend Miles - post your SUCCESSFUL award bookings here.

[ozbeachbabe]

5.

Call #1 - 'you can have it for 30k if you remove the stopover'
Call #2 - 'exceeds MPM'
Call #3 - 'no availability'
Call #4 - 'I just spoke to you - there's no availability'
Call #5 - put me on a long hold (15 mins) so I was fully expecting her to come back and say no but she back and said 'what's your credit card number?'. She also said 'thats a lot of taxes for such a short trip'...

Unfortunately I think this route is the only possible option for GUM these days.

Call #4 is gold!

Do you now write down the names of the CSR's with due diligence when they answer?

What search engine do you use looking for the JL flights in "U" class - KVS or JAL's own site?

 

[zainman]

Call #4 is gold!

Do you now write down the names of the CSR's with due diligence when they answer?

What search engine do you use looking for the JL flights in "U" class - KVS or JAL's own site?

I've seen JAL availability to GUM using BA.com

 

[smit0847]

Call #4 is gold!

Do you now write down the names of the CSR's with due diligence when they answer?

What search engine do you use looking for the JL flights in "U" class - KVS or JAL's own site?

I don't write down their names as I've never got the same person twice and they usually don't give their names when they answer anyway- I think I'd get them off side by asking them for it.

I use JAL.com - while their partner search engine is very clunky, their own metal calendar search is actually pretty good.

 

[jgm]

Was on Skype to USDM for nearly 3 hours yesterday. I was checking to see if HKG-YVR direct had opened up instead of my booked HKG-JFK-YVR, and noticed that there were J awards available SYD-YVR. So I jumped on line & called to change my outgoing flights from PER x HKG x JFK x YVR to MEL x SYD x YVR. I had separate flights booked MEL-PER & ret & was planning to drop these. Initially looked good - agent could see availability I fed to her & she sent them to the rates desk. It was taking a long time for her to come back & she finally returned to say that the rates desk had to price them manually and would take a bit longer. I also asked her if I could add PER-MEL onto the return. Next time she came back she said that they had noticed my MEL-PER booking & I told her that I would be cancelling that & was advised that it would be another US$150 each to re-deposit these miles which I was OK with. The next time she came back she said that there was a problem & that my original bookings were illegal (which I sort of knew anyway), and that they were looking at all options but couldn't see any alternatives. A bit later she came back with a flight PER-SYD to connect with the SYD-YVR - I tried to tell her that having an open jaw at the origin was legal, but in the end decided it was easier to go with the flow and leave my original MEL-PER booking in place & a day in Perth (the SYD-YVR flight is 2 days later than the original, but still gets into YVR on the same date, only 9 hours or so later, but at a more reasonable time anyway). With all this, they had lost one of our seats on the way back. More waiting while they tried to contact CX to try and get it re-instated, but she finally came back to say that the CX office they needed to contact was closed. She has a note to check if it is sorted when she has her next shift on Monday, and her supervisor is supposed to be following it up as well. The upshot is that they waived the $150 change fee, but I still haven't got the QF PNRs & Saudia is still showing the original flights, so it looks like the ticket hasn't been re-issued or whatever they have to do. I do have the CX PNRs so can see that the +1 still has her original seats, but I am wait listed for the HKG-PER leg.

I'm not prepared to HUACA and try to get either the open jaw or better still the start and end at MEL as I think the illegal bit is the YVR x JFK x HKG leg which looks like a significant backtrack to me.

 

[jgm]

Waitlist has cleared. Final itinerary is MEL - PER (different PNR & stopover) PER x SYD - YVR dest YVR x JFK x HKG - PER PER-MEL all in J. Total cost was 110K + 30K miles & US$282.

 

[Limewood]

Well done jgm.

oh' when posting much easier to read if para's are used.

I've a booking using USDM 2 x J BNE/HKG/NRT/CDG (destination) CDG/DOH/PER/BNE going to try and change the outbound few days earlier but BNE/HKG/CDG (miss NRT), found flights hope I'm lucky like you .

 

[tm.smile]

Just an update to an itinerary that I booked a few months ago for a friend. He was originally ticketed to depart on the 3rd jan SYD-KUL-BKK on MH (the remainder was BKK-HEL-CDG on AY and then CDG-KUL-SYD on MH). When we went to check the booking, the first two flights to bkk weren't showing. Called both MH and US to check but both were telling me that it was unconfirmed and US were telling me that system kept telling them it was a schedule change but that it wouldn't allow the seat to be confirmed even though it was being held and the itinerary ticketed.

Fast forward multiple calls and couldn't even get then to confirm an MH flight for the day earlier (and moving the connection) but I managed to get them to find seats tonight for SYD-MEL(qf)-HKG(cx)-BKK(cx). Remainder of the itinerary kept the same.

Extremely nerve wracking and frustrating, just glad it was resolved.

 

[Alanslegal]

Glad it got resolved.

As been suggested in this and the other thread, its good to check your bookings weekly and then week prior to travel, daily, just to make sure there are no changes and if there are, the earlier its found, one could get it resolved as soon as possible.

 

[tm.smile]

Absolutely. Lesson learnt. I suppose as it wasn't a booking for myself, I was a bit more lax.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Absolutely. Lesson learnt. I suppose as it wasn't a booking for myself, I was a bit more lax.

The bookings that give you the most grief will always be the ones you do for friends & relatives.

 

[legroom]

The bookings that give you the most grief will always be the ones you do for friends & relatives.

I'd only do this for 1st degree relatives as it is draining to explain how it works, how you have to purchase points in advance, why there is a need for stop-over instead of A to B flights etc....

 

[anat0l]

I'd only do this for 1st degree relatives as it is draining to explain how it works, how you have to purchase points in advance, why there is a need for stop-over instead of A to B flights etc....

The hardest part sometimes is finding availability "for them", i.e. they aren't aware that it's not just a case of "here's my money - give me my flights". Worse when they decide to travel during the peak periods. And then some of them have preferences, too: "Malaysia Airlines? Hell no - they lost two planes this year, no way I'm flying them..."

 

[boomy]

The hardest part sometimes is finding availability "for them", i.e. they aren't aware that it's not just a case of "here's my money - give me my flights". Worse when they decide to travel during the peak periods. And then some of them have preferences, too: "Malaysia Airlines? Hell no - they lost two planes this year, no way I'm flying them..."

Haha so true!
"Book me SYD-HKG for next month and it must be the evening flight".
"No seats in J? I knew these points are worthless..."
I gave up on award bookings for relatives who are not 1st degree, instead I wrote some guidelines for each programme and they can go from there (if they want to).

 

[chrisbris]

Successfully ticketed for late jan:

BNE-SYD-YVR
and return
YVR-NRT-KUL-MEL

Could not find any availability NRT/SIN/HKG to BNE/SYD or MEL for my return with the only availability via KUL. Originally requested YVR-NRT-KUL-BNE but exceeded MPM - luckily I had researched the MPM and noticed the the MEL MPM from YVR was more then BNE or SYD. I must say the agent was a bit confused when I asked her to try MEL - she was was saying I could not do KUL. She said she would try and came back and said it was fine!

SYD-YVR also confused them initially with the agent saying she could see the seat but the system would "not let her grab it". I was placed on hold for a few minutes and came back and it was all fine.

 

[Limewood]

Successfully ticketed for late jan:

BNE-SYD-YVR
and return
YVR-NRT-KUL-MEL

Wow so close in, well done.

Was all this in J?.

 

[chrisbris]

Wow so close in, well done.

Was all this in J?.

All in J.

Originally was to LAX (with YVR-LAX on American) and flying home LAX-NRT-KUL-BNE but the MPM to LAX is much less the YVR

 

[rogerkambah]

All in J.

Originally was to LAX (with YVR-LAX on American) and flying home LAX-NRT-KUL-BNE but the MPM to LAX is much less the YVR

Am interested in the airlines and points required as I want to do something similar. Appreciate advice or PM please.

 

[Limewood]

We have 2 x J booked using USDM to Europe, next one will be QF points one way hopefully in F to NYC then once USAirways joins AA then one way using miles YVR via HKG to BNE or use AS miles one way.

Its possible currently though going via HKG on CX to NYC and stopover on way in YVR with USDM

I choose HKG as a pivotal point as QF flights in J/f via LAX just too and to come by, plus love that city.

 

[mos]

Recently ticketed Perth to New Orleans in August;

Outbound PER - HKG (CX J) - LAX (CX F) - DFW (AA F) - MSY (AA F)
Return MSY - CLT (US F) - JFK (US F) - SYD (QF J via LAX) - PER (QF J)

125k points + $122 taxes +$50 booking fee - initially quoted 150k points by agent but priced correctly (based on recent reports) as F outbound and J return by ticketing (apparently you can use US Airways domestic F on international J awards, but not AA domestic F).

As an aside, after numerous award flights courtesy of US Airways, I'm actually going to set foot on one of their planes for the first time.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[rogerkambah]

Recently ticketed Perth to New Orleans in August;

Outbound PER - HKG (CX J) - LAX (CX F) - DFW (AA F) - MSY (AA F)
Return MSY - CLT (US F) - JFK (US F) - SYD (QF J via LAX) - PER (QF J)

125k points + $122 taxes +$50 booking fee - initially quoted 150k points by agent but priced correctly (based on recent reports) as F outbound and J return by ticketing (apparently you can use US Airways domestic F on international J awards, but not AA domestic F).

As an aside, after numerous award flights courtesy of US Airways, I'm actually going to set foot on one of their planes for the first time.

Cheers,
Mike

That's very impressive.