US Dividend Miles - post your SUCCESSFUL award bookings here.

[dgross]

After some advice, I've just ticketed myself on a big work trip, but want to know if adding another city will break the 5 segment rule / or the backtrack rule.

Current itin:
SYD - BKK - TG First
- Stopover currently - 90 hrs
BKK - KTM - TG J Class (
- <24hr stopover)
KTM - IST - TG J Class
- Destination -
IST - MXP - TK J Class
MXP - PEK - CA J Class / 2 Cabin
PEK - SYD - CA First

Can I add BKK-PNH (make that stopover) then PNH-BKK back to get me to bangkok got the onward KTM flight?
It involves going through bangkok twice, but only for connections, is this allowed ?

Cheers

 

[MEL_Traveller]

After some advice, I've just ticketed myself on a big work trip, but want to know if adding another city will break the 5 segment rule / or the backtrack rule.

Current itin:
SYD - BKK - TG First
- Stopover currently - 90 hrs
BKK - KTM - TG J Class (
- <24hr stopover)
KTM - IST - TG J Class
- Destination -
IST - MXP - TK J Class
MXP - PEK - CA J Class / 2 Cabin
PEK - SYD - CA First

Can I add BKK-PNH (make that stopover) then PNH-BKK back to get me to bangkok got the onward KTM flight?
It involves going through bangkok twice, but only for connections, is this allowed ?

Cheers

you can give it a go, but doing a side trip is likely to mean your 'stopover' is not on the most direct route.

 

[smit0847]

After some advice, I've just ticketed myself on a big work trip, but want to know if adding another city will break the 5 segment rule / or the backtrack rule.

Current itin:
SYD - BKK - TG First
- Stopover currently - 90 hrs
BKK - KTM - TG J Class (
- <24hr stopover)
KTM - IST - TG J Class
- Destination -
IST - MXP - TK J Class
MXP - PEK - CA J Class / 2 Cabin
PEK - SYD - CA First

Can I add BKK-PNH (make that stopover) then PNH-BKK back to get me to bangkok got the onward KTM flight?
It involves going through bangkok twice, but only for connections, is this allowed ?

Cheers

thats a very strange itinerary. Are you choosing it because of very limited availability? Can you give us your dates and we can have a look for something better for you? For starters, why wouldn't you do IST-BKK (TK J) then BKK-SYD (TG F)? CA F won't be much chop.

in any event backtracking to BKK from your stopover will probably be prohibited- you will have to fly onwards from PNH (do TK fly there?). Transiting through BKK on the inbound and outbound is absolutely allowed.

 

[Bofter]

I know this thread is about successful bookings, but I thought it might be worth reporting an unsuccessful booking. This was for two people in business in Aug/Sept 2014.

MEL-(TG)-BKK-(TG)-BRU-(AC)-YUL came through OK, although there was some difficulty for the agent to find the business seats on TG462 - and she knew Thai availability well enough to comment that was unusual. She seemed to know her stuff, as she actually came up with that routing without me needing to provide it.

ORD-(UA)-PVG-(CA)-MEL and ORD-(UA/AC)-YYZ-(AC)-PVG-(CA)-MEL for the return were both fails however. These seats were definitely available, as they showed on ANA and United and I successfully booked and ticketed YYZ-(AC)-PVG-(CA)-MEL through LifeMiles. The US agent could not find a routing back from Nth America to Aus with business availability, and that wasn't through lack of trying as she attempted NH, SQ, OZ etc before I even suggested them to her. I don't know what is happening to USDM availability, but this was a pretty good and open agent who was struggling to find things ultimately bookable elsewhere. She noted that this was a pattern she was observing for premium class availability and that to her the timing of this drying up was too much of a coincidence, regardless of at which end it was occurring.

In the end I am not unhappy, as I have managed to book on LifeMiles something close to what I wanted, and AV will still be in Star Alliance come Aug/Sept.

My thoughts are that it is still definitely worth giving USDM a shot provided you are prepared to wear the post Star Alliance exit travel risks (if changes to flights), however be prepared for additional challenges in finding availability that USDM can see and come armed with even more backup options that necessary previously.

 

[shane2603]

I was advised last night by US operator that a lot of flight options were being pulled by respective airlines as deadline looms. She made it clear on a number of occasions I was on my own if anything goes wrong also. But obviously happy with below
Flight booked PER-BKK TG BKK-KIX TG KIX-GUM UA GUM-NRT UA NRT-BKK BKK-PER TG in business

 

[smit0847]

Flight booked PER-BKK TG BKK-KIX TG KIX-GUM UA GUM-NRT UA NRT-BKK BKK-PER TG in business

Did you try for a BKK or Japan stopover?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

in any event backtracking to BKK from your stopover will probably be prohibited- you will have to fly onwards from PNH (do TK fly there?). Transiting through BKK on the inbound and outbound is absolutely allowed.

and stopovers are supposed to be in star alliance hub cities or US gateways.

 

[get me outta here]

and stopovers are supposed to be in star alliance hub cities or US gateways.

Plse forgive this very basic question, but w' 100K points and being a total newbie to USDM and reading about the difficulty of getting flts I'm tempted to do something asap. Following on from MEL_T, would you plse tell me the basics to keep in mind?

For example, how about something that includes HKG SIN, GUM - maybe SFO with stop overs?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Plse forgive this very basic question, but w' 100K points and being a total newbie to USDM and reading about the difficulty of getting flts I'm tempted to do something asap. Following on from MEL_T, would you plse tell me the basics to keep in mind?

just read the US Airways membership guide.

It's very short (5 minute read) and has most of the rules in it.

The only unpublished rule is the max number of segments. It's referred to indirectly that flights must be on a direct routing, and that's generally interpreted (by various agents) as either a max of 4 outbound and 4 inbound sectors, or in some cases 5 outbound and inbound.

worth noting that in general, a straight forward itinerary is pretty easy to get. There are some reports availability is drying up, but most flights (say a return to Europe) could be booked in 10 minutes.

Complications and time get added when people want to maximise sectors, and airlines and flying time. SYD-BKK-Asia is a piece of cake. But if you want side trips and complicated itineraries to eat and drink as much as you can then you might be spending a lot of time on the phone

 

[get me outta here]

Thanks M_T, that reassuring, will get a round tuit.

Ok maybe one more stupido q, is the way to go ... research all the different oneW airlines to my destinations, make up the itin and then call USDM?

 

[shane2603]

Hi Smit, Yep got NRT stop

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks M_T, that reassuring, will get a round tuit.

Ok maybe one more stupido q, is the way to go ... research all the different oneW airlines to my destinations, make up the itin and then call USDM?

use an award booking tool such as United.com

On the main home page enter in your route, date and number of passengers then select 'award travel'.

Look under the column 'saver award'. If you see what you want there USDM should be able to book it for you. if you can't find availability for the exact routing, try breaking it down by segment (so instead of say SYD-NRT you might want to check SYD-BKK first and then BKK-NRT)

 

[thehound]

Thanks M_T, that reassuring, will get a round tuit.

Ok maybe one more stupido q, is the way to go ... research all the different oneW airlines to my destinations, make up the itin and then call USDM?

If you're booking now, you won't be researching OneWorld airlines - you'll need to look for flights on Star Alliance carriers since USDM is still in that alliance.

 

[hummel]

Hi Smit, Yep got NRT stop

Couldn't get that stop last time I did a GUM booking... will have to try on the next one!

 

[Jimgotkp]

use an award booking tool such as United.com

On the main home page enter in your route, date and number of passengers then select 'award travel'.

Look under the column 'saver award'. If you see what you want there USDM should be able to book it for you. if you can't find availability for the exact routing, try breaking it down by segment (so instead of say SYD-NRT you might want to check SYD-BKK first and then BKK-NRT)

Note that any flights operated by someone else, won't be available through US Air.

Examples of these flights, include:
Turkish Air flights, operated by Jet Air (9W)
All Nippon flights, operated by Air Japan (ex. NRT-HKG)

 

[Foreigner]

US Airways agents have in my experience been most cooperative. Just made changes to two sets of bookings and got the flights I wanted. Hoped that fee would have been waived but that couldn't be done. Still, pleased.

 

[get me outta here]

If you're booking now, you won't be researching OneWorld airlines - you'll need to look for flights on Star Alliance carriers since USDM is still in that alliance.

Thanks, hopefully will be posting successful bkg here soon. And yes, I did mean Star alliance of course.

 

[trooper]

Booked for myself and friend last night...all in J

SYD-PEK CA

PEK-ICN CA

ICN-LAX OZ (QS!)

SFO-TPE BR (Royal Laurel!)

TPE-PEK BR

PEK-SYD CA

This is for June..... Very happy to have got the OZ flight... 2 seats there only appeared in my most recent ANA search.. so I rang that day!

220,000 miles and USD$413

Agent was brighter than I would have been at 2AM local. Ticketing took a little while... call was probably 25 minutes..mostly on hold for that. No reaction whatsoever to me reading off a series of flights that were all "OK"...

Specifically asked about e-mail.. it was received within minutes.

Scary though.. with the usual UNKNOWN Cabin class and "Meal:NONE:! LOL

Now to look at seat selections!

 

[Foreigner]

SYD-PEK CA

PEK-ICN CA

ICN-LAX OZ (QS!)

SFO-TPE BR (Royal Laurel!)

TPE-PEK BR

PEK-SYD CA

This is for June..... Very happy to have got the OZ flight... 2 seats there only appeared in my most recent ANA search.. so I rang that day!

Wish OZ would have those seats on their services to LHR.

Having travelled through PEK and PVG several times recently, I wished I had caught early flights. On two occasions I stayed less than 24 hours but needed to book hotels. Didn't really enjoy the breaks. For my next several trips I'm avoiding China but transiting ICN.

For Seoul, I'll stay closer to airport...even then the hotel I'm booking is an hour away. Coach from airport to hotel will be 10k won.

 

[smit0847]

SYD-BKK TG F
(25 hour stopover in BKK)
BKK-HKG TG A380 F
(5 night stopover in HKG)
HKG-TPE BR J
TPE-GUM BR J
(destination)

GUM-NRT UA J
NRT-ICN OZ F
ICN-HKG TG J
HKG-BKK TG A380 F
BKK-SYD TG F


40,000 miles + $182 taxes + $50 booking fee pp.

1 call. 20 minutes. Not a single problem. Agent asked me to suggest flights and told me it would be 40k pp without me mentioning it.

Very excited to get 5 legs in F. Breaks almost every rule in the DM guidebook. With the recent share promo this was less than $US700 including everything pp. Gosh I am going to miss this program.