US Dividend Miles - Post Your SUCCESSFUL oneworld bookings here

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Booked the other day MEL - PVG with China Air through USDM. Direct flight, 2 Jan - 14 Jan return in business class (sorry not sure what class it is, J?). 90,000 points I bought from the previous promotion + tax worked out to be just over A$2,000. I was surprised to see you can still book on China Air, customer service guy mentioned they are phasing them out soon and it's one of the last Krisflyer companies you can still book.
 
mrtupperware said:
Booked the other day MEL - PVG with China Air through USDM. Direct flight, 2 Jan - 14 Jan return in business class (sorry not sure what class it is, J?). 90,000 points I bought from the previous promotion + tax worked out to be just over A$2,000. I was surprised to see you can still book on China Air, customer service guy mentioned they are phasing them out soon and it's one of the last Krisflyer companies you can still book.
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Krisflyer? You mean Star Alliance?

There is a separate 'other' non OW partners award chart...Air China and South African are about the only useful things left on it...maybe HA for some.

https://www.usairways.com/en-US/Resources/_downloads/dividendmiles/partnerawardtravel.pdf
 
Successfully booked flights to Europe for end of May 2015 with a return end of June 2015. I did this a few months ago but only now updating everyone.

Thanks everyone for your assistance in answering all my questions

MEL – HKG CX – J
HKG – DOH CX – J
DOH – CDG QR – F

CDG – DOH QR – F (7 ½ hour stop)
DOH – PER QR – J (6 ¾ hour stop)
PER – MEL – QF – J

I'm not too happy about the long stop overs on the way back but that was all I could get at the time.
I originally did the booking with a dummy return and then changed the tickets for the return to Melbourne.
I have been able to see all my booking and select my seats on the Qatar website, which is great. I have also been able to print off an E-ticket here also
 
7.5 hr stop is a perfect amount of time to check out the Al Mourjan Lounge in DOH. It's huge and really really nice. Just spent a 7.5 hr layover there and barely noticed the time. If they open the Al Safwa lounge by then, you'd want a longer stopover on the way there with your F leg!
 
kreuky said:
7.5 hr stop is a perfect amount of time to check out the Al Mourjan Lounge in DOH. It's huge and really really nice. Just spent a 7.5 hr layover there and barely noticed the time. If they open the Al Safwa lounge by then, you'd want a longer stopover on the way there with your F leg!
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Oh wonderful. I was thinking it was going to be a bit boring and way too long to spend in a lounge. I will now look forward to it. Thanks
 
Limewood said:
The new DOH lounge here.

Trying for similar trip BNE/HKG to CDG via Doha Sept.
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Wow. Thanks Limewood. Ohhhhh I just read the link about the lounge. Ohhhhhh how exciting. I wish I was leaving tomorrow. We are heading off June 15 I hope the first class lounge will be done by then although this business class lounge looks pretty spectacular I don't think we will be disappointed.
 
whole-lotta-moxie said:
Successfully booked flights to Europe for end of May 2015 with a return end of June 2015.
MEL – HKG CX – J
HKG – DOH CX – J
DOH – CDG QR – F

CDG – DOH QR – F (7 ½ hour stop)
DOH – PER QR – J (6 ¾ hour stop)
PER – MEL – QF – J o
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I haven't picked up enough courage to do my first booking yet but your itinerary is interesting. How many points did you use for this please? Thanks.
 
Just booked for 2 all in J the following.

BNE/HKG - CX
HKG/NRT - CX
NRT/CDG - JL
CDG/DOH - QR
DOH/PER - QR
PER/BNE - QF

Operator Anne was fantastic, we had a few problems along the way but she never gave up, able to stay within 24 hour rule with overnight stays (excellent), took an hour or so using free call Skype from my iMac on USDM 1800 No.

Was 240K miles cost AUD$5,500 plus fees approx USD$600, so two of us for $6K OZ to Europe return is a bargain in anyones language on quality OW airlines, CX/QR/QF.

Must add the assistance and advise here is what AFF is all about, thank you all, especially anat01.

Update,
All confirmed now so Mrs Lime & self very happy.
 
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Limewood said:
Just booked for 2 all in J the following.
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Nice itinerary, I just booked something similar for July/August next year for myself and Ms Netgrom, all in J 120,000 + $412 in USD taxes. Did have to be a bit flexible with dates as left it a bit late but a good result none the less.
BNE-HKG CX (Overnight stop)
HKG-LHR CX

MUC-DOH QR
DOH-HKG CX
HKG-BNE CX

Had a bit of a panic attack as I had it on hold for 2 days then checked and it had been canceled before I ticketed it, rang and the agent got it back and gave me some story about GMT time but it was within 48 hours so I don't know how that happened.
 
netgrom said:
Had a bit of a panic attack as I had it on hold for 2 days then checked and it had been canceled before I ticketed it, rang and the agent got it back and gave me some story about GMT time but it was within 48 hours so I don't know how that happened.
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Holds don't always last...the operating airline may cancel them long before US gets around to doing it...nothing US can do about it.
 
bcworld said:
Holds don't always last...the operating airline may cancel them long before US gets around to doing it...nothing US can do about it.
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Happened to me this week, called back my hold was gone.

With a lot of help was able to secure and book better flights and times as luck would have it.
 
Regarding USDM holds: while they'll tell you it is 72 hours... and often they'll tell you down to the minute (for example, 'this hold will expire at 7.12am on xx date'), it is usually best to assume something less than that.

Holds have been shown to expire at midnight on the third day. So you could end up with as little as two full days + the bit of the day you originally booked. For some airlines (like Air China, who's still a partner) I'd be paying for your tickets within 24 hours.
 
Firstly, a big thanks to everyone on here that has helped over the past few months.

I've finally made my booking for next Sept/Oct - all of which in J PER->HKG->DXB->LHR (CX, CX and then QF)

Returning VIE->DOH->PER on QR

I've timed it so I have about 18 hours to catch up for lunch/dinner with friends in Hong Kong, 20 hours in DXB - enough for a tour of the city and dinner with friends.

The only thing I couldn't squeeze in was CX business on the B777 (i'll have to make do with the A330). Other than that I'll get to experience the A380 (QF), B787(QR) and hopefully the new A350(QR). As well as timing it to get the free QR Doha City Tour. Will also get to see the DXB and DOH lounges.

I will have some queries about the plane - and I did discover a little rort about how to effectively get flights on hold longer than 3 days as well which I will share later tonight
 
After a full week of research for options and 2 days worth of calling I managed to book the following itinerary for myself and the parents in May/June 2015

Me: HKG-(CX F)-LAX-(AA J)-YVR-(CX J)- JFK/LGA-(AA F)-MIA -(AA Y)-ORD-(CX F)-HKG [Stopover at YVR, destination MIA]
Dad: HKG-(CX F)-LAX-(US F)-PHX-(US F)-YVR-(CX J)- JFK/LGA-(AA F)-MIA -(AA F)-ORD-(JL F)-NRT-(CX J)-HKG [Stopover at YVR, destination MIA]
Mom: HKG-(CX F)-LAX-(US F)-PHX-(US F)-YVR-(CX J)- JFK/LGA-(AA F)-MIA -(AA F)-ORD-(JL F)-NRT-(CX J)-HKG [1.5 days transit at LAX, Stopover at YVR, destination MIA]

Cost is 120,000 miles each plus approx US$100 in taxes and US$50 for booking fee

Mom and dad are travelling from HKG so the booking is perfect for them, however as I am travelling from SYD, I had originally tried to book this as a SWP-North America award but without success. My original booking included SYD-HKG/HKG-ADL-SYD portions of the trip but was not able to get it ticketed as I was quoted as busting MPM every single time.

It is worth noting (nothing new to everyone, I guess), each US Airways agent had very different interpretation of rules and it is all down to luck as in whether you are able to ticket your booking:

Call 1 (Duration 1:30) - Called to put Mom and Dad's ticket on hold (on separate booking as miles coming from 2 accounts). Originally wanted to book HKG-LAX-PHX-YVR-JFK/LGA-MIA-JFK-LAX-NRT-HKG, but agent wouldn't book MIA-LAX via JFK and insisted to book it via CLT (ie flagship AA F services on A321 JFK-LAX vs US Airways F). Agent also claimed that stopover is not permitted at YVR as it is within the same zone of destination (incorrect). Asked agent to save booking and HUACA
Call 2 (Duration 00:58) - Placed my initial itinerary on hold SYD-HKG-HND-SFO-LAX-PHX-YVR-JFK/LGA-MIA-JFK-SFO-HND-HKG-(CX Y)-SYD (<24 hour transit in HND and HKG), asked to ticket but agent quoted MPM. HUACA
Call 3 (Duration 00:14) - Found J availability on HKG-SYD via ADL on CX, asked to change and ticket but again quoted MPM. HUACA
Call 4 (Duration 00:33) - Asked to ticket my reservation but again quoted MPM. Agent quoted MPM again and had to change outbound to go SYD-HKG-LAX-YVR, and return to MIA-ORD-HKG-PER-SYD instead as agent said you can only have a maximum of 4 segments per journey. Asked to ticket again after the change but still unsuccessful. HUACA
Call 5 (Duration 00:15) - Had an agent with very strong Southern accent, asked to CHANGE my parent's booking but after reading the booking ref for my dad to the agent, the agent cancelled the booking. I immediately said this is not what I have asked for and the agent claimed the the booking has then be re-instated (and of course impossible to retrieve online anymore). When I queried and said I cannot see the booking online, the agent became upset and said "Are you saying that I am lying, sir?" with a very unfriendly tone. I kept pressing on the issue and the agent just then transferred me to internet helpdesk - who obviously wasn't able to help. HUACA.
Call 6 (Duration 00:18) - Rang to try to book Dad's itinerary again, but agent was unable to see JL availability (even after prompting to look at a different place), and refused to hold the booking. HUACA
Call 7 (Duration 00:23) - Managed to find the best agent ever for the past 2 days who was brilliant and re-booked Dad's itinerary. The agent was happy for me to read the flight numbers to her and absolutely knew what she was doing. Unfortunately wasn't able to get her to ticket as the tax was taking forever to come up and I had to head out for dinner
Call 8 (Duration 1:56) - Great agent (thank god!), managed to change Mom's itinerary to match Dad's itinerary except for the outbound, asked to ticket both Mom and Dad's ticket and succeeded (but took over an hour for the tax and mileage to calculate). After the two itineraries were ticketed, I tried my luck as well to also get the agent to ticket mine as well. Again it took forever but again was quoted MPM. At this point I am pretty convinced that I won't be able to book my YVR/MIA trip to originate from SYD and go via Asia, so I decided to ask the agent to chop off the Australia-HKG segments and ticket as North Asia-North America award. Finally succeeded after almost 2 hours of call.

All in all it took me over 6 hours on phone (thank god to Skype - or I will be broke by now!) with the US Airways agents and I swear I will vomit if I hear those holding music on US Airways again. Quite happy to have the itinerary booked as it is but would prefer if I can also get a JL F segment in my booking (and change MIA-ORD to F when it becomes available). May try to change my booking closer to the time and see what is available. Pretty happy for now and I have the rest of the arrangements for the 4 week trip to worry about now! Hope this is helpful for anyone who is looking to book a US award
 
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kevinyhli - that itinerary sounds extraordinarily complex. Was it because you wanted specific flights, or those were the only availability?
 
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Hi MEL_Traveller, was being flexible to find availability but from HKG-YVR, HKG-LAX was the only available F flights, while on the transcon from YVR-MIA, we figured that taking CX YVR-JFK is going to be more comfortable than any flights on AA/US. Same goes on for the return from MIA-HKG, going through ORD seem to be the most direct routing (no availability via JFK or BOS at all in F).
 
kevinyhli said:
Hi MEL_Traveller, was being flexible to find availability but from HKG-YVR, HKG-LAX was the only available F flights, while on the transcon from YVR-MIA, we figured that taking CX YVR-JFK is going to be more comfortable than any flights on AA/US. Same goes on for the return from MIA-HKG, going through ORD seem to be the most direct routing (no availability via JFK or BOS at all in F).
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sorry my bad! you actually want a stopover in YVR! that now makes much more sense. (on first reading I thought you were just going via YVR to catch cx, rather than needing to be there)

on on that basis, sounds like a good trip!
 
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