Does anybody know of further information regarding the rules and ins and out of Full fare mileage tickets. I am not talking about FF miles but rather a ticket that is purchased from one point to another that offers unlimited stopovers on any IATA carrier. The MPM (maximum permitted Mileage) Is not the same as actual distance between the two points. This in essence theoretically allows you to make unlimited stopovers as long as you are below the MPM cut off point. Although not cheap, I believe this offers excellent flexibility.

Any help appreciated as any travel agent that I have talked to think I am nuts. They have never heard of it. have you?

Probably better to put this in the general forum

Yes, you can do this on a full Y fare (assuming you can get flights along the way as many airlines are going for non-stops now especially in the lond-haul market). Y2 (and I think most other full-flexible/refundable fares modified by a numeral) indicate you cannot make stopovers.

Apparently, MPM is 120% of the great circle mileage.

[This message has been edited by terenz (edited 03-18-2000).]

Of course this does not apply on domestic itineraries, only international and only on certain fares.

One GREAT thing about using full fares with stopovers allowed is that you can very often add a "point beyond" legally at no additional cost. So if you are flying Chicago-London-Chicago in business class you can add a first class let from Chicago to many other cities which you can use at any time within 12 months for little or no cost.

In general, the MPM is 120% of the Great Circle mileage, although some exceptions exist for routes that are not allowed to overfly certain countries. Also, you are allowed to exceed MPM by up to 25% (priced in 5% increments .. it's called going "5M", "10M" .. up to "25M. For example, if your actual mileage is 107% of MPM, you would pay 110% of the full "mileage-based fare."

If you elect to stopover in a city for which the fare to your destination is higher than that which you paid from your originating city, you develop "hips" ... higher intermediate point. In this case (but only if you stopover > 24 hours), your total fare will have to be the fare that would have applied if you started your journey at the higher intermediate point. This applies only if you are ticketed to stopover at that intermediate point.

Best source for this type of info is to call the international desk of a global airline (BA, LH, and some UA agents) are pretty knowledgeable. Key is to ask for info on their "full, mileage-based fares". If they don't immediately know what MPM is, then ask to speak with someone else.

Good luck.

Excellent feed back fellow travellers. Does this type of fare allow the passenger to fly numerous IATA airlines on the one MPM ticket?

Yes.

Does this mean one could purchase a Guatemala City - Lima ticket at a full Y class fare and then take 5 stopovers on 6 Latinpass carriers and get full mileage credited to latinpass account?

Example Miami to Managua on NICA(TACA)
then
Managua to Guatemala City via SAL(Taca, Aviateca)
then MPM ticket
Guatemala City to Cuzco via SJO (lacsa),PTY(Copa),BOG(Avianca), Guayaquil(Aeropostal) and LIM (Saeta[ACES]) to Cuzco(Taca Peru)

then Cuzco back to Guayaquil on Taca Peru and ACES
Any comments about this idea would be welcomed.

You can't get an accurate "final answer" until you book something. However, if the agent (including travel agent) does a fare quote request for a city pair (your furthest point), for instance a $DSFOFRA, a string of a few hundred fares will come up on many carriers, but the command can be airline-restricted. The MPM fares will have a notation toward the right of the screen. Then the specific rules for that particular fare can be read.

Even if you book all the proper segments, the fare base may have to be manually input, which is an easy function, so long as the rules are all met. The auto fare function may not work properly, or may put you into another fare base (when asking it to price the lowest fare) that may be more restrictive than what you want.

A good agent will know exactly what you are looking for.

While at the TACA/LACSA ticket counter in mid-Los Angeles, their agent told me someone bought a full fare FIRST CLASS ticket from Santiago to Miami, making stops along the way, on one of those MPM Maximum Permitted Mileage tickets for the Latinpass promotion... I guess it still comes out VERY expensive, but at least you go in first class....I have no idea what the itinerary was, but I imagine one or two side trips were required too....