bmi diamond club - Help redeeming DC miles on United Airlines

Hope someone can provide feedback/help on the following:

- Chicago based traveller with 45,900 DC miles and BMI no longer has any flights to/from Chicago
- looking to book a ticket for my mum in Jan/Feb 2010 using these DC miles (Question - is there a US phone number for Diamond Club redemption)
- itinerary would by YWG-ORD-LHR-ORD-YWG (Question - does DC allow a stopover when using miles to book a flight)
- flight will likely be all United metal as BMI does not fly any of the above segments (Question - would this ticket be subject to any BMI DC specific fuel surcharges or other costs)
- the chart indicates that these Star Alliance Ticket should cost me 45,000 miles for a star alliance ticket from Zone 1 (Canada or USA) to Zone 3 (UK) - is this correct?

Thanks in advance for any and all responses - much appreciated.

I don't know if there's a local US number for DC - the website just suggests the UK number on +44 1332 854274. Yours should be a pretty easy redemption but even so, it may be a longish call (which will actually be with the call centre in India).

One stopover is allowed outside Europe per redemption. Chicago is fine. If you wanted a stopover in both directions you can book as two one-ways rather than a return for the same miles.

Taxes & charges are the same as you would pay on a revenue ticket - you can do a dummy booking on United.com or look at the ITA tool (see FAQ).

Yes, 45000 for a return in Y is correct.

- looking to book a ticket for my mum in Jan/Feb 2010 using these DC miles (Question - is there a US phone number for Diamond Club redemption)


No, there is no US number for DC bookings. I suggest using skype or other Voip service and calling the geographic number of DC (which can be found on saynoto0870.com).


- itinerary would by YWG-ORD-LHR-ORD-YWG (Question - does DC allow a stopover when using miles to book a flight)


You can have a stopover outside Europe. As CheeseToastie points out, you can have a stopover each way by booking as two ways.

Is there any particular reason you are set on that routing? I can imagine Air Canada or Continental (or a combination) would be alternatives. Especially on AC there should be quite many options.


- flight will likely be all United metal as BMI does not fly any of the above segments (Question - would this ticket be subject to any BMI DC specific fuel surcharges or other costs)


BMI does charge fuel surchage on awards. So expect the taxes and fees to be very high.


- the chart indicates that these Star Alliance Ticket should cost me 45,000 miles for a star alliance ticket from Zone 1 (Canada or USA) to Zone 3 (UK) - is this correct?


This is correct. You can also use the miles+cash option, which most here consider a better deal. Using cash+miles you could get an award in business class either one way or even both ways - this would come out to 37500 miles + 210 pounds + taxes/fees.

The reason for the stopover in Chicago is so that she can visit me and the grandkids. Going thru AC sounds more logical but.....

Using cash+miles you could get an award in business class either one way or even both ways - this would come out to 37500 miles + 210 pounds + taxes/fees.Absolutely MUST get biz class using Cash+Miles. And buy 2 one-ways so you can later make changes to, or cancel, the return if necessary. (Change fee is £20, cancel fee £25) And this gets you a stopover in each direction.

Use the ANA tool to check availability. For ORD-LHR if the direct UA flights aren't available for business awards there's also LH via FRA or MUC, SAS via CPH or ARN, and some more exotic routings via Warsaw, Istanbul etc.

As regards the call center, if you're familiar with UA's Indian Call Center (the stinking ICC), well the BMI call center is similar but less reliable. Chances are you will have to call 2 or 3 times before you get an agent who makes sense - the others will tell you there's no availability, the system is down, or any other unbelievable excuse to get rid of you. (They get some bonus for handling a call quickly). By and large the gentlemen agents are no use, hope to get a lady.

Once you successfully make the booking they come back and tell you the taxes, often this is rubbish too and you have to dispute it. expect to pay (each way)18750 miles + £105 (cash) + ~£100 (tax) for business class...

... a sensational bargain courtesy of Diamond Club.

edit: tax ex LHR, add £80 ugh.

I also concur with the recommendation on going business - the price for a Y fare would be amost the same as a normal revenue fare would cost you due to the high taxes/fuel surcharge (excluding that you can get a 'free' stopover). If you read the FAQs you'll notice links that you can use to find out the exact taxes - the easiest is to log onto http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch as a guest and then price up your route, the taxes should be very close to what BMI should charge you (within a few pence)

There is also a means to get to the Indian Call Centre via this US number (The US Sales office);
T 1-800-788-0555 (reservations toll free)
Say you want to make a redemptions booking, during the hours of the Indian call centre, and they should route you through.

Thanks everyone - I appreciate the feeback and help. To keep things simple, I will likely try to route her on AC via YYZ (Toronto) to LHR and make the stopover in Chicago on the way back. UA's availability looks better in Feb than in late January. I will post my success (and/or frustrations) about the ICC once I get this done - thanks for the warning.

edit: tax ex LHR, add £80 ugh.

Well, the OP could consider putting his mum on a Eurostar to Paris or Brussels, with a day or two there before flying to ORD, and then back to YEG.

Or, indeed, consider giving his mum an end-of-European-trip stay in any other destination served by UA that flies to ORD and happens to have availability on the ANA tool - or where she could get a *A connecting flight to a handy hub (C&M for a biz class booking would ensure lounge access and a much more pleasant experience).

I think if we end up planning any more redemption trips in J to/from the UK, we'll seriously consider something similar. For the relatively small additional cost, we might as well take in another city while we're visiting Europe!