gloreglabert
May 24, 12, 2:23 pm
I'm looking to book a F *A award ticket in August between the US and China using US miles. I have two questions, one very general and one specific to US.
The first is a total newbie question (go easy on me) -- how does award availability tend to change for bookings that aren't very far out (like this one?) There's not too much availability that I'm seeing at the moment, and I was wondering whether I should be expecting what little there is to be disappearing at any minute or whether it's reasonably possible that more last-minute things will open up. This seems like a question that would be answered in some of the newbie posts, but I haven't found any general guidelines.
The second question pertains to my specific situation. I'm booking the ticket for the purpose of one specific day in China, and work constraints mean I don't have significant flexibility to extend the stay in either direction. This puts me in the situation where I'm able to leave Asia less than 24 hours after arriving, which (if I'm interpreting US booking rules correctly) could make it count as a transfer. Basically, I'm wondering how I can make use of that. As I said, my main travel route is basically fixed (US to Asia to US), so I'm mainly considering what I can tack on afterwards in the same booking. One thing I've considered is trying to book a stopover in the US and then continue to Europe, which I know is technically against the rules but people have had success with in the past. Any advice on this from the veterans?
The first is a total newbie question (go easy on me) -- how does award availability tend to change for bookings that aren't very far out (like this one?) There's not too much availability that I'm seeing at the moment, and I was wondering whether I should be expecting what little there is to be disappearing at any minute or whether it's reasonably possible that more last-minute things will open up. This seems like a question that would be answered in some of the newbie posts, but I haven't found any general guidelines.
The second question pertains to my specific situation. I'm booking the ticket for the purpose of one specific day in China, and work constraints mean I don't have significant flexibility to extend the stay in either direction. This puts me in the situation where I'm able to leave Asia less than 24 hours after arriving, which (if I'm interpreting US booking rules correctly) could make it count as a transfer. Basically, I'm wondering how I can make use of that. As I said, my main travel route is basically fixed (US to Asia to US), so I'm mainly considering what I can tack on afterwards in the same booking. One thing I've considered is trying to book a stopover in the US and then continue to Europe, which I know is technically against the rules but people have had success with in the past. Any advice on this from the veterans?