bmi diamond club - (Involuntary) Schedule Changes For Star Alliance Awards after May 2012

I am starting this thread to exclusively focus on how people are dealing with involuntary schedule changes for bmi award redemptions for travel after May 2012 on Star Alliance threads.

UA has released a major schedule change that disrupts my Hawaii trip in Jan 2013. Cancelling is not an option for me as the Hawaii segments are part of broader tickets that I for sure will want. To make life even more difficult, my flight to Hawaii is on one bmi award ticket and the flight from Hawaii is a few days later on a second bmi award ticket.

I will document in this thread my dealings with bmi and UA directly. Wish me luck.

When schedule changes occur, if its on the same day, but only the flight number has changed, you can still use existing ticket as UA at check in will just validate the current e-ticket. When the flight disappears altogether , then you would need to liase with UA as BD in theory no longer exists to handle UA's changes.

SA have today announced that they are halting the direct CPT-LHR service from mid-August. I am fully expecting to be rebooked CPT-JNB-LHR. Let's see !

... you would need to liase with UA as BD in theory no longer exists to handle UA's changes.

Where was this announced? It appears to run contrary to all announcements made by bmi/BA. BD (the bmi service centre) certainly continue to exist.

When the flight disappears altogether , then you would need to liase with UA as BD in theory no longer exists to handle UA's changes.It seems to me that we are again in 2+2=83 territory here. There is, AFAIK, no factual basis for this assertion.

I have a factual basis for answering this question, as I asked a member of the Diamond Club team this very question a few weeks ago - it will likely lead to a cancellation, as there will be no access to *A inventory to rebook.

So, I asked whether the BA call centre would not simply re-book like for like on a BA/OW service. It was not apparent at the time of asking whether this would be permitted.

I have a factual basis for answering this question, as I asked a member of the Diamond Club team this very question a few weeks ago - it will likely lead to a cancellation, as there will be no access to *A inventory to rebook.But why can BD, as ticketing carrier, not liaise with the airline which causes the irrop to rebook as is the case with any normal irrop on ordinary revenue interline tickets? The relevant airline (say UA) will have to do the rebooking but BD could and should re-issue the ticket (or BA if these functions are taken over by BA).

Think about it: there must be mechanisms available to change tickets issued on BD stock with segments on *A carriers. Imagine, for instance, a BD-issued fully-flex tickets with segments on UA. Since the ticket is fully flex, you must be able to change your UA flight to another UA flight if you wish or perhaps an LH flight instead. BD saying "we no longer have access to *A inventory" would NOT be an acceptable answer. BD would have to make the changes to the ticket requested by the passenger. If that is possible for revenue tickets, then there is no reason why this should not be possible for redemption tickets in irrops situations.

/Irrops are handles by the airport. I'm talking about sked changes./

I did make your very point.

I'm guessing that X/I/O class availability won't be visible on the GDS and it won't surprise anyone that any airline would be resistant to re-booking in to a revenue class. Not that that should matter, but being pragmatic... When I probed a little further, I was left with the impression that we'd be dealing with a BA call centre, rather than ICC/SPTS... I have no times-scale on any of this... but at the rate BA is moving things along, I don't think this is too far off...

So, this is logical, if distasteful.

From what I know about IROPS, it is the airline causing the irregular operation that should bear the costs of rerouting the passenger. They can reissue a ticket from another airline (it happened to me once). Of course, the airline that owns the document can make involuntary reissues, it does not matter the booking class that is used. However, they can bill the "irregular" carrier for the fare difference.

/Irrops are handles by the airport. I'm talking about sked changes./

I did make your very point.

I'm guessing that X/I/O class availability won't be visible on the GDS and it won't surprise anyone that any airline would be resistant to re-booking in to a revenue class. Not that that should matter, but being pragmatic... When I probed a little further, I was left with the impression that we'd be dealing with a BA call centre, rather than ICC/SPTS... I have no times-scale on any of this... but at the rate BA is moving things along, I don't think this is too far off...

So, this is logical, if distasteful.You are right: sked changes are the issue rather than irrops. The nagging point in all of this is the assumption that a sked change results in the pax needing to be rebooked in X/I/O and only if there is availability therein. That has always been a sore point with DC: in situations of sked changes, pax should be rebooked on the nearest reasonable available flight regardless of award inventory availability (as long as there is physical availability in the relevant cabin) and the airline making the sked change should pick up the tab for this. If the airline responsible for the sked change and the airline on which the pax is rebooked is the same, then it should not be an issue: they can open up inventory in the right class if needed or, if they like it better, authorise the reissue in the higher booking class. I can see that airlines do not like to pay if the pax has to be rebooked on an alternative carrier but it is rather rich for the airline to change their schedule and let the pax carry the can for the changes made by the airline. My guess is that, if challenged before a court in the UK or elsewhere in the EU, it would not take much to make a judge treat that as a breach of UCTRs so it would be sensible for BD/BA to make sure that they have a solution to this other than telling the pax 'Here's your miles back. Now s.. off'.

As to who physically will handle it, I think that you must be right. We are fast approaching the point where there will be virtually no BD flight left other than a possible handful where bilateral ASAs might prevent a transfer to a BA number. With very limited servicing of existing reservations, a man and his dog in a little office behind (in a virtual sense) a BA call centre dealing specifically with these looks more likely than the full blown ICC/PTS.

So, I asked whether the BA call centre would not simply re-book like for like on a BA/OW service. It was not apparent at the time of asking whether this would be permitted.

Given that BA availability is pretty crappy for its own members I think redeemers will have to rely on the airline involved accommodating them.

I guess we'll have to see what if any options we would be offered re involuntary sched changes. I was previously moved by a day by SQ when booked on a BD redemption tkt MAN-SIN. BD then offered me a flight ex LHR, not I believe from a revenue class.

To be cancelled without being offered any alternative seems unacceptable, but it may come down to the behaviour of the operating carrier and as we know some are better than others! i think BA/BD should push the carrier to provide an acceptable alternative, but I don't expect a BA option or another * airline option.

SA have today announced that they are halting the direct CPT-LHR service from mid-August. I am fully expecting to be rebooked CPT-JNB-LHR. Let's see !

OK chaps, we have an actual datapoint:

CMT is now showing the following:

Cape Town to London

Flight 1 Tuesday, February 26, 2013
unable, does not operate Departure: 20:20 Cape Town, South Africa - Cape Town International
Arrival: 06:55 +1 day(s) London, United Kingdom - Heathrow , terminal 1

Airline: South African Airways SA220 Duration: 12:35
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A330-200
Last check in: information not available

Fare type: Business
information not available current flight status



Cape Town to London

Flight 1 Tuesday, February 26, 2013
confirmed, timechange Departure: 15:10 Cape Town, South Africa - Cape Town International
Arrival: 17:10 Johannesburg, South Africa - O.R. Tambo International , terminal B

Airline: South African Airways SA346 Duration: 2:00
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A340-600
Last check in: information not available

Fare type: Business
information not available current flight status

Change of plane required. Time between flights : 3:30.

Flight 2 Tuesday, February 26, 2013
confirmed, timechange Departure: 20:40 Johannesburg, South Africa - O.R. Tambo International , terminal B
Arrival: 06:25 +1 day(s) London, United Kingdom - Heathrow , terminal 1

Airline: South African Airways SA234 Duration: 11:45
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A330-200
Last check in: information not available

Fare type: Business
information not available current flight status

Change of plane required. Time between flights : 4:25.

So, automatic rebooking confirmed (on this one anyway !) ^

I have been rebooked and re ticketed by SQ for a non existent schedule change.

My new ticket issued on 236 stock was issued by SINSQ0ERS so it appears other carriers can do these re-issues. Ticket endorsed *M*INVOL REROUTE AS PER IATA 735D / DUE ASC ORIGINAL FARE RULES APPLY.

Why this has been done is a mystery though as there was no schedule change or routing change!

OK chaps, we have an actual datapoint:

So, automatic rebooking confirmed (on this one anyway !) ^

Ah, but is that not what always would have happened? SAA cancel a flight, protect you onto another flight, and it shows as UN (unable, does not operate) for the original (cancelled) sectors and TK (confirmed, timechange) for the replacements. However, does this not require the ticket to be reissued? At which point it won't show the timechange, and will just show "confirmed".

What does eitr.amadeusasia.com (http://eitr.amadeusasia.com/) show for your e-ticket?

I have been rebooked and re ticketed by SQ for a non existent schedule change.

My new ticket issued on 236 stock was issued by SINSQ0ERS so it appears other carriers can do these re-issues. Ticket endorsed *M*INVOL REROUTE AS PER IATA 735D / DUE ASC ORIGINAL FARE RULES APPLY.

Why this has been done is a mystery though as there was no schedule change or routing change!If your new ticket is on 236 stock, it will have been reissued by BD, not by SQ.

Incidentally, I have an award booked before the deadline and which had no change whatsoever which was issued with the INVOL REROUTE annotation.

Ah, but is that not what always would have happened? SAA cancel a flight, protect you onto another flight, and it shows as UN (unable, does not operate) for the original (cancelled) sectors and TK (confirmed, timechange) for the replacements. However, does this not require the ticket to be reissued? At which point it won't show the timechange, and will just show "confirmed".Indeed, at some point, DC will call/email you and ask you to confirm the change (assuming you have not spontaneously done so first), at which point the ticket will be reissued

If your new ticket is on 236 stock, it will have been reissued by BD, not by SQ.

Incidentally, I have an award booked before the deadline and which had no change whatsoever which was issued with the INVOL REROUTE annotation.

Just checked my bookings, all the ones with SQ flights on them were reissued on 2nd June with ticketing office as SINSQ0ERS.

No changes have been made to any of the endorsements, still the original "DC MILES PLUS CASH BOOKIN/ RESTRICTIONS APPLY" and all the same flights and times.

Is this BMI somehow giving up "ownership" of the ticket or authority to SQ to make changes to it? All are still issued on BMI 236 stock.

Ah, but is that not what always would have happened? SAA cancel a flight, protect you onto another flight, and it shows as UN (unable, does not operate) for the original (cancelled) sectors and TK (confirmed, timechange) for the replacements. However, does this not require the ticket to be reissued? At which point it won't show the timechange, and will just show "confirmed".

What does eitr.amadeusasia.com (http://eitr.amadeusasia.com/) show for your e-ticket?

Quick email to DC saying I have noticed the proposed changes and that I accept them. A couple of hours later the eTicket has been reissued and shows the replacement flights, along with the usual involuntary reroute annotation and as you suggest, the flights now all show status "confirmed". Simples.

I have a different example. An error has been made in the ticket that has been issued. I noticed that my ticket was issued by ICC with a 10min connection time between 2 flights. The connecting flight was not the one I suggested to the ICC, but another one the ICC agent had said would work.

I asked the ICC 2 days ago whether 10min was a sufficient connection time between these flights. The ICC agreed it is not and we both agreed that a correction is needed. There is still award availability on a later flight on same routing on same airline that day. So I suggested to the ICC that they approach the operating airline and ask for a later flight to be booked on the same day. Award availability is still showing to me for the later flights, although the ICC cannot see them since 31st May.

2 full days later the ticket has not been reissued. There is still only 10min between the two flights. I'll chase this up tomorrow. Will update here on results.

Quick email to DC saying I have noticed the proposed changes and that I accept them. A couple of hours later the eTicket has been reissued

Sounds promising... I'm no Amadeus expert, but does this mean that BD can still issue *A tickets on 236 stock, but just aren't able to access X/I/O inventory themselves? So if the operating carrier involuntarily moves you onto new flights, BD can accept the changes and reticket, but BD can't make voluntary changes or book new flights?

I get this on one of my SQ itineraries:

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6985/37621871.jpg

Ah yes, on closer examination it appears that one of my reservations has been touched by the SINSQ0ERS ticketing office too. No changes, same ticket number, still issued on 236 stock. Very odd...

I get this on one of my SQ itineraries:

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6985/37621871.jpg

Where are you seeing this?

Sounds promising... I'm no Amadeus expert, but does this mean that BD can still issue *A tickets on 236 stock, but just aren't able to access X/I/O inventory themselves? So if the operating carrier involuntarily moves you onto new flights, BD can accept the changes and reticket, but BD can't make voluntary changes or book new flights?

Looks like it ^. Should put a lot of minds to rest.

Sounds promising... I'm no Amadeus expert, but does this mean that BD can still issue *A tickets on 236 stock, but just aren't able to access X/I/O inventory themselves? So if the operating carrier involuntarily moves you onto new flights, BD can accept the changes and reticket, but BD can't make voluntary changes or book new flights?

I have had UA schedule changes and they put me on another flight. BD was able to re-ticket it w/o any issues. Sounds like this works pretty well right now.

Where are you seeing this?

It's on Amadeus: http://202.176.221.202/ or http://eitr.amadeusasia.com/

Ah yes, on closer examination it appears that one of my reservations has been touched by the SINSQ0ERS ticketing office too. No changes, same ticket number, still issued on 236 stock. Very odd...

Same here - with June 2, date.

An error has been made in the ticket that has been issued. I noticed that my ticket was issued by ICC with a 10min connection time between 2 flights. ...Will update here on results.After four days of watching Amadeus and not seeing any change to the incorrect ticket I phoned the ICC again this evening. The agent I followed this up with this evening wanted me to go through the available award flights again, with exact flight numbers and timings, that I had already given the ICC agent I spoke with in the same detail, four days ago. Whereupon he immediately emailed the corrected itinerary with the new flights, and said he would resubmit it for the ticket to be reissued with the replacement flights immediately.

So... it looks like the agent I spoke to 4 days ago did not follow up to correct the problem. He had claimed he could not see the award flights I could see (reasonable, as this was after 31st March). The agent this evening couldn't see them either, but was able to book them after asking me to give him the exact flight numbers and timings again. So not sure if the first agent was not trained, or if there could be some new arrangement where the ICC agent can enter flight numbers where necessary to amend a ticket but cannot search for them? In any case my problem is now solved but I'm glad I checked and chased.

I'm booked on a reward flight with TAP in August. My mother is booked on to the same flight via Opodo.

A week or so she got an e-mail advising her of a schedule change. Several days later, BMI sent me another copy of my confirmation e-mail (nothing about a "schedule change")

In both e-mails, the details of our flights appear to be exactly the same. I'm a bit confused :confused:

:(

We are 4 pax travelling on DC biz awards to CPT early next year, 2 each on 2 separate PNRs as the last sectors are different.

DC rang yesterday to tell me of a 'cancellation' and rebooking for a SA domestic connecting flight CPT-JNB for my wife and me. They had no info for the other two who are still travelling on the 'cancelled' flight.

SAA confirm the flight is operating. SAA Voyager say they can't make the change back but say that DC should be able to as an exception given they had told me of the so-called schedule change. DC say they can't make any change, even though the 'cancellation' was involuntary.

As things stand, our family members with poor English will be travelling on their own for part of the journey. I find this unacceptable. All I want is to get back to where we were before yesterday's call about the 'cancellation' and return to the flights I booked in April.

Amadeus tells me that the reissue (still on 236 stock) was made by MUCSA0NGI ticketing office. Is this SAA in Munich?

Grateful for your advice on what our next step should be. Thanks.

We seem to be running into similar but possibly worse problems than many here.

To meet the 31st May deadline we booked return flights on United LHR-Newark-San Jose Costa Rica, which was all fine, no business class availability so we settled for economy.

A few days ago we were advised of a schedule change which reduced the transit time by ten minutes, not a problem for us; however a couple of days later came a call that now the transit on the return leg was only an hour they couldn't protect the transfer.

The ICC claimed that all they could do was refund the miles and fees, however this is obviously no use, as to claim a similar trip on Iberia or BA would cost another 50% of miles used. After extended discussions the only solution the supervisor could think of was for ME to speak to United and see if they could get the early flight out of Costa Rica, to allow transfer at Newark, apparently they can't do this themselves, currently a stalemate and as the flights are for February 2013 we're in no rush, but still need to get resolved, would be grateful for any suggestions.

My guess would be a cancellation several months out can be very problematic as the airline in question will be hard pressed to rebook these (I;ve had very little luck on several occasions).

Cancellations should be easier - if the flight is many months away I would contact the operating carrier to rebook you (BMI is just acting as your travel agent) as they typically will rebook.

Lastly - in cases of cancellation without resolution you might be better of waiting for BA to take over before trying to resolve issues so the booking stays intact (is not canceled by BMI). Agree with Colin below not to wait.

We seem to be running into similar but possibly worse problems than many here.

To meet the 31st May deadline we booked return flights on United LHR-Newark-San Jose Costa Rica, which was all fine, no business class availability so we settled for economy.

A few days ago we were advised of a schedule change which reduced the transit time by ten minutes, not a problem for us; however a couple of days later came a call that now the transit on the return leg was only an hour they couldn't protect the transfer.

The ICC claimed that all they could do was refund the miles and fees, however this is obviously no use, as to claim a similar trip on Iberia or BA would cost another 50% of miles used. After extended discussions the only solution the supervisor could think of was for ME to speak to United and see if they could get the early flight out of Costa Rica, to allow transfer at Newark, apparently they can't do this themselves, currently a stalemate and as the flights are for February 2013 we're in no rush, but still need to get resolved, would be grateful for any suggestions.

As the original poster, thought I would update on my resolution. My UA Hawaii flights switched to late/redeye as the only nonstops. Since I'm not 12 & thus don't fly such flights, I had a bit of a problem. I decided not to push for a connection, as it is a short trip. I finally decided to reroute nonstop to another HI airport. It took three calls into UA before I found an agent amenable to rebooking without "I" inventory constraints on my exact prefer reaccomodation flights. UA held the space and then shockingly the new flight appeared in checkmytrip.com with status confirmed, timechange. Quick call to bmi to confirm schedule change and now have new, correct 236 ticket issued.

Summary is to not wait about, to not deal with bmi first, to be persistent with operating airline.

Just another data point for you all

On May 30th booked PER-xJNB-oADD-SEZ on SA/ET/ET for March 2013. Two tickets in J.

We booked the Sunday daylight flight for PER-JNB, which SA has now changed to an overnight flight - in line with its other PER-JNB flights during the week. The flight number has changed from SA283 to SA281

CMT shows us as confirmed on the new flight
BMI currently shows us as confirmed on both flights

As an aside we now have a crappy layover in JNB - from 4:50am to 2:20pm - instead of the more pleasant 23hr overnight stop we had expected to have:(

Edited at add: June 9th: Amazing - have had a call from the ICC - to tell me about this change. (Amazing because the flight is not until March 2013, so I expected this call much closer to the departure date)

Just checked my bookings, all the ones with SQ flights on them were reissued on 2nd June with ticketing office as SINSQ0ERS.

No changes have been made to any of the endorsements, still the original "DC MILES PLUS CASH BOOKIN/ RESTRICTIONS APPLY" and all the same flights and times.

Is this BMI somehow giving up "ownership" of the ticket or authority to SQ to make changes to it? All are still issued on BMI 236 stock.

Same for me. My flights are a mix of SQ & UA segments with the long-haul portion on SQ. No changes were made but all show now ticketing office as SINSQ0ERS with dates of Jun 2 or Jun 3.

Edited at add: June 9th: Amazing - have had a call from the ICC - to tell me about this change. (Amazing because the flight is not until March 2013, so I expected this call much closer to the departure date)

I would be surprised if they had many calls coming in now? Must be sitting around chilling now.

I would be surprised if they had many calls coming in now? Must be sitting around chilling now.

Could be true - though given it's the ICC, more likely chai'ing than chilling;)

I am not aware of the UK laws but was just wondering say I booked a award in Jan 11 for travel in Oct 12. I was told that you can change dates for £20 shouldn't the airline honor that?

BA has taken over BMI so technically shouldn't they honor by reboooking me on their partners or metal? For schedule changes its beyond a customers control.

Maybe not the same but similar situation happens on the high street when one retailer buys another out. Your warranty and consumer rights are still honored.

Or did BMI go bankrupt? I am not aware of the technical details on this one.

datapoint:

Schedule change on a UA flight for Dec12. ICC called me and asked if I wanted to accept or cancel. I accepted changes and tickets were re-issued along with confirmation email within an hour.

I am not aware of the UK laws but was just wondering say I booked a award in Jan 11 for travel in Oct 12. I was told that you can change dates for £20 shouldn't the airline honor that?

BA has taken over BMI so technically shouldn't they honor by reboooking me on their partners or metal? For schedule changes its beyond a customers control.

Maybe not the same but similar situation happens on the high street when one retailer buys another out. Your warranty and consumer rights are still honored.

Or did BMI go bankrupt? I am not aware of the technical details on this one.Assuming you are talking about a voluntary change, they have never told you that you could change your award to any date of your choice regardless of any availability. It has always been the case that rebooking was subject to availability of awards at the date the rebooking is sought. As it happens, there will not be any availability on your date given that BD no longer has access to *A inventory. You are still free to cancel if you so wish. BTW, how could you book an award 21 months in advance?

BTW, how could you book an award 21 months in advance?

Just made up random dates as I was getting bored this afternoon and when I am bored I think about this type of stuff. :)

I have a factual basis for answering this question, as I asked a member of the Diamond Club team this very question a few weeks ago - it will likely lead to a cancellation, as there will be no access to *A inventory to rebook.

Well if if this happens to me in cases where *A airlines are able to accommodate in I/X availability but cannot because BA are unable or unwilling to rebook, then BA will be walking away from a court room with the bill for a new flight and the legal costs.

Well if this happens to me I really hope you are right. Instead of lots of convoluted routings in I/X availability, I'll be flying direct in the most convenient business seat and BA will be walking away from the court room with the bill for the flight and the legal costs.

Are you suggesting that BA has a contractual liability to get you to your destination? That is what I would have thought to.

I paid them to get me from A to B. If they can't on *A then any other metal will do. Just my opinion.

I paid them to get me from A to B. If they can't on *A then any other metal will do. Just my opinion.

I think most courts will find that a reasonable assertion.

Are you suggesting that BA has a contractual liability to get you to your destination? That is what I would have thought to.

I paid them to get me from A to B. If they can't on *A then any other metal will do. Just my opinion.

Deleted

datapoint:

Schedule change on a UA flight for Dec12. ICC called me and asked if I wanted to accept or cancel. I accepted changes and tickets were re-issued along with confirmation email within an hour.
Same for me. UA flight next Mar from EZE-EWR. Schedule change to depart 1 hour earlier. ICC called me and asked if I wanted to accept which I did and they resent the new confirmation email.

Have a business class reward Krabi-Bangkok-London booked for December. TG have swapped out the KBV-BKK sector for one of their new 'Thai Smiles' flights. Schedule change appeared in the GDS over the weekend.

Got a call from the ICC this morning to advise of the 20 minute change (new flight number)... accepted and email received within minutes.

Ticket reissued within a few hours. All good so far!

Looks like things are business as usual as long as the operating carrier reprotects. ^

Your contract is with the operating airline - you actually paid them to carry you from A to B using BMI (BA) as an agent.My understanding is that the main contract is between the ticketing carrier and the passenger rather than the operating airline per se when the two are different. If this weren't the case, it would mean that, in the case of an interline ticket, you would not have a single contract of carriage but a multiple series of discrete and unrelated contracts of carriage with the various operating airlines for their own legs, which does not seem to me to constitute a tenable proposition. You might conceivably have some contractual rights and obligations with operating airlines (at least in some legal systems) and certain terms of the conditions of carriage of operating airlines may be indirectly incorporated in the main contract by reference but that does not in itself mean that you do not have a contractual relationship with the ticketing carrier.

In the case of DC tickets, the ticketing carrier is BD and BD therefore has a contractual duty to you as passenger to procure transportation to the destination specified on the ticket. This does not mean that BD will ultimately carry the cost if something goes wrong but it does mean that they cannot simply say: 'sorry, guv. Not my problem' even where the ultimate source of the problem lies with the operating airline (or marketing airline but this is normally the same as the operating airline for award tickets).

Make sure to keep those new reissued tix numbers just in case.
BD reissued our tix due to half hour change by AC and it took SQ quite a bit of time to locate new number. Apparently in our party of 4 only one person had new number cross referenced but assuming sequential numbering they found the rest. They could not issue boarding passes with PNR and old numbers and refused to call BD so it was a bit tense being pretty close to departure.

My understanding is that the main contract is between the ticketing carrier

I think you are right - if BMI issued the ticket and it is on 263 ticket stock.

I think you are right - if BMI issued the ticket and it is on 263 ticket stock.

236 ticket stock

It’s my turn now.... :(

I was booked on a C award on NZ flights.
Now there a schedule and aircraft change into all Y operating Aircraft (A320)
However the same route is being flown by with an Aircraft with C on the same day, just one hour later.

Shouldn't they rebook automatically into the same class I booked previously, as there was already a schedule/flight # change?

Will BMI be able to get me to the flight going one hour later?
There are still seats open in I inventory.

Thank you for your feedbacks

Another data point:

Booking for one passenger in Feb. 2013:

DUB-PHL US C
PHL-SFO UA C
[stop-over]
SFO-PDX UA C

Had call out of the blue today from bmi to say the PHL-SFO sector was leaving a couple of hours earlier than when I'd booked. ( - I had a stopover of about four hours, which is now only 1.5 hours ^)

I confirmed the change, received the notification email from bmi, and it's been updated on CMT.

My understanding is that the main contract is between the ticketing carrier and the passenger rather than the operating airline per se when the two are different.

You might conceivably have some contractual rights and obligations with operating airlines (at least in some legal systems)

I think they might both be liable under the Montreal Convention (see below) - but it is not totally clear to me whether before travel begins it is just the ticketing carrier responsible for rebooking.

I was told by BA, LH, and UA that they are not responsible for partner booking cancellations - while the operating carriers (TG, LA in my case) stated exactly the same thing! A catch 22 more or less.

Article 40 - Respective liability of contracting and actual carriers
If an actual carrier performs the whole or part of carriage which, according to the contract referred to in Article 39, is governed by this Convention, both the contracting carrier and the actual carrier shall, except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, be subject to the rules of this Convention, the former for the whole of the carriage contemplated in the contract, the latter solely for the carriage which it performs.

Article 45 - Addressee of claims
In relation to the carriage performed by the actual carrier, an action for damages may be brought, at the option of the plaintiff, against that carrier or the contracting carrier, or against both together or separately. If the action is brought against only one of those carriers, that carrier shall have the right to require the other carrier to be joined in the proceedings, the procedure and effects being governed by the law of the court seized of the case.

Another data point

Made a booking for next March CDG-BKK-HKG (Thai F) and returning HKG-SIN (stopover)-LHR-MAN (SIN C except last leg BD)
(There were no seats on the direct SIN-MAN flights)

Got a call yesterday saying the BD flight was cancelled and but I could get a BA flight 30mins earlier.
The confirmation email of the new itinerary came within 2hrs and CMT has been updated and new tickets issued (on 236 stock)

Question I'm thinking now is can I check my bags all the way through from SIN to MAN given it's a mix between Singapore and BA? Do they have any interline agreement?
Otherwise it'll be a bit of a faf picking up the bags and heading from T3 to T5.
(I've got 2hrs 20 connection time so should be ok even if I have to do that...)

EDIT - Just noticed this is my 50th post. Pretty prolific given I've been on here for 5 and a half years..!

SA have today announced that they are halting the direct CPT-LHR service from mid-August. I am fully expecting to be rebooked CPT-JNB-LHR. Let's see !

OK chaps, we have an actual datapoint:

CMT is now showing the following:

Cape Town to London

Flight 1 Tuesday, February 26, 2013
unable, does not operate Departure: 20:20 Cape Town, South Africa - Cape Town International
Arrival: 06:55 +1 day(s) London, United Kingdom - Heathrow , terminal 1

Airline: South African Airways SA220 Duration: 12:35
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A330-200
Last check in: information not available

Fare type: Business
information not available current flight status



Cape Town to London

Flight 1 Tuesday, February 26, 2013
confirmed, timechange Departure: 15:10 Cape Town, South Africa - Cape Town International
Arrival: 17:10 Johannesburg, South Africa - O.R. Tambo International , terminal B

Airline: South African Airways SA346 Duration: 2:00
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A340-600
Last check in: information not available

Fare type: Business
information not available current flight status

Change of plane required. Time between flights : 3:30.

Flight 2 Tuesday, February 26, 2013
confirmed, timechange Departure: 20:40 Johannesburg, South Africa - O.R. Tambo International , terminal B
Arrival: 06:25 +1 day(s) London, United Kingdom - Heathrow , terminal 1

Airline: South African Airways SA234 Duration: 11:45
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A330-200
Last check in: information not available

Fare type: Business
information not available current flight status

Change of plane required. Time between flights : 4:25.

So, automatic rebooking confirmed (on this one anyway !) ^

Quick email to DC saying I have noticed the proposed changes and that I accept them. A couple of hours later the eTicket has been reissued and shows the replacement flights, along with the usual involuntary reroute annotation and as you suggest, the flights now all show status "confirmed". Simples.

Sorry to quote all of this - but based on my experience it does seem to be a template of how things happen.

I had a similar, but somewhat more convoluted consequence of the route change. My saga went like this:

1. As soon as I heard of the change I went to my booking and found the same annotations as above. Was very chuffed until I realised...
2. I had been put on a flight that leaves 20 minutes before I arrive in LHR!
3. Call to Pre travel Support - which just got bounced to the ICC - no dice. "We have no access to inventory. We can only cancel or leave as is."
4. Call to SA who are sympathetic but say I must talk to Voyager. (Guess that makes sense as they control the award inventory.)
5. Call to Voyager who are also sympathetic but "no award availability on the later flight". But... "We can wait list you". So I go with that.
6. 2 days later my booking shows "confirmed from wait list" and I am very happy. But less so when I realise that the e-ticket receipt (as per classic.checkmytrip) does not show the LHR-CPT part.
7. A day later, before I get to call them, DC calls me to ask me to confirm the changes and a few hours later the e-ticket is reissued and complete.

Question I'm thinking now is can I check my bags all the way through from SIN to MAN given it's a mix between Singapore and BA? Do they have any interline agreement?

Should be no problem on one ticket as I believe they do.

Similar: LHR-CPT December : I just left alone and BMI eventually rang me and reissued LHR-JNB-CPT

EDIT - Just noticed this is my 50th post. Pretty prolific given I've been on here for 5 and a half years..!

Well - prolific for a Mancunian that is:D

pandaperth
(originally from the blue half of Liverpuddle)

Indeed - Us Mancs can get right intimidated by this IT world and Interweb malarky........!
The reason for my low number of posts is the time it takes me to review them to ensure they aren't full of any spelling or grammatical mistakes
Judging by my last one I can't even manage to do that too well!
:)

The reason for my low number of posts is the time it takes me to review them to ensure they aren't full of any spelling or grammatical mistakes



Let me explain the interweb: spelling and grammar are entirely optional :D

Post away!

It’s my turn now.... :(

I was booked on a C award on NZ flights.
Now there a schedule and aircraft change into all Y operating Aircraft (A320)
However the same route is being flown by with an Aircraft with C on the same day, just one hour later.I'd get the NZ booking ref info that is within the PNR off classic Amadeus, then I'd call NZ first and ask them to switch it. That would be my first port of call... assuming both flights are NZ.

Let me explain the interweb: spelling and grammar are entirely optional :D

Post away!

Unless one ventures over to the BA forum.:)

...the procedure and effects being governed by the law of the court seized of the case.

Does that mean the jurisdiction as described in the carriage contract (presumably E+W if BD is issuing carrier), or something else?

Had call out of the blue today from bmi to say the PHL-SFO sector was leaving a couple of hours earlier than when I'd booked. ( - I had a stopover of about four hours, which is now only 1.5 hours ^)



Don't get too excited, my last Transit through PHL Immigration, Bag Claim and Customs took longer than that.

Needless to say I missed my Domestic connection:td:

Don't get too excited, my last Transit through PHL Immigration, Bag Claim and Customs took longer than that.

Needless to say I missed my Domestic connection:td:

taff_2003 is inbound on the DUB-PHL service, so will have precleared immigration and customs in DUB ^

NZ is continuing to swapping aircrafts in lots of flights... In May I changed an existing booking from Y into C and paid amendment fee + tax difference....

Now the flight Upgraded flight has been cancelled and changed into all Y operating plane :td:

Is the cost for the amendment are now lost or will I be able to receive a refund for at least the "tax" difference?

I just spoke to the BMI Diamond Club people (or whoever they are who answer the phone at that number these days) and they told me that the flight I booked using miles pre-May 31 cannot be changed under any circumstances. I was speaking to them because there was a schedule change and I asked what if a further schedule change meant I couldn't make a connection - they said too bad, I'd have to purchase a new ticket. I asked them about the promises we received pre-May 31 about honoring the conditions of tickets issued before that date, and they said, quote "None of that holds now".

Hang up, call again.

I have an award reservation for Nov flying from Hong Kong to Dunedin, New Zealand:
HKG-BKK-SYD-CHC-DUD with the first two flights on Thai in C and F and the second two flights on NZ in Y.

I got a warning message yesterday that my flights had changed (The My Flights app on my iPhone checks Amadeus regularly for any changes to my reservations). NZ have cancelled the 09.50 SYD-CHC flight. CMT shows that I'm now confirmed on an 18.20 SYD-CHC flight which arrives at 23.25, several hours after the departure of my CHC-DUD flight.

I phoned the Diamond Club ICC today but was told that it is not possible for the flights to be rebooked so that they connect because they have no access to NZ inventory. Only options I was given were to cancel the entire reservation or to drop the last flight and make my own way from CHC to DUD.

I could try phoning the ICC again or phoning NZ direct but the problem is I can't find any convenient connections on NZ between SYD and DUD for me to request they put me on.

Don't get too excited, my last Transit through PHL Immigration, Bag Claim and Customs took longer than that.

Needless to say I missed my Domestic connection:td:

I just flew through PHL a few days back and immigration and security check for my next flight took me 1hr. Although I was in Business and one of the first to get through immigration. Security check as always takes ages.

I just spoke to the BMI Diamond Club people (or whoever they are who answer the phone at that number these days) and they told me that the flight I booked using miles pre-May 31 cannot be changed under any circumstances. I was speaking to them because there was a schedule change and I asked what if a further schedule change meant I couldn't make a connection - they said too bad, I'd have to purchase a new ticket. I asked them about the promises we received pre-May 31 about honoring the conditions of tickets issued before that date, and they said, quote "None of that holds now".

In these circumstances I would always have rung the operating carrier that has made the schedule change that causes the missed connection and ask them to book you on an earlier flight as it is their schedule change that has caused the problem.( I and others have always done this to avoid the loyalty scheme of whichever carrier telling you that there is no seats in a redemption class available to book). Then ring the selling carrier, BD in this case, who should then accept the new schedule change that you have instigated and re ticket the booking

Are you suggesting that BA has a contractual liability to get you to your destination? That is what I would have thought to.

I paid them to get me from A to B. If they can't on *A then any other metal will do. Just my opinion.

I apologise that to save space I only quoted part of GC's original post, which may have been misleading, but what I'm saying is this:

1) If I want to voluntarily change a booking I fully accept that I can only to so to available award inventory. As BD has no award inventory on *A I fully accept they cannot do this. I therefore accept that a change is not possible. However, I am still not convinced they can change terms for a booking made before the announcement of the *A exit arrangements retrospectively; their inability to change ticketing ability is of their own making.

2) If a booking change is enforced by a timetable change then:

a) If the operating airline offers an acceptable alternative but BD refuse to confirm it then as far as I am concerned the cause of the problem is BD and I have claim against them (this is what I was referring to when I responded to GC's comment).

b) If the operating airline offers no acceptable alternative then the cause of the problem is the operating airline and I may have a claim against them but this has always been a grey area, since it depends on award availability (though personally I don't accept that there is any difference in obligations between a contract paid in points versus a contract paid in money - but I suppose the Courts could take a different view of the contractual arrangement and I certainly wouldn't fancy my chances of suing a non-EU airline).

3) If I want to cancel the booking, then as far as I am concerned I still have every right to do that on payment of the £25 fee; I don't recall seeing anywhere that this is impossible and it definitely should be possible for any booking made before announcement of the *A exit arrangements. However, what happens to the points for a cancellation in the future opens a can of worms as DC may not exist and the transfer facility to Avios could be withdrawn at any time.

In the situation that started this discussion, i.e. Case 2(a) above, I would certainly consider a claim in the Small Claims Court.

We seem to be running into similar but possibly worse problems than many here.

To meet the 31st May deadline we booked return flights on United LHR-Newark-San Jose Costa Rica, which was all fine, no business class availability so we settled for economy.

A few days ago we were advised of a schedule change which reduced the transit time by ten minutes, not a problem for us; however a couple of days later came a call that now the transit on the return leg was only an hour they couldn't protect the transfer.

The ICC claimed that all they could do was refund the miles and fees, however this is obviously no use, as to claim a similar trip on Iberia or BA would cost another 50% of miles used. After extended discussions the only solution the supervisor could think of was for ME to speak to United and see if they could get the early flight out of Costa Rica, to allow transfer at Newark, apparently they can't do this themselves, currently a stalemate and as the flights are for February 2013 we're in no rush, but still need to get resolved, would be grateful for any suggestions.


I have a similar problem to the OP. I have a redemption flight from BRU - PHL -EWR - SJO for April 2013.

I recieved an email detailing a schedule change on the PHL - EWR flight. Which now means I have a connection time of just 25 minutes from arriving on a US flight from BRU, to getting onto the UA PHL - EWR flight.

I haven't of course accepted these changes, however, on calling Diamond Club to investigate, they are claiming they can't change the UA sector, and advised me to call UA. I called UA and they have said that because it is a BMI reservation, they can't do anything either... Another Stalemate!!!

Any suggestions on how to proceed with this? Obviously I'm not travelling until April, but as far as I'm concerned I have a contract with BMI to fly me from BRU - SJO. Is this a correct assumption?

I will not accept a cancellation, as this route on Avios would be obviously much more in taxes and miles.

Any thoughts please?

Thanks

Chris

Ps - Not the first time I have been shafted by BMI. Recieved compensation for a cock-up in not communicating a 23 hr time change by TK from SIN in the summer!! :mad:

Hi there,
thanks for everyone's replies and the advice. I've just spoken to united direct and particularly as our booking is not until February 2013 then there appeared plenty of availability and flexibility.

The united American agent( though rang the London number) was very calm and efficient, suggest detouring us back through Houston rather than Newark, which would be fine for us, just taking a flight out of San Jose a couple of hours earlier.

As others have said the only option seems to be to ignore bmi, go direct to the operators of the metal you're booked on, and they can resolve. Agree Changes with them and the confirmation will flow back through the system hopefully.

Hi there,
thanks for everyone's replies and the advice. I've just spoken to united direct and particularly as our booking is not until February 2013 then there appeared plenty of availability and flexibility.

The united American agent( though rang the London number) was very calm and efficient, suggest detouring us back through Houston rather than Newark, which would be fine for us, just taking a flight out of San Jose a couple of hours earlier.

As others have said the only option seems to be to ignore bmi, go direct to the operators of the metal you're booked on, and they can resolve. Agree Changes with them and the confirmation will flow back through the system hopefully.

Good news then, but when CMT shows the changes I would ring DC and ensure the changes are accepted and then reticketed

Just to confirm that my SQ redemption for October has had the SINSQ0ERS ticketing office change on 2/6/12 too. I could spot one 5 min change on MEL-SIN, but otherwise no difference.

Endorsements section has changed from:
ENDORSEMENTS : MILES PLUS CASH BOOKING / RESTRICTIONS APPLY

To:
ENDORSEMENTS : INVOL REROUTE AS PER IATA 735D / DUE ASC ORIGINAL FARE
RULES APPLY

All sectors showing as confirmed/OK, eticket number has changed but still on 236 stock. Haven't had any communication from BD about the change.

Our changes look fine on checkmytrip so we just need to confiorm with BMI. This obviously doesnt mean that additional changes wont come to light in the next eight months or so but they should be resolveable, though this has caused many people issues with bmi ducking out of star so quickly.

I had a redemption back in the days we could still deal with BD for redemptions. I got a delay to my flight on SQ from LHR-SIN, i was on the 777 in F. It would mean i'd miss my connection from SIN-KUL.

I called SQ direct and they happily changed me to the earlier flight on the A380 in F no questions asked. Needless to say, i was over the moon with a Suite rather than just a Seat.

So i'd say calling the airline if there is a schedule change definitely can't harm - it's worth a try. And you may even get lucky ;-)

I had a redemption back in the days we could still deal with BD for redemptions. I got a delay to my flight on SQ from LHR-SIN, i was on the 777 in F. It would mean i'd miss my connection from SIN-KUL.

I called SQ direct and they happily changed me to the earlier flight on the A380 in F no questions asked. Needless to say, i was over the moon with a Suite rather than just a Seat.

So i'd say calling the airline if there is a schedule change definitely can't harm - it's worth a try. And you may even get lucky ;-)

Did you have to call DC to reissue ticket again? I want to change a flight tomorrow on UA to a evening one rather then morning. Flight has plenty of seats but I don't need the hassle of calling DC to push the reissue.

Call from DC today:

DPS to BKK TG flight has been cancelled, so can offer you the flight next day.

Ah! I said. Original DPS-BKK flight was to take, next morning, BKK to KTM flight on another PNR, but also on TG.

So change no use. Alternative of a day earler not available.

"Oh well, we cannot do any other changes now BMI has left *A"

So pointed out that all my flight were with TG, and so - while I could understand no re-route via SIN, for example - can't TG take me on a later flight BKK to KTM since they are forcing a later flight DPS-BKK?

We eventually agreed on flight a day later to KTM - remember, the MAD-KTM return was on a different ticket! - so now just 48 hours in KTM.

So things can be done.

Fingers crosed for the weather - and TG's new F in 747

Sounds like D.C are being selective! Did you speak to someone in Pune or the UK call centre?

All I can get out of them is that D.C in Pune don't have the authority to change reservation, so they ask me to speak to UK reservatons, who then decline assistance informing me it is a D.C booking and transfer me straight back to India!!!!

I then call U.A back pleading for some assistance to help me with the illegal connection from a timechange, and they can't help me, because it is BD ticket stock (which D.C are refusing to change due to the fact they are no longer star alliance members)!

Triple stalemate!!!

Any suggestions, or just let it roll for the possibility of another timechange back in my favour?!




Call from DC today:

DPS to BKK TG flight has been cancelled, so can offer you the flight next day.

Ah! I said. Original DPS-BKK flight was to take, next morning, BKK to KTM flight on another PNR, but also on TG.

So change no use. Alternative of a day earler not available.

"Oh well, we cannot do any other changes now BMI has left *A"

So pointed out that all my flight were with TG, and so - while I could understand no re-route via SIN, for example - can't TG take me on a later flight BKK to KTM since they are forcing a later flight DPS-BKK?

We eventually agreed on flight a day later to KTM - remember, the MAD-KTM return was on a different ticket! - so now just 48 hours in KTM.

So things can be done.

Fingers crosed for the weather - and TG's new F in 747

Did you have to call DC to reissue ticket again? I want to change a flight tomorrow on UA to a evening one rather then morning. Flight has plenty of seats but I don't need the hassle of calling DC to push the reissue.

No i just called SQ direct... in SQ i put my contact details on their site and they texted me saying the flight was delayed etc... so i then called them.

Sounds like D.C are being selective! Did you speak to someone in Pune or the UK call centre?

All I can get out of them is that D.C in Pune don't have the authority to change reservation, so they ask me to speak to UK reservatons, who then decline assistance informing me it is a D.C booking and transfer me straight back to India!!!!

I then call U.A back pleading for some assistance to help me with the illegal connection from a timechange, and they can't help me, because it is BD ticket stock (which D.C are refusing to change due to the fact they are no longer star alliance members)!

Triple stalemate!!!

Any suggestions, or just let it roll for the possibility of another timechange back in my favour?!

Ouch I feel sorry for you... UA should really be helping out, but serves as a stark warning to many there. I think arriving at the airport on the day should allow more flexibility perhaps if it's united's fault and not yours...

Did you have to call DC to reissue ticket again? I want to change a flight tomorrow on UA to a evening one rather then morning. Flight has plenty of seats but I don't need the hassle of calling DC to push the reissue.

No i just called SQ direct... in SQ i put my contact details on their site and they texted me saying the flight was delayed etc... so i then called them.
My experience was that even though the airline (SA in my case) put the new flights into the booking, they were not part of the e-ticket. DC called me later to confirm the changes and then the ticket was reissued and the new flights were only reflected in the ticket after that.

That was a change of routing though - presumably a change of flight time does not require a reissue. Nevertheless I would always check on the actual e-ticket (using Amadeus Asia etc.) to ensure that the ticket is issued with the correct flight times. No harm in being completely sure.

That was a change of routing though - presumably a change of flight time does not require a reissue. Nevertheless I would always check on the actual e-ticket (using Amadeus Asia etc.) to ensure that the ticket is issued with the correct flight times. No harm in being completely sure.

SA changed the time of our PER-JNB flight
BD phoned me to get my agreement to the change, and then issued new tickets (not that they told me that of course - but I could see the new ticket numbers in CMT)

Ouch I feel sorry for you... UA should really be helping out, but serves as a stark warning to many there. I think arriving at the airport on the day should allow more flexibility perhaps if it's united's fault and not yours...

Thanks! Clearly BMI/BA have no idea what to do about these schedule changes.. Speaking with D.C today, 'Clive' informed me that he can't touch any star alliance tickets, but he has authority to rebook onto B.A metal!!! News to me!

I don't believe a word anyone at BMI says at the moment.

As for arriving at the airport on the day... I had an issue with TK on the ground in Singapore recently where they refused help me following a 23 hr timechange BMI failed to notify me over, saying they couldn't change BD ticket stock to rebook! Eventually, 36 hrs later, BMI from the UK put me on a rescue flight back to London. So, the long and short of it is; I don't trust U.A to help me if I leave it to sort to on the day, if they're implying it is BMI's reponsibility to fix it now, and won't help me!

And so the saga continues... Anyone got any ideas where I stand from a legal point of view? Who do I have a contract with? Is it both BMI and UA?:mad::mad:

Regards my DPS-BKK and KTM-BKK-MAD rebooking, it was Pune.

(Of course, the idea of MAD was going to connect with an Iberia MAD-GLA direct flight that has now been cancelled! But too much to expect another re-route on this!!)

My NZ flight got cancelled. An unsuitable alternative was initially proposed by BMI. There was still award space on an alternative NZ flight that was relatively more workable. When I returned BMI's call and asked for that alternative, BMI agreed to add it to the booking and it would be re-ticketed without charge.

I have an award ticket with TK, SQ and TG later this year, and I am contemplating the possibility of taking our infant baby with us. Do I have any chance to call the airlines directly, or is that something that only BMI could have done before 31-May?

I have an award ticket with TK, SQ and TG later this year, and I am contemplating the possibility of taking our infant baby with us. Do I have any chance to call the airlines directly, or is that something that only BMI could have done before 31-May?

I'd call BMI first but likely outcome is you'd have to pay the 10% infant fare directly to TK or SQ.

I have an award ticket with TK, SQ and TG later this year, and I am contemplating the possibility of taking our infant baby with us. Do I have any chance to call the airlines directly, or is that something that only BMI could have done before 31-May?

If BMI can't do this for you then you won't have any problems booking it directly through the airline but they will charge you a much higher fare as BMI only charges taxes.

I have even taken a infant on the day and paid at check-in on a BMI reward with SQ.

Just got an email from my TA advising that my revenue LHR-JNB, booked as a bmi codeshare on SAA, has been reticketed on BA. Schedule change of about 15mins. Not sure if I'm pleased or not.

Not sure if I'm pleased or not.I'd say it depends on (i) booking code and (ii) which FF programme you will credit the flight to.

If in biz and miles earning is not relevant, BA is far superior to SA. If in economy, I'd say there's not too much difference between the two - it's commodity travel either way.

I'd say it depends on (i) booking code and (ii) which FF programme you will credit the flight to.

If in biz and miles earning is not relevant, BA is far superior to SA. If in economy, I'd say there's not too much difference between the two - it's commodity travel either way.Since the flight was booked under BD code, the OP would earn zilch miles under any scheme so, from an FFP perspective, being rebooked on BA is better.

If in biz and miles earning is not relevant, BA is far superior to SA. If in economy, I'd say there's not too much difference between the two - it's commodity travel either way.

Can I respectfully disagree?

BA's 2-4-2 config in Business (Club World) is much inferior to fully flat 2-2-2 seats on SA. SA introduced fully flat seats maybe a few weeks/months after BA and from day one this was much better product.

In Economy SA seat pitch is 33-34 inches while BA has 31 inches.

I do prefer the SA seat for sleeping and as that's what I intend to do for most of the trip, that's why I expressed some reservation as to my happiness with the change ! The prospect of a few Avios will ease the pain of course.

The schlep across from T1 to T5 is a pain too, as I will be originating from DUB.

SA introduced fully flat seats maybe a few weeks/months after BA and from day one this was much better product. I am surprised on the timing. I though that SA introduced fully flat later. Anyway, I am sure you that you must be right.
On the substance, I would not agree with you that it was (and is) a "much better product". I find the BA product upstairs on the 747 much more private, at least as a solo traveler. Lounge-wise, BA is much better than SA (except at CPT where it is only slightly better). I prefer catering on SA than BA, though. Another factor that would push me towards BA (although admittedly not really related to the J product as such) is irrops. Having been at the receiving end of the shambolic approach of SA to irrops at JNB and CPT in a manner that tries to tick every box in the book of African clichés , I would prefer BA, even though they are hardly a model in the matter.

I can see how some people might prefer SA over BA and vice-versa but I find it very difficult to sustain the view that SA have a "much better product" than BA on LON-SA routes.

The prospect of a few Avios will ease the pain of course.Yes. Given that it is 14K avios each way versus nothing, I would be ready to suffer the schlep from T1 to T5 a few times and even the indignity of the T5 GF lounge and BA CW bed quite happily for that. :D

Can I respectfully disagree?Of course, even disrespectfully. ;)

IME and IMO:

BA uses the 747 on this route, SA no longer does. Advantage BA.
BA 2+2 upstairs is superior to SA 2+2+2. Advantage BA.
BA 2+4+2 downstairs is a disgrace. Advantage SA.
Catering and IFE (if working) more difficult to compare. Because of a normally superior selection of SA wine on SA, advantage SA.
On the ground, BA's LHR lounges are superior; at JNB, neither is great, BA marginally better.


Disclaimer: Most of my recent SA travel has been to/from CPT. I haven't used JNB internationally for a couple of years. I'm looking forward to SA J in the A330-200 for my next JNB trip.

So, the inevitable has happened, and Air Canada have changed their schedules, meaning I now have something of a misconnect. I don't think minus 115 minutes is really enough time to change planes in YUL.

Just got off the line with the ICC, who helpfully told me the new times of my flight, and then required a little bit of prompting to realise that it was a bit of an impossibility.

He went to look for other availability (down the back of the sofa, perhaps?), but unsurprisingly didn't come up with any - so they've offered me the opportunity to cancel the booking, and get a refund of the miles and taxes, for a mere £25 change fee.

Would others agree that having to pay the change fee is a bit unreasonable in this case? It's hardly my fault that I'm unable to take the booked flights.

There is, thankfully, some availability with AA/BA (although it's going to cost me about 50% more miles), so I'm going to get that booked on Tuesday once I'm able to move my bmi miles across to BAEC.

So, the inevitable has happened, and Air Canada have changed their schedules, meaning I now have something of a misconnect. I don't think minus 115 minutes is really enough time to change planes in YUL.

Just got off the line with the ICC, who helpfully told me the new times of my flight, and then required a little bit of prompting to realise that it was a bit of an impossibility.

He went to look for other availability (down the back of the sofa, perhaps?), but unsurprisingly didn't come up with any - so they've offered me the opportunity to cancel the booking, and get a refund of the miles and taxes, for a mere £25 change fee.

Would others agree that having to pay the change fee is a bit unreasonable in this case? It's hardly my fault that I'm unable to take the booked flights.

There is, thankfully, some availability with AA/BA (although it's going to cost me about 50% more miles), so I'm going to get that booked on Tuesday once I'm able to move my bmi miles across to BAEC.Based on the comments upthread, have you had a word direct with AC to see what they can offer?? It sounds like if they could come up with a solution and add it to the booking the ICC just need to reissue the ticket.

Based on the comments upthread, have you had a word direct with AC to see what they can offer?? It sounds like if they could come up with a solution and add it to the booking the ICC just need to reissue the ticket.
I did try calling AC first, and they pointed me back towards the ticket issuer. They do have a couple of connections that work via YYZ, but no award availability on them - I guess it can't hurt to keep calling both sides to see who breaks first. (Perhaps AC will be feeling in a festive mood what with today being Canada Day and take pity on me...)

I did try calling AC first, and they pointed me back towards the ticket issuer. They do have a couple of connections that work via YYZ, but no award availability on them - I guess it can't hurt to keep calling both sides to see who breaks first. (Perhaps AC will be feeling in a festive mood what with today being Canada Day and take pity on me...)Yes, sounds like a good bit of HUACA is what's needed here! (with a wee rendition of "O Canada" too :D). Good luck!

I would certainly press hard rather than rebooking at an inflated cost. It is their mess to sort.

they've offered me the opportunity to cancel the booking, and get a refund of the miles and taxes, for a mere £25 change fee.


Also I feel canceling at a cost of £25 is harsh. They should do it free for schedule changes.

In the good ol days of DC I have managed to get cancellations for free if there was a schedule change. Once even for a 5 minute one ;)

Unfortunately this does sound very typical of AC Customer Service. I had a revenue booking with them last year, most probably on their ticket stock, placed by an online TA (because the AC website didn't show the flights). When the FA's went on strike and I potentially needed to change my return flights, their call centre couldn't have been less helpful if they'd tried, point blank refusing to help because the ticket wasn't bought from them - even though they had caused all the problems.

I went through several agents, and supervisors, quoted sections of the *A handbook, and got exactly the same answer, so their customer service culture is clearly dreadful. I haven't booked a revenue flight with them since because of it.

If they won't touch a revenue booking, I wish anyone the very best of luck in getting the call centre to allocate award space when none exists.

On the other hand, a couple of weeks ago at SFO, the desk staff went well beyond the call of duty in sorting out an issue with the wrong e-ticket being attached to an award booking which would have left my wife stranded, even to the extent that they let her on the flight with the promise that they'd sort it out with LH (who'd caused the problem) later. They specifically said to me that they liked the human contact because they could sort people's issues more easily - even just checking people in rather than forcing them to use the machines.

Personally, I'd be more inclined to turn up at the airport, plead complete ignorance as to why online check-in wasn't possible, and let them sort something out.

Also I feel canceling at a cost of £25 is harsh. They should do it free for schedule changes.

In the good ol days of DC I have managed to get cancellations for free if there was a schedule change. Once even for a 5 minute one ;)I have never had a schedule change of any significance "offered" on either a revenue or a reward ticket, without being also offered the chance to cancel free of charge if an acceptable alternative cannot be provided. Even on restricted revenue tix I've been offered changes in these circumstances. I'm not talking about 5min or 20min schedule changes, but changes which are clearly significant or made the change unworkable to me personally for fair reasons which I could explain.

There is no way I would expect you to pay any change or cancellation fee on this. The best alternative is the one suggested above where whichever airline has caused the problem is requested to provide a workable alternative either from award or even revenue inventory if award inventory is no longer available. I'd be nice, HUACA and ask again. This is not your fault.

I think I may be getting somewhere, slowly.

This morning DC told me again that they were unable to change my reservation, but if Air Canada were to do so, they'd be able to reticket it.

So I tried AC again (their UK number this time - which sounds like another ICC, rather than the Canadian number I tried yesterday), and on the second go, managed to speak to a supervisor who said that Aeroplan were prepared to release some award seats on flights via YYZ.

The only problem is that they're still refusing to touch the booking with a bargepole. But they have told me that DC should still be able to change it, and suggested that I could get *them* to call Aeroplan directly if they needed an explanation of how to do it.

Aeroplan are now closed for the day, so I'll try again with a big cup of tea in the morning.

Got there in the end. Diamond Club called Aeroplan on Tuesday, they bashed their heads together, and came up with some seats for us via YYZ. There's only a 1h05 connection, but I'm not worried about that, as there are two more flights to LHR that evening.

When I'd first booked, I could only get business class seats for the transatlantic leg and not the feeder (but of course paid the business class miles for the whole journey) - but they've now booked me business class all the way through, which is great.

It still hadn't ticketed by this morning, so I rang them back, and it was done within the hour. Confusingly, eitr.amadeusasia.com is showing two ticket numbers for each passenger - one for each routeing - but only the correct one has a ticketing date and ticketing office. That's nothing to worry about, is it?

Thanks for posting back, teflon - glad you got a good result in the end!

Here's one for you. DC notified me of a timetable change on a US redemption in the autumn some weeks ago. It's a misconnect from domestic to international in PHL on US. US reservations reckoned they couldn't change it and to go back to BMI (and I tried several times explaining about *A etc.) but they did say don't worry, it will get sorted, you will fly.

Meanwhile, DC have been chasing relentlessly to cancel the booking (and incidentally I was offered a full refund) but I told them to leave it alone in the hope US delivered. Now, I've had a call from DC telling me about the same time change but this time I was told the connection time was OK. I've just had a look at CheckMyTrip and its changed from whatever words it used to have in bold red showing that there was a time change to simply "confirmed" just like all the other flights. Its still 40 minutes less than the minimum connect time but now I have presumably lost my chance to cancel if it doesn't get changed. Where do I go from here?

Here's one for you. DC notified me of a timetable change on a US redemption in the autumn some weeks ago. It's a misconnect from domestic to international in PHL on US. US reservations reckoned they couldn't change it and to go back to BMI (and I tried several times explaining about *A etc.) but they did say don't worry, it will get sorted, you will fly.

Meanwhile, DC have been chasing relentlessly to cancel the booking (and incidentally I was offered a full refund) but I told them to leave it alone in the hope US delivered. Now, I've had a call from DC telling me about the same time change but this time I was told the connection time was OK. I've just had a look at CheckMyTrip and its changed from whatever words it used to have in bold red showing that there was a time change to simply "confirmed" just like all the other flights. Its still 40 minutes less than the minimum connect time but now I have presumably lost my chance to cancel if it doesn't get changed. Where do I go from here?

I would ring US again and again and try to speak to someone not in a general call centre eg. the US airways office in Pall Mall London for example, or even call in! The operating airline can change a booking on a redemption ticketed by a partner airline , my experience and others proves that. They may want to duck responsibility though but if you are connecting US to US you are on stronger ground to insist that it is their schedule change and their problem.

In practical terms, I understand that US should release award seats for the flight to be changed and add them to the booking. BD should then delete the flight not required and re ticket.

The above is what LAN and BA did for me on an Avios booking, same principal should apply. Oh and I would ignore the acceptance of the change so far.

Here's one for you. DC notified me of a timetable change on a US redemption in the autumn some weeks ago. It's a misconnect from domestic to international in PHL on US. US reservations reckoned they couldn't change it and to go back to BMI (and I tried several times explaining about *A etc.) but they did say don't worry, it will get sorted, you will fly.

Meanwhile, DC have been chasing relentlessly to cancel the booking (and incidentally I was offered a full refund) but I told them to leave it alone in the hope US delivered. Now, I've had a call from DC telling me about the same time change but this time I was told the connection time was OK. I've just had a look at CheckMyTrip and its changed from whatever words it used to have in bold red showing that there was a time change to simply "confirmed" just like all the other flights. Its still 40 minutes less than the minimum connect time but now I have presumably lost my chance to cancel if it doesn't get changed. Where do I go from here?


Be careful though. US carriers don't offer you much help on mis-connects. I recently flew CVG-PHL-MAN and my CVG flight was delayed by 30 minutes meaning I would have to night stay in PHL. The CVG gate said they could only give me a flight out of PHL two days later as everything else was booked and I would have to stay in PHL at my own cost even though it wasn't my fault. They said that if its ATC then you get no help.

They refused to reoute me on another airline or to another US city :td:

Luckily I just made my MAN flight so all worked out. But I got a taste of what to expect in case I missed my connection.

I would ring US again and again and try to speak to someone not in a general call centre eg. the US airways office in Pall Mall London for example, or even call in! The operating airline can change a booking on a redemption ticketed by a partner airline , my experience and others proves that.
Though in mine, AC refused to touch anything that wasn't on their stock, so YMMV.

I'd find out if US have any connections that work from A to B (via PHL or otherwise), and if they'd hypothetically be able to book you onto it; then get bmi to call them directly and ticket that for you.

Though in mine, AC refused to touch anything that wasn't on their stock, so YMMV.

I'd find out if US have any connections that work from A to B (via PHL or otherwise), and if they'd hypothetically be able to book you onto it; then get bmi to call them directly and ticket that for you.

I've called US airways about changing and no budging, speak to BMI is all they could say blah blah blah

I've called US airways about changing and no budging, speak to BMI is all they could say blah blah blah...which is exactly what I went through with AC. The key is getting the two airlines to communicate with each other.

Thanks very much for the replies. Called US again and asked for a Supervisor, However, unfortunately they are still not budging even though I suggested a couple of options still on US with availability (according to ANA). I didn't say anything about bmi confirming the change and they did agree that I was below the minimum connect time but they wouldn't touch the ticket. Asked if they could offer an alternative route if DC call them and they just said its up to DC to rebook. Not very helpful.

I didn't have much time so I've only retried the once and I'll certainly try the HUACA option but what I'm most concerned about is that now DC have confirmed, neither they nor US has any need to do anything about this ticket. Ultimately my only option may end up being to voluntarily cancel and pay the £25 or, worst nightmare, be refused any option to cancel because of the post-31st May rule then I'm stuck with a ticket that doesn't work. I know it says tickets cannot be changed not they can't be cancelled but all this stuff is a bit up in the air as far as I can see.

calm down. shesh.

I didn't have much time so I've only retried the once and I'll certainly try the HUACA option but what I'm most concerned about is that now DC have confirmed, neither they nor US has any need to do anything about this ticket. Ultimately my only option may end up being to voluntarily cancel and pay the £25 or, worst nightmare, be refused any option to cancel because of the post-31st May rule then I'm stuck with a ticket that doesn't work. I know it says tickets cannot be changed not they can't be cancelled but all this stuff is a bit up in the air as far as I can see.Sorry to hear US are being quite so unhelpful :( Re. cancellation - can't see why that would be removed as an option post-31/5 - it was only changes that were no longer allowed. However I'd certainly keep pushing again before going down that route. Would another option be to play it dumb and turn up at the airport on the day then let the staff there sort it out? What sort of timings are we talking about and what other routing options are there? Perhaps turn up early at the intial airport on the day and say you were concerned about connection time (despite it being ticketed)?

lhr-baby the rule always was that you could cancel after 31st May, but not change. (cancel with £25 penalty however that would be waived if you canceled for reasons beyond your control e.g. flight canceled by airline making your ticket completely unworkable, or in case of error by ICC etc.)

lhr-baby, the golden rule with US is HUACA, eventually you should find someone to help. In my experience, the defining characteristic of US is the inconsistency of staff. I would second the idea of getting to a US office to deal with the issue in person

Story in short: Booked two one-way C redemption flying 7th december ARN-ORD-FLL.

ARN-ORD is on SK945

ORD-FLL was on UA1003, but UA has cancelled that flight and rebooed me on UA 283

The problem is that SK945 arrives in ORD at 13:30 and that UA 283 leaves two hours earlier (10:15)

a) I have not got any information from Bmi regarding this change, I just happened to see it when I checked some other fligts at Lufthansa! Very unprofessional.

b) When calling Bmi, they say that they cant do anything, talked with one agent and one supervisor. They cant see any star inventory and therefore blablabla...

c) When calling United they say that Bmi (of course) is responsible to rebook me.

So, pls help me, what should I do?

Sorry to hear about it :(
Call bmi again, hopefully you'll get better answer. What's next flight after that? Maybe you can catch that one

FLL might be more convenient, but MIA and other airports are pretty close. Try for another south Florida airport if BMI can't/won't find space into FLL.

Your contract of carriage is with bmi and they are responsible for sorting out the booking. Don't let them fob you off with the usual "computer says no" line. :rolleyes:

Your contract of carriage is with bmi and they are responsible for sorting out the booking. Don't let them fob you off with the usual "computer says no" line. :rolleyes:

+1

please see the below thread for suggestions and discussion


schedule-changes-star-alliance-awards-after-may-2012

You may have to call a few times, but you should get someone at BMI to help you. Although BMI remains responsible for your ticket, the convention in the airline world is that the operating airline should provide alternatives if problems caused by their own cancellation or rescheduling.

I have had 2 award bookings fixed in this way in the past month or so, which had exactly the same sort of problem as yours, caused by a rescheduling.

I have also 2 other award bookings kindly fixed by BMI, which it turned out had errors made by BMI on the original ticketing. I worked with BMI in these cases. BMI provided me with an acceptable solution - although in one case not optimal but still just about acceptable - and did not charge me a change fee.

You might get offered to cancel. This could have some attractions for BMI and the operating airline as it's less work for them. It also means they won't have to call you again for any further schedule changes if the booking is eliminated. You don't have to accept this. (and if you did, it would be free of charge of course).

I suggest you call a few times until you find someone who can help. Kindly suggest to BMI that they kindly approach the operating airline with "x" flight alternative request which you have prepared. Do the research about alternatives before you call.

To decide your preferred alternative look for, in order:
- a closely following alternative flight by same airline, with award space (look for it as though you could still book it, in order to check)
- same as above, revenue tickets still being sold (in which case, for revenue tickets the airline would be asked to have their revenue management move a seat from revenue inventory to award inventory i.e. same rules generally apply for award ticket, as for revenue ticket in this respect)
- other backup ideas.
The above is the order in which they are easiest to achieve.

As above I had 4 issues resolved in the past month, by working with BMI as above, with acceptable results. By preparing your alternatives and requesting the specific alternative flight number(s) from your research, you help them help you. Be prepared to call back in a couple of days to check on results after calling to make your request. RSW, MIA, PBI are not too far from Fort Lauderdale, btw if your airline has capacity to fly you to one of those instead (and RSW is a really nice airport although smallish). If it takes a drive to get to FLL, car rental companies in Florida do not normally add extra charge to one way rentals.

Stay nice - and good luck!

For what its worth, we are due to fly from New York to Vegas. United changed/cancelled the flight. I didnt know this till I checked our tickets as well. I rang UA and they said to ring BMI....I stood my ground and said no. I said they changed the flight, it was dowe to them to re book....a few moments later...we are re-booked....beautiful!!!

Out of interest, if UA re book, what happens on the bmi end of the ticket? Only ask as BMI said that my ticket was cancelled when clearly its not???

For what its worth, we are due to fly from New York to Vegas. United changed/cancelled the flight. I didnt know this till I checked our tickets as well. I rang UA and they said to ring BMI....I stood my ground and said no. I said they changed the flight, it was dowe to them to re book....a few moments later...we are re-booked....beautiful!!!

Out of interest, if UA re book, what happens on the bmi end of the ticket? Only ask as BMI said that my ticket was cancelled when clearly its not???

What does checkmytrip say?

Someone who knows what they are talking about will be along soon but perhaps bmi will need to reissue the ticket?

what would happen if changes were required mid-trip.

I've got a redemption with TAP, London to Brazil via LIS. The connection in LIS is rather tight,what happens if I miss it? Will it be up to TAP to put me on a flight the next day, get a hotel etc? Or would I have to go through BMI?

what would happen if changes were required mid-trip.

I've got a redemption with TAP, London to Brazil via LIS. The connection in LIS is rather tight,what happens if I miss it? Will it be up to TAP to put me on a flight the next day, get a hotel etc? Or would I have to go through BMI?

Once travel actually started it is the responsibility of the operating carrier to take care of you. Some do it much better than others.

For what its worth, we are due to fly from New York to Vegas. United changed/cancelled the flight. I didnt know this till I checked our tickets as well. I rang UA and they said to ring BMI....I stood my ground and said no. I said they changed the flight, it was dowe to them to re book....a few moments later...we are re-booked....beautiful!!!

Out of interest, if UA re book, what happens on the bmi end of the ticket? Only ask as BMI said that my ticket was cancelled when clearly its not???UA changed the reservation but the ticket will need to be re-issued. You need to ask bmi (DC) to reissue the ticket.

UA changed the reservation but the ticket will need to be re-issued. You need to ask bmi (DC) to reissue the ticket.

I spoke to UA yesterday and the women said that everything is fine, they have changed it and the ticket has been reissued?! From checking on united's website everything appears in order and good to go??!

I spoke to UA yesterday and the women said that everything is fine, they have changed it and the ticket has been reissued?! From checking on united's website everything appears in order and good to go??!
Make sure you check your e-ticket, not just the booking. Unless you e-ticket has the right flights on it you may still need to get bmi to re-issue. (It sounds wrong that UA have re-issued a bmi ticket.)

Make sure you check your e-ticket, not just the booking. Unless you e-ticket has the right flights on it you may still need to get bmi to re-issue. (It sounds wrong that UA have re-issued a bmi ticket.)

Just did that and it shows the new flight times....should I be worried?

Just did that and it shows the new flight times....should I be worried?If your eticket matches your new reservation, then you are 'good to go', as our American friends would say.

If your eticket matches your new reservation, then you are 'good to go', as our American friends would say.

Is there a new date on the tickets? or indeed new ticket numbers, check using amadeus asia, below

http://202.176.221.202/

Is there a new date on the tickets? or indeed new ticket numbers, check using amadeus asia, below

http://202.176.221.202/IIRC, UA does not use Amadeus so if they have been reissued by UA, then they would not show there.

Not a schedule change issue per se, but thought this was perhaps the best thread to post the question on.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to change the FF number on a BD award reservation to another *G one? It's just I've got a booking for a couple months time and although I obviously won't earn any miles on it (with it being a reward booking), it'd be nice to have *G status attached to it in case of irrops, etc. I've tried LOT (*A) and Finnair (OW) but neither are letting me view the reservation (which itself is showing up fine on CMT). Just thought it would be useful to see if anyone had managed this successfully recently before I brave the ICC! (or I guess another option is just to ask when checking in for the first leg of the flight??).

Not a schedule change issue per se, but thought this was perhaps the best thread to post the question on.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to change the FF number on a BD award reservation to another *G one? It's just I've got a booking for a couple months time and although I obviously won't earn any miles on it (with it being a reward booking), it'd be nice to have *G status attached to it in case of irrops, etc. I've tried LOT (*A) and Finnair (OW) but neither are letting me view the reservation (which itself is showing up fine on CMT). Just thought it would be useful to see if anyone had managed this successfully recently before I brave the ICC! (or I guess another option is just to ask when checking in for the first leg of the flight??).

Just put it in while checking in to the first flight. What is the operating carrier for those flights?

Not a schedule change issue per se, but thought this was perhaps the best thread to post the question on.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to change the FF number on a BD award reservation to another *G one? It's just I've got a booking for a couple months time and although I obviously won't earn any miles on it (with it being a reward booking), it'd be nice to have *G status attached to it in case of irrops, etc. I've tried LOT (*A) and Finnair (OW) but neither are letting me view the reservation (which itself is showing up fine on CMT). Just thought it would be useful to see if anyone had managed this successfully recently before I brave the ICC! (or I guess another option is just to ask when checking in for the first leg of the flight??).I have been able to do it but I did it online on Lot.com. Changed the automatically assigned DC # to my Asiana #.

Just put it in while checking in to the first flight. What is the operating carrier for those flights?Mix of SQ and then NZ, not sure if it'll carry over between the two or what SQ OLCI is like? The flights are all on one PNR.

I have been able to do it but I did it online on Lot.com. Changed the automatically assigned DC # to my Asiana #.Hmm - I tried on Lot.com but it just says "The system is unable to retrieve this trip, please contact your TravelSupport Desk if further details are needed. Contact information can befound by clicking the 'Contact' link above. (141)"

Not a schedule change issue per se, but thought this was perhaps the best thread to post the question on.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to change the FF number on a BD award reservation to another *G one? It's just I've got a booking for a couple months time and although I obviously won't earn any miles on it (with it being a reward booking), it'd be nice to have *G status attached to it in case of irrops, etc. I've tried LOT (*A) and Finnair (OW) but neither are letting me view the reservation (which itself is showing up fine on CMT). Just thought it would be useful to see if anyone had managed this successfully recently before I brave the ICC! (or I guess another option is just to ask when checking in for the first leg of the flight??).

I usually call operating carriers with their reference from classic.checkmytrip.com to select seats and/or check that FF number is in and showing correct status.

Mix of SQ and then NZ, not sure if it'll carry over between the two or what SQ OLCI is like? The flights are all on one PNR.

Hmm - I tried on Lot.com but it just says "The system is unable to retrieve this trip, please contact your TravelSupport Desk if further details are needed. Contact information can befound by clicking the 'Contact' link above. (141)"Yes, it is somewhat haphazard. I still have two outstanding DC awards with *A airlines and both show both on lot.com or even lufty.com (despite no M&M airlines segment on either reservation).

Not a schedule change issue per se, but thought this was perhaps the best thread to post the question on.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to change the FF number on a BD award reservation to another *G one? It's just I've got a booking for a couple months time and although I obviously won't earn any miles on it (with it being a reward booking), it'd be nice to have *G status attached to it in case of irrops, etc. I've tried LOT (*A) and Finnair (OW) but neither are letting me view the reservation (which itself is showing up fine on CMT). Just thought it would be useful to see if anyone had managed this successfully recently before I brave the ICC! (or I guess another option is just to ask when checking in for the first leg of the flight??).

Start over
My trips

https://wftc3.e-travel.com/plnext/SASaustralia/GetPNRsList.action;jsessionid=5K9dJhzSsCf1vSVcnyxz tcjWGgpt3knkL31TLHZv7sfGlKh3Ly7G!-2069323840!NONE?LANGUAGE=GB&SITE=CAPVCAPV

Start over
My trips

https://wftc3.e-travel.com/plnext/SASaustralia/GetPNRsList.action;jsessionid=5K9dJhzSsCf1vSVcnyxz tcjWGgpt3knkL31TLHZv7sfGlKh3Ly7G!-2069323840!NONE?LANGUAGE=GB&SITE=CAPVCAPVSpot on, Colin ^ ^ A3*G number now entered on booking :)

Mix of SQ and then NZ, not sure if it'll carry over between the two or what SQ OLCI is like? The flights are all on one PNR.


You can do it on SQ right now if you have the SQ PNR - just go to your reservation on the SQ site and you can change it there.

I think you cannot do it on NZ prior to check-in.

Amadeus SAS Australia worked for editing most of my bookings, however, one TK booking cannot be opened up - yet can be viewed on ba.com.

The usual sites cannot bring up the booking - any suggestions? :confused:

Amadeus SAS Australia worked for editing most of my bookings, however, one TK booking cannot be opened up - yet can be viewed on ba.com.

The usual sites cannot bring up the booking - any suggestions? :confused:TK does not use Amadeus. Short of phoning TK (easier if you speak fluent Turkish as, IME, their level of English struggles with ordinary requests, let alone less common ones), I cannot see anything else.

The booking, however, was made by bmi in Amadeus - and I can view it in Classic CMT, as well as seeing the native TK ref. code.

It's just that the SAS/LH/LO sites refuse to open the booking - thus preventing me from editing it.

I've tried requests to TK before - and as you say, they don't usually work out very well... :(

The booking, however, was made by bmi in Amadeus - and I can view it in Classic CMT, as well as seeing the native TK ref. code.

It's just that the SAS/LH/LO sites refuse to open the booking - thus preventing me from editing it.

I've tried requests to TK before - and as you say, they don't usually work out very well... :(I have never been able to display a pure TK itinerary on LH/LO (never tried on SK), even when booked with a TA using Amadeus.

Amadeus SAS Australia worked for editing most of my bookings, however, one TK booking cannot be opened up - yet can be viewed on ba.com.

The usual sites cannot bring up the booking - any suggestions? :confused:

For what its worth, this doesn't work for any of my bookings.


The following error(s) occured

We are unable to find this confirmation number. Please validate your entry and try again or contact us for further information. (8104)

Built up my hopes, only to have them dashed. Love to hear of any other possible approaches though. :confused:

TK does not use Amadeus. Short of phoning TK (easier if you speak fluent Turkish as, IME, their level of English struggles with ordinary requests, let alone less common ones), I cannot see anything else.

As an aside, if you, like me, would like a seat request in J for TK they generally advise that it's possible 3 months before departure, by the afore mentioned phone only

As an aside, if you, like me, would like a seat request in J for TK they generally advise that it's possible 3 months before departure, by the afore mentioned phone onlyI must say that I have now given up on that too for the same reason. It is not as if there is a huge difference between J seats anyway and there if usually reasonable choice at OLCI so I just forget about it until OLCI these days.

TK does not use Amadeus. Short of phoning TK (easier if you speak fluent Turkish as, IME, their level of English struggles with ordinary requests, let alone less common ones), I cannot see anything else.


Well TK uses Amadeus as their backbone GDS however blocks the functionality to view a TK reservation on checkmytrip.

Well TK uses Amadeus as their backbone GDS however blocks the functionality to view a TK reservation on checkmytrip.Interesting. When did they switch to Amadeus? They used to use Galileo and back in 2010 I could still view native TK reservations on viewtrip.com.

Well TK uses Amadeus as their backbone GDS however blocks the functionality to view a TK reservation on checkmytrip.

I thought they were still using Troya, their own system? I know they have an Amadeus front end on the website for booking, but AFAIK the back end system is still their own

I thought they were still using Troya, their own system?

They do.

I've just received an updated Cmt from bmi - my diamond club booking on*A LH LHR-FRA-lax has had a schedule change. Before it was bad enoght with a just doable 75 minute connection at FRA but this has been cut to an hour - the LHR -FRA arrives at 09.00 and the FRA-lax segment departs at 10.00. Although this is a 'valid' connection is it realistically achievable and what choices do I have given I can't change the tickets . Can I get myself to FRA the night before and just use the fra-lax portion of the ticket or is this not allowed?

I've just received an updated Cmt from bmi - my diamond club booking on*A LH LHR-FRA-lax has had a schedule change. Before it was bad enoght with a just doable 75 minute connection at FRA but this has been cut to an hour - the LHR -FRA arrives at 09.00 and the FRA-lax segment departs at 10.00. Although this is a 'valid' connection is it realistically achievable and what choices do I have given I can't change the tickets . Can I get myself to FRA the night before and just use the fra-lax portion of the ticket or is this not allowed?

If you skip the first sector the ticket will be cancelled. If you miss the connection LH will have to put you on a later flight. You could try asking LH to put you on an earlier ex LHR flight and BD can then re ticket.

I've just received an updated Cmt from bmi - my diamond club booking on*A LH LHR-FRA-lax has had a schedule change. Before it was bad enoght with a just doable 75 minute connection at FRA but this has been cut to an hour - the LHR -FRA arrives at 09.00 and the FRA-lax segment departs at 10.00. Although this is a 'valid' connection is it realistically achievable and what choices do I have given I can't change the tickets . Can I get myself to FRA the night before and just use the fra-lax portion of the ticket or is this not allowed?

You can't skip the LHR-FRA leg as that will invalidate the rest of your ticket.

Two options as I see it really;
1) See if DC will move you to an earlier LHR-FRA flight (the night before may be the only earlier flight). This could be particularily difficult to acheive (maybe impossible even) - but it is a schedule change that results in the need to change and not something voluntary.
2) Dont worry about it and leave it as is. In the worse case you will miss the FRA-LAX flight and LH will accoumodate you on the next service as best they can. Be prepared for a stay in FRA (until the next flight) in case of this eventuality.

or of course you could cancel and get a refund and use the miles on BA (but you'd need a lot more I presume)

edit: I recently had a LCY-FRA-JNB flight, and due to the late arrival of the inbound LCY flight it was clear we would not make the JNB flight. I was extremely impressed with the way LH handled this. They basically put us in a taxi to LHR and transferred us to the SAA flight. We only arrived in JNB 20 mins later than originally scheduled. Also got to fly SAA J, which in my opinion is much better than LH J. So basically - they should look after you pretty well.

Thanks. I think we'll go with option two - I'm not sure that well get anywhere with dc re changing to the night before it will be a ping pong between them and LH who are adamant that that this is a viable connection!

Hi,

So i have one now too.

It was FRA-IAD (LH) (night in IAD) IAD-SAN (UA) (next morning.)

They have rebooked FRA-IAD for the morning after, which means i'll misconnect with my onward to SAN. There is availabillity on the later flight, but who would i call? LH, UA, or BD??

Also, i'm a bit miffed at missing a portion of my hols. Do you think there is any way point speaking to LH, and asking them to try put me on FRA-LAX instead?? (Be a bit of a bummer though because the FRA-IAD leg is currently 747-8i.)

edit: I recently had a LCY-FRA-JNB flight, and due to the late arrival of the inbound LCY flight it was clear we would not make the JNB flight. I was extremely impressed with the way LH handled this. They basically put us in a taxi to LHR and transferred us to the SAA flight. We only arrived in JNB 20 mins later than originally scheduled. Also got to fly SAA J, which in my opinion is much better than LH J. So basically - they should look after you pretty well.

+ You would have got miles too? They normally rebook you into a paid fare class.

Summary
Beware - keep checking your existing bookings especially awards. Check them on Amadeus (or BA). Check them regularly. Do NOT rely on your BMI confirmation. Something different may have happened to your ticket instead.

Detail(in case anyone's interested)
Background for this advice to everyone who has an already ticketed booking is:-

I've had at least 4 occasions on at least 3 bookings in the past 6 weeks, when bookings were altered at ticketing, at re-ticketing, and even after they had been re-ticketed.

- Each booking became unusable through the error that was introduced into the booking by BMI or unknown other party. In every case if I had trusted the confirmation I already had from BMI I would have been in serious trouble if I had turned up at the airport or stranded halfway through the booking.

- Beware the errors that had crept in to my ticketed - and therefore apparently safe - bookings were never advised to me by BMI

- the only way I noticed the very serious errors that were now on my existing supposedly OK bookings, was when I wanted to re-check a small detail and found the error on Amadeus using classic checkmytrip. In all but 1 case the BMI confirmation did not indicate the error. ONLY AMADEUS showed the error on the actual ticket.

The four (4) errors were in addition to a further 2 or 3 other normal issues - not errors - that also came from rescheduling of flights that were booked. The 4 errors that came into existing ticketed bookings were:-

(1) flights were ticketed that were not those clearly discussed during the booking conversation. Including a new flight that was ticketed to depart before the previous flight was scheduled to land. And yet this incorrect itinerary that was not discussed, that plainly did not work, was still ticketed.

(2) a very old unwanted long-deleted segment in a completely different month reappeared back into the booking after it was re-ticketed for another reason. The segment had been gone for many months and through at least two earlier ticketings. It showed up in Amadeus as a new first segment - a flight that did not make any sense at all dated to be flown in November. So when I unknowingly went to the airport for the only flight that should have been on the booking in May, my reservation for the only flight I wanted would have already been deleted automatically when this first (unknown, unwanted) segment that had been brought back into the booking without my knowledge, was not flown in November. Result :I would arrive at an airport in Europe for a flight to South America and no ticket anymore. BMI said UA had amended the booking due to a computer problem and introduced this error not BMI.

(3) a connecting flight segment with a connection time of 10minutes in Charles de Gaulle airport was ticketed. A correct connecting flight 2 and a half hours later had been agreed and confirmed instead. But Amadeus showed an earlier flight that was not discussed departing 10 mins after the earlier flight landed. When I went back to report the error, BMI said it was no longer possible for them to book the original correct flight. Result : I have to spend an extra day of my holiday in Copenhagen, which I have no desire to visit, rather than Leningrad because having made this error BMI could not correct it and could only offer a flight the following day now.

(4)outward and return legs were booked in one conversation with the same agent. They were kept as separate bookings for flexibility but made clear to the agent it was outward and return matching flight. No confirmation was sent for the second flight. When checking it on Amadeus, the outgoing first flight on the return had been booked on the wrong date 2 months earlier than the outward flight. The second flight on the return was booked on the correct date though. So apart from the date of the first flight on the return being incorrect it gave an apparent 2 month stopover in Europe on the return, on an all-Europe booking. Yet this was still ticketed and I only found out when checking Amadeus.

I didn't want to appear mean. So I had not been reporting any of these on flyertalk as I picked them up one by one. But after sorting out the 4th of these errors today spending lots of time phoning BMI to correct their errors, I'm posting to try to help fellow FT'ers know : even your existing ticketed bookings are only safe as long as you keep checking them!! :rolleyes:

I've just received an updated Cmt from bmi - my diamond club booking on*A LH LHR-FRA-lax has had a schedule change. Before it was bad enoght with a just doable 75 minute connection at FRA but this has been cut to an hour - the LHR -FRA arrives at 09.00 and the FRA-lax segment departs at 10.00. Although this is a 'valid' connection is it realistically achievable and what choices do I have given I can't change the tickets . Can I get myself to FRA the night before and just use the fra-lax portion of the ticket or is this not allowed?

Depending on what you really want to do you could have a look at alternate routes to get you there. For example I think FRA-SEA departs a bit later, so a day there and a UA connection down to LAX could be worth proposing if you misconnect and want to see more.

However this is a diamond club award and as such no longer changeable as is *A

My flights from/to lhr-atq are showing as cancelled on CMT. Just had an email from ICC that there have been changes to the bookings and I should contact them.

Before I do so, I wanted to know what my options are?

I assume I could insist on a reroute citing EC261/2004, article 8 and article 5. I know it is more than 14 days notice so no compensation, but my right for re-route still stands.

BA do not fly to ATQ and only AI or 9W do (via DEL), which are both BD partners, I assume I could ask for a re-route on those airlines. not that it matters even if they were not partners as per the EC261/2004 directive.

Alternatively I could ask them to just book me on BA from LHR-DEL or use a combination of ANY airlins to get to ATQ.

Is talking to ICC the best way or ring Donnington Castle?

My flights from/to lhr-atq are showing as cancelled on CMT. Just had an email from ICC that there have been changes to the bookings and I should contact them.

Before I do so, I wanted to know what my options are?

I assume I could insist on a reroute citing EC261/2004, article 8 and article 5. I know it is more than 14 days notice so no compensation, but my right for re-route still stands.

BA do not fly to ATQ and only AI or 9W do (via DEL), which are both BD partners, I assume I could ask for a re-route on those airlines. not that it matters even if they were not partners as per the EC261/2004 directive.

Alternatively I could ask them to just book me on BA from LHR-DEL or use a combination of ANY airlins to get to ATQ.

Is talking to ICC the best way or ring Donnington Castle?

I don't think they will help. You will have to cancel and rebook on BA for the additional miles.

I don't think they will help. You will have to cancel and rebook on BA for the additional miles.

But surely EC261/2004 comes to my rescue regarding re-routing?
It seems to clearly mention:
".......If a flight is cancelled, passengers are automatically entitled to their choice of (a.) re-routing to the same destination at the earliest opportunity (under comparable conditions); (b.) later rerouting, at the passenger's convenience, to the same destination under comparable conditions (subject to seat availability); or (c.) a refund of the ticket as well as a return flight to the point of first departure, when relevant. Any ticket refund is the price paid for the flight(s) not used, plus the cost of flights already flown in cases where the cancellation has made those flights of no purpose. Where applicable, passengers are also entitled to refreshments, communication and accommodation as described below. Where re-routing is to another airport serving the same destination, the airline must pay for onward transport to the original airport or to a close-by destination agreed with the passenger. These choices, and the entitlement to refreshments, etc., apply to all cancellations, regardless of whether the circumstances are extraordinary or not......"

But surely EC261/2004 comes to my rescue regarding re-routing?
It seems to clearly mention:
".......If a flight is cancelled, passengers are automatically entitled to their choice of (a.) re-routing to the same destination at the earliest opportunity (under comparable conditions); (b.) later rerouting, at the passenger's convenience, to the same destination under comparable conditions (subject to seat availability); or (c.) a refund of the ticket as well as a return flight to the point of first departure, when relevant. Any ticket refund is the price paid for the flight(s) not used, plus the cost of flights already flown in cases where the cancellation has made those flights of no purpose. Where applicable, passengers are also entitled to refreshments, communication and accommodation as described below. Where re-routing is to another airport serving the same destination, the airline must pay for onward transport to the original airport or to a close-by destination agreed with the passenger. These choices, and the entitlement to refreshments, etc., apply to all cancellations, regardless of whether the circumstances are extraordinary or not......"

Give it a shot. Others here have not been given any help so far when schedule changes have mean they can't make their flights.

However this is a diamond club award and as such no longer changeable as is *A

It is changeable once under airport control and for the recovery of irrops.

Depending on how much hassle they are facing they can be more than happy to sort out someone by putting them on a different route that keeps a space on the 'obvious' route for those unwilling to take a detour.

BTW, I think you should be able to make the connection as long as the first segment is on time. I once had an 80 minute connection on LHR-FRA-SEA that was cut to 55 due to a late inbound. Easily got to the TATL on time. And that was my first trip through FRA so I wasn't at all familiar with the layout.

Another data point:

I had FRA-IAD (LH) *1 night* IAD-SAN (UA)

LH changed my flight to the following day, meaning i would miss my UA sector.

So:
1) I phoned BD, who said they could do nothing, couldn't see inventory etc.
2) Then i phoned LH who said they knew it was their fault but couldn't change a ticket issued by another carrier (BD on UA) (despite me explaining they wouldn't have to "ticket" it, they just had to "arrange" it for BD to ticket...)
3) I phoned UA who had no trouble at all, sorted it straight away, ready to be ticketed.
4) Phoned BD back and got them to ticket it.


My holiday is a day shorter :( But i get to go on the 747-8I :D

But surely EC261/2004 comes to my rescue regarding re-routing?The rerouting obligation clearly applies. The issue is the extent to which, if at all, this includes rerouting on another airline. I would certainly push for it, hard if need be, if I were in your shoes.

The rerouting obligation clearly applies. The issue is the extent to which, if at all, this includes rerouting on another airline. I would certainly push for it, hard if need be, if I were in your shoes.

I would give the above a shot. Let us know how it went.

Summary
Beware - keep checking your existing bookings especially awards. Check them on Amadeus (or BA). Check them regularly. Do NOT rely on your BMI confirmation. Something different may have happened to your ticket instead.
If you have an iPhone or iPad you can get an app called My Flights that automatically checks your bookings on Amadeus and sends you a message if there are any changes e.g. flight cancellations, schedule changes, eticket being (re)issued. I've been using this for a couple of months and it's notified me of several changes to bmi / BA award reservations - some minor such as a 5 minute schedule change, others major such as flight cancellations or schedule changes resulting in impossible connections.

Thanks Alvador. I'll look to see if there is an Android version of that app.

Thanks Alvador. I'll look to see if there is an Android version of that app.

I've looked. Let me know if you find ought.

Thanks Alvador. I'll look to see if there is an Android version of that app.I can't find an equivalent one. I emailed the author and he's not ruled out an Android version, but has nothing planned at present. I've put the free version on my ipod, must admit it looks very nice!

I can't find an equivalent one. I emailed the author and he's not ruled out an Android version, but has nothing planned at present. I've put the free version on my ipod, must admit it looks very nice!Thanks for telling us how nice it looks on your ipod. Salt into the wound of it not being available on Android! :-)

Thanks for telling us how nice it looks on your ipod. Salt into the wound of it not being available on Android! :-) Apart from the ipod all my devices are Android so believe me I feel your pain!

The rerouting obligation clearly applies. The issue is the extent to which, if at all, this includes rerouting on another airline. I would certainly push for it, hard if need be, if I were in your shoes.

I do not thnk the rerouting has to be on the same airline.I just need to be rerouted that is it (as per law). I appreciate BD (and any other airline) might be loathe to do that but will definitely ask for it.

I would give the above a shot. Let us know how it went.

Called ICC today. Told by the agent that they have not got rebooking policy instructions as of yet. I can get a full refund or if wanting to rebook, I need call back in a month! Told him I am flying in next 3 weeks! Have been advised a supervisor will call me back.

Will update the post accordingly.

Another data point:

I had FRA-IAD (LH) *1 night* IAD-SAN (UA)

LH changed my flight to the following day, meaning i would miss my UA sector.

So:
1) I phoned BD, who said they could do nothing, couldn't see inventory etc.
2) Then i phoned LH who said they knew it was their fault but couldn't change a ticket issued by another carrier (BD on UA) (despite me explaining they wouldn't have to "ticket" it, they just had to "arrange" it for BD to ticket...)
3) I phoned UA who had no trouble at all, sorted it straight away, ready to be ticketed.
4) Phoned BD back and got them to ticket it.


My holiday is a day shorter :( But i get to go on the 747-8I :D

I had the same problems
booking on SK/LH/LX/TG/TG
SK caused a problem, found out trying to check in on 2nd segment which was LH. LH refused any help ! Them said tix issued by BD, them even not made a reservation ( in available I class ), so that BD could reissue it in time.
Missed flights and had to look for someone who was willing/able to book new I class for us in that booking.
But also BD staff only lying, from :
We can not see availability
we can not reissue
we can not reissue you on LX/LH
in the end them reissued, but still cancelled one TG segment, which I had to buy.
All in all very unprofessional, already be with my advocat to claim back my extra costs.
I will report the whole case as soon it's closed by court.
But having still more than 20 open staraliance bookings I really worry, what will happen with future changes ( specially in holiday season ).

already be with my advocat to claim back my extra costs.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDaWYuTiBIhmXR9b_qSXlev3-vJ2lnCwtvawCypUtg6w_fsuKNKfj1a7A7

I do not thnk the rerouting has to be on the same airline.We can "think" whatever we like but that does not get us very far. The issue is that there is no authoritative caselaw on this point, although there are, I believe, some low level (i.e. small claims/county court level) cases that seem to have favoured a pro-passenger interpretation of the relevant provision.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDaWYuTiBIhmXR9b_qSXlev3-vJ2lnCwtvawCypUtg6w_fsuKNKfj1a7A7

More of a Tiger beer in court I hope.

You have to work with the operating carrier causing the misconnect or other issue and then have BD re-issue the ticket. I called UA in a similar situation and after speaking with a supervisor the agent agreed he could change the PNR (not the ticket) if I class was available. They then proceeded to change the PNR and I called BD and they were able to re-issue the ticket.

I have an F-class award booking in November from Bangkok to Los Angeles booked using my BD miles.

United retimed its departure out of Hong Kong so the earliest flight out of Bangkok on which I was booked no longer legally connects. The return will have to be rerouted as a result.

BD has sent me an e-mail asking me to contact them about the booking.

I'm trying to sort out my options before I call tomorrow. I note that BD announced:

Can I change my award flight booking after 31 May 2012?

The last time that you will be able to make a change to an award flight booking for travel on a Star Alliance airline is 31 May 2012.

If you need to make a change to an award flight booking after 31 May 2012 the booking would need to be cancelled because no changes can be made after this date.

Does this apply when the change is involuntary due to a schedule change by one of the airlines (as I suspect)?

Do I have any options others than cancellation?

Can BD instead place me on Cathay on the return?

The airline that has made the schedule change will have options for rerouting to fix, once they make the change then they will likely require BD to reissue the ticket. I doubt UA will rebook pax on Cathay they are more likely to move your BKK-HKG earlier or HKG-onwards flight(s) later or changing the routing

I called UA because it was their schedule change that created the issue.

UA told me it was not their record, they can't (won't) change it, and to call BD.

I called UA because it was their schedule change that created the issue.

UA told me it was not their record, they can't (won't) change it, and to call BD.
If you look at post 190 a few above you will see what UA have done for another passenger...you may need a supervisor to sort it.

Thanks. I'll call back and try again.

United cancels my NRT-TPE, first class as their NRT-TPE is no more. BMI phoned me offering to re-book on Air China, in C.

Me: OK, what is the connection?
Agent: let me see...I am sorry sir, this connection is no longer available...
Me: OK, what connection is available?
Agent: I am so sorry sir, but there are no connections and we cannot make any star alliance bookings.
Me: But you have phoned me to offer an air china connection...
Agent: I am very sorry sir....you can cancel, we will waive the cancellation charge or you can arrange your own transportation as this is your last sector.
Me: no, I have a contract with you and I need to get from A to B as agreed when purchasing the ticket.
Agent: I am so sorry sir...

I phoned United an a very helpful agent rebooks me on direct ANA flight, downgrade from F to C and advises to contact BMI to get the ticket reissued. I can see the new sector on my UNITED reference (which is different from the BMI/Amadeus one).

Me: United re-booked me, could you re-issue the ticket
BMI agent: I am sorry sir but I cannot see it on our systems
Me: I can give you United reference or ANA reference
BMI agent: you need to phone United again and ask them to amend OUR booking

I phone United and they advise that BMI need to 'passive confirm' it - i.e. enter it manually and re-issue the ticket

Another call to BMI and utter incompetency again

Another call to United: on and off hold for 1 hour 13 minutes interrupted by a helpful United agent reporting that THEY have been on hold for 10 minutes waiting for someone from BMI to pick up, then she said they were taking to their supervisor, then to someone from BA (!) as 'they do not have a clue at BMI' etc etc....finally, the sector is 'passively entered' and it took 48 hours and 2 telephone calls for the BMI to reissue...an an apology from the United's agent - not the BMI one...

United cancels my NRT-TPE, first class as their NRT-TPE is no more. BMI phoned me offering to re-book on Air China, in C.

Me: OK, what is the connection?
Agent: let me see...I am sorry sir, this connection is no longer available...
Me: OK, what connection is available?
Agent: I am so sorry sir, but there are no connections and we cannot make any star alliance bookings.
Me: But you have phoned me to offer an air china connection...
Agent: I am very sorry sir....you can cancel, we will waive the cancellation charge or you can arrange your own transportation as this is your last sector.
Me: no, I have a contract with you and I need to get from A to B as agreed when purchasing the ticket.
Agent: I am so sorry sir...

I phoned United an a very helpful agent rebooks me on direct ANA flight, downgrade from F to C and advises to contact BMI to get the ticket reissued. I can see the new sector on my UNITED reference (which is different from the BMI/Amadeus one).

Me: United re-booked me, could you re-issue the ticket
BMI agent: I am sorry sir but I cannot see it on our systems
Me: I can give you United reference or ANA reference
BMI agent: you need to phone United again and ask them to amend OUR booking

I phone United and they advise that BMI need to 'passive confirm' it - i.e. enter it manually and re-issue the ticket

Another call to BMI and utter incompetency again

Another call to United: on and off hold for 1 hour 13 minutes interrupted by a helpful United agent reporting that THEY have been on hold for 10 minutes waiting for someone from BMI to pick up, then she said they were taking to their supervisor, then to someone from BA (!) as 'they do not have a clue at BMI' etc etc....finally, the sector is 'passively entered' and it took 48 hours and 2 telephone calls for the BMI to reissue...an an apology from the United's agent - not the BMI one...

:confused: Once UA made the change to my booking it was visible in amadeus. Did you check? If the amadeus PNR is showing the ANA sgement then BMI should be able to re-issue the ticket. If the segment does not show on amadeus then it's a differnt story.

:confused: Once UA made the change to my booking it was visible in amadeus. Did you check? If the amadeus PNR is showing the ANA sgement then BMI should be able to re-issue the ticket. If the segment does not show on amadeus then it's a differnt story.

The sector did show on the United's website when entering the United reference and also on ANA when entering their reference but not on checkmytrip or Amadeus Asia or, according to bmi agents, on bmi systems, so it is apparently different from what happened to your booking- which does not surprise me knowing bmi.

For anyone in a similar situation: the key word is 'passive confirm' and patience in allowing United to deal with bmi agents' incompetency

I called UA because it was their schedule change that created the issue.

UA told me it was not their record, they can't (won't) change it, and to call BD.

My experience (posted a few pages back) was to get the operating carrier to agree a routing in theory, then ask BD to call them directly to sort it out amongst themselves.

United cancels my NRT-TPE, first class as their NRT-TPE is no more. BMI phoned me offering to re-book on Air China, in C.

Me: OK, what is the connection?
Agent: let me see...I am sorry sir, this connection is no longer available...
Me: OK, what connection is available?
Agent: I am so sorry sir, but there are no connections and we cannot make any star alliance bookings.genius. Sounds like they haven't lost their touch.
Another call to United: on and off hold for 1 hour 13 minutes interrupted by a helpful United agent reporting that THEY have been on hold for 10 minutes waiting for someone from BMI to pick upThat's BMI time!

Similar story here. United changed last leg leaving a 35 min connection time in EWR. No call from BMI, I noticed it when checking booking on UA website.
Called UA and asked for option and they suggested I called BMI, when I explained situation with BMI the guy went off and figured out reroute. He then said he'd added the new flights and that BMI should now see them and needed to reissue ticket.
Then called BMI and struggled to get them to understand what had happened and what they had to do. I finally got message through after 3 attempts. I am now patiently waiting and checking changes to confirm at UA end, but they are already showing in CMT.

Similar story here. United changed last leg leaving a 35 min connection time in EWR. No call from BMI, I noticed it when checking booking on UA website.
Called UA and asked for option and they suggested I called BMI, when I explained situation with BMI the guy went off and figured out reroute. He then said he'd added the new flights and that BMI should now see them and needed to reissue ticket.
Then called BMI and struggled to get them to understand what had happened and what they had to do. I finally got message through after 3 attempts. I am now patiently waiting and checking changes to confirm at UA end, but they are already showing in CMT.

this is how it should work ^ As long as you have I inventory available UA should be able to work the issue.

I am now at three calls to UA with the agent and the supervisor (supervisor on the last two calls) telling me it is BMI's problem and they won't touch the record.

All seems to have gone through ok, with UA system and CMT both showing confirmed and ticketed.
Just need to keep an eye open for any other changes.

Has anyone tried to get the date on an award ticket completely changed
(through an airline whose metal will do the flying) and then get the ticket passively reissued through BMI?

I know that rules say no, but that does not mean that people won't have tried to do it.

Voluntary changes: Forget it! No carrier will accept to deal with awards on BMI stock. You will be asked to contact BMI.

Involuntary changes due to schedule change/cancellation etc.: Yes, the carrier at fault may accept to rebook you and ask you to contact BMI for reissue of the ticket. This has been covered in a different thread in this forum.

This has been covered in a different thread in this forum.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club/1353370-schedule-changes-star-alliance-awards-after-may-2012-a.html

After five calls to United and getting no one who was willing to touch the BMI record (and keep in mind that I am a 1K-Million Miler), I finally broke down and called BMI.

Imagine my surprise when they told me they only wanted to speak to me about an irrelevant 5-minute schedule change on a connecting domestic flight.

There was no mention of the illegal 45-minute connection at HKG caused by UA retiming its flight and no way to connect same day.

Fine with me.

Has anyone tried to get the date on an award ticket completely changed
(through an airline whose metal will do the flying) and then get the ticket passively reissued through BMI?

I know that rules say no, but that does not mean that people won't have tried to do it.
I got the last sector changed from TG
was a oneway XXX-YYY-ZZZ-HKT-HKG
I showed up @ Phuket airport told them that BMI is no longer in staraliance and can not change anything anymore. A helpfull TG agent booked us 7 days earlyer, charged 1200 THB ( 23 GBP ) per ticket.
But never such luck on the phone !

I do not thnk the rerouting has to be on the same airline.I just need to be rerouted that is it (as per law). I appreciate BD (and any other airline) might be loathe to do that but will definitely ask for it.



Called ICC today. Told by the agent that they have not got rebooking policy instructions as of yet. I can get a full refund or if wanting to rebook, I need call back in a month! Told him I am flying in next 3 weeks! Have been advised a supervisor will call me back.

Will update the post accordingly.

Any update on this mahajanvikas?

I am playing the LH / Bmi ping pong at the moment. I had a FRA-LGW-CLT-NYC booking for Nov and the FRA-LGW svc has been cancelled. They automatically put me on the LHR service from FRA with a 1hour 25 mins connx to LGW. Knowing the M25 this just wont work! LH say its up to Bmi and Bmi say its LH! What a nightmare.

Will try again tomorrow with LH and see what happens.

I am playing the LH / Bmi ping pong at the moment. I had a FRA-LGW-CLT-NYC booking for Nov and the FRA-LGW svc has been cancelled. They automatically put me on the LHR service from FRA with a 1hour 25 mins connx to LGW. Knowing the M25 this just wont work! LH say its up to Bmi and Bmi say its LH! What a nightmare.

Will try again tomorrow with LH and see what happens.

how frustrating...having experienced the UA/BMI ping pong (see above) I wonder how much BA really cares beyond providing some IT-based status match/mile transfer solutions when it comes to actually dealing with real people as opposed to membership numbers and miles balance transfers...not much as it appears...

how frustrating...having experienced the UA/BMI ping pong (see above) I wonder how much BA really cares beyond providing some IT-based status match/mile transfer solutions when it comes to actually dealing with real people as opposed to membership numbers and miles balance transfers...not much as it appears...

It really is very poor customer service by BA/BD. Winter schedule changes now must be affecting many many bookings now and the story so far seems to be that BA/BMI do not seem to know what to do other than cancel, or is this deliberate? Surely they should have established a procedure for them to contact the operating carrier and request a viable alternative to such as a misconnect rather than leaving us to ask the carrier to make a change then BA/BD to reticket.

Perhaps Nicci might look into this problem?

how frustrating...having experienced the UA/BMI ping pong (see above) I wonder how much BA really cares beyond providing some IT-based status match/mile transfer solutions when it comes to actually dealing with real people as opposed to membership numbers and miles balance transfers...not much as it appears...surely that's exactly the point? BA don't have access to *A flights, therefore unless the operating carrier provides the flights (which they aren't 't obliged to do) & BA re-validates the ticket, then BA's preference is clearly for passengers to cancel, refund & rebook using BA/OW/partner redemption availability.

surely that's exactly the point? BA don't have access to *A flights, therefore unless the operating carrier provides the flights (which they aren't 't obliged to do) & BA re-validates the ticket, then BA's preference is clearly for passengers to cancel, refund & rebook using BA/OW/partner redemption availability.

I am not really sure whether they [BA/BMI] are or aren't legally obliged to re-accommodate/rebook in case of schedule changes/involuntary re-route as I do not know what rules apply - I would have been quite happy to test this in the court had my flight been cancelled and I had to cover the cancelled sector out of my pocket. My point it that no procedures were put in place to even deal with situations where the operating carrier IS willing to help [read my post above] - the 'false consciousness' of the BA's customer [do not really] care

It really is very poor customer service by BA/BD. Winter schedule changes now must be affecting many many bookings now and the story so far seems to be that BA/BMI do not seem to know what to do other than cancel, or is this deliberate? Surely they should have established a procedure for them to contact the operating carrier and request a viable alternative to such as a misconnect rather than leaving us to ask the carrier to make a change then BA/BD to reticket.

Perhaps Nicci might look into this problem?It's stronger than that. BMI call centre actually pushes you to cancel. This was always the first and strongest alternative offered when BMI made mistakes on 3 of my bookings, and also on schedule changes. I definitely suffered and got substandard results on at least one of my bookings simply because no one is taking care of this. And it's not fair that someone has to lose their booking just because of involuntary schedule changes that can be accommodated but that is what's happening.

I am not really sure whether they are or aren't legally obliged to re-accommodate/rebook in case of schedule changes/involuntary re-route as I do not know what rules apply - I would have been quite happy to test this in the court had my flight been cancelled and I had to cover the cancelled sector out of my pocket.[B] My point it that no procedures were put in place to even deal with situations where the operating carrier IS willing to help [read my post above] - the 'false consciousness' of the BA's customer [do not really] care+ 1 ^ Quite.

Received call from ICC today
- Sir your MSY to ORD flight is rescheduled and is 30 minutes later than original flight and Oh by the way the connection time in ORD is now 35 minutes and a minimum connection time of 45 minutes is required.
Yes - what are you going to do to resolve - I (v.politely ) enquired.
Upshot after 5 minutes of meaningless waffle was that BD (he) would do nothing.
Checked the boards and saw that some people had been successful in resolving such issues by contacting UA directly.
Called UA after a 3 minute wait for an agent, Theresa answered, she saw was BD award and was also aware of the BD exit from *A.
She looked at all routings including via DCA/IAH and then rebooked on the later ORD - LHR flight in O (3 hour layover in ORD) - in all < 10 minutes -
Just need to check CMT and nudge BD for necessary changes
^

Received call from ICC today
- Sir your MSY to ORD flight is rescheduled and is 30 minutes later than original flight and Oh by the way the connection time in ORD is now 35 minutes and a minimum connection time of 45 minutes is required.
Yes - what are you going to do to resolve - I (v.politely ) enquired.
Upshot after 5 minutes of meaningless waffle was that BD (he) would do nothing.
Checked the boards and saw that some people had been successful in resolving such issues by contacting UA directly.
Called UA after a 3 minute wait for an agent, Theresa answered, she saw was BD award and was also aware of the BD exit from *A.
She looked at all routings including via DCA/IAH and then rebooked on the later ORD - LHR flight in O (3 hour layover in ORD) - in all < 10 minutes -
Just need to check CMT and nudge BD for necessary changes
^
hi: all sounds familiar - my advice would be to phone BMI and to double-check they 'see' the UA-effected change - otherwise, they [the ICC] will not be able to re-issue the ticket...if they do not 'see' it - see my post above about 'passive confirm' technique - again, UA should be your best friend! :-)

I had a schedule change on United that makes a very long layover early in the morning. There is another flight that leaves around my original departure time on UA that does have award space.

Am I asking for trouble having UA change to the later flight, and then calling BMI to reissue the ticket? I don't want to have them accidentally cancel the whole ticket or anything.

'Diamond Club' phoned to say schedule change had taken place which now leaves 25 mins between flights.

DC tell me they cannot change to a different flight to lengthen connection time and all I can do is cancel the ticket.

Now, I know that is rubbish. (isn't it?)

Turkish are being totally unhelpful and say I need to speak to DC as it is a 236 stock ticket. DC say they now cannot change flights because no longer *A member.

Any ideas what I should do?

thanks, Gordie

Threads merged.

Any ideas what I should do?


There a few case studies and successes discussed above, but none so far with TK.

/mod

Got an alert on mytrips saying my upcoming SFO-ORD-MCO flight had changed. It appears the flight number SFO-ORD had changed but the timings were the same. Anyway, CMT showing 'unable, does not operate' for the original flight number and 'confirmed, timechange' for the new flight number.

The e-ticket only showed ORD-MCO though so I thought I would phone up BD and ask. So they looked at it, removed the old sector and that was that.

I noticed the eticket was still wrong but next day I got another alert confirming the eticket had been reissued and now showing the full journey so that was painless.

hi: all sounds familiar - my advice would be to phone BMI and to double-check they 'see' the UA-effected change - otherwise, they [the ICC] will not be able to re-issue the ticket...if they do not 'see' it - see my post above about 'passive confirm' technique - again, UA should be your best friend! :-)

I called BD Travel support around 2100 cet (I was in NL and partaking of a few aperitifs < dinner) explained my request and asked them to re-issue ticket they , rightly, said as an award ticket they would xfer me to the DCC.
After a wait of no more than 3 minutes got thru to the 'gold ' line (is now > 2000 BST) and a very helpful agent who said would re issue ticket and send confirmation e mail within 2 hours.
When I did check my e mails was in fact sent within 15 minutes - CMT now shows my revised booking and ticket

So ^ ^to UA and ^ BD

I had a schedule change on TK. Leaving me 7h 30min in IST.

I phoned TK and asked them what can be done about it. They advised me that BMI diamond club needs to phone TK and between them they will sort it out.

I phoned Bmi and advised the agent what TK told me.
With no argument the agent said ok I will phone TK.
My jaw just dropped and was a bit speechless.
I was prepared for a fight.

After hour he called back and he managed to change my booking via with TK's help.

'Diamond Club' phoned to say schedule change had taken place which now leaves 25 mins between flights.

DC tell me they cannot change to a different flight to lengthen connection time and all I can do is cancel the ticket.

Now, I know that is rubbish. (isn't it?)

Turkish are being totally unhelpful and say I need to speak to DC as it is a 236 stock ticket. DC say they now cannot change flights because no longer *A member.

Any ideas what I should do?

thanks, Gordie

Well, a bit of good news. Spoke to pre-travel support and they sorted it for me within an hour, changed flights and reissued 236 stock tickets - absolutely fantastic service which has solved a problem that TK were not even interested in.

I have lhr-lax-las and las-lax-lhr booked on UA. UA downgraded lax-las to Y and changed the connection time from 2 hours to 9 hours.

BMI called to tell me that this and another timing change in the itinery. I accepted the change and requested that the lax-las is dropped from the itinery since I will drive instead. Ticket got reissued but that lax-las leg remains.

Timings were changed yet again, and exactly the same as above has happened again even though they accepted to remove lax-las again.

My question is do I have to fight to get lax-las removed or can I just not fly it and the return las-lax-lhr will still be valid?

My question is do I have to fight to get lax-las removed or can I just not fly it and the return las-lax-lhr will still be valid?

Generally, a missed segment results in auto-cancellation of all subsequent segments. I would get it removed.

I have lhr-lax-las and las-lax-lhr booked on UA. UA downgraded lax-las to Y and changed the connection time from 2 hours to 9 hours.

[SNIP/]

My question is do I have to fight to get lax-las removed or can I just not fly it and the return las-lax-lhr will still be valid?

On a random day UA have 5 direct flights from LAX to LAS. Can they not get you onto anything earlier?

If necessary I'd get the segment you may not fly removed, although you would probably be able to go standy after arrival at LAX if it was still on there and maybe get on your way sooner. Not sure if the agents at LAX would be able to delete that segment for you while retaining the rest of the itinerary.

Suggestions please,
Checked MMB on flybmi today for our upcoming award flights to MIA from MAN via DUS in November. Noticed that the Saturday flight to DUS had been changed from 8.15 am to 9.35 am arriving in DUS at 12.00. This allows 15 minutes between flights.
Called bmi who said I had to contact Lufthansa. Lufthansa would not help and told me to contact bmi. Rang bmi again. They agreed to contact Lufthansa and ring me back. Lufthansa refused to offer alternative flights. I was offered the cancellation of booking or rebooking on Virgin (not enough miles in my account)
Any suggestions as to what to do next?

I was actually contacted by bmi (via e-mail) last week regarding what turned out to be a minor departure time change on one of my VS flights in November. They asked me to call; instead I looked up my reservation on CMT classic, copied the info into an e-mail, and replied that I accepted the departure change time as noted. The next day CMT showed all had been dealt with (no more "confirmed, time change" notification).

Definitely the easiest ICC interaction I have ever had!

Suggestions please,
...Saturday flight to DUS had been changed from 8.15 am to 9.35 am arriving in DUS at 12.00. This allows 15 minutes between flights.

Any suggestions as to what to do next?

Looking at ITA all the LH MAN-XXX-MIA routes now need a long layover in a DE airport. Best option I can see is to go on the Friday night LH3435@19h55 MAN-DUS, then pick up the flight you are already on. I expect you'll have to pay for the night at DUS yourself :(.

An alternative might be MAN-FRA-MIA on LH947@17h45+LH362@09h45. Still needs a hotel, but I'd prefer that as you could just about have a night in FRA.

Maybe asking a specifcally for these options will make it simple enough for someone to help, rather than say that they can't?

EDIT: Or drop that initial segment and get yourself to DUS some other way? I think the ICC should still be able to do that. Well, just as easily as they could before :eek:.

Or drop that initial segment and get yourself to DUS some other way? I think the ICC should still be able to do that. Well, just as easily as they could before :eek:.

...and try to reclaim unused APD that you have already paid to cover some of the cost!

Checked MMB on flybmi today for our upcoming award flights to MIA from MAN via DUS in November. Noticed that the Saturday flight to DUS had been changed from 8.15 am to 9.35 am arriving in DUS at 12.00. This allows 15 minutes between flights.
Called bmi who said I had to contact Lufthansa. Lufthansa would not help and told me to contact bmi. Rang bmi again. They agreed to contact Lufthansa and ring me back. Lufthansa refused to offer alternative flights. I was offered the cancellation of booking or rebooking on Virgin (not enough miles in my account)
Any suggestions as to what to do next?

BMI can't help you; LH needs to solve this. If LH refuses to co-operate, I would play it the hard way. Wait for LH/DC to contact you with alternative flights later (when LH realises that you will mis-connect at DUS, I am sure LH will try to solve this) or simply turn up at MAN on the date of dept and take it from there; the agents at MAN or DUS will have to solve it and rebook you (not neccessarily on LH flights and most likely in revenue class). There is also the chance that you may actually make the connection at DUS (DUS is a small airport) if you have carry-on luggage only.

Different observation on my end. I have 3 more award tix to fly that are either on SQ or on SQ & UA combo. All with eTickets issued well before last days of BD redemptions. They all used to show just fine on CMT until now and the UA schedule changes had been dealt with before May 15.

First one is a simple SIN-CGK SQ C award and the reservation shows fine but the eTicket is gone now. Second one is C award CGK-SIN(SQ)-LAX(SQ)-ORD(UA) and reservation is fine, but eTicket only shows UA sector for LAX-ORD. Last one is C award ORD-SFO(UA)-Surface-LAS-LAX(UA)-SIN(SQ) which is completely okay for now both reservation and eTicket.

Not wanting to take a chance I called SQ and asked them to confirm that all my SQ sectors are ok and ticketed. They emailed me the issued eTickets that they have in their system (I just want to be safe) and all seems fine, but a scary moment for sure.

LH have changed my connection time at FRA to be 50 minutes. I will be connecting from MEX to DUB.

Is this connection legal? I am nearly sure MCT is 60 mins when connecting to/from intercontinental flights. The ticket is still issued and all segments are showing as 'confirmed' when I log into checkmytrip. If I miss the connecting flight, will LH still put me on the next flight to DUB, despite a potential illegl connection? Could I face problems at MEX when checking in?

The long wait if I miss my connection doesn't bother me, what bothers me is the idea that I might have to pay for another ticket from FRA to DUB if I miss my original flight, or that I would be refused boarding in MEX due to some issue with my ticket.

All flights are on one award ticket in C booked with bmi miles, therefore on bmi stock.

Any advice would be great!

Just had a nightmare 30 mins on the phone with ICC - LH - ICC - LH (mile and more Italy) - ICC trying to get an award booking changed due to illegal MCT at FRA.

ICC finally agreed that they would sort this out directly with LH, but it may take 'up to a week'.

I am now terrified that they will cancel my reservation instead of rebooking!

She said to call back in a week for an update, or if anything happens before then, they will contact me.

The MCT for FRA International > International is 45 mins.

And if you miss it, assuming you are on one ticket, you will be rebooked FOC.

...the reservation shows fine but the eTicket is gone now. Second one...

While watching for potential problems with our recent multi-carrier trip I found that various segments or other info did/didn't show in various places.

By having the CMT and airline locators (from classicCMT I think) I was always able to find them all on the various sites, but not necessarily as a full itinerary in any one place :confused::eek:.

All went well in the end ^.

Suggestions please,
Checked MMB on flybmi today for our upcoming award flights to MIA from MAN via DUS in November. Noticed that the Saturday flight to DUS had been changed from 8.15 am to 9.35 am arriving in DUS at 12.00. This allows 15 minutes between flights.
Called bmi who said I had to contact Lufthansa. Lufthansa would not help and told me to contact bmi. Rang bmi again. They agreed to contact Lufthansa and ring me back. Lufthansa refused to offer alternative flights. I was offered the cancellation of booking or rebooking on Virgin (not enough miles in my account)
Any suggestions as to what to do next?Outrageous.
Surely JohnJBell should not be forced effectively into a cancellation through no fault of his own?

Have BMI finally received training or an instruction set so that involuntary schedule changes can be reacted to in the normal fair way- i.e. a change within reason to adapt to involuntary schedule change - on bmi-ticketed *A award bookings?

Can anyone advise?

Thai are stopping the BKK-USM route on the 16th Jan 2013. I was booked (reward flights) for the 16th, managed to get Rafiq (ICC) to change me to the 15th flight I also have a USM-BKK booked for the 4th Feb I will try Thai I think they still do a codeshare with Bangkok Airways though not sure they would be happy to switch me from award flight.

No codeshare available. I will have to book with Bangkok Airways as they now have the monopoly, shame no OW flights

airlineroute.net reports further changes in the Thai W12/13 timetable (http://airlineroute.net/2012/09/04/tg-w12update5/) announced yesterday late afternoon UK time. Amongst the changes is that the daily TG 747 from BKK to FRA goes down to 5 weekly. The daily TG A380 continues daily, as planned.

At about the same time as this post was made, I got a voicemail from bmi informing me of a change to an award booking.

I checked online, and they had already moved me to the later A380 flight, which had no award availability in First when I originally made the booking. And I had really wanted to try out First Class on the brand new A380. Rang this morning to OK the change.

Very impressed with the way my change was handled!

EDIT: The only thing is that I now don't have a seat assignment for the "new" flight. I had some trouble originally getting seat assignments, but eventually I was able to get the Lufthansa website to play ball and allow me to choose seats. The LH site now, of course, spits its dummy out whenever any bmi-made bookings are entered. LOT also won't play.

Has anyone recently found a way of assigning seats on TG (their own website neglects to give me that option?) online? I know it can probably be done by ringing TG but if there's an online way I'd like to know. Ta!

Hi there - I hope this won't be so off-topic as to not be relevant to the thread, but apologies if so. I'm a holder of a *A award booking ticketed by BD. A schedule change has caused me a bit of nervousness around vacation plans. I'll skip the drama associated with working with BD/UA to get it repaired and state my question:

My itinerary is EWR-ZRH-CPH. What I would like to do is book my own ZRH-CPH outside of the award booking. My question is around bags. When I check my bags in, can I show them the ticket for "MY" ZRH-CPH reservation and have them sent on that flight instead of the original flight? In other words, I'd "skip" the ZRH-CPH that's on the itinerary and will probably show up at the ticket agent's computer, and take the flight I booked on my own.. hopefully with my luggage. I hope this question makes sense, and I'd appreciate any help!

Thanks!

Hi there - I hope this won't be so off-topic as to not be relevant to the thread, but apologies if so. I'm a holder of a *A award booking ticketed by BD. A schedule change has caused me a bit of nervousness around vacation plans. I'll skip the drama associated with working with BD/UA to get it repaired and state my question:

My itinerary is EWR-ZRH-CPH. What I would like to do is book my own ZRH-CPH outside of the award booking. My question is around bags. When I check my bags in, can I show them the ticket for "MY" ZRH-CPH reservation and have them sent on that flight instead of the original flight? In other words, I'd "skip" the ZRH-CPH that's on the itinerary and will probably show up at the ticket agent's computer, and take the flight I booked on my own.. hopefully with my luggage. I hope this question makes sense, and I'd appreciate any help!

Thanks!
Hmmmm technically if you don't take the routing part from ZRH to CPH on the first ticket, you'll be ending a ticket that should have ended in Zone 2 (CPH) in Zone 1 (ZRH) instead. But who's gonna care by then ?

I can think of lots of reasons why I might need access to my luggage at an intermediate stop. Why not just identify one and just ask for your luggage to only be through checked to Zurich when you check it at EWR?

My itinerary is EWR-ZRH-CPH. What I would like to do is book my own ZRH-CPH outside of the award booking

Can you not cancel just the ZRH-CPH segment? I'd have thought the schedule change would provide the option to do that.

Can you not cancel just the ZRH-CPH segment? I'd have thought the schedule change would provide the option to do that.

I tried. That's part of the debacle I left out. After 4.5 hours of total phone time between UA/BD, they broke me. So the path of least resistance for me is to spend the 25k extra miles, book a ZRH-CPH that'll work schedule-wise, and try to get the vacation started off right :)

Just not sure of the consequences to doing the scenario above.. and thanks to the posted who suggested having the luggage retrieved at the intermediate stop. Only issue I can see there is a 50min layover in ZRH - may not leave me enough time to claim and recheck, so I was hoping to check through...

Thanks!

With 50 min transfer at ZRH, collecting your bags and re-check-in at ZRH will not work. Too little time!

You do realise that buying a separate ticket with only 50 min connection time, involves a huge risk that you may miss your ZRH-CPH flight if the EWR-ZRH flight is delayed? No one will help you in this situation and you will have to rebook on your own or buy a new ticket.

I doubt you will be able convince the check-in agent to tag your bags on a different ZRH-CPH flight that what she/he can see on her screen. This is likely to be a violation of the rule that pax and bags must be on the same flight.

I don't see any solutions unless you travel with hand luggage only. Did you consider flying as originally scheduled?

With 50 min transfer at ZRH, collecting your bags and re-check-in at ZRH will not work. Too little time!

You do realise that buying a separate ticket with only 50 min connection time, involves a huge risk that you may miss your ZRH-CPH flight if the EWR-ZRH flight is delayed? No one will help you in this situation and you will have to rebook on your own or buy a new ticket.

I doubt you will be able convince the check-in agent to tag your bags on a different ZRH-CPH flight that what she/he can see on her screen. This is likely to be a violation of the rule that pax and bags must be on the same flight.

I don't see any solutions unless you travel with hand luggage only. Did you consider flying as originally scheduled?

Thanks very much for the insight and thoughts. So, your risk about EWR-ZRH being late and thus causing me to miss my self-purchased ZRH-CPH is very fair. It was for this reason that I had planned to keep the originally ticketed ZRH-CPH so that the most I would be out is the cost of the second one.

But, with your commentary around the agent not being likely to accommodate checking bags through on my separate itinerary, it looks like my plan has an unfixable flaw, and I'm stuck with the original flight. Here's for hoping the original ZRH-CPH is on time and bags are delivered promptly!

Sorry to have hijacked the thread to somewhere afield of it's intended purpose, but I definitely appreciate all of the help!

Are this the last segment of your award or is it part of a return ticket? If you plan to return from CPH back on the original award you should not do it. Skipping the ZRH-CPH on the award will cancel all the rest of the flights on that award.

You should not buy a second ticket, and you should not request your bags to be checked onto this "different" flight.

If you can make the flight as originally booked, well and good (but be aware that your bags might not make it over as fast as you do).

If you can't make the flight as originally booked, then you should be placed on the next flight anyway (so you didn't need to buy that "second" flight at all).

I know you want a clean, hassle-free transfer, and that may not be guaranteed as things now stand (you may end up with missing luggage, or you may end up having to wait around and get your missed connection sorted). But your proposal (get bags checked through onto your new "second" flight) seems unworkable, and could anyway have led to the cancellation of your return flights (if this is on the outbound half of your flight).