US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - *A / UA Redemption LINE Availability

I'm planning to pull the trigger on a SE Asia trip now from BOS, and spending down DM seems the wisest way at the moment. Never mind my pollyanna-ish desire to fly in the next two months, preferably on SQ, NH, or UA. :p

With all the US Ch. 11 hubbub, what has folks' experience been with making these reservations this week with respect to getting through on the phone, wait times, staff patience and knowledge, etc. amid the rush?

Plz note I'm not asking about seat availability to SE Asia here...although if you have any insight... :rolleyes:

Thanks.

Yesterday I called to see the possibility of changing my award ticket from ROC - ABQ in a few weeks. I am flying wholly on UA, and made my menu selections accordingly. I was told my expected wait time was 19 minutes, which was almost exactly right. Once I got someone, he was very kind and helpful. I also had called earlier that day to discuss another award, which gave me a wait time of 14 minutes, again very close to my actual wait. What I find interesting is that, in my experience, the "expected wait time" has been less since they entered Ch. 11. Hope this helps. :)

I called US on Sunday about two hours before Chapter 11 was announced. I wouldn't be surprised if hold times have changed since then, but last weekend the computer predicted my hold time to be 12 minutes. I waited about 10 minutes before being connected to a knowledgeable and helpful US agent.

My goal was to use DM for a SE Asia trip. I attempted to find a single business class seat on SQ's nonstop EWR-SIN any day between Nov 10 and Nov 24, but was unsuccessful. The other SQ routing JFK-FRA-SIN had a few business class award seats left, and luckily they happened to be on dates that worked for me. Economy on SQ seemed to have award seats available on maybe 50% of the flights. Unsurprisingly, midweek flights had more availability than weekends.

Thanks for your responses so far.

My first interaction with an agent was polite yet moderately disinterested and didn't quite result in an acceptable itinerary. At one point I suggested a certain alternative routing, and she informed me that, basically, the best an agent can do is input a date, origin, and destination, and take whatever flight combination pops up. That is, she has no options, no ability to construct or investigate anything else.

This doesn't sound right to me, but I'll defer to others if my expectations are too high here! Is this a personal or US policy decision? What has your experience been w/ US and other *A or int'l award redemptions? There certainly can be available award seats on routings other than the "defaults" that are tried.

:confused:

Besides our desires for certain carriers' seating and service, elapsed flight times from BOS->SIN could be shortened dramatically, e.g., from the 29- or 30-hour outbound she found for me mid-November.

Thanks!

I hate to say, but finding another agent with a more helpful demeanor is the best route.

Of all the agents I have spoken with, only one was really not helpful. Most of them understand our needs and work very hard to find interesting/favorable itineraries. A good agent, for example, will plug in your primary route (in this case EWR-SIN or JFK-SIN) first, then worry later about how to get you to NYC. In my case, I am happy to move myself to an east coast location to secure preferred itineraries.

The other piece of advice I'd provide is to call later at night. I have less hold times after midnight, eastern time (if you are able to tolerate this!).

Best of luck.