Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs - First post - Mis-connecting with SAA

After years of lurking, I have finally registered and here is my first of what promises to be many many many posts... ;)

Travelling Canada-IAD-JNB-JFK-Canada - the travel agent in JNB booked the SAA trans-Atlantic legs on stand-alone SAA tickets (one passenger on a Voyager business class reward ticket and one passenger on upgraded revenue ticket). I have propopsed a flight into IAD with a 90 minute connection from Canada using United (a *A partner of SAA) but the agent has balked and is insisting on a lengthy connection in IAD (6+ hours) to avoid risk of mis-connection (which the agent says SAA would treat as no-show and forfeit of round-trip tickets). :mad:

On the return, the problem would seem worse - I cannot identify a *A connection JFK-YYZ (plus we have an onward domestic journey ex YYZ). :td:

My question(s) for my new FT friends - any and all advice welcome:

-can Voyager tickets be booked like other *A rewards to include *A partner legs/North American connections (ie. Canada-IAD-JNB-JFK-Canada, rather than just the IAD-JNB-JFK legs on the SAA ticket;

-if not, can booking references/tickets be cross-referenced so that in the event of a mis-connection into IAD, the SAA tickets are not forfeited;

-if not, is there some other solution to avoid the risk of forfeiting SAA tickets in the event of mis-connection into IAD;

-can bags be checked in with UA in Canada all the way to JNB via IAD, in the situation where the UA ticket (Canada-IAD) and the SAA ticket (IAD-JNB) are booked separately;

-the return will likely involve SAA to JFK, Delta to YYZ and then a domestic AC flight ex YYZ - any advice on how to ticket, cross-reference, check bags and otherwise deal with this potential nightmare is appreciated;

Your suggestions are most welcome. All that is 'confirmed' thus far are the SAA tickets (business class) IAD-JNB-JFK.

Passenger #1 is *A Gold (AC); Passenger #2 is *A Silver (UA) - neither have SAA status.

I thank you in advance...

-FFFlyer

I wish I could help, but I can't. I simply want to welcome you to FlyerTalk, and say how much I like SAA business class. I hope that you get it all sorted so that you can travel uneventfully and fully enjoy the flight.

After years of lurking, I have finally registered and here is my first of what promises to be many many many posts... ;)

Travelling Canada-IAD-JNB-JFK-Canada - the travel agent in JNB booked the SAA trans-Atlantic legs on stand-alone SAA tickets (one passenger on a Voyager business class reward ticket and one passenger on upgraded revenue ticket). I have propopsed a flight into IAD with a 90 minute connection from Canada using United (a *A partner of SAA) but the agent has balked and is insisting on a lengthy connection in IAD (6+ hours) to avoid risk of mis-connection (which the agent says SAA would treat as no-show and forfeit of round-trip tickets). :mad:

On the return, the problem would seem worse - I cannot identify a *A connection JFK-YYZ (plus we have an onward domestic journey ex YYZ). :td:

My question(s) for my new FT friends - any and all advice welcome:

-can Voyager tickets be booked like other *A rewards to include *A partner legs/North American connections (ie. Canada-IAD-JNB-JFK-Canada, rather than just the IAD-JNB-JFK legs on the SAA ticket;

-if not, can booking references/tickets be cross-referenced so that in the event of a mis-connection into IAD, the SAA tickets are not forfeited;

-if not, is there some other solution to avoid the risk of forfeiting SAA tickets in the event of mis-connection into IAD;

-can bags be checked in with UA in Canada all the way to JNB via IAD, in the situation where the UA ticket (Canada-IAD) and the SAA ticket (IAD-JNB) are booked separately;

-the return will likely involve SAA to JFK, Delta to YYZ and then a domestic AC flight ex YYZ - any advice on how to ticket, cross-reference, check bags and otherwise deal with this potential nightmare is appreciated;

Your suggestions are most welcome. All that is 'confirmed' thus far are the SAA tickets (business class) IAD-JNB-JFK.

Passenger #1 is *A Gold (AC); Passenger #2 is *A Silver (UA) - neither have SAA status.

I thank you in advance...

-FFFlyer

I fly SAA quite often, so let me see if I can assist with you questions....

A 90 minute connection from UA to SA at IAD is a legal connection. I believe that the minimum connecting time in 60 minutes from a UA domestic flight (inbound from Canada would be considered domestic, since you clear customs prior to departure from Canada) to SA.

If you have enough miles, you can use your miles for connecting flights on other Star Alliance carriers. Unfortunately, UA is the only carrier that yopu can use between IAD and YYZ, since this route is not flown by AC. On your return to JFK, unfortunately, neither AC or UA fly between JFK and YYZ.

You best bet is to try and combine all your flights onto one ticket, as that will help with onward connection, baggage handling, etc. If you do eperate tickets on UA, your baggage can be checked through to SA, if you provide proof of an electronic ticket on SAA.

Hope this helpd a little. Enjoy your trip.

SAA tickets can be booked in conjunction with other *A carriers - it would make sense to book it all into one ticket. Note: Instead of flying out of JFK you could also fly out of LGA which should give you AC connections. The trip from JFK to LGA isn't really far.

Your bags can definitely be checked through from an UA flight to a SAA flight and vice versa even if booked on separate tickets.

I am sure SAA does interline with DL as well so checking through to a DL and an onward AC flight shouldn't be a problem.

For the return I would try for a JNB-JFK//LGA-'your final destination' connection and get everything on one reward ticket. As mentioned before you can request normal Star Alliance awards combined with SAA flights (up to three sectors either way shouldn't be a problem).

Cannnot answer your other two questions - sorry. I am pretty sure that a willing and able CS agent can cross-reference your SAA and UA ticket, such a reference will to my knowledge, however, not protect you in case of a misconnect.

It appears that the OP has already got an award booking on SA in C IAD/JNB/JFK (which in itself is a major miracle, but that's not the point here).
He is asking if it is possible to get a "Voyager' award including his travel to/from IAD / JFK, but as he appears to be an AC member (and therfore an AC award booking), it is the AC rules and not the SA rules that apply. I assume that AC will allow multiple airline *A awards and in that case there should be no problem, except for that the IAD/JNB/JFK booking already exists and I am not sure of the AC rules w.r.t. amending that award booking. Whatever the OP does, he must make sure he does not cancel his exiting award booking as it is exceptionally unlikely that he will ever get SA C awards on the IAD or JFK routes again! Otherwise, I pretty much agree with FlyPIand capetonian's advice!

Whatever the OP does, he must make sure he does not cancel his exiting award booking as it is exceptionally unlikely that he will ever get SA C awards on the IAD or JFK routes again!

I agree with Thijsseh. Be cautious that you don't loose the already existing booking. Over years I have only once seen an available C award seat from JNB to IAD but no chance to get a return from either IAD or JFK within a couple of weeks from this flight.

The reward booking is on Voyager. Assuming it is too late to amend to add the YUL-IAD leg on UA, for whatever reason, and we must proceed on two separate tickets (the SAA ticket; and the AC code-share revenue ticket operated by UA for the first leg; and the return from LGA) - the question boils down to how will UA handle us and our bags at the YUL airport on check-in and what happens in the event of a mis-connection. Will UA check us in all the way to JNB? Will they inter-line our bags? Does it matter if we are booked on an AC ticket or a UA ticket (UA operated regional flight into IAD)?

And the most important question - how to insure/protect against a mis-connection at IAD and the loss of the SAA tickets?

Thanks all. You are terrific.