DevilBucsFlyer

I put an award reservation on hold today going from TPA-SGN on Malaysian Air using Delta miles. The Malaysian flights from LAX were wide open in Business, but of course Delta couldn't get me from TPA to LAX. So I'm waitlisted on the domestic segments right now.

It's on hold for 2 weeks. If the domestic legs don't clear in 2 weeks, I'll ask to extend the hold (I assume best I can hope for is another 2 weeks). If the domestic legs still haven't cleared, then what are my options?

If I book the ticket, can I still be waitlisted on the domestic legs? Then when/if they clear, do I get to re-ticket the thing without having to pay the change fee? (Even at $50, its 3 tickets, so I'd hate to end up paying $150 for my "free" tickets).

And, what if the waitlisted flights never clear? The awards are for June travel. Can I expect anything to clear between now and then? If they don't clear, is my only option to buy a ticket to LAX. Or, would they allow me to cancel the ticket and redeposit the miles free of charge (yeah, right).

I checked online and there is SkySaver availablity from ATL-LAX on the dates I need - although the connections aren't the greatest. If I book the ticket that way, can I still be waitlisted from TPA-ATL - and can I be waitlisted on better ATL-LAX flights?

I guess my concern is that I actually book the ticket at something less-than-ideal and then a month later the ideal routing opens up and I have to pay $150 (or more) to change the tickets.

Also, one more question. Has anybody tried this? What happens if I let the hold on the award tickets go ahead and lapse. Then, right after it lapses, I call Delta again and try to get the same flightst. It would seem that they would still be available unless somebody else had the Malaysian Air flights waitlisted. Or does Delta see my hold history and frown upon this type of activity?

MCI777

Probably your best bet would be to book economy from TPA-LAX (yes even on a Business class award) and waitlist the First Class on the flights you want. You should be able to keep the flights waitlisted even after you book and pay the taxes.

I currently am using an award w/ Korean Air (in Economy) to Phuket, Thailand in APril and have flights waitlisted on my return from LAX-MCI. These waitlisted flights should still be waitlisted even when I book the ticket ( or so I was told).

Yes, you can let the hold lapse and then try to re-book. Im sure you aware that you can call back while the reservation is on hold and check availability at any time. Things do tend to open up on a daily basis (not that calling everyday is a viable option, but its an option.

I will have to say that I have made several changes to my Res while its been on hold.....going back and forth between Malaysia Airlines and Korean. im sure the agents cringe ever time they see my name on the computer.

I hope that helps a little bit. I wish I could give you better info.

DevilBucsFlyer

That's the problem - there is NO COACH availability from TPA-LAX. Since MH is a "partner" and not a member of "SkyTeam", the rules are different. On a Business award, I have to travel in coach on the domestic leg (unless I happen upon a domestic Delta flight with a Business class). We're a little short on miles to bump up to first class, otherwise I'd do that. There is first class availability on the domestic legs.

MCI777

Ok...that makes more sense. Im sure its a little easier for me since I only need one seat vs. 3. I say keep trying. Things do open up more rapidly than you think.

I read your post about the 150% premium on Korean in the summer. It is totally unacceptable that a SkyTeam partner would have a premium but a simple partner does not.

As far as service goes, Ive tried to do some research on both airlines but from an economy class standpoint. From the info Ive gathered, the Business Class of both airlines should be similar.

Sorry I couldnt be more help.

Erasmus

First off, have faith. I do this all the time and (up 'til now, at least) it's always worked out. The real problem you're going to have is the new $50 change fee, which is going to bite us all in the a$$ in this situation. Ignoring that for the moment, here's what I suggest:

1) First, put the entire thing on hold and see if something clears.

2) After two weeks, if it has not cleared, ask if they will extend it for another two weeks. Officially, they're not allowed to unless the seats on MH are still available, but often you'll find a nice agent who'll do it for you.

2.5) [EDITED TO ADD:] I have been told you have to be "re-waitlisted" when a ticket is actually issued, implying that your position on the waitlist resets. Hence, there may be some value to ticketing early rather than waiting, ticketing, and then re-waiting. That said, I tend to believe there aren't too many people waitlisting flights, so the liklihood of this having a real impact is small, but I may be wrong.

3) Once you're forced to ticket, you have to construct a viable routing. Remember you are allowed a stop-over, so what I generally do is find some day in advance of my desired date of departure where seats are available and book the tickets using those dates, so you'll ticket an itn that looks like: TPA-LAX (stopover for a few days) LAX-SGN-TPA.

4) Then, ask them to waitlist you for all the flights on the day you want (both the direct and connecting ones). Some agents insist they can only waitlist you for one or two flights. This is not true; I've had agents waitlist me for up to 8 segments at a time. I can't find a rhyme or reason to when they're more lenient than others.

The trick with connecting flights is you can't hold a confirmed seat on the connection until the origin segment clears. In your case, though, if ATL-LAX is available, you could book the ticket with the stopover in ATL, and play the game that way. The downside is you'll have to pay the change fee if the direct routing opens up. I'd be inclined to just waitlist and hope it clears.

5) Wait. It will surely clear.

6) If, about 14 days prior to departure, it does not clear, look for the cheapest TPA-LAX (or TPA-ATL) fare you can find. Reissue your award ticket to fly just the LAX-SGN-LAX (or ATL-SGN-ATL),and tag on the paid domestic RT.

Using this strategy, in the worst case you're out the cost of a TPA-LAX return (usually $198 on Song or a SkyChoice domestic ticket, if you want to go that route---that allows you go all the way down to date of departure to hope the list clears) plus a ticket reissue (now $50). I have yet to need to go all the way to step 6, though.

7) If you end up on the connecting flight because the direct one does not clear, use same-day-confirmed to move yourself to the flight you want on the day of departure. [EDITED TO ADD: I've never tried this on an int'l itinerary, and, strickly speaking, I think it's not allowed, but it can't hurt to try, as I don't see why it's a problem if you're only futzing with the domestic segments.]

Good luck, and take heart. I realize it's stressful to not have your plans set in stone until just before, but that's they way it works with revenue management, I'm afraid.

PS - Since you're doing this with multiple people, put everyone on a separate record. That way you can all clear waitlists independantly. If you're on the same record, everyone has to be on the same flights, which means you can't change flights until seats are available for everyone; that's unlikely to happen at the same time. You run the risk of ending up on different flights when the music stops, but that's usually not a big deal for the short domestic hops.

Richard1148

Unless things have changed since I flew on a biz award on Malaysia, you can stop over in LA on the outbound (or return). If you can leave a day early, are there any flights to LAX the day before?

DevilBucsFlyer

Thanks for that great analysis Erasmus!

Now for a few more questions.......

1. I thought the agent I was talking to today indicated that when this flight does get ticketed, it will be issued as a paper ticket (perhaps Malaysian does do E-ticket awards?). Does that change any of your advice. Also, if I have a paper ticket, and the waitlist clears, do I have a 24 hour period to get to the ticket office and re-ticket it? I'd imagine I can just ticket it whenever, but want to make sure.
2. Another option I have is to do 2 First Class Tickets and one Business Class. The advantage there is that there is First Class availability to get me from TPA-LAX. So, I'd have those 2 tickets completely covered. BUT, I don't have quite enough miles for that yet. I will have enough miles for that when the 10,000 miles for the Dash-to-gate game post. Which is supposed to be 6-8 weeks which would get us to late-January to mid-February. Will they hold it longer if I'm waiting for points to post to my account? (I could probably also transfer some points elsewhere to do it quicker if necessary).

THANKYOUSOMUCH!

MCI777

7) If you end up on the conneting flight because the direct one does not clear, use same-day-confirmed to move yourself to the flight you want on the day of departure.

I was informed by the Partner award desk that you could not use the same day confirm on an International Award ticket. Not sure if this is true or the agents were just blowing smoke. More than one agent told me this however.

Erasmus

You have an undefined period of time after the waitlist clears to deal with it. I have no idea what the real time limit is, as I tend to check lists daily and ticket ASAP when they clear. Regardless, a paper ticket just means you have to do it at an airport, but you can certainly handle the transaction on the phone and then walk the paper to the airport at some later point.

I've never tried that, but I suspect they're likely to be unsympathetic to delays due to lack of miles, but it can't hurt to ask.

Erasmus

I have been told this too, but suspect if you're just trying to change the domestic legs, you may have some success. I've never tried it myself, though.

Richard1148

I was able to do a same day confirmed change on an award ticket from to HNL (which was part of an international award on Korean) to eliminate one connection. Mine was no charge for being GM but I had to pay $25 to change my wife's flight.

Erasmus

This post is no longer relevant

DevilBucsFlyer

Thanks for the suggestion. Stopovers are an option. However, this presents me with an opportunity to add more information.

Passenger #3 will be our 2 1/2 year old little bundle of joy. I was originally going to do KE instead of MH because the flight time and number of connections was considerably better. KE's psuedo-blackout dates screwed that idea though. I think MH is a better product, but the little one may not notice the difference.

So, needless to say, I'm trying to avoid stopovers and screwy connections (like LAX-SLC-CVG-ATL-TPA).

My latest brainstorm (cuz I'm thinking about this rather than getting any actual work done today) is to exchange a few Marriott points to miles to have enough for 3 First Class tickets. Since First Class availability from TPA-LAX seems to at least be reasonable, I could probably find some dates that work.

Richard1148

A couple of other thoughts - First, although it would require some extra driving, have you checked on flying out of MCO instead of TPA? Second, have you checked on going the Atlantic rather than the Pacific route?

tshirtnshorts1

We got two economy tickets on SQ to HKT and the problem was the MCI-LAX portion and return on DL. Finally, they let me have 3 days past the 2 week hold period and my outbound cleared but my return did not, so the agent was able to get us from LAS back to MCI and we bought a 59.00 tkt on aa from LAX to LAS.

FYI....when they issue your ticket, they have to cancel all waitlisted segments and then in about 24 hours after they issue the tickets they can put them back on the waitlist (YOU HAVE TO CALL THEM TO HAVE IT DONE) others move up, you will be bumped down.....it sucks...and it took me a long time and alot of agents to get the correct info.....and none of them could believe we got SQ from LAX-SIN in executive economy in both ways and on to BKK and we bought BKK-HKT. They said they never get SQ seats anymore.
And our trip is in August by the way.