craig44485

Ha ha, thanks for the advice!!!^

yoyomama

I've tried this to no avail. I'm looking to use my SM in BE either

SAT/AUS or MEM/STL to ICN/HKG (any of the above permutations will suffice) for a week long trip for research.

OR

SAT/AUS/MEM/STL-FRA for a week long trip...anytime this summer. Please someone lend a hand. Skypesos + high blood pressure =... ha.

Alpha Golf

W00t! A lot more miles than on COUA, far harder to book and fewer options, and I'm still not sure why it priced as it did

BUT

I managed to snag IAD-AMS-JNB-CDG-IAD in J for 140k.

Pretty good for the 'pesos I think.

craig44485

Did not work,tried several times to no avail. Was told it cannot be done as it would be now 2 separate trips, so I ended up paying cash for the PIT>JFK rt.

mtkeller

You must have been unlucky, as I had no issues changing an all-partners award ticket. Agent had no need or desire to confirm that already-booked segments were still available, they just kept what I wanted to keep and made the changes.

craig44485

Hmmm? May be it was the wording I used then? I said I wanted to add PIT>JFK to the award, would it have made a difference if I asked to change the award instead? Either way, its too late now I guess, I already put down the cash. I asked the woman at the counter at DL ticketing office here in MNL and also called the PM line 3 separate times and asked, each time, "No, you cannot add without spending more miles."

mtkeller

Yeah, it probably would have worked better to say you wanted to change the origin of the ticket from JFK to PIT. Live and learn and hope it works out better next time. I'm sure your parents will have a great time, even with the hassle of a separate ticket for the PIT-JFK sector.

belvie1

Interested in seeing if anyone has booked a KE business class award using the information from Expertflyer? They've recently started publishing KE business class award inventory.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...u-can-book-it/

HawaiiDLTM

Aloha!

I am trying to plan an Award Trip in August or September 2012 from Honolulu-Beijing & Shanghai-Honolulu open jaw. But the monthly award chart for Aug and Sept show it all in high levels and some dates even blacked out! I have 75,000 miles and the "low" level calls for 40,000 miles for a r/t to Asia from HNL.

My question: Are these prices going to go down to low or even perhaps medium levels in the next few months??? Because I have not seen such an awful monthly award chart since all the dates are in the "high" category. I am just wondering if anybody has seen anything like this before and what time I should expect the mileage level price to decrease.

If anybody has a few minutes to take a look for me or advise it would be much appreciated! Mahalo from Hawaii!

mtkeller

Have you considered partners? MU, CI, and KE all fly from HNL to North Asia.

craig44485

Like mtkeller said, consider partners, especially KE. Also try calling and speaking to an agent over the phone, many times what the award chart shows are not correct and the agent may have better options for you. Be as specific as you can when calling, "can you please check KE flight xxx on xx-xx-xxxx " Keep calling if you do not get the answer you like, and be patient. Also being flexible with your travel dates will help your cause. Good luck.

HawaiiDLTM

Thank you both so much!! I called today and through KE they can do it for 40,000 miles!! I would have never done that on my own so I really appreciate the help!

mtkeller

Glad it worked out. Oh, Welcome to FT!

sbm12

You can also get the same data for free. @:-)

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan...ard-inventory/

arcticbull

Works great! I just booked an award for next month:

DL SFO-LAX in N (Economy)
KE LAX-ICN in O (Business) on the A380
KE ICN-SGN in O (Business) on an A330
==// DESTINATION //==
VN SGN-ICN in J (Business) on a 772
KE ICN-SFO in O (Business) on a 772

I found the KE space on ExpertFlyer and they had no trouble seeing it. The VN segment on the other hand was a train wreck and a half. It won't automatically price, you MUST go to the rate desk (IRRRES was the ticketing group), some flights they will find but will show no seats at all in either economy or business, and you have to tell them to long sell. So you know, VN will charge YQ of ~$50 on that kind of segment.

The trick was: DL space I found on DL.com, KE space on ExpertFlyer and VN space on FlyingBlue. I put the award together with the help of the agents and about 7 hours of patience.

Hilariously enough I was originally booked on CZ with a stop in CAN on the return, and when I wanted to change to VN, they were unable to release control of the ticket and made me call CZ myself and request that they open the coupon. The friendly CZ agent and I laughed as we both had no idea why they made me do this. As such the Delta agent waived the change fee.

ALL IN: 120 000, $150 and 7-8 hours of my life I'll never get back. Also the hold music is permanently seared into my brain.