*A Award Ticket using AI Miles
Jan 9, 2015, 3:44 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 105
*A Award Ticket using AI Miles
I very sincerely apologize if this has been discussed, but I did not see any threads, so am asking now.
Has anyone had any success using AI miles to book award flights on *A partners (Avianca, Copa, United, Air Canada, etc.)? If so, what is the process?
I've tried booking from the website, but it seems you can only do AI redemptions. I tried calling their customer service people and to say they are clueless is an understatement. They can't find a single *A flight in their system for the route I want even with different pairs (ORD-LIM, IAH-LIM, MIA-LM, ORD-PTY-LIM, and a whooole bunch of other itireations and dates). Customer service guy gave me a local Chicago number to call which is disconnected and not in service. I can see award flights offered on united's site for the routes I want, but for some reason AI can't see it. I can see routes on AC and Copa as well.
I'm trying to go from Chicago to Peru. I have close to 45K AI miles that I'd like to burn for a one way from Chicago to Peru (will use United for return). Any help in deciphering the mess that is AI would be greatly appreciated.
Has anyone had any success using AI miles to book award flights on *A partners (Avianca, Copa, United, Air Canada, etc.)? If so, what is the process?
I've tried booking from the website, but it seems you can only do AI redemptions. I tried calling their customer service people and to say they are clueless is an understatement. They can't find a single *A flight in their system for the route I want even with different pairs (ORD-LIM, IAH-LIM, MIA-LM, ORD-PTY-LIM, and a whooole bunch of other itireations and dates). Customer service guy gave me a local Chicago number to call which is disconnected and not in service. I can see award flights offered on united's site for the routes I want, but for some reason AI can't see it. I can see routes on AC and Copa as well.
I'm trying to go from Chicago to Peru. I have close to 45K AI miles that I'd like to burn for a one way from Chicago to Peru (will use United for return). Any help in deciphering the mess that is AI would be greatly appreciated.
Jan 9, 2015, 10:37 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,673
as of now you can only do this at the ai office....if you are in chicago then it may be worth visiting their city office at:
they even have an airport office in ord....
keep in mind that ai charge yq for these redemptions....recently i inquired about a iah-nyc redemption on ua using ai miles & i was quoted $130 in taxes & fees....ua was selling the same ticket for $132....
33 North Dearborn Street, Suite 2425, Chicago, IL 60602
keep in mind that ai charge yq for these redemptions....recently i inquired about a iah-nyc redemption on ua using ai miles & i was quoted $130 in taxes & fees....ua was selling the same ticket for $132....
Jan 14, 2015, 5:51 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 105
Thanks for replying Keyser. I am honestly surprised I only got one reply. Either way, I did some digging per your suggestion and it seems you can send an email to one of the AI offices in US with your membership ID, and they will email you back asking for award details and phone number. Once you send that email, they will call you back and you can discuss options at this point.
Keep in mind that they are quite unaware of how to do searches so you will need to hold their hand. The person I got on the phone insisted that Copa and Avianca are not part of *A so they couldn't book awards on those carriers.
Keep in mind that they are quite unaware of how to do searches so you will need to hold their hand. The person I got on the phone insisted that Copa and Avianca are not part of *A so they couldn't book awards on those carriers.
Jan 15, 2015, 1:19 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,673
Thanks for replying Keyser. I am honestly surprised I only got one reply. Either way, I did some digging per your suggestion and it seems you can send an email to one of the AI offices in US with your membership ID, and they will email you back asking for award details and phone number. Once you send that email, they will call you back and you can discuss options at this point.
that's not as bad as them telling me in the first week that united is not part of star alliance....i just gave up at that point & decided to try back a couple of months later when they would have gotten some idea on who is & is not part of the alliance....
Jan 20, 2015, 12:16 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Bangalore
Programs: SPG Plat, MR Plat, Hyatt Diamond, DL Plat, AA Gold
Posts: 6
AI City Office is the best equipped to book *A award
Here's my personal experience on making a *A award booking using my AI miles on LH (FRA to BOM)
AI Call Center:
My experience with the CC was very diverse. Few agents had absolutely no clue about how to look for *A award availability, in which case I would simply hang up and call again. In my experience, I had better luck with agents based in the Chennai CC compared to the others. They appeared to be better trained regarding *A booking.
The Call Center is only able to provide you with award seat availability on partner airlines, and quote the number of miles required (which you know from the website anyway). It appears there is no direct way for the Call Center to calculate the taxes or fuel surcharge. Same query with different agents resulted in different quote for the final amount for taxes / surcharge.
They were doing a manual calculation which resulted in a quote ranging from INR 5000 - 17000
The Call Center could be a starting point to piece up your award based on availability, but that's as useful as they can get. Nothing more. They can't book the *A award ticket anyway.
AI City Office:
The Delhi City office was absolutely useless regarding this - largely due to an incompetent phone operator who would connect my call back to the AI call center number for any questions on ticketing (FACEPALM)
Similar experience during 2 calls to the Mumbai City office, with personnel unable to price out the ticket correctly. I had a much better experience with the Bangalore City office personnel.
I provided the specifics of the award to be booked, and the lady noted down all information and promptly offered to call LH to block the seats and then call me back once it is done. Within an hour, she sent me an email with the Travel Itinerary (was an automated email), and I was given 7 days to pay the taxes and fees at the City Office to confirm the ticket. This is a major drawback in their process, as there is no way for anybody at AI to take the payment online or via phone through a Credit Card!
I travel through the BLR and BOM airports on a weekly basis, so I asked whether I could pay the taxes at the AI booking counter at the airports - but I was informed that AI currently does not have a mechanism for anybody at the airport to book or accept payment for award flights 
One could potentially get the *A Award ticket blocked through the Bangalore office, and pay the taxes and fees in another AI city office convenient to you (in your case at Chicago). Hope this helps ^
AI Call Center:
My experience with the CC was very diverse. Few agents had absolutely no clue about how to look for *A award availability, in which case I would simply hang up and call again. In my experience, I had better luck with agents based in the Chennai CC compared to the others. They appeared to be better trained regarding *A booking.
The Call Center is only able to provide you with award seat availability on partner airlines, and quote the number of miles required (which you know from the website anyway). It appears there is no direct way for the Call Center to calculate the taxes or fuel surcharge. Same query with different agents resulted in different quote for the final amount for taxes / surcharge.
They were doing a manual calculation which resulted in a quote ranging from INR 5000 - 17000 The Call Center could be a starting point to piece up your award based on availability, but that's as useful as they can get. Nothing more. They can't book the *A award ticket anyway.
AI City Office:
The Delhi City office was absolutely useless regarding this - largely due to an incompetent phone operator who would connect my call back to the AI call center number for any questions on ticketing (FACEPALM)
Similar experience during 2 calls to the Mumbai City office, with personnel unable to price out the ticket correctly. I had a much better experience with the Bangalore City office personnel.
I provided the specifics of the award to be booked, and the lady noted down all information and promptly offered to call LH to block the seats and then call me back once it is done. Within an hour, she sent me an email with the Travel Itinerary (was an automated email), and I was given 7 days to pay the taxes and fees at the City Office to confirm the ticket. This is a major drawback in their process, as there is no way for anybody at AI to take the payment online or via phone through a Credit Card!
I travel through the BLR and BOM airports on a weekly basis, so I asked whether I could pay the taxes at the AI booking counter at the airports - but I was informed that AI currently does not have a mechanism for anybody at the airport to book or accept payment for award flights One could potentially get the *A Award ticket blocked through the Bangalore office, and pay the taxes and fees in another AI city office convenient to you (in your case at Chicago). Hope this helps ^
I very sincerely apologize if this has been discussed, but I did not see any threads, so am asking now.
Has anyone had any success using AI miles to book award flights on *A partners (Avianca, Copa, United, Air Canada, etc.)? If so, what is the process?
I've tried booking from the website, but it seems you can only do AI redemptions. I tried calling their customer service people and to say they are clueless is an understatement. They can't find a single *A flight in their system for the route I want even with different pairs (ORD-LIM, IAH-LIM, MIA-LM, ORD-PTY-LIM, and a whooole bunch of other itireations and dates). Customer service guy gave me a local Chicago number to call which is disconnected and not in service. I can see award flights offered on united's site for the routes I want, but for some reason AI can't see it. I can see routes on AC and Copa as well.
I'm trying to go from Chicago to Peru. I have close to 45K AI miles that I'd like to burn for a one way from Chicago to Peru (will use United for return). Any help in deciphering the mess that is AI would be greatly appreciated.
Has anyone had any success using AI miles to book award flights on *A partners (Avianca, Copa, United, Air Canada, etc.)? If so, what is the process?
I've tried booking from the website, but it seems you can only do AI redemptions. I tried calling their customer service people and to say they are clueless is an understatement. They can't find a single *A flight in their system for the route I want even with different pairs (ORD-LIM, IAH-LIM, MIA-LM, ORD-PTY-LIM, and a whooole bunch of other itireations and dates). Customer service guy gave me a local Chicago number to call which is disconnected and not in service. I can see award flights offered on united's site for the routes I want, but for some reason AI can't see it. I can see routes on AC and Copa as well.
I'm trying to go from Chicago to Peru. I have close to 45K AI miles that I'd like to burn for a one way from Chicago to Peru (will use United for return). Any help in deciphering the mess that is AI would be greatly appreciated.
Jan 20, 2015, 10:19 am
#6
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: www.livefromalounge.com
Programs: AA, BASilver, TajICGold, MarriottPlatinum,HyattGlobalist, EYGold, AI
Posts: 2,215
Here's my personal experience on making a *A award booking using my AI miles on LH (FRA to BOM)
AI Call Center:
My experience with the CC was very diverse. Few agents had absolutely no clue about how to look for *A award availability, in which case I would simply hang up and call again. In my experience, I had better luck with agents based in the Chennai CC compared to the others. They appeared to be better trained regarding *A booking.
The Call Center is only able to provide you with award seat availability on partner airlines, and quote the number of miles required (which you know from the website anyway). It appears there is no direct way for the Call Center to calculate the taxes or fuel surcharge. Same query with different agents resulted in different quote for the final amount for taxes / surcharge. They were doing a manual calculation which resulted in a quote ranging from INR 5000 - 17000
The Call Center could be a starting point to piece up your award based on availability, but that's as useful as they can get. Nothing more. They can't book the *A award ticket anyway.
AI City Office:
The Delhi City office was absolutely useless regarding this - largely due to an incompetent phone operator who would connect my call back to the AI call center number for any questions on ticketing (FACEPALM)
Similar experience during 2 calls to the Mumbai City office, with personnel unable to price out the ticket correctly. I had a much better experience with the Bangalore City office personnel.
I provided the specifics of the award to be booked, and the lady noted down all information and promptly offered to call LH to block the seats and then call me back once it is done. Within an hour, she sent me an email with the Travel Itinerary (was an automated email), and I was given 7 days to pay the taxes and fees at the City Office to confirm the ticket. This is a major drawback in their process, as there is no way for anybody at AI to take the payment online or via phone through a Credit Card! I travel through the BLR and BOM airports on a weekly basis, so I asked whether I could pay the taxes at the AI booking counter at the airports - but I was informed that AI currently does not have a mechanism for anybody at the airport to book or accept payment for award flights
One could potentially get the *A Award ticket blocked through the Bangalore office, and pay the taxes and fees in another AI city office convenient to you (in your case at Chicago). Hope this helps ^
AI Call Center:
My experience with the CC was very diverse. Few agents had absolutely no clue about how to look for *A award availability, in which case I would simply hang up and call again. In my experience, I had better luck with agents based in the Chennai CC compared to the others. They appeared to be better trained regarding *A booking.
The Call Center is only able to provide you with award seat availability on partner airlines, and quote the number of miles required (which you know from the website anyway). It appears there is no direct way for the Call Center to calculate the taxes or fuel surcharge. Same query with different agents resulted in different quote for the final amount for taxes / surcharge.
They were doing a manual calculation which resulted in a quote ranging from INR 5000 - 17000 The Call Center could be a starting point to piece up your award based on availability, but that's as useful as they can get. Nothing more. They can't book the *A award ticket anyway.
AI City Office:
The Delhi City office was absolutely useless regarding this - largely due to an incompetent phone operator who would connect my call back to the AI call center number for any questions on ticketing (FACEPALM)
Similar experience during 2 calls to the Mumbai City office, with personnel unable to price out the ticket correctly. I had a much better experience with the Bangalore City office personnel.
I provided the specifics of the award to be booked, and the lady noted down all information and promptly offered to call LH to block the seats and then call me back once it is done. Within an hour, she sent me an email with the Travel Itinerary (was an automated email), and I was given 7 days to pay the taxes and fees at the City Office to confirm the ticket. This is a major drawback in their process, as there is no way for anybody at AI to take the payment online or via phone through a Credit Card!
I travel through the BLR and BOM airports on a weekly basis, so I asked whether I could pay the taxes at the AI booking counter at the airports - but I was informed that AI currently does not have a mechanism for anybody at the airport to book or accept payment for award flights One could potentially get the *A Award ticket blocked through the Bangalore office, and pay the taxes and fees in another AI city office convenient to you (in your case at Chicago). Hope this helps ^
Jan 20, 2015, 3:46 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 105
Keyser- wow...that...I don't even know what to say to that.
Sudha- that just sounds painful but I think on par with AI service. To be honest, it is not nearly as bad here in the states as it seems to be over there. The call center people are for the most part very poorly trained. Might I suggest emailing the US offices for help? After the initial email, they were pretty quick about calling back and at least trying to book.
Another data point: I had a similar experience, where the person really could not give me the exact additional cash amount for the award ticket. Majority of the people I talked to could not. The best the lady could do was give me an estimate.
I think given all this, it might just be better to use the miles for upgrades. Can you use AI miles to upgrade on other *A flights??
Sudha- that just sounds painful but I think on par with AI service. To be honest, it is not nearly as bad here in the states as it seems to be over there. The call center people are for the most part very poorly trained. Might I suggest emailing the US offices for help? After the initial email, they were pretty quick about calling back and at least trying to book.
Another data point: I had a similar experience, where the person really could not give me the exact additional cash amount for the award ticket. Majority of the people I talked to could not. The best the lady could do was give me an estimate.
I think given all this, it might just be better to use the miles for upgrades. Can you use AI miles to upgrade on other *A flights??
Jan 22, 2015, 11:50 am
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA 1M
Posts: 31,474
The ease of award booking process is nowadays a big criteria in selecting a FFP. Maybe it's because I got pampered with the ease of booking awards with US based carriers. The worst is when an airline cannot book awards on its own metal online:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...ilability.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...ilability.html
Aug 2, 2017, 11:42 am
#10
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 41
I know this thread is pretty stale, but I thought I'd share my experience in case others find the information helpful.
Back in 2015 sometime, I used Air India Flying Returns miles to book a one-way domestic (U.S.) saver award flight on United, DEN-ORD. I first checked for saver award availability on UA's website, so I knew my flight was available. I called AI FR customer service (I can't recall which office or what phone number, but it was likely a Chicago call center or office), gave them the routing, and they put it on hold and gave me a PNR. As I recall, the process of getting the itinerary put on hold over the phone was pretty straightforward. Someone in the Chicago AI office then emailed me a "FLYING RETURNS AWARD REQUEST FORM" PDF to complete, which I did and had to bring to the local office (see address in prior post above). I turned in that form and paid taxes and fees on the award booking in-person with my credit card. All in all, it was pretty painless, but only because the Chicago AI office was very convenient for me to walk to. Otherwise, it was a pretty silly and cumbersome process. Maybe they've upgraded their systems since then and can do it all by phone now. But who knows with AI.
Back in 2015 sometime, I used Air India Flying Returns miles to book a one-way domestic (U.S.) saver award flight on United, DEN-ORD. I first checked for saver award availability on UA's website, so I knew my flight was available. I called AI FR customer service (I can't recall which office or what phone number, but it was likely a Chicago call center or office), gave them the routing, and they put it on hold and gave me a PNR. As I recall, the process of getting the itinerary put on hold over the phone was pretty straightforward. Someone in the Chicago AI office then emailed me a "FLYING RETURNS AWARD REQUEST FORM" PDF to complete, which I did and had to bring to the local office (see address in prior post above). I turned in that form and paid taxes and fees on the award booking in-person with my credit card. All in all, it was pretty painless, but only because the Chicago AI office was very convenient for me to walk to. Otherwise, it was a pretty silly and cumbersome process. Maybe they've upgraded their systems since then and can do it all by phone now. But who knows with AI.
Aug 2, 2017, 1:29 pm
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA 1M
Posts: 31,474
I know this thread is pretty stale, but I thought I'd share my experience in case others find the information helpful.
Back in 2015 sometime, I used Air India Flying Returns miles to book a one-way domestic (U.S.) saver award flight on United, DEN-ORD. I first checked for saver award availability on UA's website, so I knew my flight was available. I called AI FR customer service (I can't recall which office or what phone number, but it was likely a Chicago call center or office), gave them the routing, and they put it on hold and gave me a PNR. As I recall, the process of getting the itinerary put on hold over the phone was pretty straightforward. Someone in the Chicago AI office then emailed me a "FLYING RETURNS AWARD REQUEST FORM" PDF to complete, which I did and had to bring to the local office (see address in prior post above). I turned in that form and paid taxes and fees on the award booking in-person with my credit card. All in all, it was pretty painless, but only because the Chicago AI office was very convenient for me to walk to. Otherwise, it was a pretty silly and cumbersome process. Maybe they've upgraded their systems since then and can do it all by phone now. But who knows with AI.
Back in 2015 sometime, I used Air India Flying Returns miles to book a one-way domestic (U.S.) saver award flight on United, DEN-ORD. I first checked for saver award availability on UA's website, so I knew my flight was available. I called AI FR customer service (I can't recall which office or what phone number, but it was likely a Chicago call center or office), gave them the routing, and they put it on hold and gave me a PNR. As I recall, the process of getting the itinerary put on hold over the phone was pretty straightforward. Someone in the Chicago AI office then emailed me a "FLYING RETURNS AWARD REQUEST FORM" PDF to complete, which I did and had to bring to the local office (see address in prior post above). I turned in that form and paid taxes and fees on the award booking in-person with my credit card. All in all, it was pretty painless, but only because the Chicago AI office was very convenient for me to walk to. Otherwise, it was a pretty silly and cumbersome process. Maybe they've upgraded their systems since then and can do it all by phone now. But who knows with AI.
Even doing things over the phone is a nuisance to me. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Aug 8, 2017, 10:30 pm
#12
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 411
I did a redemption on a United nonstop using AI miles. I had to call and get a PNR created. Once that was done, they said I need to give an email of the details of the passenger, date of travel, etc to an email address they gave.
But the email had to originate from the registered email with Flying Returns.
After that, I had to wait for a couple of hours so that it could be updated on their end for authorization. I could call again and make the payment of taxes. There was no YQ as far as I remember. But they had a per segment fee of around Rs.1100 or something of that sort.
I tried to redeem on a one stop on another occasion and was given the run around. They said, it would be priced on a per segment, point to point mileage, etc etc. Each time I called, I was given different answers & finally I just bought the ticket. All the while, seats were available but AI agents could not figure out the right mileage requirement.
But the email had to originate from the registered email with Flying Returns.
After that, I had to wait for a couple of hours so that it could be updated on their end for authorization. I could call again and make the payment of taxes. There was no YQ as far as I remember. But they had a per segment fee of around Rs.1100 or something of that sort.
I tried to redeem on a one stop on another occasion and was given the run around. They said, it would be priced on a per segment, point to point mileage, etc etc. Each time I called, I was given different answers & finally I just bought the ticket. All the while, seats were available but AI agents could not figure out the right mileage requirement.