KLouis

No, cheaper! TAs usually charge a fee for selling you tickets; they're no longer paid through the airlines.

@OP: why is this thread in this forum rather than the SAS one? LH will give you miles only if SAS "tells them" to, so they're not directly involved in this matter.

vbroucek

That's not true, at least not here in Australia. There might be some minor extra charge to use TA, but actually my TA gets always better prices than I can get anywhere else. And my employer insists I use traditional "brick and mortar" TA for all my travel arrangements. As a matter of the fact, if I'd book anywhere else than the approved TA, I would have to pay myself and would not be covered by my employer's travel insurance which is rather generous... And to go even further, I use the same lady TA for all my private travel too...

Germanfflyer

Well in Europe most companies insist on their favourite no frills on-line TA to book travel - to save cost.
They get a kick-back from the commission the on-line TA makes - therefore there is no service as the TA is hardly making any money of the travels booked.

jochen_vdk

Good point, I wrote my question here because I am with Miles&More and maybe they deal with this kind of questions in a different way than Eurobonus. But of course mods can move the thread if they think it fits better in the SAS forum.

The question was not about whether or not to book at a travel agent, that's just company policy so we don't need to discuss this over here.

ulxima

I agree, not all delays and re-routings are really emergencies.
It is just a matter to avoid nasty situations like Chinese airspace going crazy with all flights out of PVG to HKG being a sort of lottery, the CX desk at PVG unapproachable and the 400 number a long time to wait. Not to mention if any typhoon decides to mess up with HKG, then Goodbye Charlie.
Besides, being European who regularly flies to Asia/Pacific, I am holding your same "privileges", that is why a decent TA is crucial, even more when big time differences are involved.
All in all our time is worth more, isn't it?


Been there and I understand your frustration, I am very sorry.
My best of luck with the recovery of your miles ^
Let us know the outcome.


Ciao
Ulxima

jochen_vdk

Thanks, I will! I don't care for the award miles but I need the status miles. If I don't get them I will need to change all my travel plans until the end of the year. This is the third time this year a big trip gets cancelled, and I did not fly *A for three months after the bombing of our national airport, for the first time I will need to stress to requalify!

Tyrolean

I had a similar situation with BA. LHR-MUC was canceled due to fog chaos. I booked the train to BRU and LH to MUC. According to EU 261 I claimed all costs. Then I claimed the miles which I credited to QF. Did take a while, but sorted it all out.

When the original carrier refuses to rebook you, just book the next connection (which you are entitled) and claim it all back later.

jochen_vdk

Update: I had to send in the boarding passes for the alternative flights and I got my miles.

NewbieRunner

Good to hear. So you received the miles you needed?