snoptro

Has anyone had success booking Star Alliance award between continental US and Hawaii where you have to spend a night en route?

I'm trying to fly ORD-HNL, roundtrip. The outbound availability is quite limited and the only flights available are ORD-LAX (arrives late) then LAX-HNL the next day.

The Singapore Airlines agent told me that's not allowed and he'd have to break it into two itineraries.

KF rule says:

g. Complimentary stopovers are not permitted in a purely domestic itinerary , or within the country of departure in an international itinerary.


and

j. A stopover is defined as a connection above four hours in an itinerary within or between the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands, or a connection above 24 hours in all other itineraries.


I'm hoping there's a loophole somewhere, e.g., Hawaii is a separate region/zone, albeit being "purely domestic." Also, if I'm forced to spend a night at LAX, and the next available connecting flight to HNL isn't until the next day, then can I argue that that's not a stopover?

Any other ideas?

macfadsj

The forced overnight argument is solid, but whether it would be allowed may depend on the agent that you speak to. If the first agent won't allow, try calling back a time or two. Given the cost of the hotel at LAX, perhaps it would be better to buy a ticket on the ORD HNL nonstop and save your miles for another day.

snoptro

Thanks macfadsj! I'll call them again to try my luck.

LAX hotels are generally pricey and mostly it's the bad air quality - would like to minimize time spent in L.A.

dmace1

I am trying to book the following thru Singapore Airlines and the customer service reps are saying I can’t do it:

-Cancun to Chicago (ORD) – July 2015
-Stopover #1 (free) is in ORD.
-Chicago (ORD) to Honolulu. Then Honolulu back to Chicago(ORD).
-Stopover #2 (costs $100) is in ORD again.
-Chicago (ORD) to Nicaragua (MGA).

Any advice?

FlyingBoat

I get such confusing information regarding Singapore awards. CSR's tell me I cannot get greater than 4 hour connection MSP to Panama and yet snoptro writes above that it would be anything over 24 hours except to the locations he identifies above.

I wrote to Krisflyer through feedback and they told me the same thing, that US to Panama would allow only 4 hour connection. The response also said I am allowed one free stopover, but the guidelines clearly state I am not. " No stopovers are permitted for purely domestic travel, or within the country of departure in an itinerary.
No stopovers are permitted if an itinerary contains only European cities, or is between continental USA
and Central America or Canada." And that is perhaps why an agent couldn't even book it for me using a stopover.

dmace what I write above could possibly be the reason this cannot be done. According to the guidelines, http://www.singaporeair.com/pdf/ppsc...rammeGuide.pdf.


Even worse they don't appear to even allow a connection of greater than 4 hours which makes in nearly impossible to use KrisFlyer miles for me out of MSP to get to Central America. I have always flown American or United and usually need an overnight or at least a long connection to get to Panama or Costa Rica.

edit: dmace, I see yours is not Continental US, so I don't know why they wouldn't allow it. Perhaps going further north to Chicago is considered backtracking? Frustrating program. They don't seem to know or understand their own rules.

ninegoodthings

About a month ago, I booked a quite complicated pair of fares on CM/UA via KrisFlyer with two long layovers.

OW - JFK-BOG(overnight)-PTY-HAV
RT - HAV-PTY(24 hours)-JFK(stop)-HNL(destination)-JFK(stop)-PTY

At that time, however, award space was pretty limited, so they had to give me long layovers in order to get flights with availability.

Just a datapoint for you.

ninegoodthings

I recently booked

HAV-PTY-JFK(stop)-HNL(destination)-JFK(stop)-PTY

It took a lot of calling to get it all right (not HUCA but trial and error on the route). But it was allowed, and NYC is even further off the normal flight path to Hawaii.

dmace1

I am supposed to be receiving a call back on Monday about my itinerary. Hopefully they have good news for me.

FlyingBoat

Regarding two agents only allowing 4 hour layover and their email response saying the same US to Panama. When I sent them the T&C, they responded.

"We apologise for the inconvenience and any misinformation provided.

We can confirm that as per our terms and conditions for redemption
bookings on our Star Alliance partner airlines, a stopover is defined as
a connection above four hours in an itinerary within or between the
United States, Canada, Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands, or a
connection above 24 hours in all other itineraries.

Should you require us to assist you further with the bookings, please
provide us with you preferred dates of travel."

dmace1

Success! I was FINALLY able to book my itinerary.

Just a note: It costs about $75 more in taxes, than if I would have booked thru United awards. I'm guessing this is because I added a "fare" component with the $100 stopover

FlyingBoat

So I responded to their apology asking them why two agents and themselves at first said I could not do a trip from US to Panama with over a 4 hour stop over.

Their reply was that it is because I would be charged $100. What utter complete idiots. Its like talking to a random circular thought generator.

In essence they are saying.

"We apologize, T&C say a stop over is over 24 hours for a connection, yours is over 4 hours so you will be charged for a stop over."