Booking fares eligible for mileage accrual on website
 

I'm trying to book a return trip MNL-BKK on the Thai website, however the only fare options I can choose are:
Economy Lowest - W (not eligible for miles)
Economy Unrestricted - Y - more than twice the price ($730 vs. $330)

Is there any way to find an economy fare bucket in between W and Y? It seems that for itineraries originating in Thailand, you can choose your fare type (like SQ, CX, AC), but not for itineraries originating outside of Thailand.

I tried calling the TG reservations line the U.S., but spent 40 minutes on hold going from 2nd in queue to 1st and nowhere after that.

Thanks in advance! :)

At the bottom of the reservation is the question, do you wish to upgrade this ticket, or words to that effect. Use this function to move upwards into a mileage earning fare. Failing that, select "unrestricted" on the fare basis. Most people want cheap non earning fares so the systems cater for them.

Thanks for the response.

I ended up having to call the TG office in MNL - apparently the website isn't even supposed to allow you to buy tickets ex-MNL since Philippine law requires that you have to physically present the credit card... never mind that I've previously booked on their website. The whole thing is odd since other airlines (eg SQ, PR, 5J, DL) don't have this requirement.

Anyways long story short I ended up getting a Q-fare that only the MNL ticket office has access to since it's a "local" fare.

Did Thai change their website, or is it just me? I'm trying to purchase a miles earning fare, CGK-BKK. In the past, when I booked on the website, it would bring up several economy fares, giving one a choice of options. Now, it only brings up one. Is there a way to force it into a miles earning fare? I don't see the upgrade button a previous poster mentioned, and when I select unrestricted ticket it goes straight to a Y fare. Thanks!

This has been my experience as well. If in need of a Q fare I'll go into the local office to purchase.

Not all markets offer ONE WAY Q class fares even from local offices. are you trying to buy one way or return

I'm trying to buy return, CGK-BKK. It use to be when booking on their website, the search returned several fares, from most restrictive to least restrictive, and you could choose. Now, all I get when I search a fare on their website, is the cheapest fare class both ways when trying to price a return (in this instance W class CGK-BKK, and Q BKK-CGK). I miss being able to pick which fare I want without having to call or visit ticket office.

I have that same problem with bookings ex Indonesia. I want Q class but the site often only offers V or W. So far i always managed to work around this by using one of two strategies:
- play around with flight dates until i find a combination where V/W are sold out and therefore Q class is offered
- use a return date > 3 months from departure. V/W usually have a max. 3 month validity and for longer trips Q is offered.
Once i have this ticket issued in Q class (but on wrong dates) i just call or mail TG and ask them to rebook to my desired dates.

It's a bit silly but works. I don't mind making a call to them, for me the most important is that i can avoid the trip to the TG office (which would be required if booking with the office because they can't accept card details over the phone).

Interesting strategy, I'll play around with it.

The problem with the TG office in PNH is just getting them to answer the phone. I've no idea if they can take CC info. :rolleyes:

Why do they make it so hard to give them extra money! --So when you book wrong dates and call/mail them to change ticket, there is no fee? I know the CGK office won't take cards over the phone, but if I call TG in Thailand, and try to book CGK-BKK, will they do they allow that over the phone? I know MH will with there KUL call center, but ONLY if the call center in CGK is closed....

I've run into this problem, where in certain markets they have the option for purchasing a Q class ticket at times, but then at other times remove the option. Or in some cases they never have it, but only allow the selection of a restricted (usually V or W) or non-restricted (full Y). A couple tricks to get around this:

If it only shows V or W for the flights you want, find a flight where V/W are sold out and it will give you a Q fare. Book the ticket, then call up the local office and change it to the flight you want. Of course you need to check first that the Q fare is changeable without a fee, and if booking on a different date, that the date falls within the same fare classification for the date you want to change it to.

At times I had some luck in using the multi-city option to pull up a Q fare where selecting a normal round-trip just pulled up a V/W fare.

Buying ex-MNL tickets is difficult with many airlines, not just TG. Even with travel agencies, they typically want to be paid in cash only. I guess there's a lot of credit card fraud in the Philippines and the airlines typically have lots of restrictions in place to try to protect themselves.

TG Thailand has not allowed me to book when the departure is exPNH. I don't know if that would change when the local office is closed.