SFO28L

Just to update it took web support to book my tickets. They had to redeposit the miles and issue a new ticket. Great effort by the agent.

SanDiego1K

Thank you. It worked like a charm.

Duke787

For future instances you can also use the OS PNR on the LH website and select seats via the LH site.

Don't forget to recheck seat selection at check-in, they'll open up seats that are currently showing as blocked including 1A (which is the best seat on both the OS 767 and 777 IMO) if no SEN/HON has selected them.

Kacee

Just scored two RT awards via VIE into FCO, out of VCE. It's usually difficult to score saver J awards from the west coast without a long domestic connection, so I'm pretty stoked.

Phone agents (including web support) could not find the Eurowings flight into FCO I wanted, so will sweat out a 45 minute connection at VIE.

Couldn't pick seats on the OS site, but was able to do it on LH site using the OS confirm.

SanDiego1K

Thank you. I decided to change the seats I had selected by phone, and it worked perfectly to do so online.

jmanirish

Option 3 - booked and got ticket numbers. Followed above advice and got seats through LH.com. Going to spend two nights at the PH Vienna before heading to Greece. Now if only A3 had their schedule loaded past Mar 2017. I'll have to call and change to get the connecting flights - hopefully don't have any issue with the excursion change.

andysiz

Awesome! Well done! We have been wanting to stay at the PH Vienna since it opened (our last trip there was just before they opened).

I'm sitting on transferred Aeroplan miles, so it looks like I may be screwed by Aeroplan's inability to book/ticket these flights.

cfischer

I have had trouble with that in the past. Is this now doable? It was a 016 ticket and the only way to change seats was to call reservations. Not sure why that was the case and it was most certainly a non-traditional ticket

SanDiego1K

It worked for me. First, I called. Then I did some additional research on seats and changed the seats online.

char777

Eh, I don't know if it's that embarrassing. DL doesn't fly TATL ex-LAX on their own metal at all, and AA also only flies LAX-LHR. The business case for AA is different since that is a hub-hub oneworld route, but the point remains that UA and AA are the only US airlines to offer a single TATL destination ex-LAX.

I'd love to see the return of LAX-CDG on UA, but I'm sure they'd be clobbered by AF's 3x daily. Foreign airlines seem to lead the way ex-LAX, while the US3 prefer to funnel everyone to the east and avoid overflying hubs.

Either way, I'm excited to see OS start this route. I'd also love to see SN start LAX-BRU, but would they even have the right aircraft for it?

jmanirish

Thanks! Very excited as I wanted to try it as well after reading about it. They even had an attractive cash+points rate, which I rarely see.

Embarrassing probably isn't the best word. But the fact remains that of the *A, there's LAX-ARN on SK, LAX-MUC/FRA on LH, LAX-ZRH on LX, LAX-IST on TK and now LAX-VIE on OS (not counting LAX-LHR on NZ as that has the same onward problems as UA's flight).

As you point out, AA flies LAX-LHR 2X daily. But with BA at LHR, that allows for just about any connection to EU. They obviously get 'lucky' because the O/D demand is also high for the LAX-LHR route. And DL did fly LAX-LHR, but gave up and just kept the codeshares with VA.

I don't know if LAX-CDG on UA makes sense given the AF (as you point out) but also the SFO-CDG on UA already. I would think an LAX-FRA on UA would do well, even if only seasonally. Perhaps 'colluding' with their JV partner LH, to swap a UA LAX-FRA instead of one of the second LAX-FRA LH flies seasonally (especially now that the LH group is adding LAX-VIE on OS and upguaged LAX-ZRH to the 77W)

Kacee

I scored that as well

UA revenue shares on the LH Group TATLs, which significantly diminishes any incentive for them to start their own.

char777

Between FRA, MUC, ZRH, IST, ARN, and now VIE, that's a pretty solid collection of hubs from which to connect. The LH Group has excellent coverage of central, southern, and eastern Europe. They're not ideal for connecting to the UK and Ireland, but that's probably a case where UA would prefer to squeeze you through EWR or suck it up and figure it out from LHR. I would much rather connect through those airports than through LHR (though FRA, maybe not so much. )

UA could theoretically start LAX-FRA, but I'm not sure if there would be much of a case for it. The JV already makes it revenue neutral as to whether it's UA or LH, and I'm sure UA has crunched the numbers and figured that they can make more money putting a 787 on one of those oddball moneymaker routes out of SFO and letting LH do the heavy lifting out of LAX rather than trying to make a go of another LAX-TATL flight.

princeville

I'll be sweating out that same 45 minute connection to FCO in June!

Thank you OP for this post! We already had award flights booked from LAX-VIE, but it involved a 10 hour layover in YYZ. This is so much better!

spgaston

Any word on which terminal at LAX? TBIT? Star Alliance Business Class Lounge?