tzoom84

I went through some beginner pages and the US Air FAQ thread here but still need some assistance.

Consider this example flight, booked through US Air:

Route: PHL-CDG-FCO-PHL.

• PHL-CDG is a US Air flight
• (Stopover in CDG)
• CDG-FCO is a Star Alliance flight (say LH)
• FCO-PHL is a US Air flight

(1) Am I allowed to have that stopover in CDG?

This viewfromthewing post says "Stopovers are not permitted when travel is only within a single region (eg no stopover in Bangkok flying Singapore to Phuket and back)". This seems to be a single region (Europe). But on the other hand I've heard US Air is flexible

(2) How many miles will it cost?

I assumed if it is ALL US Air flights ... it would be on the US Air table which is rather inflated (90000 roundtrip for economy at "medium" rate)

However, I have that CDG-FCO flight in the mix which makes it a "Partner" flight. Will that allow me to book at the 60000 round trip rate?

Thanks so much!

Air Rarotonga

That's not an ALL US award as they don't fly between CDG and FCO. It's a USDM *A / Partner awards. Check the chart <here>.

Stopovers are allowed at US gateways (what CDG is) or at *A Hubs. Your USA - Europe award is not a single zone award. USDM Membership guide: <here>.

More information you'll find in this thread (read at least post #1):
Star Alliance Award Bookings Using US Airways Miles - FAQ and Help Thread [MERGED]

tzoom84

OK great. That is what I was inferring but needed confirmation. I understand it as, if ANY segment of the flight is on a Partner airline, then I wouldn't be charged with the US Air mile rates. That's great to hear!

I got through the first post + the last few most recent pages of the thread. Very helpful.

justhere

I think maybe you've misunderstood how it works with a partner/*A flight. The reason it is "only" 60K miles is because partner awards have to be booked as low level awards.

I'm not sure if you can combine a low level partner award in the same booking as a medium or high level US award. If you can, it'll still cost 90K.

edited to add: I just double checked the link that Air Rarotonga provided and you can't combine award levels unless you are only on US flights. As you are not, you'll need to find all low level awards to add in the CDG-FCO leg. If you can't get US low awards and are willing to pay the 90K, you could book an open jaw and then pay for a separate ticket on EasyJet from Paris to Rome. Can be very reasonably priced if booked in advance even including luggage charges etc.

tommyleo

Slight correction. CDG is not a US gateway. US gateways can only be in the United States. CDG is a US "international destination" (which is allowable for a stopover).

The relevant text: "You’re allowed one stopover per US Airways itinerary at a US Airways gateway or international destination, or in a partner hub city if you’re traveling on an award partner. US Airways hub/international gateway cities include Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix."

tzoom84

I think I'm still a bit confused on the US Award cost on itineraries that mix USAir and *A partners.

Example, suppose I fly:
PHL-YYZ (US Air)
YYZ-FCO (AC)
FCO-YYZ (AC)
YYZ-PHL (US Air)

In other words, a round trip from PHL to FCO ... with a connection in YYZ. The long hauls are *A partners. The short connecting flights are US Air. It is all booked as one itinerary.

Is this itinerary at the mercy of US Air's multi-tiered award levels? Or because there are *A partners, it's flat rate at 60000 round trip? If the former, how would they price out something that is partially US Air?

JPG3392

The rates are determined by USAir, not by its partners, since you are using US miles. My understanding is that US permits award travel on its partners only when award seats are available at the low level (= 60k in this case).

As you may know, US is leaving *A on March 30, and using US miles to book flights on its current *A partners will not be possible after that date.

tzoom84

I can find a lot of availability for *A partner flights through tools like ExpertFlyer, AwardNexus, etc. But that just says they are available. The only tool that I know of to determine the LEVEL of the award is the US Air website ... which doesn't display partners.

So how do I determine the award level of a partner flight before calling US Air? Or do I need to stay on hold with US Air for ~30 mins for every segment I'm interested in before finding out if it is a LOW award by US Air definition.

Thanks again for all your help everyone.

mrahul

Try United website.whenever you see saver award, it usually should be available to book through US air agent. But now LH availability is limited to flights on Wed and Sat.

justhere

Seeing as you are only using two airlines, US and AC, just look for low awards on usairways.com for the US flights and on AC's website for the AC low awards. I think you have to have an Aeroplan number to look on AC's website but you can just register and get one.

If you see low awards on AC's website (doesn't matter what AC would charge an Aeroplan member, what matters is that it is a low award), and you see a low award on US's website, you should be able to call US and book at the 60K that US charges for *A awards.