Fellow Flyertalkers,

I have just attempted to book the following award (currently on hold):

Outbound: Guatemala - LAX - Seoul - Bangkok

Return: Phuket - Seoul - LAX - Guatemala

Asiana flights between LAX and Seoul booked in first, the rest business. We do not have any stopovers longer than 12 hours (LAX outbound).

Seats are available and all went well until I was quoted 260.000 miles for the trip. According to SAS' award chart, this trip should cost 190.000 points, but they are telling me that they are charging an extra 70.000 between Guatemala and LAX. This cannot be right as Guatemala and USA are in the same zone...

Also, I am aware that with the transit in Seoul, we are stopping in a third zone. However, according to SAS' EuroBonus pages this should not be a problem:

One award is permitted between maximum two zones, with transfer (of less than 24 hours) in a third zone that must be equally or less expensive than the destination zone.

Any experiences or advise?