Originally Posted by
beyounged
1. So does LA indeed control how many N class seats are available base on where the ticket issuing agencies are? (so for the UK based TA I used, he cannot see N class on a flight, but another agent somewhere else can see it?)
The marketing carrier determines the availability in each bucket. Some carriers vary by sales location, others don't.
Originally Posted by
beyounged
2. If so, then does ITA search it base on the ticket originating city? (so for this case, South Korea) Or does it search ALL availabilities across the board?
It uses the city of origin as the sales office, unless you tell it otherwise. Open the Advanced Options link to see that box, right above Currency.
Originally Posted by
beyounged
3. Is there a way to see specific inventory is available for any point of sale? (so can I see where is N space available, and then go find a TA of that country?)
You can use ExpertFlyer, but it only has a few countries available to choose from. Also don't forget about married segments affecting availability.
Originally Posted by
beyounged
4. Is that why Priceline cannot price out some of them because they are base in the US? (at least when the powerscipt gets me to PL it is for US)
Possibly. Some TAs base on the website address (e.g., if you login from expedia.ch, you get the Swiss version) others use origin city. Usually you can tell from the currency the ticket is sold in;
i.e., if it's sold in CHF, you're buying out of Switzerland, but this is not 100 % reliable.
Originally Posted by
beyounged
Or, maybe the TA does not know what is going on and made up a reason to get rid of me, so...
Also entirely possible.
Originally Posted by
beyounged
Finally, I would love to book this trip as I want to secure the status before June, and there is almost nothing that can beat 200k RDM+exotic destinations for 3.5k USD. Anyone knows any powerful (and very patient) TA who may want to take a crack at it? I would be willing to pay more than what normally TA's charge for a multi-city.
I usually book directly with an airline, unless I think that it is an error fare. I don't always use the same airline who issued the fare, mind you. Probably wouldn't try anything complex if the fare is restricted to LA ticket stock though; life is too short to speak with LA customer service.
American Express travel is quite good if you have a platinum or centurion card.
You could also try Propeller Travel who are supposed to be quite good at complex fares.
danielbk may be able to do it; if not at least he'll tell you why.
https://propellertravel.com/pro-travel-enq/ [Disclaimer: I've never used them.]
Originally Posted by
psbaj
1. I can't confirm that but as far as I know, you'll have different prices depending on the country you issued your tickets because the base fares change from country to country, not availability.
Base fares can be varied by sales city, but this seems to be unusual.
Availability is often varied by sales city; if you look at the European carriers they love to do this. The same BA flight is often J9 C9 in AMS, J9 C1 in LON, and J1 C0 in NYC. Who knows why. Other carriers may not think it is worth doing.