calf613

Feeling pretty happy after managing to snag the below:

HKG-oBOS-oHKG-xSFO-LAX//SFO-oHKG-BOS//EWR-oHKG-oPEN-xKUL-HKG

Think I maxed out both distance as well as segments with this one. Flying AA and MH as the partner airlines on the US and MY domestic segments. Managed to secure all segments in Biz, cost 240k miles. A couple of things I learned:

* As mentioned in another thread, these types of awards are becoming much harder to redeem because of lower quantities of Standard inventory available for Biz and First. I also was not able to use the QF tool to check award inventory/plan because the married segments I was getting were blocked for Standard awards for AM
* Others in this forum probably could have confirmed this already, but trying to secure PEY for segments that do not have Biz availability is a no-go. It is only First, Biz, or Economy for these flights. The first agent I spoke with actually held PEY seats for me when I was going through the itinerary with him, but when they went to calculate the taxes, I was told that the taxes could not be calculated because the ticket was not valid (due to the PEY sectors). Luckily, they were able to release some U inventory for me (thank you, Cara!)
* When planning in the past, I used the CX Earning Club Points calculator to check how many miles each segment was (using Y class) to plan my total itinerary mileage. Since the change to AM accrual, that does not work, since the mileage length for each segment is still linked to the old system. So, you can either call in and ask about the distance, or use a different airline in the calculator (use the highest economy fare), which should give you the actual miles for each segment
* After calling in a couple of times, I actually found that the online redemption tool now corresponds fairly accurately to CX/KA availability that was given to me over the phone. I guess that is good in the sense that it is finally (more?) accurate and can be used to plan, but bad in the sense that it means there really is reduced Standard availability compared to before (ie., not just due to IT)
* On the other hand, I was able to find some award availability on CX/KA flights through the CX website that didn’t show up on BA. This was on the KUL-HKG segment, so maybe that suggests CX might retain more HKG O&D availability relative to partners
* I think carrier surcharges/taxes have increased significantly. My guess is if I booked this itinerary before the change in taxes/fees, it would have been at least half of what I ended up paying if not less (PM me if you want to know the taxes I paid)
* Finally, it looks like they changed the ticket issuing process. After you have confirmed your booking over the phone, they place your booking on hold, and then have an agent call you back within 24-48 hours to collect your CC info for the fees/taxes. I suppose this is due to the security breach that they experienced, but it was an interesting quirk to me. It does delay the process slightly, so keep in mind that you will have to go through this last step before issuing your ticket

A big thank you to the patient MPC call staff that helped me with confirming my itinerary!!