Originally Posted by
daniellam
Were you solely booking online? Apparently when you choose "First Class" on most online booking sites (including OTAs), and have a "J" segment before or after a stopover in First Class, the online travel sites kick it out. This is because these sites tend to build complete itineraries before presenting them to you. If the flight component involves F connecting to J or J connecting to F, the algorithm would automatically choose the next lowest class if F is not available. However when it encounters a standalone "J" segment (stopover), it doesn't find "F" and kicks out the itinerary with a response "no flights available".
You need to call a live human travel agent such as AMEX PTS/CTS to book "F", "J", "J", "F" by choosing the flights one by one in order for it to price.
Also, some airline call centers now use a graphical interface (to reduce agent training time) that is similar to that of the online booking sites and kick out the itinerary (with one of the segments in "J" has a stopover before or after an "F" segment) if you specify "First Class".
Exactly thta is often the problem.
There is a way around it: book SFO-CDG-CPH, and TXL-CDG-SFO
as if Berlin-San Francisco was a connection with less than 24 hours in Paris. That way it gives you a round-trip P/F fare San Francisco-Copenhagen with an open jaw from Berlin to San Francisco. That P/F fare will most probably be a fare that allows for unlimited stopovers (the human can find one for you at least). Once that is booked and issued, change the Berlin-Paris leg to the date that you want, and it will keep the old fare, and you'll end up sitting in the J cabin on Berlin-Paris.