Originally Posted by
vhuang
This is about my government ticket issued by CWT SATO travel.
I tried to add a stopover during a 24 hour travel evolution (SFO-DEN-FRA-BAH). There is no way for me to do this online. I called the UA government desk and they said that since I have not yet begun travel, they cannot touch my ticket and changes would have to be done through my agent.
They also informed me that once I had begun travel, they could take it over and make changes. So I have a glimmer of hope that I can add a Frankfurt stopover on my way home.
Now the million-dollar question...once I have started my travels and departed SFO, can I call the UA government desk from DEN during my plane change and ask them to push back my FRA-BAH segment by a day, so that I can have a rest break on the way out?
I'd love to do this all via SATO but their wait times are ridiculous!
Everything the UA agent told you is correct. UA won't make any changes to a Government ticket until after the first flight has departed. After that UA can do a lot, but there still can be limitations depending on fare basis availability and fare rules. The odds are not 100% that UA's Government desk will be able to build a stopover at FRA after you've departed SFO. Plan accordingly.
Originally Posted by
vhuang
I believe that I am entitled to the rest break and my command is alright with me taking it in Frankfurt versus arriving a day early in Bahrain for rest.
But for the life of me, I can’t get UA or SATO to cooperate.
Did you actually speak with an international agent at SATO? The international agents are generally more knowledgeable than the ones servicing domestic travelers. IME if you call them with the exact flight numbers, dates and times you want they will book just about anything within the rules.
You've already stated that the DEN-BAH contact fare allows a stopover at FRA, so call them and ask them to book you on SFO-DEN connecting to DEN-BAH on the contract fare with a stopover at FRA. Politely point out to them that building a stopover at FRA is within the fare rules of the DEN-BAH contract flights. I've done this exact thing on international flights many times over the years, including mixing contract with non-contract routes (more complicated than your case where you're gluing together exclusively contract routes).
Originally Posted by
sannmann
United did win the SFO-FRA YCA City Pair contract this FY. However, no airline was awarded a YCA fare between SFO and BAH.
OP will require a DG fare to get between SFO and BAH. OP will also require a Fly America exception to take the rest stop en route at FRA before continuing on to BAH.
OP’s approving official may wish to see a constructed travel worksheet that shows the price difference between a stopover en route or a rest day at the destination. Approving official may also wish to see the cost of taking the rest stop at other locations en route.
If the OP sets up the ticket as I describe above, with the permitted stopover at FRA, there will be no issues with the Fly America Act because they will be flying a contract fare all the way to BAH. The airfare on SFO-DEN-FRA-BAH will also likely be significantly less compared to booking non-contract flights SFO-XXX-BAH, even when considering the cost of the stopover, so the OP's AO should not have any issues.