newbie2008

Is it typical for some flights to show up as part of a particular connection flight but not on another. For example.

I did the following searches:

DFW-HNL => DFW - IAH 7:05 - 8:17
IAH - HNL 9:15 - 13:55

DFW-IAH => The 7:05 flight doesn't show up

DFW-NRT => DFW - IAH 10:50 - 12:02
IAH - NRT 10:20 (+1) - 15:30
The 7:05 flight doesn't show up.

The searches was all done on aeroplan. If I want to fly to NRT, it won't show the earlier flight (which would enable me to fly on the same day). Is it typical for a program to release flights based on connections?

pentiumvi

deleted

pentiumvi

What's the rules regarding transit cities. Cannot hit same city twice in one direction?
Also, is it actually allowed to have 2 stop-overs in the same direction? Or is this up to discretion of the agent?
The terms and conditions seem to only indicate that 2 stop-overs are allowed, but doesn't go into much more detail.

Are these rules published somewhere else?

TIA

Cerenity

I think hitting a city twice in the same direction is considered backtracking and is not allowed.

2 stopovers in the same direction is allowed. I think there have been many itineraries booked that support this (see the "FAQ: List of valid and booked mini-RTW itineraries" thread)

Pseudo Nim

Yup, this is pretty normal, but it's not a program thing - it's called "married segments". The basic concept is that an airline wants you to fly AAA-BBB-CCC, but not BBB-CCC or AAA-BBB because those are more "attractive" revenue segments, so they don't publish those flights. They might have space available, but officially it's not bookable. Aeroplan used to have no trouble manually requesting them (I remember one time I wanted to book PEK-SVO, and it would only show up as PEK-SVO-ARN, so the agent manually booked it), but in recent years they have started either having genuine trouble doing it, or they just refuse to "because". You can try asking an agent to manually request it, and sometimes they will oblige, and sometimes they won't.



Can't do same city twice in one direction. In the old days, it would sometimes be allowed if there was no other way to get out (i.e. xxx-VIE-KRR-VIE-yyy), but this is no longer allowed, period.

The stopover rule is simple, don't bother overcomplicating it. Basically, you are allowed THREE STOPS in a complete itinerary. That's it. One of those stops will end up being your destination because it's the furthest one away, but it's not in any way different from the other stops. The only thing you cannot do is stop in the same city twice in one direction, so xxx-AAA, stop, AAA-BBB-AAA, stop, AAA-CCC-xxx (where CCC is rrrrrrrrrrreaally far away, hence becoming the destination) is not legal. But aside from that, just pretend you have three stops, period.

newbie2008

I completed an award booking last night. If I include all flights, there are 11 total. The agent said that the taxes and surcharge had to be calculated manually. Has anyone suspect that sometimes, the taxes and surcharge are not calculated correctly?

The reason I'm asking is that the flight search is back today. I was able to search through each segment and add up the charges. While I know a complete itinerary is more complex, but I thought that the total charges won't be greater than the sum of the individual segments.

Has anyone felt this way before? More importantly has anyone been successful in correcting them and getting a refund of the incorrect charges?

alc

While I do have taxes/surcharge calculation error by the agent before, but please do know that it could be normal that the tax for individual flights will be less. As far as I understood, tax are calculation based on Origin and destination. The number of segments in between will only add on those airport, city, or country specific fee on it.

I think if you share your flights info and the tax info, expert here will be able to let you know if you are overcharge or not.

newbie2008

Thank you for your reply. Here's my itinerary.

DFW-YVR [AC] 20 hour layover
YVR-SFO-HND [UA] Stopover 1
HND-FUK-ICN [ANA][OZ] 22 hour layover
ICN-TPE [OZ] 23 hour layover
TPE-HKG [EVA] Destination
HKG-IST-ZRH [TK] Stopover 2
ZHR-EWR-DFW [UA]

The tax and surcharges come to 548 cad. I had expected it to be around 400 cad.

I know there's high charges for AC, ANA, OZ. But I thought it wouldn't be that bad since the flights are short distance. The layover in YVR was an impulse because I have never been to Vancouver before. Regarding HND-FUK-ICN, I couldn't find any connection that will give me a good time to see the city. Any suggestion or help you guys can offer is great. I think this would put me at ease that I've not been "cheated" if someone knowledgeable could say the charge sounds about right.

pentiumvi

I've been curious about this as well, so I ran some searches on ITA for your flights and got ~$538 CAD in taxes and fees. (DFW-YVR leg was $220 in YQ! ouch)

Considering your trans-ocean flights are on YQ-free carriers, I don't think the origin-destination fee model applies.

flyer05

Think you can call and ask to be sent a breakdown of the taxes and fees.

newbie2008

Thank you pentiumvi for doing that. In that case, I don't believe I was overcharged. It was simply my impulse that cost me. Normally I would go and make a change, but this itinerary is complex, I don't want to risk losing my other flights. Live and learn.

GiantCow

Sorry can't help with your surcharge question but I've been looking into a award flight with 2 stopovers for next year.

Did you just look up each leg individually as one-ways and call in to book? Or did you use the multicity tool and book it all online?

SparseFlyer

Are you talking about FUK or ICN?

Because Domestic FUK is 10m from Hakata Station, and 15 from Tenjin. You'll have to add another 15 for the shuttle between the domestic and international terminals though.

If you're talking about ICN, there is a "City Airport Terminal" in Gangnam-gu where you can check in your bags, so you can print your BP and not have to get to the airport early to check in bags. However, the busses and shuttles aren't particularly quick, and traffic can be really bad near the bridges so keep that in mind.

IluvSQ

[QUOTE=newbie2008;28368991]Thank you for your reply. Here's my itinerary.

DFW-YVR [AC] 20 hour layover
YVR-SFO-HND [UA] Stopover 1
HND-FUK-ICN [ANA][OZ] 22 hour layover
ICN-TPE [OZ] 23 hour layover
TPE-HKG [EVA] Destination
HKG-IST-ZRH [TK] Stopover 2
ZHR-EWR-DFW [UA]

....
Regarding HND-FUK-ICN, I couldn't find any connection that will give me a good time to see the city. Any suggestion or help you guys can offer is great. [QUOTE]

Instead of looking for HND-ICN, why not ask for HND-GMP? Several flights
daily on both NH and OZ, and seats should be easy to come by.
You can the depart either ICN-TPE, or GMP-TSA ( which would be my
preference) depending on the schedules.

newbie2008

[QUOTE=IluvSQ;28373790][QUOTE=newbie2008;28368991]Thank you for your reply. Here's my itinerary.

DFW-YVR [AC] 20 hour layover
YVR-SFO-HND [UA] Stopover 1
HND-FUK-ICN [ANA][OZ] 22 hour layover
ICN-TPE [OZ] 23 hour layover
TPE-HKG [EVA] Destination
HKG-IST-ZRH [TK] Stopover 2
ZHR-EWR-DFW [UA]

....
Regarding HND-FUK-ICN, I couldn't find any connection that will give me a good time to see the city. Any suggestion or help you guys can offer is great. Thank you for the suggestion. They do have a flight from HND-GMP. However, I've read in another thread that Aeroplan doesn't consider GMP and ICN to be coterminal. If I fly into GMP and fly out of ICN, that will count as an open jaw (which will nullify my stopover in Zurich).