Mini RTW Questions

Old Aug 30, 2017, 10:39 am
  #5056  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,464
Originally Posted by TTC192Rocket
My flight is in March 2018 and is affected by a schedule change causing a mis-connect.
In case of involuntary schedule changes, you can make changes for free, without paying the change fee, to any airline which has award space. You will not get any taxes or fees back, but also you are not charged extra if you choose higher-YQ airlines.
echino is offline  
Old Aug 30, 2017, 10:49 am
  #5057  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Toronto
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Thank you for your help! Now to investigate the highest YQ airlines!

Originally Posted by echino
In case of involuntary schedule changes, you can make changes for free, without paying the change fee, to any airline which has award space. You will not get any taxes or fees back, but also you are not charged extra if you choose higher-YQ airlines.
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Old Aug 30, 2017, 11:37 am
  #5058  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: aeroplan, starwood, fairmont
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Booking award for multiple people

I am hoping to book a mini-rtw with wife and kids
may be short in my account for 1 person - am I able to have my wife book her ticket with her points during same phone call (I dont want space to disappear while she tries to subsequently call in)
thx
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Old Aug 30, 2017, 11:41 am
  #5059  
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Originally Posted by dlld2341
I am hoping to book a mini-rtw with wife and kids
may be short in my account for 1 person - am I able to have my wife book her ticket with her points during same phone call (I dont want space to disappear while she tries to subsequently call in)
thx
We did it that way for a couple of tickets. Both of us from our own accounts with a single call and phone agent, and each of us paid the phone fee. Our tickets were plain RTs.
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Old Aug 30, 2017, 11:43 am
  #5060  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
Originally Posted by TTC192Rocket
So I called into AP to get my above flights changed. Both the AC and BR changes were available, but when I asked how much YQ and airport taxes I'd be getting back, the agent replied that I'd get none.

Is he/she correct? I mentioned I'm not transiting the US nor South Korea any longer, nor am I traveling on OZ, but they would not refund any taxes/fees.

I then said since I'm paying for it, then why don't I do YYZ-TPE-ICN-HKG, and that was workable. It's needless backtracking, though.
They're correct as in No charge $ as it's schedule/involuntary change
But you don't get YQ/tax back, so it works both ways

I suppose you can cancel for free, and then re-book yourself hoping for lower tax/fees?
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Old Aug 30, 2017, 12:47 pm
  #5061  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Toronto
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August 31 update:

Booked originally:
YYZ-SEA AC J (AM flight then got upgauged to A320, but operating in the PM)
SEA-ICN OZ J (Most affected flight)
ICN-HKG OZ J

Called into AP after playing around with routing:
YYZ-TPE BR J
TPE-FUK BR J (Hello Kitty!)
FUK-ICN OZ J
ICN-HKG OZ J

The agent remarked that it was just under MPM.
There's backtracking to be sure, and I probably should have done AC15 direct, or BR35/BR855, but I get the Hello Kitty flight and I get to keep my upper deck 744 flight on OZ.

Thanks to all who helped with suggestions!

-------------------------------------------------
August 30
Yes! I was thinking that, but how soon would my previously-selected partner flights be released back into the system? As soon as the agent hits the cancel button? The other flights are on OS J and SK J, and I'm hoping to keep those as well.

This is all during the March Break week, so I'm wary of making too drastic a change.

The easiest option, of course, is AC15, but as much as I enjoy AC, I want a change of scenary. BR is absolutely great, except for the layover. I can do the Bus/Econ mixed flight on the 77W/A321 that gets me into HKG earlier... but... all-J reward principles!



Originally Posted by jerryhung
They're correct as in No charge $ as it's schedule/involuntary change
But you don't get YQ/tax back, so it works both ways

I suppose you can cancel for free, and then re-book yourself hoping for lower tax/fees?
New

Last edited by TTC192Rocket; Aug 31, 2017 at 1:09 pm Reason: added revised routing
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Old Aug 30, 2017, 6:22 pm
  #5062  
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Originally Posted by echino
YQ is not recalculated after the first segment is flown.
That is not always true.

But airport taxes are definitely recalculated.
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Old Sep 3, 2017, 7:17 pm
  #5063  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: West
Posts: 3,357
Originally Posted by dlld2341
I am hoping to book a mini-rtw with wife and kids
may be short in my account for 1 person - am I able to have my wife book her ticket with her points during same phone call (I dont want space to disappear while she tries to subsequently call in)
thx
Get authorization for your wife's account and book your tickets from 2 accounts at the same time with an agent. Still pay booking fees per ticket as 24 left already indicated. I also done these many time in the past. Agent books these separately but its faster than calling again. There is always a chance the availability disappears as the first lot is being booked.
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Old Sep 4, 2017, 7:19 pm
  #5064  
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 5
Hello everyone, long time FT lurker and now first time poster. I was super elite for years but have not reached any noteworthy status for a while now (hit 35k a few years back with an unusually heavy business travel year). I am however looking at planning a family vacation in late Dec 2018/Jan 2019 using available AE miles (family of four). I have been reading the information here extensively and see that there is a lot to learn. Destination is Australia (popular dest I know) and we would like to do the mini RTW in J class. I have a few questions that I hope you could be so kind to share your expert perspectives on. Apologies if these have been covered before and I missed them.

1) As a non-status member without ability to book any available seat, how challenging is it to actually find available inventory? I see many different trip combinations listed here but as now an average Joe would I be able to find similar?

2) i noticed on another posting the timing for release of J inventory which seems different across the various SA carriers. What's the best strategy to start planning? Would it be to look for potential routes and then align to the timing of different carriers release schedules? I don't want to miss inventory if it gets snapped up as soon as it is made available.

3) Last question, has anyone started up a side business to provide some research and advice services for booking a mini RTW outside of calling AP? I'd be willing to pay for help and assistance as the complexity and time involved for a rookie is pretty daunting.

Thx!
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 8:31 am
  #5065  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
Originally Posted by brew99

1) As a non-status member without ability to book any available seat, how challenging is it to actually find available inventory? I see many different trip combinations listed here but as now an average Joe would I be able to find similar?

2) i noticed on another posting the timing for release of J inventory which seems different across the various SA carriers. What's the best strategy to start planning? Would it be to look for potential routes and then align to the timing of different carriers release schedules? I don't want to miss inventory if it gets snapped up as soon as it is made available.

3) Last question, has anyone started up a side business to provide some research and advice services for booking a mini RTW outside of calling AP? I'd be willing to pay for help and assistance as the complexity and time involved for a rookie is pretty daunting.

Thx!
Luck, timing (earlier is better), supply & demand, brute force search/trial-and-error

Australia is hard regardless
Study previous booked trips and start from there, search with low season dates to see options available, so you can be ready to book when your date opens up

There are some paid services, look them up (there's a thread on Flyertalk) or simply Google
Some are USA, some are Canada. I think rate is $100-$150/person?
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 9:46 am
  #5066  
 
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Originally Posted by brew99

1) As a non-status member without ability to book any available seat, how challenging is it to actually find available inventory?
I have / had no status. Redeemed many times TPAC, mini-RTW and intra-Asia. I do have very flexible dates and destinations.

Booked Australia for next April. Didn't find it difficult to get SQ space at all.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 9:48 am
  #5067  
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It will be incredibly difficult to find 4 J seats on the same plane either way, so be prepared to either take 2x2 different routings or fly 2J2Y if you have to
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 9:04 pm
  #5068  
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 5
Originally Posted by Smiley90
It will be incredibly difficult to find 4 J seats on the same plane either way, so be prepared to either take 2x2 different routings or fly 2J2Y if you have to
Thanks for the feedback (also thanks to beep and jerry). I've started to poke around the wiki and related links and may come back with some more questions. I also might reconsider the time of year and potentially shift.
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Old Sep 9, 2017, 7:48 pm
  #5069  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 81
Pre-emptive question

I've recently booked a mini-RTW with miles. However, I see my first segment having multiple schedule changes. The route is DFW-YVR-NRT on AC. I had 4 hours connection time. Due to the schedule changes, now it's shorten to a little over 3. I think this is still okay. But if I run into problem (if the first flight gets delay and I miss my connection), what would be the likely course of action from AC? I asked this because I had a DFW-YYZ-HND one year. My first flight was delayed by 4 hours. I didn't run into issue (other than not being able to take a quick tour of Toronto) as my connecting flight was in the next day.

1. Would they book me on another flight to NRT on another airline?
2. There's only one flight each day from YVR-NRT, would they pay for hotel if I have to take next day's flight?
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Old Sep 9, 2017, 7:53 pm
  #5070  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: YXE
Posts: 3,050
YVR-HND leaves 3 hours later on ANA (NH). They'd probably try to rebook you on that if space is available and you accept going to HND instead of NRT.

In an ideal world, they'd find your bag amongst the rejects that weren't loaded on the onwards AC flight to NRT, re-tag it, and on-load it for the NH flight. But we don't always live in an ideal world, so you might be separated from it for a day or two.

Last edited by pitz; Sep 9, 2017 at 8:28 pm
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