mabramovich

I should probably know this, but wouldn't YYZ - TPE - DPS (dest.) - TPE - YYZ (stop) - FLL be allowed? It is with like UA MP but online Aeroplan says no. Wanted to get like a 'free' FL flight in there.

PS No one take my seats to DPS. I already promised my parents the seats.

Pseudo Nim

It should be allowed - same IATA zone and all. Maybe only MPM question - but shouldn't be over I wouldn't think.

echino

The "possibly" part is what makes it not really worth it. If you are within two weeks and see that the two LH F segments are available, then it may be worth it (but I wouldn't do it). Gambling - not really.

allbrosca

I think it's worth it. The F experience at bargain prices is one of the few true perks that are left for ff plans. I gambled on 2 LH F seats coming open on FRA - YYZ within 2 weeks and they did and I made the change while I was in KUL. NRT - FRA also came open on LH, so I changed to that too from F on TG from BKK - FRA (with NRT - BKK in J).

Check in advance when they add F availability to the flights you want. It seems to vary a little bit from route to route, and make sure you can check when it opens up.The NRT - FRA came open much before the FRA - YYZ I was looking for, but I held on to it so I only had to make one change. Fingers crossed it didn't disappear in the interim, which I think was about a week. Also, since I had already started travelling, there was no increase in scamcharges, but I got a tax refund when I changed BRU - ORD - YYZ to BRU - FRA - YYZ.

Yul_voyager

IMO, no. You have pretty good seats in J, I consider that is already fine and would prefer to keep the money for better hotels once in destination...

Pseudo Nim

I suggest YES - but only AFTER travel begins, to avoid scamcharges.

tng11

YUL-MUC seems to work for my schedule, and F availability 2 weeks out looks good. I hedge my bets and get LH J at worse.

I can change my itinerary to:
YTZ-YUL AC Y
YUL-MUC LH J (decent chance of finding LH F)
MUC-DME LH J
DME-FRA LH J
FRA-BKK TG F (looks like an very high chance of changing over to LH F)
BKK-SYD TG F
PER-SIN SQ J
SIN-NRT NH J
NRT-ORD NH F
ORD-YYZ AC J

Gaining the 3 long haul F segments at minimum is super-tempting... Considering I'm one of those peasant types that would never pay for J or F out of pocket.

Anyone wants to estimate what scamcharges will be? (I'm prepared for $1000+)

lowside67

If it were available, I'd personally rather fly YUL-ZRH (Swiss J, possibility of F), then ZRH-BKK (Swiss or Thai). Less stopovers, Swiss is a good product and scamcharge free, and there is occasionally last minute F availability. Both Thai and Swiss fly ZRH-BKK so good options there...

Mark

Pseudo Nim

You're probably looking at about $1K. If you want a precise estimate, go on ITA Matrix and price out just the long hauls on LH/TG/NH and you will get a decent idea. Btw, I'd do it because you're likely to get FCT access in FRA and Royal Orchid Spa access in BKK. Don't be petty and do it.

I actually flew YUL-ZRH in J for the first time a few weeks ago and I must say, I was somewhat underwhelmed. I've only flown that segment in F before, and maybe I was being unfair, but the difference in service and food was very noticeable - so much so that I didn't really enjoy it. Food, for instance, all came out on one tray and was pretty average; I told myself that's fine, I'm sure only F gets separate courses - but I then continued onwards on TK, SQ and OZ and they all had separate courses, and I seem to remember even LH having separate courses. I know, first world problems, but what I mean to say is, don't reroute JUST for the LX experience unless it's in F.

Also: I hate YUL-ZRH because it departs at 5pm and essentially lands at midnight. You have very little time to sleep and it messes with your following day a LOT. Better take YUL-MUC because it's a true overnight - and you're likely to get the excellent new J product these days.

tng11

I'm already flying LX J from PEK-ZRH in January, so wouldn't mind giving LH J a spin (only the new one of course) if I have bad luck nabbing an F seat.

I have the MRs to splurge (hurrah Gold referrals), so F it is! ^

EDIT: I can't seem to find YUL-MUC on the AP website, but it shows up when I type in YTZ-MUC. It shows up on the ANA tool, so it's not phantom?

dbl_k

My wife and I have already flown YYZ-EWR-EZE-JNB.

We're trying to change our return flight back home to YYZ but are having issues due to lack of available flights to YYZ via Europe.

I thought flying through Asia was allowed but maybe having gone down to EZE limits our options for the return.

We tried JNB-PEK-TPE-YYZ but was told that in combination with our outbound was over the MPM.

Can anyone suggest a valid routing? There seems to be zero availability from JNB to IST/FRA/MUC/LHR/ZRH and almost nothing for EZE and GRU. We also tried ADD but can't find many days that have 2 J seats.

We are looking for June 2014.

Thanks....

worldtraveller73

If you have the time, I would check Aeroplan for routings JNB-PEK-YYZ (SAA/AC). As a reminder, the Aeroplan search engine is geared for the 5% rule so if you find valid economy class space across the Pacific, then it simply becomes a matter of identifying the valid route and then finding J space on the date that you need it.

The amount of miles that you travel on the way down has no bearing on your return trip (unless you open jaw, which would mean a different MPM value).

It seems that Egypt Air offers a lot of space JNB-CAI-YYZ but no one wants to fly them as they are dry and there are perceptions of it not being as safe a carrier as others.

concol

Does anyone see any possible issues with the following award routing from YYZ to CEB

YYZ-TPE-ICN-CEB
CEB (STOP)
CEB –ICN-BKK
BKK (STOP)
BKK-ZRH-YUL-YYZ
According to great circle mapper the route is 24,139miles

In April 2014 I flew the following reward route
YYZ-ORD-IST-ICN-CEB
CEB (STOP)
NON REWARD TICKET TO SIN
SIN-HKG
HKG (STOP)
HKG-BKK-IST-JFK-YYZ
According to great circle mapper the award route was 25,434miles. (this does not include the miles between CEB-SIN – 1,505miles)

The issues is that OZ is the only star alliance carrier that flies to CEB.

The planned route uses BR and LX for the long haul flights and OZ/TG with Asia.

echino

Your destination is BKK, and your outbound routing is certainly a lot over MPM. Return BKK-ZRH-YUL-YYZ is fine. You may have to do an open jaw between CEB and BKK and buy a revenue ticket. Alternatively, fly via MNL and buy a separate MNL-CEB-MNL ticket, like this:

YYZ-TPE-MNL
stop
MNL-BKK
stop
BKK-ZRH-YUL-YYZ

concol

Sorry you have confused me. BKK falls into an Asia 1 reward 125k for Business Class while CEB/MNL falls into Asia 2 – 130k.

As mentioned in April 2014 I flew YYZ-ORD-IST-ICN-CEB that is 12,746 miles VS my plan of flying YYZ-TPE-ICN-CEB which is 10,302.

Does the fact that I am stopping in BKK now make my destination BKK?