May 30, 2013, 9:55 pm
Last edit by: jerryhung
New List of Mini-RTW 2.0 version after Oct 29th, 2014 "enhancement" (i.e. less MPM)
FAQ: List of valid and booked mini-RTW itineraries version 2.0 (post-"enhancement"
INTRO
This wiki is taken from the excellent overview in the first post of this thread by FrequentFlyer9000 and is meant as a guide to the Aeroplan "Mini-RTW" for the uninformed newbie flyer. This is a no judgment zone and newbies are welcome. In this thread, the usage of scary acronyms and complicated FlyerTalk insider-speak will be minimized.
Also, this wiki is a work in progress so please provide feedback or make wiki edits if you think something warrants it.
INFO & COMMON QUESTIONS
What is the "Mini-RTW"?
The Mini-RTW is a name given to a type of reward booking using Air Canada's Aeroplan miles. It is actually not a "round-the-world" ticket at all - it is a regular award redemption. Just as you would use 75K frequent flyer miles to go to Japan on another airline, you can use 75K to do so using Aeroplan miles. The difference is that Aeroplan allows you to "stopover" in multiple cities at no extra mileage cost, making it very attractive compared to other reward travel. It should be noted that this isn't really that much better than some other airlines. For example, Delta offers one stopover + open jaw, which is only one stopover worse than Aeroplan's deal. But many of the airlines only offer one stopover and no open jaw. So there is definitely value here.
In addition to your final destination (in which you can stay for days/weeks/months), you are allowed:
•Two stopovers in other cities (stay for days/weeks/months). You are allowed to trade one of these stopovers for an open jaw (where you land in one city, but take the next flight out of another city)
•10 segments (layovers during which you spend less than 24 hours in a given city) <-- this limit may be gone as of 2014/2015
So, disregarding the additional 10 segments, an award trip for Japan could actually look like this:
NYC > Tokyo (destination - one week) > Paris (stopover - one week) > London (stopover - one week) > NYC
You basically get three times the world exploration for the price of one. If you add on the extra layovers allowed, you can turn it into:
NYC > Los Angeles (one day) > Hawaii (one day) > Tokyo (one week) > Seoul (one day) > Hong Kong (one day) > Paris (one week) > Munich (one day) > London (one week) > Washington DC (one day) > NYC
Of course, you don't have to do the above. Spending so much time in airports can be exhausting. But the option is there for you if you want it.
How many miles is this going to cost me?
See the Award Travel chart here.
From North America to "Asia 1" countries: (effective Jan 1, 2014)
•75K in Economy
•150K in Business
•210K in First
From North America to "Europe 1" countries:
•60K in Economy
•90K in Business
•125K in First
...and so on. Check the link for other combinations. Assuming you are stopping in three cities, the city in the most "expensive" redemption zone is the zone you will have to pay for. So if you are visiting two Asia1 zone cities and one Middle East city, you will pay 80K miles rather than 75K miles since that is what the Middle East trip costs (numbers assume Economy class travel).
Which miles do I need to use? Can I use miles from other Star Alliance airlines?
You need to use Aeroplan miles. You cannot use miles from other Star Alliance members, such as United, to book this mini-RTW. However, you can book flights for the mini-RTW on any airline that is in the alliance and has the desired award seating available. You technically do not have to fly any segments on Air Canada at all.
So, what's the catch? What are the restrictions?
There is no catch. However, there are some restrictions on your itinerary. This is where things get a bit more complicated.
Want to find the new MPM after 10/29/2014?
Aeroplan City Pair mileage (new pseudo-MPM) - FlyerTalk Forums
This is no longer valid after 10/29/2014
2) If you do elect to use an open jaw instead of one of your stopovers, you must schedule the open jaw so that it is in the same "IATA zone" as either the origin or the destination city. So if you are going from NY to Japan to Europe and back to NY, the open jaw cannot be scheduled in Europe, since it is neither the origin zone or the destination zone. The open jaw also cannot be a larger distance than any two legs you are actually flying. In case you are wondering, IATA zones are as follows:
IATA 1 - The Americas (incl. Caribbean, Hawaii)
IATA 2 - Europe as far as the Ural Mountain range, Middle East & Africa
IATA 3 - Oceania, SE Asia, Far East, Sub-Continent.
Remember that if you use your open jaw at the turnaround/destination point, you will only have one stopover to use left. So you would be able to do NYC > Singapore (destination, open jaw) // Tokyo (stop) > NYC. This has one destination, one open jaw (at turnaround point), and one stopover. However, you would not be able to do this: NYC > Madrid (stop) > Singapore (destination, open jaw) // Tokyo (stop) > NYC. Because your 2 stops + 1 open jaw would be more than the two allowed.
3) You cannot land in the same city twice in any one direction. This means that on my way from NY to, let's say, Cairo, I cannot do New York > London > Paris > London > Cairo on the way there, since I would be stopping in London twice in one direction. However, I can stop in London on the way to Cairo and then again on the way back from Cairo.
4) The actual trip needs to be "bookable". It needs to follow certain rules. I won't get into too many details, but anything completely nonsensical in terms of routing is generally not going to fly. But most routes will not fall into this category. Just something to keep in mind.
Do I have to go in the same direction for every leg of the flight?
No. As an example, you can cross the Atlantic twice or cross both the Atlantic and the Pacific once (more like a real RTW trip).
How do I book this?
Assuming you have already planned out your entire itinerary to the dot and have made sure your trip is in accordance with the above restrictions, call Aeroplan and speak with a representative. Alternatively, you can try to book online for free. However, this is not always possible with more complicated routings.
What will this cost me in real cash? How can I minimize fees?
It depends on the region you travel to and which airline you fly on. In general, the more Air Canada segments you fly the more fees/taxes you will pay. Aeroplan does not collect surcharges on non-Air Canada-operated flights. So flying Air Canada internationally will cost you extra. If you use a lot of Air Canada flights in your mini-RTW, your fees could be anywhere from $150 to $400, even sometimes creeping up above $600. Lesson is to avoid AC "metal" (airplanes) if possible.
Every trip will have a $30 cost per person for booking on the phone, regardless of the itinerary.
What are the change fees if I want to change a leg or multiple legs of the trip later?
$90 for changes after original booking. If there is an involuntary change because of flight schedules changing, there is no fee charged. Note that when you make a change, the taxes/fees associated with fuel, etc. may change. They may decrease or increase depending on the previous flight and the new flight. This is independent of the $90 rebooking fee. The $90 is flat regardless of how many of the segments you change. It is not $90 per changed segment.
How do I plan this trip out? Even finding a simple award ticket can be difficult online, let alone one with 10 segments!
Good question. It is recommended that you use either the All-Nippon Airways (ANA) website (guide on how here), the KVS tool (costs money) or ExpertFlyer (costs money), or http://FliSea.com. I personally like to use KVS, but it is not newbie-friendly. It is $20 for 2 months for the "diamond" level service, and $75 for a year. Small price to pay for saving a lot of time, if you can handle the learning curve. ANA is a good free method of finding segments and many people have had plenty of success with it; FliSea is a metasearch tool that uses all of the sites above.
The trick is to do this one segment at a time. So first find NYC > LONDON for the date you want and make sure that the award class you are looking for is available (e.g. Economy low fare). Then do the next leg: LONDON > ROME. Repeat for every segment. Write down the details of each flight, calculate the mileage using the www.gcmap.com resource, and call up Aeroplan to book.
One of our Flyertalk members has built a database with all the Mini-RTW routes that have been flown in the various threads in one simple place: http://www.turnleftat.com/mini-rtw-list/
FAQ: List of valid and booked mini-RTW itineraries version 2.0 (post-"enhancement"
INTRO
This wiki is taken from the excellent overview in the first post of this thread by FrequentFlyer9000 and is meant as a guide to the Aeroplan "Mini-RTW" for the uninformed newbie flyer. This is a no judgment zone and newbies are welcome. In this thread, the usage of scary acronyms and complicated FlyerTalk insider-speak will be minimized.
Also, this wiki is a work in progress so please provide feedback or make wiki edits if you think something warrants it.
INFO & COMMON QUESTIONS
What is the "Mini-RTW"?
The Mini-RTW is a name given to a type of reward booking using Air Canada's Aeroplan miles. It is actually not a "round-the-world" ticket at all - it is a regular award redemption. Just as you would use 75K frequent flyer miles to go to Japan on another airline, you can use 75K to do so using Aeroplan miles. The difference is that Aeroplan allows you to "stopover" in multiple cities at no extra mileage cost, making it very attractive compared to other reward travel. It should be noted that this isn't really that much better than some other airlines. For example, Delta offers one stopover + open jaw, which is only one stopover worse than Aeroplan's deal. But many of the airlines only offer one stopover and no open jaw. So there is definitely value here.
In addition to your final destination (in which you can stay for days/weeks/months), you are allowed:
•Two stopovers in other cities (stay for days/weeks/months). You are allowed to trade one of these stopovers for an open jaw (where you land in one city, but take the next flight out of another city)
•10 segments (layovers during which you spend less than 24 hours in a given city) <-- this limit may be gone as of 2014/2015
So, disregarding the additional 10 segments, an award trip for Japan could actually look like this:
NYC > Tokyo (destination - one week) > Paris (stopover - one week) > London (stopover - one week) > NYC
You basically get three times the world exploration for the price of one. If you add on the extra layovers allowed, you can turn it into:
NYC > Los Angeles (one day) > Hawaii (one day) > Tokyo (one week) > Seoul (one day) > Hong Kong (one day) > Paris (one week) > Munich (one day) > London (one week) > Washington DC (one day) > NYC
Of course, you don't have to do the above. Spending so much time in airports can be exhausting. But the option is there for you if you want it.
How many miles is this going to cost me?
See the Award Travel chart here.
From North America to "Asia 1" countries: (effective Jan 1, 2014)
•75K in Economy
•150K in Business
•210K in First
From North America to "Europe 1" countries:
•60K in Economy
•90K in Business
•125K in First
...and so on. Check the link for other combinations. Assuming you are stopping in three cities, the city in the most "expensive" redemption zone is the zone you will have to pay for. So if you are visiting two Asia1 zone cities and one Middle East city, you will pay 80K miles rather than 75K miles since that is what the Middle East trip costs (numbers assume Economy class travel).
Which miles do I need to use? Can I use miles from other Star Alliance airlines?
You need to use Aeroplan miles. You cannot use miles from other Star Alliance members, such as United, to book this mini-RTW. However, you can book flights for the mini-RTW on any airline that is in the alliance and has the desired award seating available. You technically do not have to fly any segments on Air Canada at all.
So, what's the catch? What are the restrictions?
There is no catch. However, there are some restrictions on your itinerary. This is where things get a bit more complicated.
Want to find the new MPM after 10/29/2014?
Aeroplan City Pair mileage (new pseudo-MPM) - FlyerTalk Forums
This is no longer valid after 10/29/2014
1) Your itinerary must be within 5% of the total "Maximum Permitted Mileage" (MPM) for the route from the origin to the destination. Even though you are stopping in three cities by using your two stopovers and a final destination, you can define the destination as the stop city furthest away from the origin. Although certain flyers have gotten away with telling an inattentive phone rep that their final destination / "turnaround city" is one of their layover cities to increase their MPM, this does not always work. Sticking with one of your three stop cities is a safe bet.
MPM exist so that you cannot repeatedly fly around the world 10 times on your 10 segments. There is a limit to how many miles you can fly on the reward ticket. MPM guidelines can be found by using the KVS tool or by using Expert Flyer. MPM is calculated between your origin and your destination, one-way. The trips to and from your destination are calculated separately. You are allowed to overshoot this number by 5% ("MPM5"). If you can find a bookable itinerary online that has a mileage longer than the published MPM, this is a "published routing" and can be used even if it exceeds the MPM5. In KVS, navigate to the "Reference" tab, select "MPM" from the dropdown menu, and enter your city pair. MPM information is available under the Travel Information section of ExpertFlyer. It is available to all subscribers, Basic or Premium, and there is a 5-day free trial to ExpertFlyer.com that can be used.
To see if your itinerary fits your MPM limit, you can use the site here to see your total miles traveled: www.gcmap.com. Enter your airport codes separated by dashes to see the itinerary and get the total mileage (e.g. NYC - LHR - NYC). Example here.
TO READ MORE ABOUT MPM: Read this (short) document
MPM exist so that you cannot repeatedly fly around the world 10 times on your 10 segments. There is a limit to how many miles you can fly on the reward ticket. MPM guidelines can be found by using the KVS tool or by using Expert Flyer. MPM is calculated between your origin and your destination, one-way. The trips to and from your destination are calculated separately. You are allowed to overshoot this number by 5% ("MPM5"). If you can find a bookable itinerary online that has a mileage longer than the published MPM, this is a "published routing" and can be used even if it exceeds the MPM5. In KVS, navigate to the "Reference" tab, select "MPM" from the dropdown menu, and enter your city pair. MPM information is available under the Travel Information section of ExpertFlyer. It is available to all subscribers, Basic or Premium, and there is a 5-day free trial to ExpertFlyer.com that can be used.
To see if your itinerary fits your MPM limit, you can use the site here to see your total miles traveled: www.gcmap.com. Enter your airport codes separated by dashes to see the itinerary and get the total mileage (e.g. NYC - LHR - NYC). Example here.
TO READ MORE ABOUT MPM: Read this (short) document
IATA 1 - The Americas (incl. Caribbean, Hawaii)
IATA 2 - Europe as far as the Ural Mountain range, Middle East & Africa
IATA 3 - Oceania, SE Asia, Far East, Sub-Continent.
Remember that if you use your open jaw at the turnaround/destination point, you will only have one stopover to use left. So you would be able to do NYC > Singapore (destination, open jaw) // Tokyo (stop) > NYC. This has one destination, one open jaw (at turnaround point), and one stopover. However, you would not be able to do this: NYC > Madrid (stop) > Singapore (destination, open jaw) // Tokyo (stop) > NYC. Because your 2 stops + 1 open jaw would be more than the two allowed.
3) You cannot land in the same city twice in any one direction. This means that on my way from NY to, let's say, Cairo, I cannot do New York > London > Paris > London > Cairo on the way there, since I would be stopping in London twice in one direction. However, I can stop in London on the way to Cairo and then again on the way back from Cairo.
4) The actual trip needs to be "bookable". It needs to follow certain rules. I won't get into too many details, but anything completely nonsensical in terms of routing is generally not going to fly. But most routes will not fall into this category. Just something to keep in mind.
Do I have to go in the same direction for every leg of the flight?
No. As an example, you can cross the Atlantic twice or cross both the Atlantic and the Pacific once (more like a real RTW trip).
How do I book this?
Assuming you have already planned out your entire itinerary to the dot and have made sure your trip is in accordance with the above restrictions, call Aeroplan and speak with a representative. Alternatively, you can try to book online for free. However, this is not always possible with more complicated routings.
What will this cost me in real cash? How can I minimize fees?
It depends on the region you travel to and which airline you fly on. In general, the more Air Canada segments you fly the more fees/taxes you will pay. Aeroplan does not collect surcharges on non-Air Canada-operated flights. So flying Air Canada internationally will cost you extra. If you use a lot of Air Canada flights in your mini-RTW, your fees could be anywhere from $150 to $400, even sometimes creeping up above $600. Lesson is to avoid AC "metal" (airplanes) if possible.
Every trip will have a $30 cost per person for booking on the phone, regardless of the itinerary.
What are the change fees if I want to change a leg or multiple legs of the trip later?
$90 for changes after original booking. If there is an involuntary change because of flight schedules changing, there is no fee charged. Note that when you make a change, the taxes/fees associated with fuel, etc. may change. They may decrease or increase depending on the previous flight and the new flight. This is independent of the $90 rebooking fee. The $90 is flat regardless of how many of the segments you change. It is not $90 per changed segment.
How do I plan this trip out? Even finding a simple award ticket can be difficult online, let alone one with 10 segments!
Good question. It is recommended that you use either the All-Nippon Airways (ANA) website (guide on how here), the KVS tool (costs money) or ExpertFlyer (costs money), or http://FliSea.com. I personally like to use KVS, but it is not newbie-friendly. It is $20 for 2 months for the "diamond" level service, and $75 for a year. Small price to pay for saving a lot of time, if you can handle the learning curve. ANA is a good free method of finding segments and many people have had plenty of success with it; FliSea is a metasearch tool that uses all of the sites above.
The trick is to do this one segment at a time. So first find NYC > LONDON for the date you want and make sure that the award class you are looking for is available (e.g. Economy low fare). Then do the next leg: LONDON > ROME. Repeat for every segment. Write down the details of each flight, calculate the mileage using the www.gcmap.com resource, and call up Aeroplan to book.
One of our Flyertalk members has built a database with all the Mini-RTW routes that have been flown in the various threads in one simple place: http://www.turnleftat.com/mini-rtw-list/
FAQ: The Complete Newbie Guide/FAQ to the Air Canada Aeroplan Mini-RTW
Jun 1, 2016, 4:38 pm
#1396
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,316
I've done this several times, and have never had to cancel and rebook. It's always been considered a change, charged at $90, and simply upgraded the segments.
Jun 18, 2016, 9:00 pm
#1397
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Vancouver, BC
Programs: Aeroplan, Fairmont Plat, SPG Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 99
Called in and the agent was able to upgrade the segment without cancelling the entire itinerary. Also received a generous refund of YQ totalling a little more than the change fee... Not sure how that happened since the route/carriers remained unchanged...
Jun 18, 2016, 10:20 pm
#1398
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Spatially speaking or metaphysically speaking?
Programs: Aeropain: Zirconia Status; Altitude: Marianas Trench Status; UA MP: 1 Kick to the curb status
Posts: 623
Taxes/fees/etc. are recalculated during the rebooking so I'm guessing the CDN dollar has gone up vs. the other currencies your fees were based on at the time of the original booking; i.e., taxes/fees go down because exchange rate is now more favourable.
Jun 19, 2016, 9:25 am
#1399
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Vancouver, BC
Programs: Aeroplan, Fairmont Plat, SPG Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 99
The agent did reference something similar, but didn't seem confident with his explanation. I don't follow exchange rates closely but I can't imagine they fluctuated enough to get $195 of my original $250 taxes/fees back... Of course, I didn't question the agents calculation.
Jun 19, 2016, 9:32 am
#1400
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Spatially speaking or metaphysically speaking?
Programs: Aeropain: Zirconia Status; Altitude: Marianas Trench Status; UA MP: 1 Kick to the curb status
Posts: 623
The agent did reference something similar, but didn't seem confident with his explanation. I don't follow exchange rates closely but I can't imagine they fluctuated enough to get $195 of my original $250 taxes/fees back... Of course, I didn't question the agents calculation.
Jun 19, 2016, 4:55 pm
#1401
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Club Carlson Gold, FPC Plat
Posts: 8
This Routing Possible?
Hi,
First time planning an Aeroplan trip, so bear with me. I hope I'm submitting this to the right thread.
I am planning a business class trip for 2 to Taipei and Tokyo next year; 8 nights stay in each city. Duration of stay from late August to early September Labour Day weekend to maximize my vacation days.
I pulled the attached itinerary from Expedia for example purposes; departure date set on a Thursday, and returning on a Sunday. I am wondering if this routing is possible to redeem by calling Aeroplan:
Flight #1: YVR to TPE - BR direct preferred (stay in Taipei/Taiwan for 8 nights)
Flight #2: TSA to HND - BR direct preferred (stay in Tokyo/Japan for 8 nights)
Flight #3: HND to YVR - NH direct preferred
Taxes and fees comes to roughly $98/passenger. I have the 300k total AP miles needed for this redemption, just waiting for availability to show up.
I am choosing this route for as the flights are non-stop, and I think it qualifies for the multi-city redemption. Please correct if I am wrong. Any advice on what booking classes are eligible? What are my chances of having this route? Please advise.
First time planning an Aeroplan trip, so bear with me. I hope I'm submitting this to the right thread.
I am planning a business class trip for 2 to Taipei and Tokyo next year; 8 nights stay in each city. Duration of stay from late August to early September Labour Day weekend to maximize my vacation days.
I pulled the attached itinerary from Expedia for example purposes; departure date set on a Thursday, and returning on a Sunday. I am wondering if this routing is possible to redeem by calling Aeroplan:
Flight #1: YVR to TPE - BR direct preferred (stay in Taipei/Taiwan for 8 nights)
Flight #2: TSA to HND - BR direct preferred (stay in Tokyo/Japan for 8 nights)
Flight #3: HND to YVR - NH direct preferred
Taxes and fees comes to roughly $98/passenger. I have the 300k total AP miles needed for this redemption, just waiting for availability to show up.
I am choosing this route for as the flights are non-stop, and I think it qualifies for the multi-city redemption. Please correct if I am wrong. Any advice on what booking classes are eligible? What are my chances of having this route? Please advise.
Jun 19, 2016, 5:12 pm
#1402
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
Posts: 5,725
Hi,
First time planning an Aeroplan trip, so bear with me. I hope I'm submitting this to the right thread.
I am planning a business class trip for 2 to Taipei and Tokyo next year; 8 nights stay in each city. Duration of stay from late August to early September Labour Day weekend to maximize my vacation days.
I pulled the attached itinerary from Expedia for example purposes; departure date set on a Thursday, and returning on a Sunday. I am wondering if this routing is possible to redeem by calling Aeroplan:
Flight #1: YVR to TPE - BR direct preferred (stay in Taipei/Taiwan for 8 nights)
Flight #2: TSA to HND - BR direct preferred (stay in Tokyo/Japan for 8 nights)
Flight #3: HND to YVR - NH direct preferred
Taxes and fees comes to roughly $98/passenger. I have the 300k total AP miles needed for this redemption, just waiting for availability to show up.
I am choosing this route for as the flights are non-stop, and I think it qualifies for the multi-city redemption. Please correct if I am wrong. Any advice on what booking classes are eligible? What are my chances of having this route? Please advise.
First time planning an Aeroplan trip, so bear with me. I hope I'm submitting this to the right thread.
I am planning a business class trip for 2 to Taipei and Tokyo next year; 8 nights stay in each city. Duration of stay from late August to early September Labour Day weekend to maximize my vacation days.
I pulled the attached itinerary from Expedia for example purposes; departure date set on a Thursday, and returning on a Sunday. I am wondering if this routing is possible to redeem by calling Aeroplan:
Flight #1: YVR to TPE - BR direct preferred (stay in Taipei/Taiwan for 8 nights)
Flight #2: TSA to HND - BR direct preferred (stay in Tokyo/Japan for 8 nights)
Flight #3: HND to YVR - NH direct preferred
Taxes and fees comes to roughly $98/passenger. I have the 300k total AP miles needed for this redemption, just waiting for availability to show up.
I am choosing this route for as the flights are non-stop, and I think it qualifies for the multi-city redemption. Please correct if I am wrong. Any advice on what booking classes are eligible? What are my chances of having this route? Please advise.
If you want to guarantee the flights you listed, you'll have to book the Eva leg in Economy and hope to upgrade when they release the award business seats closer to departure.
If you want to guarantee business class, you'll have to book something like YVR-HKG-TPE-HND-YVR for now, then hope you can edit your routing over to the Eva flights when they release the award business seats closer to departure. This will cost a $90 per passenger change fee.
This should be bookable online, which will save you the $30/person booking fee.
Jun 19, 2016, 5:22 pm
#1403
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Club Carlson Gold, FPC Plat
Posts: 8
Your chances are fine, except that Eva doesn't release business class award seats until about 2 weeks before departure. Most other airlines release somewhere between 355 and 300 days before departure.
If you want to guarantee the flights you listed, you'll have to book the Eva leg in Economy and hope to upgrade when they release the award business seats closer to departure.
If you want to guarantee business class, you'll have to book something like YVR-HKG-TPE-HND-YVR for now, then hope you can edit your routing over to the Eva flights when they release the award business seats closer to departure. This will cost a $90 per passenger change fee.
This should be bookable online, which will save you the $30/person booking fee.
If you want to guarantee the flights you listed, you'll have to book the Eva leg in Economy and hope to upgrade when they release the award business seats closer to departure.
If you want to guarantee business class, you'll have to book something like YVR-HKG-TPE-HND-YVR for now, then hope you can edit your routing over to the Eva flights when they release the award business seats closer to departure. This will cost a $90 per passenger change fee.
This should be bookable online, which will save you the $30/person booking fee.
Are there any improvements if the route was reversed, for HND first, then TSA, then return back through TPE to YVR? Or will the distance mileage not work out?
Jun 19, 2016, 5:47 pm
#1404
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
Posts: 5,725
What cannot be changed is that Eva will not give you a business class seat for YVR - TPE or TPE-YVR until about two weeks before departure.
Jun 19, 2016, 5:55 pm
#1405
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YVR to SEA
Posts: 2,534
It's also on angled lie flat so not the greatest seat unless they change the 747 to 777
Unless you are willing to wait until two weeks before, might be best to lock in the award via HKG
Does the multi city even accept tsa and tpe as co terminals? I'd expect you need an agent to book it unless you do tpe Haneda instead
Unless you are willing to wait until two weeks before, might be best to lock in the award via HKG
Does the multi city even accept tsa and tpe as co terminals? I'd expect you need an agent to book it unless you do tpe Haneda instead
Jun 19, 2016, 6:35 pm
#1406
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Club Carlson Gold, FPC Plat
Posts: 8
It's also on angled lie flat so not the greatest seat unless they change the 747 to 777
Unless you are willing to wait until two weeks before, might be best to lock in the award via HKG
Does the multi city even accept tsa and tpe as co terminals? I'd expect you need an agent to book it unless you do tpe Haneda instead
Unless you are willing to wait until two weeks before, might be best to lock in the award via HKG
Does the multi city even accept tsa and tpe as co terminals? I'd expect you need an agent to book it unless you do tpe Haneda instead
The Aeroplan site does not allow the change from TPE to TSA for multi-city; I get an error. This will most likely need to be called in if I go with the TSA-HND route.
For the HKG route suggestion, the site only allows 3 flight entries. Am I missing or not seeing an input?
Trying to keep YQ low as well, so NH and BR are ideal.
Jun 20, 2016, 6:27 am
#1407
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
Posts: 5,725
Never flown business class, so no reference point. I'm bankrolling this trip with a credit card churn. Sign up bonuses and responsible expenditures for the win.
The Aeroplan site does not allow the change from TPE to TSA for multi-city; I get an error. This will most likely need to be called in if I go with the TSA-HND route.
For the HKG route suggestion, the site only allows 3 flight entries. Am I missing or not seeing an input?
Trying to keep YQ low as well, so NH and BR are ideal.
The Aeroplan site does not allow the change from TPE to TSA for multi-city; I get an error. This will most likely need to be called in if I go with the TSA-HND route.
For the HKG route suggestion, the site only allows 3 flight entries. Am I missing or not seeing an input?
Trying to keep YQ low as well, so NH and BR are ideal.
If you're dead set on a TSA departure, then yes, you'll need to call in.
For the HKG route suggestion, you'd still enter YVR-TPE as your routing, but look through the search results for options that go YVR-HKG-TPE.
This would also work with YVR-ICN-TPE or YVR-PVG-TPE, and ICN and PVG tend to be a little easier to find as business-class awards than YVR-HKG.
Jun 23, 2016, 3:33 pm
#1409
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Club Carlson Gold, FPC Plat
Posts: 8
Thank you all for the informative feedback.
To ensure business class booking as suggested, the attached routing seems to work out (total taxes and fees $210.62), and is available online.
In regards to changing the flights, I understand the charge of $90 per passenger, but are there limits to the change? If I secure this business booking, then change flights # 1 and #2 to direct BR business flights, is the change fee just $90/passenger plus applicable taxes? Or is the change fee for every flight changed?
To ensure business class booking as suggested, the attached routing seems to work out (total taxes and fees $210.62), and is available online.
In regards to changing the flights, I understand the charge of $90 per passenger, but are there limits to the change? If I secure this business booking, then change flights # 1 and #2 to direct BR business flights, is the change fee just $90/passenger plus applicable taxes? Or is the change fee for every flight changed?
Jun 23, 2016, 3:36 pm
#1410
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
Thank you all for the informative feedback.
To ensure business class booking as suggested, the attached routing seems to work out (total taxes and fees $210.62), and is available online.
In regards to changing the flights, I understand the charge of $90 per passenger, but are there limits to the change? If I secure this business booking, then change flights # 1 and #2 to direct BR business flights, is the change fee just $90/passenger plus applicable taxes? Or is the change fee for every flight changed?
To ensure business class booking as suggested, the attached routing seems to work out (total taxes and fees $210.62), and is available online.
In regards to changing the flights, I understand the charge of $90 per passenger, but are there limits to the change? If I secure this business booking, then change flights # 1 and #2 to direct BR business flights, is the change fee just $90/passenger plus applicable taxes? Or is the change fee for every flight changed?
$90+tax PER CHANGE (you can make any changes) PER ticket
but make sure you do all the changes in the same call
otherwise, next call/change is another $90