don_drapper

Yes, it is not exorbitant per say, if the actual amount comes to what was quoted to me. I still have an excel file with all the taxes for each flight, didn't note down the YQ part, but I came within a few dollars from what they quoted me if I split each segment one by one. However, if they are group by carrier segment (as in to lookup YOW-YVR-NRT and take the amount of it, same for NRT-ICN-SYD-ICN-PVG, etc.), I come to about 670$, which of course was not gonna happen knowing what to expect.

All I seem to be reaching on the phone today is the call not being held thing, so I might try again tomorrow morning as I have a few conference calls.

iaindh

Just noticed this thread. We had same experience with booking YVR-YUL—ZRH-AMS (YUL to AMS on LX Swiss). Could find YVR-YUL and YUL-ZRH-AMS segments on Aeroplan website but not end to end. Oddly, YUL-ZRH on LX did not show up on Aeroplan, only after searching for YUL-AMS did it show as an option.

Called in to ask agent to book it, and had similar issues with the agent not being able to book it segment by segment. So she helpfully suggested that I book the YUL-ZRH-AMS flight through the Aeroplan website, while she stayed on the phone and held the YVR-YUL seats. After which she added the YVR-YUL to the reservation, at no extra charge or change fees (in fact got a refund on taxes and fees).

Other strange event while searching for flights, was one flight that was a mix of premium economy and business at a redemption of 37,500 miles (this was for one way Canada to Europe).

Backward

Can anyone please tell me if this new no-building-segments policy is still YMMV/HUCA, or is this now the law of the land?

Thanks.

SQ F

I was able to book the following on my first attempt, after about 1.5 hours on hold.
DPS-BKK TG J
BKK-FRA TG F
FRA-ORD LH F
ORD-YYZ AC J

Backward

Thanks, but was your itinerary available for booking on the website?

CanadianMike

From datapoints on this forum, other forums, and facebook groups: YMMV.
Seem to be more people finding agents able to piece together segment by segment itineraries but seems to be luck of the draw / a lot of HUCA'ing.

SQ F

Nope.

canadiancow

I honestly don't understand this thread.

EVERY time I've called, it's gone something like:

Me: Hey, can I change this to WAW-ZRH on the 14th on LX 1234, ZRH-MUC on the 15th on LH 2345, and MUC-SFO on the 15th on LH 458?
Agent: Is that showing up when you search WAW-SFO?
Me: No, but it is when I search WAW-ZRH and ZRH-SFO
Agent: One minute.... done

Adam Smith

But how many times have you been booking a new itinerary, which is what I think people are asking about, rather than changing an existing one?

canadiancow

Booking fee is $30
​​​Change fee is $0

I never call to book for financially obvious reasons.

Adam Smith

Most of the people asking this are not SEs, so the economics are different

canadiancow

It doesn't change my answer though. I've had no issues feeding segments.

Backward

Thanks. Happy to report that on my second call yesterday (and after about a 2-hr wait), I was able to book the segments I wanted. Agent was French-Canadian and very nice, despite being slammed with calls. It truly is YMMV/HUCA.

Been out of the Aeroplan loop for a bit, so when I first called a few days ago, first shock I encountered was learning that round trip bookings now only allow one stopover or one open jaw. Second shock was learning you can only choose what the system spits out. Heart sank at the thought of having to be at the mercy of scam charges, routings with 12hr+ layovers, sheety airports, or all of the above!

Imagine then being able to successfully book a summer trip in the fog of travel hysetria -- and indeed, just hours after The Russian Agent announced the US-Europe lockdown. Maybe there's a god. It's now impossible to be even put on hold on Aeroplan. Recorded voice just says they can't take your call due to demand. Agent told me they're starting to train new people (really, this should have been done back in Jan-Feb in anticipation of a pandemic!)

mjrobson

I called in this morning to make a booking change and the lady I spoke with (also French-Canadian) had no issues looking segment by segment after nothing came up searching directly from departure to destination.

Adam Smith

But your answer isn't really germane to the original question, which was people without SE status trying to make new bookings over the phone, rather than change existing ones