MPM Rules
 

Hi,

I'm trying to book some Aeroplan rewards and realize that they will be subject to MPM rules. Are these published anywhere? Rather than go through routings one at a time with the agent (who may or may not even know the routing rules), I'd like to call up and be prepared with something that abides by the guidelines.

Regards,
Troy

Aeroplan is very generous. What route were you thinking of?

Well, I'm going to Spain (open jaw into BCN, out of MAD), but since it's only an extra few Aeroplan miles and apparently there are some nice stopover allowances, I was considering heading to Asia, not sure where yet.

I was thinking that my turnaround point would be either NRT or ICN. Given that, I was hoping to have a stopover in SIN or BKK on the way out, then do the Spain open jaw on the way back. I THINK this should be possible, if it's not over the MPM rules. If not, then I would probably just do the BKK, ICN, or NRT turnaround and then BCN/MAD on the way back.

What do you think? I'm especially confused about the 1 vs. 2 stopovers. Based on what I've read on the Aeroplan forum, this should be allowed, however I called earlier today and they said no.

Thanks.

Oops, forgot to put the actual routing I was considering. Something like this:

EWR-FRA-BKK-stopover-ICN/NRT-turnaround-MUC-BCN/MAD-stopover-FRA-EWR, or something along those lines on a combination of LH, LX, OZ, TG, and or SQ if I'm lucky.

Ahh, I think I see your problem.

So, taking the itinerary above as an example, the journey would be EWR-ICN/NRT return, correct?

Because EWR-ICN/NRT is much closer by the pacific route than the atlantic route, the MPM is based on the pacific route and you don't get enough allowance to go through BKK. If you were trying to do EWR-FRA-BKK-ICN (11745 miles), that would be way over the MPM since the MPM for EWR-ICN is only 8254 miles.

What you need to do instead is to specify SIN/BKK as the turnaround, and MAD as the stopover. BKK/SIN is the same number of miles as ICN. Something like this (if flying F):

JFK - ICN (OZ F) or NRT (NH F) - SIN (SQ F) then turnaround SIN - FRA/MUC/ZRH (SQ/LH/LX F) - MAD (stopover) - ZRH/MUC/FRA - JFK (SQ/LH/LX F).

should work, because the MPM will be based on JFK-SIN instead, which gives you a lot more miles to play with. The outbound through ICN will be 9773 miles, and the inbound will be 11879 miles using ZRH for both transits.

Bear in mind that as far as I know, it is only one stopover in addition to turnaround.

Things will be more complicated if they enforce the no-backtracking rule as well, but see if the above itinerary is allowable.

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The following is the list of MPMs as available on Expertflyer.

JFK-ICN MPM: 8254 miles
JFK-NRT MPM: 8084 miles (although there seems to be two different routing options, where the other one offers MPM of 12511 - check with Aeroplan)
JFK-SIN MPM: 11434 miles
JFK-BKK MPM: 10388 miles
JFK-HKG MPM: 9666 miles

and I think Aeroplan allows 5% over the MPM allowance.

So, the maximum you can fly each way is

JFK-ICN +5% MPM: 8666 miles
JFK-NRT +5% MPM: 8488 miles
JFK-SIN +5% MPM: 12573 miles
JFK-BKK +5% MPM: 10907 miles
JFK-HKG +5% MPM: 10149 miles

Then you can use The Great Circle Mapper to plug in the routings and see whether it would be within the limit.

Thanks, that is great information.

So, it looks like my best/only option is to route to either BKK or SIN.

Assuming there are 2 stopovers allowed, then I SHOULD be able to go JFK-LAX-ICN-(stop)-BKK-(turnaround)-BCN/MAD-FRA-JFK? If only one stopover, then I'd just have to get to BKK and have that as my first stop on the trip, right?

OT - I have EF and based on what I saw you post figured out how to get the MPM through the routing rules. Question - what airline's rules do you look for, the ticketing carrier or operating carrier (or are they all the same)?

You could do JFK-LAX-ICN, but I'd just do JFK-ICN nonstop on OZ unless you absolutely have to do (because of inventory).
Much better than transiting at TBIT.

Yes, it appears to be the case. It certainly allows the most mileage. If two stops, then yes you will be able to stopover at ICN. But as you say, if only one stopover in addition to point of turnaround, the only two cities where you can stopover are BKK and MAD. I'm not sure whether you might, perhaps, have the option of using ICN//BKK as an open-jaw and make your own arrangements for that segment, which will allow stopover at ICN as well (but will add to cost)Just type YY for the carrier. It's an IATA-defined maximum mileage so it will not vary among airlines. (Some airline fares will specify which cities/routes you must take, which is not applicable for MPM)

PS. As kkjay77 said above, I would recommend taking JFK-ICN nonstop. No real reason why you should add a transit.

Btw, which class are you redeeming for?

I'd love to snag the JFK-ICN direct, but I'm looking for 2 seats in F, so that will be very difficult. In fact, all I can find on OZ are some flights from the West Coast on days I don't really want, but will settle for if I must.

Thanks again for your help, I'll keep looking. Still need to clear up this stopover issue with Aeroplan.

AC Board
 

Hi - this is more appropriate on the AC board - so will be transferring this there.

Well, if there aren't enough seats, then I suppose JFK-LAX-ICN is still okay. Make sure you get a UA PS flight which should lessen the pain of flying UA...

how many miles for this award?
 

DUH ? how many miles for this award? thank you.

Some great info on MPM here. A couple of additional questions. I'm currently booked:

YYZ-ORD-ICN-HKG (stop)-PEK (open jaw)-PVG-ICN-LAX-ORD-YYZ

I'm trying to see if I can change my inbound flight from PVG to via the Atlantic.

So if I follow the definition, my MPM would be based on YYZ-HKG (9370 miles from EF). But when I calculate the # of miles I fly on the way home, do I calculate from HKG or PVG in this case? :confused:

Part of the OP's problem is that you have two stops plus the MAD//BCN open jaw. It's either two stops or one stop plus one open jaw, as I was informed by multiple supervisors a few days ago.

I was told the same thing yesterday as well. Which IMHO is eminently reasonable.

Can any web based flight tools/ travel tools give MPMs for a given route?

I believe expert flyer can; I do not think the kvs tool can. However, I remain to be corrected on these points.