Linking reservations with Air Calin and a strange situation...
Dec 28, 2020, 1:45 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 181
Linking reservations with Air Calin and a strange situation...
Hi everyone,
I have a bit of a unique situation, was hoping to get some thoughts from you guys. My wife needs to go visit her sick mother in Noumea. We are located near LAX. As you can imagine, NOU is quite strict about who they are letting in, and most flights have been cancelled to/from NOU until the middle of 2021.
We have already received government approval for her to go and quarantine for 2 weeks before being allowed to see her mother. The way the approval works is that the government authorizes you for a particular flight. In this case, the government authorized her to board a specific flight from CDG to NRT, then to NOU. (There is no option of LA to PPT to NOU, which would be much easier than doing this tour du monde.)
I reached out to AF, and they provided me with a confirmation # for a ticket from CDG-NRT-NOU and they stated that I could just buy my ticket for LAX-CDG online. They requested that I call them to provide my CC # in order to pay for the reservation asap. My questions are as follows:
1) I have a lot of points/miles and can easily find J award tickets from LAX-CDG and CDG-NRT for a reasonable amount. My plan is to burn some miles on these two legs and then reach out to AF and ask them to just charge me for the NRT-NOU leg and to link the two award tickets to the same reservation.
2) If I were to do #1 and get the award tickets, would it jeopardize/lower the chances of checked-in luggage making each flight? As it stands right now, there is a 2 hour window between arrival at CDG and NRT departure. (Both Terminal 2E). There is a 3h10m window between NRT arrival and departure to NOU (both appear to be in Terminal 1.) The last thing I want to do is anything that might risk the baggage not making each flight.
3) The email I received from AF states "Les vols passant par le Japon ne connectent pas et proposent obligatoirement 1 nuit à Tokyo, mais les autorités Japonaises n’autorisent pas l’entrée, même pour 24 des ressortissants étrangers." This is confusing to me. Are they saying that the CDG-NRT and NRT-NOU flights are not connecting? (The flight # is the same for both legs for both AF and Air Calin. Maybe because of the amount of time between the arrival and departure?) Also, are they trying to say that the authorities are not allowing entry into the country, or to the airport? (I have reached out to several entities to try to confirm what they mean, as the NRT website does not show any issue with connecting in the same terminal 1 to another international flight.) My guess is that they are saying this in case the flight from NRT-NOU is missed to alert me to the fact that she cannot just go out into the city until the next flight.
To complicate the situation: there are not daily flights from NRT to NOU. So if a flight is delayed and she doesn't make the NRT-NOU leg, then she is literally stuck in the airport for 48 hours (assuming they let her stay there) since Japan does not allow foreigners to enter the country. I've never been to Narita, but a quick search makes me believe there are no hotels located inside the airport.
I guess my questions stated differently are: am I complicating this too much by trying to use miles for the first two legs of the flight? Or is it pretty easy for them to link all of this and have baggage checked through from LAX to NOU. Also, are they proposing me a bunk flight that won't work?
I have a bit of a unique situation, was hoping to get some thoughts from you guys. My wife needs to go visit her sick mother in Noumea. We are located near LAX. As you can imagine, NOU is quite strict about who they are letting in, and most flights have been cancelled to/from NOU until the middle of 2021.
We have already received government approval for her to go and quarantine for 2 weeks before being allowed to see her mother. The way the approval works is that the government authorizes you for a particular flight. In this case, the government authorized her to board a specific flight from CDG to NRT, then to NOU. (There is no option of LA to PPT to NOU, which would be much easier than doing this tour du monde.)
I reached out to AF, and they provided me with a confirmation # for a ticket from CDG-NRT-NOU and they stated that I could just buy my ticket for LAX-CDG online. They requested that I call them to provide my CC # in order to pay for the reservation asap. My questions are as follows:
1) I have a lot of points/miles and can easily find J award tickets from LAX-CDG and CDG-NRT for a reasonable amount. My plan is to burn some miles on these two legs and then reach out to AF and ask them to just charge me for the NRT-NOU leg and to link the two award tickets to the same reservation.
2) If I were to do #1 and get the award tickets, would it jeopardize/lower the chances of checked-in luggage making each flight? As it stands right now, there is a 2 hour window between arrival at CDG and NRT departure. (Both Terminal 2E). There is a 3h10m window between NRT arrival and departure to NOU (both appear to be in Terminal 1.) The last thing I want to do is anything that might risk the baggage not making each flight.
3) The email I received from AF states "Les vols passant par le Japon ne connectent pas et proposent obligatoirement 1 nuit à Tokyo, mais les autorités Japonaises n’autorisent pas l’entrée, même pour 24 des ressortissants étrangers." This is confusing to me. Are they saying that the CDG-NRT and NRT-NOU flights are not connecting? (The flight # is the same for both legs for both AF and Air Calin. Maybe because of the amount of time between the arrival and departure?) Also, are they trying to say that the authorities are not allowing entry into the country, or to the airport? (I have reached out to several entities to try to confirm what they mean, as the NRT website does not show any issue with connecting in the same terminal 1 to another international flight.) My guess is that they are saying this in case the flight from NRT-NOU is missed to alert me to the fact that she cannot just go out into the city until the next flight.
To complicate the situation: there are not daily flights from NRT to NOU. So if a flight is delayed and she doesn't make the NRT-NOU leg, then she is literally stuck in the airport for 48 hours (assuming they let her stay there) since Japan does not allow foreigners to enter the country. I've never been to Narita, but a quick search makes me believe there are no hotels located inside the airport.
I guess my questions stated differently are: am I complicating this too much by trying to use miles for the first two legs of the flight? Or is it pretty easy for them to link all of this and have baggage checked through from LAX to NOU. Also, are they proposing me a bunk flight that won't work?
Dec 28, 2020, 3:54 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,022
Hi everyone,
I have a bit of a unique situation, was hoping to get some thoughts from you guys. My wife needs to go visit her sick mother in Noumea. We are located near LAX. As you can imagine, NOU is quite strict about who they are letting in, and most flights have been cancelled to/from NOU until the middle of 2021.
We have already received government approval for her to go and quarantine for 2 weeks before being allowed to see her mother. The way the approval works is that the government authorizes you for a particular flight. In this case, the government authorized her to board a specific flight from CDG to NRT, then to NOU. (There is no option of LA to PPT to NOU, which would be much easier than doing this tour du monde.)
I reached out to AF, and they provided me with a confirmation # for a ticket from CDG-NRT-NOU and they stated that I could just buy my ticket for LAX-CDG online. They requested that I call them to provide my CC # in order to pay for the reservation asap. My questions are as follows:
1) I have a lot of points/miles and can easily find J award tickets from LAX-CDG and CDG-NRT for a reasonable amount. My plan is to burn some miles on these two legs and then reach out to AF and ask them to just charge me for the NRT-NOU leg and to link the two award tickets to the same reservation.
<snip>
I have a bit of a unique situation, was hoping to get some thoughts from you guys. My wife needs to go visit her sick mother in Noumea. We are located near LAX. As you can imagine, NOU is quite strict about who they are letting in, and most flights have been cancelled to/from NOU until the middle of 2021.
We have already received government approval for her to go and quarantine for 2 weeks before being allowed to see her mother. The way the approval works is that the government authorizes you for a particular flight. In this case, the government authorized her to board a specific flight from CDG to NRT, then to NOU. (There is no option of LA to PPT to NOU, which would be much easier than doing this tour du monde.)
I reached out to AF, and they provided me with a confirmation # for a ticket from CDG-NRT-NOU and they stated that I could just buy my ticket for LAX-CDG online. They requested that I call them to provide my CC # in order to pay for the reservation asap. My questions are as follows:
1) I have a lot of points/miles and can easily find J award tickets from LAX-CDG and CDG-NRT for a reasonable amount. My plan is to burn some miles on these two legs and then reach out to AF and ask them to just charge me for the NRT-NOU leg and to link the two award tickets to the same reservation.
<snip>
Route: Great Circle Mapper
My understanding is the AF is flying CDG-YVR-PPT. Any flights PPT-NOU?
www.aircalin.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Ton...tional_Airport
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airports/nou
https://www.aeroports-voyages.fr/en/...a-tontouta/NOU
Last edited by Mwenenzi; Dec 28, 2020 at 4:00 pm
Dec 28, 2020, 4:07 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 181
Thank you, Mwenenzi. No current scheduled flights from PPT to NOU according to AF rep in Noumea. I am going to see about possibly getting an exemption to fly LAX-NRT-NOU instead of going to Paris first, but if I do this, then there is no way to my understanding that it would be able to be done in one ticket. As it stands now, the reservation shows an AF flight # for LAX-CDG-NRT but SB flight # from NRT-NOU
Last edited by drjeffrock; Dec 28, 2020 at 4:23 pm
Dec 28, 2020, 4:10 pm
#4
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: PAR, TYO, SEL, SIN, SYD
Programs: AF/KLM Platinum Ultimate, VA Velocity Platinum, ALL Platinum
Posts: 716
Agreed. It's better not to risk it as seperating segments creates tons of problems along the way. At least with a single ticket, if anything goes wrong the airline will deal with it.
Japan is very strict with its procedures and it is highly unlikely you will even be able to board if transit is longer than 24h.
My advice: Burn the miles on LAX-CDG and pay for the rest. Try your luck with an upgrade if you really want to fly in comfort. Flights to Japan are pretty empty anyways.
Japan is very strict with its procedures and it is highly unlikely you will even be able to board if transit is longer than 24h.
My advice: Burn the miles on LAX-CDG and pay for the rest. Try your luck with an upgrade if you really want to fly in comfort. Flights to Japan are pretty empty anyways.
Dec 28, 2020, 6:48 pm
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
If you can purchase CDG-NRT-NOU, I am unclear as to why you can't purchase LAX-CDG-NRT-NOU on one ticket.
The problems with separate tickets (linking is relatively meaningless) with flights in mid-2021 is that the chances that the current schedule "sticks" and the current rules for transit and entry remain, are relatively slim. If you are on separate tickets and there are changes, you are on your own for unaffected tickets. Moreover, as you point out, without daily flights, you run the risk of a multi-day transfer at NRT. Under current rules for entry/transit of Japan, you could not do this and would be denied boarding at CDG, where that ticket originates.
The problems with separate tickets (linking is relatively meaningless) with flights in mid-2021 is that the chances that the current schedule "sticks" and the current rules for transit and entry remain, are relatively slim. If you are on separate tickets and there are changes, you are on your own for unaffected tickets. Moreover, as you point out, without daily flights, you run the risk of a multi-day transfer at NRT. Under current rules for entry/transit of Japan, you could not do this and would be denied boarding at CDG, where that ticket originates.
Dec 28, 2020, 10:26 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Paris, France
Programs: AF/KL Flying Blue Platinum for life/Club2000 Ultimate, Accor ALL Diamond
Posts: 21,927
I agree (strongly) with Often1. Forget about the miles and 2 tickets. Have everything on the same ticket. It’s no time to play with « complex » itineraries which could be a total recipe for disaster in current times.
Jan 4, 2021, 1:48 am
#7
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Boston, MA, USA
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Posts: 1,954
Cannot agree more with Goldorak.
As a general statement, there is no such thing as "hard linking" reservations in AFKL systems, just a soft link that could be added as a free text on the reservation, and that might be use by agents during the preparation of the flight, especially when 2 people are on a separate PNR to avoid them being seated separately for example.
When multiple airlines use the same Departure Control System (AF uses Amadeus Altea, and I believe SB too), the check-in agent can see onward connections and link them to do a thru-check-in, but that does not happen at reservation level.
As a general statement, there is no such thing as "hard linking" reservations in AFKL systems, just a soft link that could be added as a free text on the reservation, and that might be use by agents during the preparation of the flight, especially when 2 people are on a separate PNR to avoid them being seated separately for example.
When multiple airlines use the same Departure Control System (AF uses Amadeus Altea, and I believe SB too), the check-in agent can see onward connections and link them to do a thru-check-in, but that does not happen at reservation level.
Jan 5, 2021, 7:01 am
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
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Posts: 28,733
Just buy all travel on a single ticket; whether you pay for this ticket with cash only, with miles, or some combination, is up to you....I'm sure the AF phone agent would be more than happy to run you through all available options.
There is no good reason to book separate tickets - so please keep that adventure for some other time!
Jan 6, 2021, 3:49 pm
#10
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,364
It must have been painful but I think you made the right decision. Travel is filled with too much uncertainty at the moment to be able to take the kind of risks that we regard as acceptable in normal times.
Jan 8, 2021, 10:25 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 181
She will need to spend a night at the Yotel hotel in terminal 2E on the way back, as the NRT flight arrives in afternoon and there is only 1 daily flight to LAX at the moment. I don’t think it will be up to her standards but we will see lol...
Another painful part of it? I had to call AF in Noumea to finalize, it was a 40 minute call. I didn’t have time to try to find a voip solution to calling so I just called from my cellular. $5 per minute 👀
I need to pound it into my wife’s brain to not surf the Internet or make calls in NOU with her cellular unless she is on wifi/Viber/WhatsApp. And she is not the best with technology. Please keep drjeffrock and his wallet in your thoughts! 😂
Jan 9, 2021, 1:07 am
#12
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Tokyo
Posts: 63
Indeed. It certainly was painful to buy that itinerary in J three weeks in advance, but I couldn’t let my wife spend 31 hours in the air in coach.
She will need to spend a night at the Yotel hotel in terminal 2E on the way back, as the NRT flight arrives in afternoon and there is only 1 daily flight to LAX at the moment. I don’t think it will be up to her standards but we will see lol...
Another painful part of it? I had to call AF in Noumea to finalize, it was a 40 minute call. I didn’t have time to try to find a voip solution to calling so I just called from my cellular. $5 per minute 👀
I need to pound it into my wife’s brain to not surf the Internet or make calls in NOU with her cellular unless she is on wifi/Viber/WhatsApp. And she is not the best with technology. Please keep drjeffrock and his wallet in your thoughts! 😂
She will need to spend a night at the Yotel hotel in terminal 2E on the way back, as the NRT flight arrives in afternoon and there is only 1 daily flight to LAX at the moment. I don’t think it will be up to her standards but we will see lol...
Another painful part of it? I had to call AF in Noumea to finalize, it was a 40 minute call. I didn’t have time to try to find a voip solution to calling so I just called from my cellular. $5 per minute 👀
I need to pound it into my wife’s brain to not surf the Internet or make calls in NOU with her cellular unless she is on wifi/Viber/WhatsApp. And she is not the best with technology. Please keep drjeffrock and his wallet in your thoughts! 😂
I had a similar problem pre Skype days having to make a call in Switzerland to the airline ( wifi wasn’t available at the hotel and we didn’t have a wifi pocket, maybe even pre- smartphone). Call was something like about 30 dollars on the hotel bill! I definitely feel your pain.
Jan 9, 2021, 2:05 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 181