Booking a FB award with Aeroflot
Dec 27, 2014, 3:48 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: BCN
Programs: IHG, M&M, FB, Avios, ALL, etc.
Posts: 928
Booking a FB award with Aeroflot
I'm trying to burn my FB miles for the first time. The award flights involve VNO and TLL from BCN, and the only option I'm offered is SU. However, every time I try to confirm it, I get a "technical problem" and I'm told to try again later. This has happened in 3 different days...
Could this really be a failure in the booking system, or does it mean that the only way to book flights on other than AF, KL, UX, etc, implies a phone call?
Thanks.
Could this really be a failure in the booking system, or does it mean that the only way to book flights on other than AF, KL, UX, etc, implies a phone call?
Thanks.
Dec 27, 2014, 8:35 pm
#2
Join Date: Oct 2011
Programs: FB Platinum for Life
Posts: 1,019
This thread (Problem booking Aerolineas Argentinas award ticket) discusses problems with online booking for FB awards on AR and SV. It doesn't explicitly mention SU, but I encountered a problem similar to the one you describe, when trying to book awards on SU earlier in the year. However, the FB website showed availability correctly (even though it couldn't finalise an award booking), and it was then simple enough to get the ticket issued by phoning FB.
Based on my relatively limited experience, online award booking for DL, KQ, etc has worked fine. For a few airlines (eg: SU, and apparently AR, SV), the FB website shows availability but will not actually complete a booking. For some other SkyTeam airlines, it seems that award availability does not show up at all on the FB website, and the only way to find or book such an award is over the phone.
Based on my relatively limited experience, online award booking for DL, KQ, etc has worked fine. For a few airlines (eg: SU, and apparently AR, SV), the FB website shows availability but will not actually complete a booking. For some other SkyTeam airlines, it seems that award availability does not show up at all on the FB website, and the only way to find or book such an award is over the phone.
Dec 29, 2014, 4:05 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: BCN
Programs: IHG, M&M, FB, Avios, ALL, etc.
Posts: 928
Thanks a lot for your comprehensive reply, KQ321. I had several options (FB miles, M&M miles, buying tickets...) and I chose SU because I thought the taxes were quite low (around 45 € per pax).
So today I called Flying Blue, the agent found the same flight availability, he made me wait for more than 5 minutes in order to calculate taxes... and he came back telling me I had to pay 212,80 € per person! After I complained profusely, he said that the reason why I couldn't complete the booking is that, for some reason, the taxes for SU flights are wrong, way too low. So basically, a glitch in the FB website.
The current price of the equivalent flights with Air Baltic or Lufthansa is also just over 200 €, with Ryanair being cheaper but only flying BCN-VNO or GRO-TLL, different departure/arrival airports. My FB miles will remain in the account until the right time comes, I guess.
So today I called Flying Blue, the agent found the same flight availability, he made me wait for more than 5 minutes in order to calculate taxes... and he came back telling me I had to pay 212,80 € per person! After I complained profusely, he said that the reason why I couldn't complete the booking is that, for some reason, the taxes for SU flights are wrong, way too low. So basically, a glitch in the FB website.
The current price of the equivalent flights with Air Baltic or Lufthansa is also just over 200 €, with Ryanair being cheaper but only flying BCN-VNO or GRO-TLL, different departure/arrival airports. My FB miles will remain in the account until the right time comes, I guess.