Originally Posted by TravelingZoomer

Called in today to try to add a connecting flight for HKG - LAX to make it NRT - HKG - LAX instead.

Luckily it sounded like I got a veteran CS agent who knew what she was doing booking CX. All AS agents are super nice and helpful but it sounded like CX takes a bit more work on their end to book, it’s not as simple as other carriers. She was also very talkative and narrated her steps so I have a pretty good understanding of what she did haha.

1. First confirmed space on NRT - HKG segment by itself in J, which itself sounded like a hassle. But she confirmed with me the space is the same as I found on BA.

2. She then had to take back control of the ticket from CX. Unlike other carriers, CX takes control of the ticket for award bookings even when booked through partners after the partner books the tickets.

3. She had to manually release back the J space on the long haul but immediately got it back with a married segment from NRT.

4. Even then, the award space was reserved but CX was being difficult, so she had to transfer to their partner liaison to confirm the ticket. After a few minutes the ticket got confirmed (all on one PNR/confirmation code) with a few more dollars to pay for taxes and fee ex-NRT.

CS agent if you happen to read FT, you’re an absolute allstar! Alaska is the best US program, hands down.

Originally Posted by HikingLemming

Made a Flyertalk account just to post my Data point! I've called the Alaska MVP priority line multiple times over the last few months to book business class on Cathay. They can never find anything. After trying today, I tried the partner number - 1 (800) 307-6912 - and they saw the space!

Booking LAX-HKG-AKL right now!

Originally Posted by SOCguy

Oh man, this makes me nervous. I need to pull the trigger on a TPac flight today or tomorrow to secure a J seat but my ultimate destination is Australia (next Sept) and availability is understandably shut down at the moment. I called and asked if I booked SFO/LAX-HKG today, could I call back at some point down the road and add HKG-PER, assuming award space is available. Agent checked with a Sup and said yes, however J would have to be available on my original flight. Basically the only way they'd do it is to cancel the original flight and re-sell SFO/LAX-PER and there's no guarantee my canceled J seat would be returned to award inventory to grab back. Is this just a matter of agent experience/knowledge and that in fact I should be able to just add a segment and re-price the itinerary without messing with the original segment? Posts from a couple years ago make this type of change seem simple but the recent DP and my call today make me wonder if something has changed.

Originally Posted by SOCguy

Oh man, this makes me nervous. I need to pull the trigger on a TPac flight today or tomorrow to secure a J seat but my ultimate destination is Australia (next Sept) and availability is understandably shut down at the moment. I called and asked if I booked SFO/LAX-HKG today, could I call back at some point down the road and add HKG-PER, assuming award space is available. Agent checked with a Sup and said yes, however J would have to be available on my original flight. Basically the only way they'd do it is to cancel the original flight and re-sell SFO/LAX-PER and there's no guarantee my canceled J seat would be returned to award inventory to grab back. Is this just a matter of agent experience/knowledge and that in fact I should be able to just add a segment and re-price the itinerary without messing with the original segment? Posts from a couple years ago make this type of change seem simple but the recent DP and my call today make me wonder if something has changed.

Originally Posted by DUT

All

I have a confirmed F/J award reservation from
LAX to HKG to JNB using Alaska Air miles.

It appears Cathy has dropped my the HKG to JNB leg. Reading thru the various threads on cancellations, it appears my options are nil short of rebooking at my own expense on another airline.

Before I go to battle with Alaska, does anybody have any recent successful experience getting rebooked in this situation?

Thanks, DUT

Originally Posted by eponymous_coward

If CX isn’t flying HKG-JNB, how are you proposing AS to make CX fly the route? Charter a 77W for you?

Why wouldn’t rebooking on QR through DOH be an option?

Originally Posted by kevflyer

I tried to book a award ticket via CX today (JNB-HKG-JFK). Agent was unable to see availability if searching individual segments (JNB-HKG or HKG-JFK). Searching JNB-JFK worked, but then she was unable to grab the flights. So we tried other options, different classes, etc, but nothing worked. She said could be IT issue, and ended up giving up and told me to call back in a couple days.

Has anyone run into issues? I think I called the right number (the old partners desk #), though this agent said it was only her second CX booking since AS joined OW.

Originally Posted by skimthetrees

Did you check availability through a partner carrier before calling? If so I suggest calling back soon and not waiting. The agent is admitting they are inexperienced which sounds like even she is not sure she is doing it right. The best option for checking this route is the JAL website. AA, BA, and QF don't show married segment availability on this route (at least for AA and QF most likely because this route is invalid for a single award in their program).

Call during business hours Pacific time for best odds in reaching an agent experienced with CX award booking.

Was this near AS schedule opening?

Originally Posted by kevflyer

Yes near AS schedule opening. Late August so about 10 days from end of schedule. I checked on AA before I called and availability was wide open for both segments.

I just checked on JL and although the results show up in search, when I click through it says 'no fare can be found for the flights and/or cabins you selected'. As a test, I was able put the exact same CX flight on hold with AA after JL shows showed that error. Did a few more searches on JL site, and looks like all CX flights show that same error message. I even tried a simple NRT-HKG and got same thing. Wonder if this is related to the reason AS agent couldn't grab anything?

Originally Posted by skimthetrees

Are you sure you are searching JAL for CX partner specific awards and not revenue tickets? I don't get that error on JL. If I search on JL, select the flights, and click "continue" it gives me a summary of the cost in miles and dollars for taxes and fuel surchage.

(must be logged in to search awards)
https://www.jal.co.jp/arl/en/jmb/awa...ner/round.html

If you are searching on AA I doubt you are searching married segments JNB-JFK because that is an invalid routing on CX through HKG and AA and won't show these flights when I search it. You are probably searching individual segments which usually is a good indicator that married segments will be available but it's not always 100 percent accurate.

Try calling AS back during business hours and see if a different agent can find the award flights. If you are outside of business hours I would still call but if the agent is still unable to find what JL shows then I would definitely call back again during business hours.

Originally Posted by kevflyer

Yes I was searching for partner. I was using the 'oneworld Award Tickets' tab to search. I was able to choose other airlines (i.e. QR) and move to the next screen showing # of miles needed and taxes. It only errors out on CX flights.

Your link points to the 'JMB Partner Airlines Award Tickets' tab, so I tried that for the flights I'm looking for and it immediately showed an error:


So the oneworld tab at least shows the flights, but when clicking continue, it errors out. The JMB tab doesn't even show any flights and errors out right away.