I am sorry for adding another thread. I couldn't find an answer to my question after looking into many threads. But if this has been questioned (I guess) and answered, please forgive me.
I am trying to book award tickets on Turkish Airlines from IST to SFO. But no direct flights are available on the day I want. But IST to ORD is available and bookable via ANA. ANA shows award flights from ORD to SFO which can connect upon arrival on the same day. Do they allow these two tickets to be combined into one? If yes,
1. Is calling to their award desk is the only option? 2
2. How is required miles calculated? From IST to SFO is 27.5K on Y and ORD to SFO is 15K if separately calculated. Will it be 42.5K or still 27.5K

Thank you.
michaelmorio

If you search as a Star Alliance award, it should show you IST ORD SFO if it can be booked as a single ticket. It may not be possible under married segment logic, where the two segments can't be combined as one ticket. You can try to call ANA and see if the agent can do it. If you book it as two separate awards, they can't combine it to one afterwards.

If you can get one ticket it will be priced IST SFO at 27.5K. Two tickets will be the sum of the costs for each leg.

CHP-Flyer,

Thank you for your quick response.
I manipulated "Multiple Cities/Mix Classes" booking on ANA's site.
But it gave me an error message "his service is not available for the specified itinerary. Please check the User Hints below and re-specify your flight conditions." But the Hint didn't give me straight answers. Both legs are available separately. Is this a glitch of some sort?
Let me expand my question a bit.
If I start from VIE to IST, IST to ORD, ORD to SFO provided award seats are all available on these legs separately, can it be also combined into one ticket? And the price is the same as from VIE to SFO on one ticket, 27.5K in Y for example?

michaelmorio

Even if each segment has availability, it may not work as a single ticket. It is more common to see that the non stop single segment is not available, but booking it as part of a connection makes it available, it has to be sold as a married segment. But the flip side can also be seen, you can't combine certain segments.
It may be a bug of the website, it may be segments that can't be sold together. You would probably need to call ANA to find out which. I have had it with JAL, where the website could not combine certain legs, but the agent could.

If you get VIE IST ORD SFO on one ticket, it will price as VIE IST.

The only way to know for sure is to call. If you can put up with the long hold, the agents are generally quite competent.

I have had quite a few examples of perfectly logical and legal connections being denied, possibly because of some quirk or restriction in AMC�s routing rules. Sometimes it could simply be the reverse married segment logic at work, as mentioned above. The weirdest issue I had was YVR-TPE-SIN in J not being bookable, but YVR-TPE-SIN in J connecting to Y worked some very odd reason.

CHP-Flyer & Silver Chris,

Thank your posts. I will call ANA.
By the way what is the best number to reach them and operating hours regarding this kind of matter?

michaelmorio

Depends on your region, ANA's website has the numbers under FAQ and contact. Well hidden, but it is there.

CPH-Flyer,

Thank you for your response again. I am in the US. But I hear some call centers take a very long time to get through to an agent. Is there a particular call center that responds quickly?

michaelmorio

When I call, it the Japanese language line in Japan. But as I have not status with ANA it can be a bit sluggish. I have no experience in calling the US call centre. But I assume there is just one number for the US?

CHPFlyer,

Thank you again. There are a few numbers listed for the US website. The main number, which is a toll free and can accept both English and Japanese. There is a 310 area code number and it is not a toll free. I guess it connects to a call center in LA area judging from the area code. And there is another toll-free number which connects to the Philippines.
By the way, if it's a simple award ticket such as SFO-->HND-->SFO round trip, can I ticket it on ANA's website? Or do I have to call in for issuing it? I have never done it and have no idea.

michaelmorio

Please let me know how the call went! I am also having this set up A to B and B to C with ANA. I am mostly worried that if A to B gets delayed and I miss B to C, would we be rebooked automatically or would it be considered no show?

As long as the website shows the availability as single search it can be booked online. The challenge comes once you have to search for A to B and B to C separately to show availability.

If everything is on one ticket then you�ll be protected.

On separate tickets, ANA might be sympathetic if both flights are on their metal, but it�s not guaranteed.

Caramel17,
When I book my flights I will let you know how it went. I may not be booking so soon though.

michaelmorio

CHP-Flyer,

Thank you for your input again.

michaelmorio