A friend of mine is about to do a LONE4 around-the-world trip. Part of that trip is: HNL-LAX-ORD-MSN (Madison)-ORD-LHR on AA (ORD-MSN-ORD is American Eagle). Both visits to ORD are just transits, not stopovers.

I was hoping to use one of my eVIPs to upgrade him HNL-LAX, LAX-ORD and ORD-LHR.

I called the ExPlat desk twice today and was told that I could not use one eVIP for the three upgrades. They said that by going ORD-MSN-ORD my friend was "changing the direction" of travel, making it a round-trip. I asked whether I would be allowed to upgrade the three mainline flights if the side-trip to Madison was removed and they said yes. When I questioned the logic both put me on hold to check their answer (don't know with whom) before coming back and confirming their initial response.

This is my first attempt to use an eVIP, and my knowledge of the rules is limited to what I have read on FT. So at this stage all I can ask is whether what the agents said matches the experiences FTers have had, or whether I should be allowed to use the eVIP on all three segments.

It just doesn't make sense to me that an around-the-world which passes through the same transit airport twice suddenly counts as a round-trip. If it turns out that this is a technicality and prevents the eVIP being used for all three, my friend will probably re-route the flight to avoid one visit to ORD (although that seems to create different problems - namely a long AE flight) or purchase a separate ORD-MSN-ORD ticket. On the other hand if it appears that both ExPlat agents were wrong I will call back and try to get the "right" answer.

I am grateful for any assistance which may be forthcoming.

My gut understanding would be that because ORD-MSN-ORD is for all intents and purposes a round trip (even if it is nested within a larger one way itinerary) and that because the eVIPS are used for the for up two three segments on a one-way trip then it would not work. The old six segment VIP upgrades would have worked, as what you essentially have booked as it appears to AA is an open jaw (HNL-LAX-ORD-MSN/MSN-ORD-LHR).

The other thing that might be affecting this is the stopover in MSN, since it doesn't appear that you have any stopovers in other cities, and my understanding is that anything more than a connection (in this case the stop in MSN) would allow you to use one eVIP for the legs on either side of the itinerary (i.e. HNL-LAX-ORD-MSN or MSN-ORD-LHR); in order to get both parts (pre and post-MSN) upgraded you would need two eVIPs. I think however even if you were to cut out the ORD-MSN-ORD portion and just go HNL-LAX-ORD(stopover, where you buy a separate ticket to MSN)-LHR, you would still have to use two eVIPS because of the stopover in ORD. Perhaps not, but last time I talked to EXP line this is what they told me (but I will apologize ahead of time if this is incorrect as I use my eVIPS for simpler itineraries that never include the stopover). Another FTer with stopover experience using the eVIPs will comment and you may also want to check the stickies or the eVIP rules.

The agents are corrent about it being 2 eVIP's, but not because of what they said. The stopover in MSN is what causes a second one to be used. I assume he is there for > 4 hours? If so, that is the problem.

I thought EVIPs were good for only three segments, and that they had to be three consecutive segments on one ticket. HNL-LAX-ORD-MSN-ORD-LHR is 5 segments. You could use two EVIPs, one to upgrade HNL-LAX-ORD-MSN and one to upgrade MSN-ORD-LHR.

Also, as indicated, if the ORD-MSN-ORD legs were removed from the LONE4, you could upgrade HNL-LAX-ORD-LHR (at least, I think you can use an EVIP with a stopover).

I think the key here is that the EVIP segments have to be consecutive. You can't pick any three you want.

OT, the ORD-MSN-ORD legs seem to be kinda a waste of LONE4 segments. That should be a short, cheap flight.

From what the schedule shows, all ORD-MSN service is Eagle anyways so upgrading those is not an issue. Also, I believe since those are eagle segments you can use the eVIP on non-consecutive legs.

True.
False. They can be any three segments in the same direction of travel.

I don't agree with that at all.

1. Stopovers are not an issue in using an eVIP, provided the underlying fare allows them.

2. Madison is west of Chicago - so you have changed direction and are coming 'back' from a point further away from your origin (HNL), so your 'one way' is over.

3. In my experience, it's unclear if the 3 (upgraded) legs have to be consecutive. As others have pointed out, Eagle segments don't count. However, I'm not sure if you were going say HNL-LAX-DFW-JFK-LHR (all mainline) whether you could skip one of the intermediate legs. I assume you can - it's a one way trip and you can upgrade three segments ...

4. As others have pointed out, using segments of a xONE to go Chicago-Madison and back seems a bit of a waste - how much is a separate ticket?

There was a thread on this a week or two ago. You absolutely can use an eVIP on non-consecutive segments. I used one earlier this year on segments 1, 3 and 4 of a 4-segment itin. All were mainline flights. I chose to take a sticker upgrade on the 2nd segment. Others have reported similarly. You absolutely can use an eVIP on non-consecutive segments.

Is MSN a stopover or a transit? How long?

I can confirm that!

You seem to be encountering the rule I ran into last year. I was not allowed to upgrade a Europe-SouthAmerica because I went to far west first, then backtracked. I just wanted them to upgrade the Europe-DFW and DFW-South America portions skipping the DFW-XXX-DFW but was told two VIPs would be required because I was backtracking. (I was on a single fare basis with no stops over 24hrs).

Olimaspecto --

[QUOTE=for all intensive purposes[/QUOTE]

This is not a flame or putdown. I just want to inform you, so that you don't make this mistake where it might be important.

The expression is "for all intents and purposes."

Hold on a second -- does this mean that I would not be able to use one VIP on, say, FRA-DFW-LGA, since I changed direction? That doesn't seem correct to me...

About 200 rt for the cheapest fare, since MSN is about 130 miles from O'Hare, why not rent a car and drive the 2- 2 1/2 hours? Or take a bus?

Both pretty reasonable for a fairly short distance