obscuredolfin

Hi all,

I am on the phone to get ticketed right now for:
JFK-YVR-NRTx-ICN-HKGx-BKK-SIN-HELx-HAM (overland) FCO-LHRx-JFK

and the agent is telling me that the taxes are $1061, which seems really high to me. I am only flying through LHR and using BA once.

Does anyone have experience on what the taxes on this itinerary may cost?? (Someone else's SE Asia trip was $300 just a while ago; how can adding on Europe more than triple the cost of taxes, especially with only flights into and out of Europe?!)

Thanks,
Christie

Austinrunner

According to the BA website, only January 7 is available.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

That sounds high. Call back and make sure that you are not being charged the UK APD, which should not apply to a mere connection through LHR. Also make sure that you're on AA -- not BA -- for the TATL segment.

obscuredolfin

Hrm, sorry, I am actually stopping over in LHR now, I forgot to change that on my itinerary. They dropped it to $563 and I ticketed because that was such a high drop from before...does that seem right?

Oh and I am doing it in business class if that matters. I just put it into the oneworld website and they actually said taxes are $1267...

Jwerking

Many agents are indeed unknowledgeable about the OW awards. AA has still not acted on my special request to move my JFK to DCA flight to the first flight out in the morning. Thus, I inquired about being routed from HKG to Chicago to avoid the issue and am able to do this on Jan 7th where Austinrunner found availibility for 2 award seats. But of course, the agent did not know if an open jaw is allowed at the end of the OW trip.

Thus, can I start my OW itinerary in IAD and end it in ORD? I have no other open jaws in my trip currently.

Ultimately, I want to reschedule the the AKL - HKG-ORD on CP until mid to late January 2013 ( probably about Jan 20th) instead of my current flight on Jan 2 from AKL-HKG and then Jan 7th from HKG-ORD. I really have no desire to stopover in HKG for 5 days - as I have been to HK previously and did not love it - even though I am ethnically Chinese - LOL!

Austinrunner - can you give me an idea on how CP loads their award seats? 330 days out or 360 days out? Do they upload daily or upload several days or a whole week at a time? Will they add award seats as time passes or mostly at the 330/360 day window?

Once again, thanks for your help as always.

Joyce

Austinrunner

Yes, you may start your itinerary in one city and end it in a different one. People do that all the time. CX typically loads award inventory at the earliest possible time and then again within a couple weeks of the flight. But there's nothing to prevent CX from loading seats at other times.We presume that CX adds the seats shortly before the flight because it has determined that it is unlikely to sell the seats.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Joyce, why do you need an open jaw? AA flies from ORD to WAS. Just add that segment (if you can find availability) and then change the date of travel subsequently. No reason to pay for a CHI-WAS cash ticket.



(Edited to add the following: )



Has AA extended the hold on your reservation, due to the screw-up re: JFK-DCA? If so, when does the hold now expire?

Jwerking

Okay, AA approved the special request for the first flight at 8 am from JFK to DCA - so it has now been ticketed. But as you guys know that doesn't really mean it for another 48 hrs. Hopefully, it will be a done deal.

I hope AA loads some of their domestic seats for January soon - so I can have the flexible to change my Kiwi return. Right now, the itinerary is a killer - with only a two hr layover in HK between the AKL- HKG -JFK flight. That must be about 30 hrs on airplanes - yuK! A one or two day stopover in HKG would be nice.

Thank you guv1976 and Austinrunner once again

Joyce

Austinrunner

Joyce, be sure to get a ticket number once the itinerary is shown as "ticketed" on aa.com. If anything goes wrong at a subsequent point, the ticket number would be very important.

HoKo

Great, thanks for the info!

I'm having a lot of trouble finding availability on JL, anyone here with experience on how they release award seats? Just spent time plugging in dates to KVS, tons of C & W availability for tomorrow's flights and flights 2/20-2/23, so it looks like they release seats one day in advance and about one week in advance. Can anyone else confirm this?

Also, If C is unavailable on a JL flight can I book into W (Premium Economy)?

Since HND and NRT are co-terminals in the same city if I have a segment booked HNL - NRT and I want to switch it to HNL-HND is this permissible or would it be considered a routing change?

Austinrunner

No.

ilovetofly

It is a routing change and is not permitted (unless you get lucky with an agent to change it). Once ticketed, the only change you can make is date and time.

HoKo

Ok, so when booking a biz class award I can voluntarily downgrade to Y (if necessary) but not to W?

Got it, thanks

Jwerking

Hooray, I got ticketed and noted the ticket number. Been checking daily for AA to load domestic seats for January 2013 , but still has not happened.

If I want to delay the return portion, must all the award seats be available for me to re-schedule all the way from AKL-HKG -JKF-DCA? For example, let's say I find award seats and re-schedule AKL-HKG-JFK to Jan 20, but there are is no JFK-DCA award seats available on the morning of Jan 21 - does this block me from re-scheduling the other portion from AKL-HKG-JFK (even if I am willing to pay my own way back from JFK to DCA)? Will AA allow a special request for the last leg from JFK-DCA like they just did for me??

Now that I am booked, need answers to following suggestions from the first post.

Okay - I will call each airline and confirm reservation and request seats. Since I am a platinum member with AA, does this give me preference on partner airlines with regard to selecting the "premium seats"? Must I inform them of my platinum status or will it be in their reservation system due to the ticketing?

Why do I need travel insurance - have never purchased any in the past, but then I never took such a long trip. How much does it costs and what are some reputable companies? Is it cheaper to purchase it now or can I wait until closer to the start of the trip?

Once again all for the great advice and help! You guys have made my dream trip a reality

Joyce

Austinrunner

Given that you are currently ticketed for AKL -> HKG -> JKF -> DCA, you could not drop the last leg without cancelling the whole itinerary, redepositing the miles (for a $150 fee), and rebooking everything, including the flights before AKL. You may change dates and / or times without this hassle, but that's it. (You cannot change a stopover to a connection or vice versa.) Some would say that you could just get off the plane at JFK and forget the last flight (assuming you do not have checked baggage), but I'm not that much of a risk taker.

As for seating, I typically figure out which seats I want based on what's currently available and then call the operating airline to request them. That procedure has never failed me. You are oneworld Sapphire. You can see your benefits when flying on oneworld members here: http://www.oneworld.com/ffp/my-oneworld-tier-status/

I don't want to recommend a particular travel insurance company on a public website, but you can see almost all the options at http://www.insuremytrip.com. That website will list the risks the insurance covers. They should be self-explanatory. Buy the insurance ASAP. It's what the insurers typically require, and no insurance will cover any events that happen before the policy is purchased.

Congratulations again!