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LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it) Rebooted v2.0

Old May 26, 2014, 8:47 am
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Last edit by: SingaporeDon
Originally Posted by Moderator2
Every forum on Flyertalk has a personality. A forum gains a personality through user input over time, and Lifemiles is a very definitive example of how users have developed a unique community.

While Flyertalk boards actively encourage sharing of info, the Lifemiles community has developed and thrived via obscuring of certain data elements. It may not be easy for new participants to break through the codes and gain knowledge of the program's quirks, but the overall board community has adopted this unique approach. And frankly, that is not going to change overnight.

If a FT member wants to participate on this board, then they will need to respect other users. Hence, posts that run counter to this community's standards, will be removed.
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2X, 3X: in the context of this LifeMiles thread, 2X and 3X refer to any 2nd and 3rd legs of a one-way award ticket.

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Understand Cabotage: Departing country 1, transiting country 2, returning to country 1 (no stopping) *is* cabotage (example: depart JFK, connect in YYZ to return to ORD, or depart Miami, connect in Bogota, return to San Francisco). On the other hand, departing country 1, going to completely unrelated country 2, and ending up in country 3, is not cabotage. So if you fly JFK-JNB-ZRH, for instance, this is completely not cabotage.

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NOTE: This previous thread has been closed; it can be read here LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it)
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LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it) Rebooted v2.0

Old Sep 6, 2014, 9:43 am
  #766  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: ZRH/SFO
Programs: A3*G - AZ CFP- HH DIA
Posts: 3,666
Originally Posted by lewende
The routing is definitely doable, given that I had exactly the same routing booked and ticketed on AV website on a different date. I am wondering if anybody has experience on that to share?
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Air Rarotonga is offline  
Old Sep 6, 2014, 5:08 pm
  #767  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Originally Posted by lewende
Looking for advice from experts here:

Yesterday I booked a ticket on AV website on a Friday departure A-B-C-D on J. It was ticketed momentarily.

Today I found the availability of the same routing from .bomb on a Saturday departure but no luck to duplicate it on lifemiles.com. What makes me frustrated the most is: when I searched A-B on J, AV returned the flight availability; when I searched B-C-D on J, AV also showed availability, but when I searched it one-way with origin A to destination D, it won't return any results and show "Sold Out".

The routing is definitely doable, given that I had exactly the same routing booked and ticketed on AV website on a different date. I am wondering if anybody has experience on that to share?

P.S. don't want to call agents due to apparent reasons.
Yep a pretty simple A-B-C shows unavailable where A-B and B-C are available. Then a week later A-B-C shows available and I book it. Not sure why.
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Old Sep 6, 2014, 5:16 pm
  #768  
 
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Originally Posted by greendx
Yep a pretty simple A-B-C shows unavailable where A-B and B-C are available. Then a week later A-B-C shows available and I book it. Not sure why.
Thanks! Will keep trying then.
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 4:30 am
  #769  
 
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A-B B-C but not A-C
It most definitely depends on the moon phase. Depending on other star configurations it either happens in full moon or it doesn't. The more you become observant of these configurations, the more likely you will detect a pattern.
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 5:37 am
  #770  
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Originally Posted by WolfvanWeen
It most definitely depends on the moon phase. Depending on other star configurations it either happens in full moon or it doesn't. The more you become observant of these configurations, the more likely you will detect a pattern.
Which leads to another ( non astronomically based) question about availabilities which is of a somewhat statistical nature.

One would expect a somewhat random distribution of availabilities, though a bit forward sloped curve, sometimes interrupted by some Close-In dates being available because last minute unsold seat are put into system by the relevant carrier(s). I can understand those. Sometimes however as example, there may be No availabilities for say the entire calendar months September and October, but then suddenly there are three days of availability within one week in November, then No availability for entire calendar months of December and January but then suddenly on February 1 there are three, and on February 2 and 3 there are two on each day and then nothing for rest of calendar month of February followed by availabilities almost every day in calendar month of March ( Clustering). Likewise the probability of an longer dated availabilities in the middle of a calendar month should be near equal to availabilities during the first 3 to 4 or last 3 to 4 days of a calendar months. However, if there are availabilities in a given calendar month I see a concentration in the first 3-4 day as well as the last 3-4 days of the calendar month.

Passenger booking patterns always follow a continuous upward sloping curve and while I am taking into account seasonal changes in schedules, there must be some non-automated i.e manual intervention to remove entire sections of periods of time, most of which also seem unrelated to major holidays. A statistician among us should be able to prove non-randomness as well as non-continuity. Does anyone recognize this pattern too and agree or disagree.

Last edited by WingedWorldExplorer; Sep 7, 2014 at 5:58 am
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 5:42 am
  #771  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,265
Availability in F

I have been partially monitoring this thread in the last couple of months (the older one too for that matter).

I have found availability in J/C for a convenient routing (without tricks, altough I could save 5k miles for the return flight) either on LH or on LX for the end of September.

My flight would be RT C2c - C2.5. There is no availability in F at this moment. I just would like to know if by any chance availability in F could still pop up in the next week(s)?

I have read somewhere (in this thread or a German counterpart I'm not sure) that F availability often pops up in 2 weeks prior to the flight.

LH still offers F service on this particular flights, LX also (altough I guess this would mean that I would have to book my award straight from ZRH). TG could also serve a convenient route (at this moment there is only availability in Y).

Would it be worth to still wait, hoping for an F award (at least oneway)? Or is LH and/or LX availability in F something from the past?

I'm not expecting that one of you has a crystal globe, neither do I expect to be (silver) spoonfed. But sharing your experiences with the timing of F availability would be very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance.
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 5:51 am
  #772  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
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Originally Posted by WingedWorldExplorer
However, if there are availabilities in a given calendar month I see a concentration in the first 3-4 day as well as the last 3-4 days of the calendar month.
Already got some answer, even before my question was posted , thx.

Do you see any difference between J and F? And is it (still) true that F only comes up in the last 2 weeks before the flight date?
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 7:12 am
  #773  
 
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Originally Posted by Epicura
Already got some answer, even before my question was posted , thx.

Do you see any difference between J and F? And is it (still) true that F only comes up in the last 2 weeks before the flight date?
Yes. That's still true for those F that still come up (because they are released manually it seems). But again, no 100% rule.
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 8:04 am
  #774  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
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Originally Posted by WolfvanWeen
Yes. That's still true for those F that still come up (because they are released manually it seems). But again, no 100% rule.
In that case I could take a chance and wait another few days to see what happens.

And I'm still getting into this and trying to find out the in's and out's, but already understand that with LM nothing will be a 100% rule.

Thank you for sharing!
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 9:21 am
  #775  
 
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Originally Posted by WolfvanWeen
Yes. That's still true for those F that still come up (because they are released manually it seems). But again, no 100% rule.
Are you sure LM can still book LH F now?
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 9:45 am
  #776  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
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Originally Posted by Epicura
Would it be worth to still wait, hoping for an F award (at least oneway)? Or is LH and/or LX availability in F something from the past?
LX F will not be released as LX awards in F are only available for M&M SEN and HON members.

LH F will be released at T-14, if seats available... At the moment, the LM site does not show available LH F... Either blocked by LH or LM.
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 10:11 am
  #777  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
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Originally Posted by lewende
Are you sure LM can still book LH F now?
I am, because i have a route on my screen that shows LH F for two legs, on two different dates within the next 14 days.

PS it's Sept. 14 and 16 on a tricked route, otherwise I would name it here.
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 11:41 am
  #778  
 
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Originally Posted by WolfvanWeen
I am, because i have a route on my screen that shows LH F for two legs, on two different dates within the next 14 days.

PS it's Sept. 14 and 16 on a tricked route, otherwise I would name it here.
I can confirm as well. Some days LH F is available 60 days out. Sometimes 2 seats on several routes.
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 11:44 am
  #779  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
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Originally Posted by stinger101
I can confirm as well. Some days LH F is available 60 days out. Sometimes 2 seats on several routes.
That's correct, a few tricked routes are available.

But 'regular' routes are blocked...
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Old Sep 7, 2014, 11:49 am
  #780  
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
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Posts: 485
Originally Posted by Air Rarotonga
That's correct, a few tricked routes are available.

But 'regular' routes are blocked...
There must (edited) work. Some new F product some old F product. But hey at least you get access to the First Class Lounge and the transfer...even if you don't go all the way.

Last edited by stinger101; Sep 9, 2014 at 8:27 am
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