What's the longest time taken to complete manual booking?
Aug 9, 23, 11:57 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: Marriott LT Plat; WoH Exp; AS Gold; AA Plat
Posts: 366
What's the longest its taken to complete your manual booking?
For FTers who have previously requested manual award booking via the email process, what's the longest period of time you've had to wait for a successful Ticketing of that reservation by the Specialized Department, from the initial email sent to the Support team?
For those with multiple DPs, do you think the wait time varies based on complexity of the routing requested?
For those with multiple DPs, do you think the wait time varies based on complexity of the routing requested?
Last edited by arfaczar; Aug 10, 23 at 12:11 am
Aug 10, 23, 8:36 am
#2
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 8
Turn-around time was quite fast, less than a day. Outcome sometimes not what you expected but ok
With the email not in service anymore and the new service platform it basically doesnt work anymore at all in my experience. Got 4 different ticket numbers, promised it will be escalated internallythat goes for more than a week with cero result.
Emailing will have the same guy replying to you (quite fast) with the beforementioned promises. [Sentence edited by Moderator in keeping with FlyerTalk privacy rules]
Seems dead this possibility
With the email not in service anymore and the new service platform it basically doesnt work anymore at all in my experience. Got 4 different ticket numbers, promised it will be escalated internallythat goes for more than a week with cero result.
Emailing will have the same guy replying to you (quite fast) with the beforementioned promises. [Sentence edited by Moderator in keeping with FlyerTalk privacy rules]
Seems dead this possibility
Last edited by Moderator2; Aug 10, 23 at 8:51 am
Aug 10, 23, 8:33 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: Marriott LT Plat; WoH Exp; AS Gold; AA Plat
Posts: 366
Turn-around time was quite fast, less than a day. Outcome sometimes not what you expected but ok
With the email not in service anymore and the new service platform it basically doesnt work anymore at all in my experience. Got 4 different ticket numbers, promised it will be escalated internallythat goes for more than a week with cero result.
Emailing will have the same guy replying to you (quite fast) with the beforementioned promises. [Sentence edited by Moderator in keeping with FlyerTalk privacy rules]
Seems dead this possibility
With the email not in service anymore and the new service platform it basically doesnt work anymore at all in my experience. Got 4 different ticket numbers, promised it will be escalated internallythat goes for more than a week with cero result.
Emailing will have the same guy replying to you (quite fast) with the beforementioned promises. [Sentence edited by Moderator in keeping with FlyerTalk privacy rules]
Seems dead this possibility
Aug 18, 23, 7:45 pm
#4
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Vancouver, BC
Programs: FPC, Avios, Asia Miles, Aeroplan, AS, National
Posts: 19
It took me 8 days....
The ticket was 4 segments YVR - SYD - HND / NRT - VIE - FRA
27 Apr 22:00 Sent email request
28 Apr 07:30 They say no availability
28 Apr 07:45 I reply i still see it
28 Apr 10:00 They say they still cant see it
28 Apr 11:11 Asked to clarify which segment they dont see
01 May 07:00 Different person answered - They say they have finally forwarded to the appropriate department
03 May 11:30 Get email with itinerary
03 May 17:00 Finally get call for payment
04 May 05:00 Full ticket finally received in email
The ticket was 4 segments YVR - SYD - HND / NRT - VIE - FRA
27 Apr 22:00 Sent email request
28 Apr 07:30 They say no availability
28 Apr 07:45 I reply i still see it
28 Apr 10:00 They say they still cant see it
28 Apr 11:11 Asked to clarify which segment they dont see
01 May 07:00 Different person answered - They say they have finally forwarded to the appropriate department
03 May 11:30 Get email with itinerary
03 May 17:00 Finally get call for payment
04 May 05:00 Full ticket finally received in email
Sep 5, 23, 6:40 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: in the air
Posts: 30
fusion327 Can I ask if your itinerary was mixed cabin? If so, did they charge the total miles based on ratio of segment length/cabin class, OR did they simply add the sum of the miles cost for each segment.
For example: JFK-IST-CAI, with JFK-IST in business and IST-CAI in economy. The cost of each segment if it were booked individually is 63k miles and 24k miles respectively. For fusion327 and arfaczar , this should not be quoted as 87k miles right, but rather a calculated number of miles that factors in distance and individual segment price? I know this is how LM works, but since you two made recent bookings after the transition to the Customer Service form, I wanted to make sure mixed cabin ticketing is still calculated as before.
For example: JFK-IST-CAI, with JFK-IST in business and IST-CAI in economy. The cost of each segment if it were booked individually is 63k miles and 24k miles respectively. For fusion327 and arfaczar , this should not be quoted as 87k miles right, but rather a calculated number of miles that factors in distance and individual segment price? I know this is how LM works, but since you two made recent bookings after the transition to the Customer Service form, I wanted to make sure mixed cabin ticketing is still calculated as before.
Sep 5, 23, 9:19 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: Marriott LT Plat; WoH Exp; AS Gold; AA Plat
Posts: 366
fusion327 Can I ask if your itinerary was mixed cabin? If so, did they charge the total miles based on ratio of segment length/cabin class, OR did they simply add the sum of the miles cost for each segment.
For example: JFK-IST-CAI, with JFK-IST in business and IST-CAI in economy. The cost of each segment if it were booked individually is 63k miles and 24k miles respectively. For fusion327 and arfaczar , this should not be quoted as 87k miles right, but rather a calculated number of miles that factors in distance and individual segment price? I know this is how LM works, but since you two made recent bookings after the transition to the Customer Service form, I wanted to make sure mixed cabin ticketing is still calculated as before.
For example: JFK-IST-CAI, with JFK-IST in business and IST-CAI in economy. The cost of each segment if it were booked individually is 63k miles and 24k miles respectively. For fusion327 and arfaczar , this should not be quoted as 87k miles right, but rather a calculated number of miles that factors in distance and individual segment price? I know this is how LM works, but since you two made recent bookings after the transition to the Customer Service form, I wanted to make sure mixed cabin ticketing is still calculated as before.
LifeMiles reqd: US1 to ME/N.Arfrica is 78k in biz & 42.5k in eco (assuming layover in IST is less than 24 hours) not sure if this is current, but here's what I am basing it on - https://thriftytraveler.com/wp-conte...tion-Table.pdf
In the mixed-class option you're attempting to ticket, the mileage requirement should be calculated as:
approx. 86.5% of 78k plus 13.5% of 42.5k; i.e. 67.5k plus 6k = 73.5k miles + applicable taxes each way (depending on distance assumed and how LM round-up miles reqd, it may vary by +/- 2%). The taxes were higher than I was expecting because they add up the total taxes for each individual flight without taking into account the fact that may layover was less than 24 hours. I verified this after the ticketing and the total was exactly as calculated for each separate flight by ITA Matrix. What was the LM agent quoting you in terms of miles and taxes?
My recent mixed-class (80/20) redemption (US3 to Eur3) was 1.3k more than what I had anticipated, but I was able to do an instant-transfer from AmEx while the LM agent agreed to wait on the phone.
Sep 6, 23, 2:35 am
#7
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: in the air
Posts: 30
arfaczar Thanks--yes your calculation method is the same method I use. I'll attribute that freak scare of an email quoting me the sum total of each segment's standalone miles to the agent's incompetence. Why the heck would I be booking a mixed cabin ticket if I were willing to pay the award chart cost of miles for each segment?! I'm not sure what these folks are thinking at times. I have replied stressing once again this is a single mixed-cabin ticket, so we shall see. I guess it is a luck of the draw in terms of which frontline agent you get. I have also ensured layovers are less than 24 hrs, so I think it all checks out--just needs to get forwarded to the actual people who have the power to book instead of getting held up at early steps for inane reasons.
I have asked this individual for taxes but have not heard back. Based on how the points calculation has gone, I doubt they could weigh in--might just have to wait to hear back from the actual booking or billing department agents. I'm not too eager to hear back about the taxes based on your experience though, since some of these EU/UK departures are heavily taxed ($150-$300), and I am thinking to incorporate such segments. I have seen some interesting cases where a single standalone USA-EU segment is taxed ~$150, but when I perform a search for USA-EU-intraEU on the website, the taxes drop back down to ~$12. So, the LM website operates on the basis of dumping the heavy tax if that first EU port is used solely as a transit point. It is interesting to me then that for a manual ticket, taxes are not similarly dumped due to the same principle.
I have asked this individual for taxes but have not heard back. Based on how the points calculation has gone, I doubt they could weigh in--might just have to wait to hear back from the actual booking or billing department agents. I'm not too eager to hear back about the taxes based on your experience though, since some of these EU/UK departures are heavily taxed ($150-$300), and I am thinking to incorporate such segments. I have seen some interesting cases where a single standalone USA-EU segment is taxed ~$150, but when I perform a search for USA-EU-intraEU on the website, the taxes drop back down to ~$12. So, the LM website operates on the basis of dumping the heavy tax if that first EU port is used solely as a transit point. It is interesting to me then that for a manual ticket, taxes are not similarly dumped due to the same principle.
Sep 7, 23, 7:48 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: Marriott LT Plat; WoH Exp; AS Gold; AA Plat
Posts: 366
HistoricalFlyer did you finally receive a call from LM's Specialized Department?
Sep 8, 23, 9:59 am
#9
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: in the air
Posts: 30
HistoricalFlyer Sadly no, not yet. Will call the frontline and prod them today. They did finally escalate it for booking, but that was <48 hrs ago.
Sep 8, 23, 7:00 pm
#10
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: in the air
Posts: 30
arfaczar just heard back with reservation, but am being quoted a lifemiles total that is vastly off from what I have calculated. 75k versus 50k. Would it possible for you to unlock private messages so I can message you details? I am beyond certain I havent made an error but this is a sore surpriseneed to get this corrected during the limited window I have to pay for reservation before it is canceled. Much appreciated.
Sep 9, 23, 7:28 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: Marriott LT Plat; WoH Exp; AS Gold; AA Plat
Posts: 366
Dec 4, 23, 7:32 pm
#14
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: USA
Programs: DL PM - IC RA - HHonors Gold - Hertz Gold - AA - US - CO - Choice Privileges
Posts: 1,542
