Yes

With all the talk of DC being integrated into M&M I am getting my skates on and about to book my winter holidays.

Is this acceptable:

NRT-TPE-SIN-BLR

thanks

I know this may not be the best place to ask this question, but I'm unable to find a more appropriate thread and my searches are giving my conflicting answers.

I am looking at redeeming miles for IAH-ORD-MUC // SZG-FRA-YYZ-IAH all in C (a return with an open jaw). The TATL segments will be on LH and AC while the rest will be on CO, AC and OS. Should I expect to pay a fuel surcharge when booking this reward? If so, are there any carriers that I can select for the TATL segments to avoid the surcharge?

Thanks for the help!

I'm no expert on YQ, but I imagine you would attract quite a bit of taxes and charges there - in my limited experience, US Airways is the very best on avoiding YQ and other silly charges.

Really hope I'm not asking an obvious question here, have searched and read the FAQs, but would very much appreciate the opinion of well seasoned DCers!

Trying to plan a redemption for 2 pax to N.America/Canada (Zone 1 to Zone 3) for our summer holiday. I currently have the following itinerary worked out, with dates/availability all ok on the ANA tool:

Outbound:

FRA-ZRH-JFK-LAX <stopover in LAX> -YVR

Return:

YVR-SFO <stopover in SFO> -JFK-ZRH

...firstly, do these look like legitimate routings that the ICC will allow me to book (as two seperate 1 way redemptions)? The FRA component is optional on the outbound (hoping we can access FCT by virtue of holding an LX F ticket for that day) but we definately want to fly ZRH-JFK (LX F newer product) rather than ZRH direct to LAX.

To add more complexity, we will be originating from BHX, so I suppose my next question is can we tack on BHX-FRA (or indeed BHX-ZRH) onto the existing Zone 1 to Zone 3 ticket (and indeed ZRH-BHX on the homebound leg as part of the Zone 3 to Zone 1), or would we need to do a seperate redemption for this part of the trip?

Very many thanks in advance if anyone can offer some help - this whole redemption thing is giving me a headache! Sure there's a niche for redemption consultants to help folks out

Taking this in stages:

If I have understood correctly, your starting point is BHX and your destination is YVR. You want a stopover in LAX on the way out and SFO on the way back.

1. Outbound, the most direct routing from BHX to LAX is either BHX-ZRH-LAX or BHX-FRA-LAX

a. You are trying to shoehorn in FRA-ZRH. Firstly, I think the ICC will baulk at this and insist that it is an unnecessary extra leg.
b. Secondly, I wouldn't add this extra step just to visit the FCT in FRA; it's good, but not worth the extra hassle.
c. If you really want to visit the FCT, why not just fly BHX-FRA-LAX? I know that means LH rather than LX (and I am a huge fan of the latter), but I think the LH F seat is fine if you are i. traveling as a couple and ii. on a daytime flight.

2. The JFK-LAX leg

Assuming you drop the unnecessary FRA-ZRH leg and therefore want to fly BHX-FRA-JFK-LAX or BHX-ZRH-JFK-LAX, the ICC might allow this, that said:

a. If you take my LH advice above, this part is otiose
b. If you fly LX, the difference between new and old F is not big enough to break your journey at JFK. 'Old LX F' is still a fantastic product. It might not have the extra wood panelling or AVOD but the seat is very similar and the soft product exactly the same.
c. UA PS F is good, but again I would prefer 'Old' LX F all the way to LAX rather than new LX F to JFK and then UA PS F to LAX.

3. Inbound

If you really want to try new LX F, then I would concentrate on this journey.

YVR-SFO (stop) -JFK-ZRH-BHX seems perfectly reasonable, particularly if there is no availability direct to ZRH from SFO.

Again, I would much prefer a long journey in F, ie from LAX or SFO in old F on LX than connecting at JFK.

In summary, if I was traveling with Mrs BiH on the same trip, I would book:

BHX-FRA-LAX on LH in C and F, onwards to YVR on UA
YVR-SFO on UA, SFO-ZRH-BHX on LX in F and C

Bear in mind SFO is a new LX route and F award seats are scarce. If you can reverse the stopovers, it may work out. If not, then I would consider YVR-SFO (stop) -JFK-ZRH-BHX

If you haven't already read a few trip reports on LX F and LH F, you can find a link to mine below this post (in true BBC fashion, I hasten to point out that 'other trip reports are available' ;) )

Feel free to private message me if some or all of that makes little sense!

Final point - this is a complicated itinerary whichever way you decide to go. With a few notable exceptions, the female agents at the ICC are far better than their male counterparts at booking anything other than a LHR-MAN Y class redemption. If you get a male agent who shares his first name with the Beano character 'The Menace', the former Arsenal striker 'Bergkamp' or the snooker player 'Taylor', then just hang up and try again.

baggageinhall , thank you so much for your detailed response - I'm working my way though digesting it :)

A few points - you are correct in saying our point of origin is BHX, final destination YVR and we desire stops in LAX and SFO.

We've visited the FRA FCT before and flown LH F FRA-HKG so have experienced it - I thought about shoehorning this into the route so we could experience it again as we're infrequent non status Y fliers who wanted to maximise the F lounge experience,...that said, I do feel slightly uneasy about trying to run that past the ICC - the route is perhaps dodgy enough already without giving them extra ammunition to say no.

LH F, whilst desirable, is unfortunately not an option for us due to the surcharge and no C&M - our miles simply don't stretch far enough.

Very good point with regard to new vs. old LX F seats - I'm thinking the longer F flight might well be a better option, or indeed a mixture of the two to sample both old and new.

Once again, very many thanks for your help, I very much appreciate it!

Just seen your additional comments :) Thanks for the tips regarding the menace :p

It's a very complicated itinerary, difficult to justify in rational terms. It's also incredibly time-consuming and probably eye-wateringly expensive as well! Only you know if it's worth the time and cash to sit in a lounge, and i think you have decided it is:cool:

You might consider wrapping the redeemed ticket in an LH BHX FRA paid return, or simply start with a one-way BHX FRA and ending the redemption in BHX. Booked well in advance LH UK to Germany can be cheap as chips. And you get a couple of miles credited ....

Not only does the paid add-on avoid further CC hassle, you'd save an impressive amount of APD money and the LH sector charges on redemptions.


And if I were fortunate enough to find LX F availability to LAX or SFO I'd grab it over the awfulness of connecting at JFK.

Sincere vote of thanks to baggageinhall, IAN-UK and other FT friends that offered helpful advice over this redemption. I know this isn't the "report your successful redemptions" thread, but I think my post fits in here (I hope - please feel free to move if necessary!)

I decided to drop the FRA tag on as advised by baggageinhall and call the ICC to book ZRH-JFK-LAX-YVR out and YVR-SFO-JFK-ZRH-BHX back, got a female operative and proceeded to run through the flight numbers I'd lined up - she put me on hold and then said that it wasn't a valid routing :( Tried my luck on the return leg and once again, not a valid routing. She said it was still possible, but I'd have to do a Zone 1 to Zone 3, ending in JFK, then a Zone 3 to Zone 3 for the rest. I said it simply wasn't possible due to lack of miles, thanked her and ended the call.

*Very* deflated, I sat and thought for a while, and decided to call back. At least if I got another "no", then I'd know to start re-working the route. In the break between calls, tried looking at ZRH-LAX, ZRH-SFO and return legs on ANA, but no availability :( Ok, bit the bullet and called the ICC...

Male operative answered, gave his name (not sure if I can post it here, R***N, may not have the correct spelling), again I ran through the outbound, he put me on hold,...agonising wait,...wife next to me with all fingers and toes crossed,...then he came back and asked if I was using miles or C&M,...processed the card payment, done and dusted! Then I asked him to book the return,...same result! Finally I booked a one way BHX-ZRH to start the trip and burn my last remaining miles, done :D

So, I'm glad to report, successfully booked (BHX-ZRH), (ZRH-JFK-LAX-YVR), (YVR-SFO-JFK-ZRH-BHX). Can hardly contain my excitement. Thanks again everyone and have a great weekend!

Well done, you! Perseverance pays :)

It's a cheeky Q, but you could you give a ball-park of the taxes & charges the main ticket generated?

Not cheeky at all :) I have three figures, all of which are the totals for 2 pax including C&M, so I'll have to sit down with a pen to check the tax component - will update here when I get my brain in gear!

I know a stopover is permitted on an one-way travel , but how about a surface segment ? Will a surface segment be considered as a stopover ?

for example :
Can i book PEK(Zone 8) -TPE (Zone 8) one-way travel as following :

PEK-NRT xxx ICN-TPE (NRT-ICN is a surface movement)


Thanks

irrelevant now, as the booked itin was the straightforward one!

Routing legality:

Want to do NRT-SIN(Stopover)-CPH but there is a direct NRT-CPH service that exists although not on every day of the week. Will ICC refuse me the SIN stopover routing on a day where a direct service is in operation?