Valid stopovers?
 

Hi,

I'm planning to fly to Vancouver but was hoping for a stop over in Los
Angeles. I was told by the agent that I was not allowed a free stopover as
this was not the most direct routing and there was a direct flight
available.

However, I have previously flown from Hong Kong to London with a
free stopover in Singapore before (which is not really a direct route). Is
this a new policy that's been put in place or one that is now more strictly
being enforced? At the end of the day, I can pay for a one way to Vancouver
from Los Angeles (only £100 inc tax) but if I can get it for free then
that's better! Any tips, advice would be much appreciated. Shall I try
calling again and speak to a different agent? Alternativey, I prehaps I could ask for a flight to Seatle or Calgary and that would make it valid?

Many thanks.

Jon

LAX is a pretty big divert.

YVR-LHR is 4723 miles
The MPM (maximum permitted mileage) for this route is 5655 miles
YVR-LAX-LHR is 6536 miles, about 15% more than the MPM

(I have successfully got in the past YVR-SFO-LHR-MAN, about 8% over MPM.)

I tried to YVR and YYC via LAS from MAN and they didn't like that as a route either. If this is a return trip, maybe it could work the other way round, i.e fly to LAX, but with an extended stopover in YVR, since that's much less indirect?

Well I managed to get MAN-LHR-LAX-stopover-YYC ticketed - but there wasn't much availability over the pond so thats maybe why!

Sounds like they are tightening up on routings then.

According to the "Answers from DC" thread there is no new policy about routings, but they are been more strictly enforced. If you consider what the rules say, they say you are allowed a stop over at a transfer point. I think some creative stretching of what could be considered a transfer point has occurred to much in the past.

Singapore as a transfer point between Hong Kong and London is reasonable, LAX as a transfer point between Vancouver and London isn't really.

duplicate

I think that by booking it as two one ways you can solve your problem.

E.g. If you want to stop in LAX on the way out then book LHR-LAX and then LAX-YVR-LHR with YVR as your "stopover".

If you want it on the way back then book LHR-YVR-LAX with your "stopover" in YVR.

Thanks for the idea ^ I am planning to do something similar next year, flying NZ to LAX, and also making a stopover in either YVR or SEA.

Thanks for the advice, but the problem was that the call centre said that YVR or LAX were invalid stopovers as it wasn't really on the way, based on the fact that there is a direct flight available.

Jon

From my (recent) experience, this interpretation is too strict and it has always been possible to get a (not too much out of the way) stopover. I would question this with a supervisor and keep pushing this up the line until someone relented.

Aztec.