Hi Folks,

In November I booked the following route….

LHR-BKK (Thai)
Holiday In Bangkok
BKK-SYD (Thai)
Holiday In Austrlia
MEL-SIN-NRT (Singapore \ ANA)
Holiday in Tokyo
NRT-LHR (ANA)


I used Miles & Money with all the seats in Business Class with the exception of the MEL-SIN leg which is a Singapore A380. However, I’m now thinking of changing to the following, but I need to know if this is valid, I’m prepared to pay the change fee and any necessary taxes, but I don’t particularly want to buy a new flight.

LHR-BKK (Thai)
Holiday In Bangkok
BKK-SYD (Thai)
Holiday In Australia
MEL-AKL
Holiday In Auckland (NZ)
AKL-NRT (NZ)
Holiday in Tokyo
NRT-LHR (ANA)

I’ve looked all over FT and flybmi, but I can’t get my head around it. As always, your help is appreciated.

Did not try it yet, but your feedback is valuable. Will probably call them today to get this confirmed. Taxes are a killer (150GBP), but seems like all flights to Egypt are expensive, regardless of carrier or route.

Probably best to think of your trip as 2 x one way journeys each of which can have one stopover
so today

LHR - BKK - SYD (one way LHR - SYD with stopover in BKK)
MEL - SIN - NRT - LHR (one way MEL - LHR with stopover NRT)

you want to leave the outbound as it is but you are looking to change the return to include 2 stopovers, as only 1 stopover is permitted this will not be allowed on a single trip (you are now wanting one way MEL - LHR with stopover AKL and stopover NRT)

To get this will not be impossible but you will have to break your return into 2 journeys so your Z9 - Z1 becomes either

(MEL - AKL) + (AKL - LHR) ... an additional 22500miles + cash/taxes
(MEL - NRT) + (NRT - LHR) ... an additional 15000miles + cash/taxes

I think/hope that makes sense

Thanks for you help, this does make sense.

Although not ideal, would I be able to change my flights to the following?

LHR-BKK (Thai)
Holiday In Bangkok
BKK-SYD (Thai)
Holiday In Australia
MEL-AKL (BUY MY OWN FLIGHT)
Holiday In Auckland (NZ)
AKL-NRT (NZ)
Holiday in Tokyo
NRT-LHR (ANA)

Per the DC T&C you can change the start/end once you do not change zones....however the ICC usually insist that changing the start/end points of your trip requires a cancelation and re-ticketing. You will probably have to fight.

Could someone please confirm what classes I need to check on ExpertFlyer in order to find award availability for booking BMI miles on UA? When I search for C and Y (which are listed as "business reward"), the call centre says no availability. I guess those classes are only rewards for actual UA MP members. So what class do I need for BMI bookings?

Also is there any way to find CO award availability using the tool?

If it makes a difference, I'm only using a 5 day trial (although I'm really liking it, and will probably sign up - I fly enough for it to be worth it).

Cheers,

-simon

UA availability on Expertflyer is only of use to UA's MileagePlus members. It shows Standard, Saver and Upgrade availability - none of which appear to equate to what you can book as a DC member.

Stick to the ANA tool.

I worked it out in the end - BMI reward tickets book into "Business Saver" and "Economy Saver" classes, so if those are available on ExpertFlyer then you can book them via the DC call centre. Rock on Diamond Club!

-simon

Simon - whilst I agree, the numbers on the ANA site and EF don't always match. In each case, the ICC agree with the ANA tool and not EF (which always showed more seats).

My problem is exactly with the numbers - I'm booking for five people, which is quite a chore (I've probably spent 10-15 hours on this already, scary). ANA shows a max of four. From what I'm seeing, EF seems to be pretty good - one of the flights I've reserved EF showed exactly 5 seats and that's what the DC agent saw.

Perhaps it's gotten better? :-)

Is there a list somewhere of exactly what are the "booking classes" for rewards on each star alliance carrier? I'm sure I saw one somewhere but searching doesn't seem to find it for me (PEBKAC I'm sure).

-simon

The *A reward classes are:

O - First Class
I - Business Class
X - Economy Class

As you can see from ExpertFlyer, DC inventory appears to come from the Saver Award bucket so

NF / R = First Class on United via Expertflyer (O is a Business Saver award)
XC / O = Business Class on United via Expertflyer (I is a Business Upgrade award)
XY / N = Economy Class on United via Expertflyer (X is a First Upgrade award)

I would agree that the Saver availability does appear to match ANA far closer than when I was looking in Sept/Oct 09.

Where are you off to?

Just managed to book a family of five to Hawaii ;-)

Details here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-d...s-correct.html


Hrm...so I could use expert flier to search for O/I/X in general without specifying an actual airline. Interesting...

-simon

Most airlines hide their award classes from view, hence why EF has it's own award section.

PS: I think the ICC have spun you a line re your award booking - have posted in the other thread.

Can somebody please check availabilty in F for me from either HKG or BKG to eith copenhagen or london heathrow flying swiss on any dates between the 8th april and 11th april.

what would the miles plus taxes be on these flights for a part miles part cash redemption?

I can see availabilty in F flying thai LHR to BKK on 27th March what is the part miles cash on this please?.

thanks in adavance
celts

Hi

Could someone please check Swiss for availability in J or F for

Outbound:
Thur 12th or Fri 13th Aug on
LX391 MAN-ZRH
LX14 ZRH-JFK

Inbound:
Mon 18th or Tues 19th Aug on
LX 15 JFK-ZRH OR LX17 JFK-ZRH
LX 394 ZRH-MAN

Thanks!!