HIDDY

If that is allowed I shall wash PUCCI GALORE's feet with my tongue.

baclubflyer

This is very helpful thanks.

I'd rather go to GIG than GRU so I'm just wondering - IPC - SCL - GIG - SCL - LIM - LAX. I've done a search and it seems as though the SCL - GIG flight is via GRU but one is not allowed to get off the plane in GRU. So the return I must travel back to SCL before heading back to the States - would this count as backtracking?

LAXtraveler19

Hi Folks,
I'm new to Oneworld award travel so I'd like to ask for a little help -BUT- I'm more than happy to return the favor with input about Skyteam award travel (or anything else where I may be of assistance).

I'd like to book award travel using AA or BA miles to S America, much like the most recent itinerary being discussed in this thread. Orgin: LAX Dest: EZE but would like to stop in CUZ, IPC or GPS, and MDZ (if possible).

Can someone with experience please comment re if this routing is possible or what may be advisable as an alternative?

So far AA reps have been ZERO help but I have plenty of BA miles too. Will I have better results with BA?

I'm willing to do as much research as I can to nail down the legs and make booking easy - any tips for finding routing and/or availability?

I understand that I can tag on a leg since I'm traveling the LAX gateway. With the example JFK from this thread - sounds like I would have to travel the JFK-LAX leg before my planned trip to S American and I can then create a return to JFK significantly after my return from EZE? Does this work with any Domestic airport?

Thank you all very much for your input!

jbalmuth

2 important starting points re stopovers: AA permits stopovers only at U.S. gateways (e.g. between LAX and EZE you could work in a stopover in DFW or MIA), and BA's stopovers need to be enroute but on a single airline (i.e. LAN). Of the cities you mention, only MDZ appears possible. Other enroute stopover cities between LAX and EZE are SCL, LIM, and perhaps GYE.

Another important starting point re OneWorld awards: one-way awards are generally as good (and sometimes better) than round-trip awards, with typically no penalty in cost (miles or taxes/fees) for booking one-ways.

LAXtraveler19

Thanks for the input! I've got to get to EZE and I've got some time & miles to waste on the way. Would love to see a cpl of new places on the way & even better if I can tack on an extra domestic leg like MIA or HSV.

So, Can I definitely one-way to say IPC (see post 150) and then use MDZ and EZE both as stopovers on the return?

Anyone with award experience to CUZ?

Benner

I currently have the following ticket booked in F on CX (using BA points):

CX0839 - YVR to HKG
CX0701 - HKG to BKK
CX0708 - BKK to HKG
CX0838 - HKG to YVR

Each destination has a stop of a week or so. I was thinking on the return portion of the flight of adding a YVR to JFK segment a couple of months later as Cathay has CX888 that flies from HKG to YVR to JFK.

The representative on the phone said that it wasn't valid because it wasn't the most direct route from HKG to JFK. He also mentioned that my return wasn't on CX888 and there was no availability. He also stated that this wouldn't be valid a couple of months after — but I did get him to agree that the timing doesn't have anything to do with the most direct route rule.

Is this accurate or should I try calling again? I asked nicely to speak to a supervisor but didn't manage to get one on the line.

Any info would be appreciated!

jbalmuth

Since BAEC redemption tickets cannot be held, but rather have to be paid for immediately (miles taken out of the account, taxes/fees paid by credit card), then I suspect that the confusion between you and the telephone agent was in regard to what you could do with your current, paid-for itinerary vs. a brand-new one. If you were to call up and request a one-way F award BKK - JFK on partner CX, with enroute stopovers in HKG and YVR, and you had specified dates where you found F availability on ba.com, there is no doubt that such an itinerary is valid/legal. Do your research (i.e. find the dates with availability), call back and request the one-way itinerary, and then decide how you will handle the cancellation of your current RT reservation. NB One-way awards provide the same (or greater) flexibility as RT awards, with no penalty.

BAmemberUSD2009

Just read the entire thread and have a few comments/questions:

(1) I asked a BA phone agent a few months ago about booking JFK-YVR-HKG-BKK on CX with stopovers in both YVR and HKG. The agent said the HKG stopover is fine but the YVR stopover is not allowed because JFK-YVR-HKG is not the most direct route, even though it is a route flown by CX. So my question is: has anyone actually successfully booked stopovers in both YVR and HKG? I know in theory it should be allowed, and it is possible that this one agent didn't know the rules, but I also want to see if anyone has actually done it in practice.

(2) Another route that can be done with just CX is JFK-YVR-HKG-BKK-SIN. Has anyone successfully booked this route with stopovers in YVR, HKG, and BKK?

gogate99

Hi all also trying to use BA miles for South America stop overs. I just called and it looks like you can do LAX-LIM-SCL-IPC no problem. It was explained to me that you cant do CUZ AND the SCL-IPC legs.

The way I understand it the stop over has to be a valid connection on the same airline. So you cant do CUZ since you dont have to fly through CUZ (from LIM) to get to SCL. Hope that helps.

LAXtraveler19

Thanks for the input. I've been told the same about GPS. Now I'm considering a low-tier one-way in S America because I think the 'destination' or EZE would have to be a 'stop' on the return. For example OW:LAX-LIM-SCL-IPC-stop OW: IPC-SCL-MDZ-stop OW: MDZ-EZE(stopover)-LAX

Normally that would be fine but I'm trying to build in a DL rt EZE-LAX-EZE before finally using the BA miles to return from the 2nd trip.

Does anyone know if there's a way for me to build in the MDZ stop on my return from IPC? The extra OW doesn't take many miles but I'm up for the challenge of building the itinerary with only two legs!

gogate99

I just booked our flights with BA. a few things- must better to book 2 one ways and not 1 round trip (same amount of miles).

As for the stop over...it has to be a valid connection and in one way. In other words- we flew from LAX-LIM (get off and paid our own way to CUZ then back to LIM) then get "back on" our one way to fly to Santiago. take 2 days and then fly onto Easter Island. that is one leg.

The return- we are going from Easter Island to BA. Then 2 days later fly from BA to LAX.

I think for you the question is...can you fly from MDZ to EZE? If so you shoudl be able to do it. For us- we couldnt add CUZ b/c you cant fly from CUZ to Santiago. Hope that helps!

LAXtraveler19

Awesome! Our itineraries are almost identical. Do you mind telling me how much you paid for LIM-CUZ rt & which airline? Are you taking a paid tour of the ruins?

I've just started my research of what to do on the ground on Easter Island. Please let me know if you're finding any good hotel or tour deals and I'll be sure to do the same!

abcx

Easter Island is a wonderful island. We spent 4-5 days there and loved our time. It really does feel like the end of the world in a way that a place like Hawaii does not.

We drove around the island a couple of times. Saw sunrise at Tongariki, went to Orongo and the mine (you have to pay $60 for this usually, but we took a tour which gave us old $12 tickets and charged us $60, so effectively the tour was free for us). Definitely go to Ovahe beach. Very secluded, there were like only 3-4 people when we were there.

NoDamage

Just curious how feasible this kind of routing would be? Something like JFK-YVR-HKG-SYD (all CX) would be a a pretty great deal if you could stopover in both YVR and HKG on the way over on a single award.

Happy

Read a few posts above yours - YVR is shot down as a stopover between JFK-HKG because it is not a direct route even though CX does have such flights.