ckpeter

I have once read something very ridiculous; something like BKK-HKG-PEK-HKG-LAX (double stopovers in HKG and PEK) being booked on a single-carrier BA award on CX.

It may be best if you call BA and try to book it. That may be the only way to be sure. Whatever you did, do report back on your result.

Happy

You would have an easier time to figure out your possible itinerary by studying CX route map.

You can only travel on CX and therefore you need the city pair that is served by CX (or KA). Else it does not work if you always have to backtrack to HKG to connect.

Although I have seen SFO-HKG-NRT-HKG-HKG being booked before. A lot of times it depends on whether CX has a published fare on the routing.

The only way to find out is to call BA to inquire.

You also want to keep in mind that BA award once pass T-24 of the FIRST flight, there is absolutely no change allowed, not date, not routing, nothing, even if you are willing to pay a fee or have a doctor's note that you could not travel. There are enough sob stories of naive US folks who had the 100K BA miles from the 1st round of bonus offered in Nov 2009 / Feb 2010 round that did not study the program rules and wound up finding their award flights turn to pumpkins when they thought they could change their dates or whatever.

AZ Travels the World

Likely close enough. SFO-HKG-NRT is allowed and you fly four-plus hours past Tokyo on the way over, only to double back the same distance.

In my experience, most of the agents don't really know the geography, so if it's not ridiculous it probably won't be an issue. If so, hang up and call again -- the next agent is likely to not be concerned, especially if you just act like you know exactly what you're doing and that it's perfectly normal.

Edited to add: The above assumed there was, in fact, a BKK-DPS flight. Upon further reading I see that (not surprisingly) there isn't. I agree that doubling back to HKG most likely wouldn't fly.

hqly2001

I've called BA and the agent wasn't very helpful. I guess the easiest thing is to know what you want and tell them to put it together. Because if what you want doesn't work, depending who you get, the agent may not be very patient or helpful. So i figured that I'd take advantage of the knowledge on this board. Most here probably know more than the agent.

The way I read the T&C is that there's no backtracking. However, SFO-HKG-Tokyo or even ICN is back tracking to me but it's allowed. I've always thought that you could only stop on the way from point A to point B as long as you do not go backward, but that theory is out the door.

I'll call back again and hopefully i'll get a more knowledgable agent.

highlander88

Yep that's the key you need to have the most direct routing. You might want to check with an agent if you have a prepared itinerary to check

Swanhunter

As others have noted the practice is to choose a routing that isn't too outlandish. Routing via HKG back to NRT is fine - going all the way to SIN and then back won't be.

These routings are excellent value but require you to do some legwork.

* sit down with the CX route map and work out where they fly
* use BA.com - or splash out on a KVS subscription - and look at availability for each sector
* then phone BA with exactly what you want

hqly2001

I've used the one world map and my itinerary works with a slight mod. But some route routes back to hk. That might be the problem as it's not the most direct route. I guess maybe I can only fit a couple of routes since I don't think I can route back to hk too many time. Am I using the map incorrectly?

maclover

Sorry to bring up this again.
I phoned BAEC in Italy and got 2 problems

1) agent said it will be two one ways as one flight (PEK-HKG) is on KA and the other flight (HKG-NRT) is on CX. Hence I'll be charged 40.000 BA miles in Y instead of 20.000 as I hoped for

2) She offered just one possible flight, while I could see many award seats available on any flight out of PEK that day. She claimed website has different availability and/or is an error and it won't let me book that even if I see availability

Is she correct?

Thank you
maclover

AZ Travels the World

KA (Dragon Air) is wholly-owned by CX, so itineraries that mix the two are considered a single partner. I've booked a few of these recently and all have been treated this way. You just have to get an agent that understands this. If you get a friendly one who doesn't know it, you could ask to seek clarification from a supervisor.

I've had this problem repeatedly with CX flights to/from HKG. They always say that the website is wrong and that I won't be able to book it even if I see availability -- until I am able to successfully book it.

One thing you can try if you get this again: Tell the agent that you will book the segment she cannot see as available online, then ask her to change the reservation to add the second segment that you are not able to book because the website won't let you put them together. You might be able to talk her out of the change fee if you prove that it is her information that is incorrect and you're actually able to book the flight. It depends upon how badly you want this ticket and if you are willing to pay the change fee if she won't waive it.

maclover

I tried
She said that if I book it, I won't be able to change it or add a leg...

AZ Travels the World

Well, you're changing the reservation. As long as you are willing to pay the change fee, there should be no reason she can't hold the part you have, add the additional segment and reprice the itinerary. When she re-prices the mileage required, it should be the same -- there just may be a difference in taxes.

But what I've learned about agents is that if you get one that isn't in the mood to be helpful, don't push it -- just move to another.

maclover

Thank you for your advice.
BAEC is already closed in Italy. I'm going to try tomorrow morning and will report back if I'll be more lucky

maclover

I managed to book it
Called BAEC again and, no surprise, they couldn't see availability for the first leg but they could for the second one.
I sweet talked the agent into let me try book first leg online and she add the second one for no fee. She was confident I wouldn't be able to book first leg because that was a system error for sure.
She was genuinely surprised when I booked first leg within few seconds while she was kind enough to wait on the phone and as agreed she proceeded to add the second leg and charge only the difference in taxes.

Thank you BA ^
now I just need to get my money back from the price promise guarantee, but that's another matter

AZ Travels the World

I did this very same thing with a US-based agent last year (which is why I suggested you try it). They agreed to waive the change fee because they were so confident I would not be able to book the segment online that they could not see in their system. The agent and supervisor were stunned when they had to deliver.

Unfortunately, I tried the same thing last month with a new set of agents and all of them absolutely refused. I was told by a supervisor that they know there is a difference in inventory between what they can see and what can be booked online and, "that's just the way it is. We will no longer, under any circumstances, waive a change fee resulting from this discrepancy in inventory. If you can book it online, go ahead. But if we can't see it, we're not about to waive change fees."

So it's a problem with their system. Their website says the flight is available. The partner says the flight is available for partner bookings. But because their systems aren't adequately connected, the customer goes through the pain of putting it together in this convoluted way -- then pays the price.

BAEC, at least in the US, can be so incredibly frustrating and illogical at times.

But it's great that you found an agent willing to do the right thing. Congratulations. ^

BAmemberUSD2009

What is the story behind redeeming BA miles on CX for HKG-SIN in F? I always see lots of availability 1-2 days before the flight, but beyond that I don't ever see availability in F but only in C.

So if I wanted to redeem SFO-HKG-SIN all in F, does that mean I have to book SFO-HKG in F but HKG-SIN in C, and hope that as the date approaches that HKG-SIN in F will be available? Has anyone done that?