Phil the Flyer

Thanks to some extremely knowledgeable posters (you know who you are, thank you) on this forum I have been made aware of the fare detailed in the title of this thread.

In the current absence of any QR sale fares (even their most recent sale fares had summer 2018 blackout periods) I have been investigating INCEU60 itineraries on ITA. With an ultimate required destination of HKG (not BKK) I have been able to construct the following itinerary for EUR1,600 / GBP1,400 (to include a six week HKG stopover) - which is a pretty decent OW J fare during the summer months:

BA AMS LHR
BA LHR SIN
CX SIN BKK
CX BKK HKG
BA HKG LHR
BA LHR AMS

corporate-wage-slave

You should be offered BKK as the destination which will show up on their system. You would normally be offered SIN as an alternative since that would count as an overnight stop. I can't see how long the BKK Option 1 stopover is so there may be other options.

You don't want a 1 hour connection in BKK, it's just too spread out an airport for that. BA.com won't show it since that needs 2 hours as a default MCT. In any event I think the real MCT is 1 hr 15 minutes and that's fairly tight.

Also note that just about the only downsides of SIN as an airport is that along with (as it happens) HKG and BKK they have a ropey interlining baggage computer system, so always check with CX they have got the bags. This is often manually checked (they will typically take your tags in the lounge for example, and make some calls). I would be tempted to collect in SIN unless missing your bags for a few days wasn't an issue.

Globaliser

AIUI, it would not be intended in reality to be a true connection in BKK. The routing would be SIN-BKK-HKG on the direct stopping flight, hence the 60 minute stop at BKK. But the ticket would be fared with BKK as the destination (end of fare component 1, beginning of fare component 2).

You can price SIN-BKK-HKG on those two flights (with the 60-minute "connection") as a standalone one-way trip that is fared using a single one-way fare component, which suggests that 60 minutes is a legal MCT for this (even though I can't find it on EF, which says 75 minutes as you say). But I don't know whether the baggage system would have a meltdown trying to tag the bag accordingly; logically one would tag it as CX712 SIN-HKG but that wouldn't match the way the ticket is written.

Cymro

My preference (crap aircraft notwithstanding) would be to take BA9, connecting to CX717, with a 2-hour layover in BKK, then have your "stopover" in SIN, and then just take the usual BA12 to get back to London/Amsterdam.

If your main destination is HKG, I'd suggest flying to HKG on BA31 then either overnighting in BKK or (if you're feeling brave/can cope with being redirected back through HKG) CX705 then BA10 on the day flight.

For SIN, don't forget that you can bypass BKK altogether by booking MXP (or elsewhere in Italy)-LHR-SIN for £1,553.

Phil the Flyer

Many thanks for the replies so far. BA9 / BA10 is a non-starter (crap aircraft to be avoided).

Please allow me to be a little more specific. Having, say, checked-in at AMS and flown AMS LHR the itinerary that is currently of interest is:

Day 1: BA11 LHR SIN 1955 1605+1
Day 3: CX712 SIN BKK 1325 1500
Day 3: CX712 BKK HKG1600 1955

So 21 hours between flights in SIN, 1 hour between flights in BKK!

I’m surprised INCEU60 actually permits just a 1 hour ‘visit’ to BKK, but ITA is showing it as a valid itinerary.

So the question remains - what is the furthest destination along the itinerary that baggage can be checked-in? The ideal answer would be HKG.

corporate-wage-slave

OK, thanks for the clarity. Assuming this can be ticketed (a big assumption) you are essentially on CX712 to HKG which stops off in BKK. Note you will only get SIN-HKG TPs not two flights, unless you break the trip in BKK. So I would say you should be able to get checked luggage from AMS to HKG directly. I still think reclaiming in SIN would greatly reduce the risk of delayed luggage, but given you would be in HKG you'd probably only be without the bags for a few hours. Or (since it's just a few weeks) go HBO!

Phil the Flyer

Globaliser

Even if the ticket has SIN-BKK on one coupon, and BKK-HKG on the next coupon? And I think that it has to be like that, because BKK is the break point between fare components.

corporate-wage-slave

There's only one boarding pass, it's the one in SIN and that triggers the TP and Avios. The coupon extension is under the radar in this context. I suspect a TA or CX could possibly ticket the ITA proposal, but I doubt BA can.

Phil the Flyer

Globaliser

Interesting, thank you. I'm almost tempted to give it a try, but I get the impression that Phil the Flyer is volunteering.

710 77345

60 mins in BKK is doable, even with different planes as long as you don't have mobility issues.

You can check the bags through to the destination of your choice in the situations you describe - but if it's the same flight number on the same day then you're only going to get one set of TPs.

bisonrav

This has got me thinking now - we have a AMS->LHR->BKK->SIN with the LHR->SIN over two days with a relatively short connection to SIN in BKK, couple of hours. Then a SIN->LHR->AMS. The AMS parts are via Gatwick, but will I get the bags checked through from LHR to SIN on this fare? I'd assumed the obvious sequence would define the bag check.

710 77345

No problem.

Phil the Flyer

For what it’s worth advice on the CX forum suggests that passengers on CX712 SIN BKK HKG remain on board the aircraft during the one hour stopover in BKK.

Given that INCEU60 is supposed to be AMS BKK and vv it seems strange that one would be allowed to spend as little as one hour in BKK, and not even get off the aircraft.