Married Segments?
 

Happy New Year everyone! Please help!

I have issued a ticket from TPE-HKG-LAX-HKG-TPE on D class ticket from CX TPE. (I have a confirmed reservation for the 9th of Jan from TPE-HKG-LAX on D Class)

Late night on the 1st of Jan when TPE Reservation office was closed, I was searching online and found there was a seat available from HKG-LAX on the 5th of Jan (the day I need to go), so I made a booking through CX HK Reservations. When I made this booking, there were no seats available from TPE-HKG on D Class, so the agent just made the booking HKG-LAX with a seperate record locator.

Now (today) there are seats available on the 5th of January from TPE-HKG, but I'm having no luck getting CX HK Reservations to modify the HKG-LAX reservation to add the TPE-HKG flight, so that I can use that locator on my ticket.

Now I just need a way to marry the two segments, CX are somehow just not giving me any New Year love and are adamant that I can't do this..

Someone on FT must have a solution for this!! Please help!!

That's what 'married segments' mean. The flights have to be sold as a pair and not singularly. If you want that seat from HKG, then you have to buy it as HKG-LAX. You cannot marry the two on two seperate bookings. You have to basically do all bookings on one PNR.

You need to waitlist for your preferred flight on your original PNR and cancel the other booking which you are holding.

That is why CX chose AMADEUS GDS. Airlines using this system also have the married segments situation - ie LH, OS, SQ, BA, QF.

There is a way to choose a single segment from availability but it takes a travel agent to do it.. so you have to next time allow a TA to book your flights.

Thank you but still confusing...
 

Thanks for replying - I'm clear about why using a TA would solve this. I would assume that there is no way a TA can now take over the booking which CX has made?

I can't understand why CX can't add a sector to the existing PNR for the TPE-HKG sector on the existing PNR, the return flights are wide open, so I would make the return flights on the same booking as well then just give them my ticket number. Are there any magic words I can say to CX to get them to do this? If I was able to make a booking from HKG-LAX, surely I should be able to add flights to this booking?

Alternatively, do you know if there is a way to get them to extend the deadline so i can fly early on the 5th to Taipei and try winging it with the checkin desk to use my booking for the flight and go standby TPE-HKG?

There must be some solution - I really must get to LAX on the 5th, but there are absolutely no seats on any class on CX.

I know CX is cracking down on this where the TA is making 2 separate bookings to circumvent this.

have i solved it?
 

Before I call CX, I need to understand if this logic works:

I just checked and found that you can buy a ticket SGN-HKG-LAX-xHKG-SGN from CX Vietnam, which allows a stopover in HKG

If this is correct, then I should essentially be able to use my existing reservation from HKG-LAX as it would then not be "married" to the previous sector?

If this is the case, then would the reservations department not HAVE to amend my reservation to add SGN-HKG and LAX-xHKG-SGN to the PNR so that I can apply the ticket to the PNR?

Are you flying from TPE or SGN? I am confused about your explanation here.:confused:

No, no, and thrice no. "Point of Sale" HK (so your HKG-LAX booking) will have different availability to POS SGN. You need to make a new booking as if you are buying the ticket in SGN (e.g. online or through reservations)

Segments with stopovers are still married.

About the only way to do it would be to add another airline's segments. I.e. you could add a CI flight for the HKG-TPE vv bits. Of course, your D ticket is unlikely to let you fly CI, so you would need to buy new tcket

Uhm, there are, you have a booking as you have said HKG-LAX. Best solution is to refund the TPE-LAX return ticket and buy a HKG-LAX vv ticket.

I echo peasant's post.

You don't understand what 'married' segments mean or do.

If you have an existing HKG-LAX booking, and you check seperately that there are seats on SGN or TPE to HKG and then you go to your booking and try to add that segment in, and find out that 1) the seat you thought had seats now suddenly show ZERO availability, and that 2) if the agents say that the seats are there but when they try to do the booking, the segment comes back 'UN' which means Unable to Confirm.

This is where Point of Sale comes in. The revenue from SGN / TPE to LAX is less than HKG-LAX so the priority goes to strictly HKG-LAX flights. Hence you saw the availability. If you try to get the seats from SGN or TPE, then the point of sale will be those cities and CX will give you seats only there are seats to be sold all the way through from SGN or TPE.. or for that matter, all other cities within Asia connecting to LAX. So its not just SGN or TPE you're fighting for seats but rest of asia, ie from BKK, SIN. ex-SIN has higher yields for CX so ex-SIN to LAX on the same flight as yours will show availability.

You cannot merge one reservation to another.. and it is very problematic for an agent to take over a CX made reservation. It is possible but problematic and even so, the whole thing will still go down to where the ticket is being issued and the point of sale issue comes up. If you cancel the HKG-LAX, you will see that your SGN/TPE-HKG miraculously apprear available. But then your HKG-LAX would have disappeared.

In the days of paper tickets, yes you can book one reservation on one PNR and another somewhere else. But with e-tickets, everything has got to be contained in ONE PNR otherwise the ticket won't print.

The point really is not even married segment issues. Its' called O&D revenue management. They are calculating there is more money to be made not opening the availability for the requested booking.

Point of sale is just one of many components of it in play.

And from your username I guess you know alot about it...;)

Yep, that would be true. Married segments are simply a programming logic in the reservation system that allows the airline to control inventory based on what the revenue management system says is the best option for availability in maxing revenue across the network.

How does standby work with this?
 

Thanks, although much to my dismay, it's very clear now!

On this type of itinerary, how does standby work? For example if I show up to the airport at TPE, with a married segment ticket no stopover allowed, will the airline wait until the LAX flight is clear before letting me board the TPE-HKG flight? Or is it just not possible?

If it is possible, when I fly HKG-TPE try to turnaround on the TPE-HKG-LAX can I standby airside, or will I have to clear immigration in TPE and standby landside?

From experience they tend to confirm you the latest 5-7 days before departure unless it is really full on the long haul sector.

what happens to waitlist on married segment flights?

I have HND-HKG-TPE. Originally it was waitlisted as married segment flight. The segments never cleared.

Today agent was playing around with my booking (ticketing agent, not the clueless MPC agents). She basically said somehow HKD-HKG cleared so she confirmed this first, but waiting HKG-TPE to come through. I thought married segment must clear as a package, not individually. Now i'm waiting for the HKG-TPE to clear, and she said once each of legs are confirmed she can "marry them back" again. Is this true???

I'm worried that each of underlying is cleared as Tokyo Point of Sale HND-HKG and HKG point of sale HKG-TPE such that they won't allow me to marry this.

As a side question also, say my HKG-TPE never clear. If I show up for my HND flight before my HKG-TPE is cleared, will I be denied boarding at Tokyo? It's supposed to be HND-HKG-TPE but HKG-TPE has 24 hour stopover allowed. I wonder if I can just show up for my HND-HKG flight without confirmed HKG-TPE?

Needless to say I will be forfeiting HKG-TPE. I got this ticket 75% discount to straight HKG-HND. Thanks CX for the arbitrage opportunity.