IT error or "leak" of the upcoming changes to AM/MPC?
 

Hi All,

I've been trying to book an award ex-TPE. However, I noticed something weird:

- on the Asia Miles new award redemption form (https://www.asiamiles.com/web/conten...afr/index.html) if I fill in the "FROM" field with TPE, all I get are partner bookings. e.g. TPE-DEL is only available on JL

- on the flight award finder (https://www.asiamiles.com/am/en/rede...ghtawardfinder) I see the same thing

- this is true even if I choose a more popular route, e.g. TPE-SIN or TPE-PVG. For me the routes that it shows as available seemed random at first, e.g. NRT, HKG, ICN, but then I realized these are all direct flights

- if I book as separate sectors (e.g. TPE-HKG then HKG-DEL) it works

Hence my question:

Is this an IT error? Or is it a sign of a new redemption chart for the upcoming changes to MPC?

It has always been the case. AM simply lists all the routes (direct flights) it has on file. Some may be current, some maybe past routes or just route that a partner has filed for unknown reason. JL doesn't serve TPE-DEL, at least not now, so it doesn't actually mean anything. If you search TPE-HKG, ICN, NRT, KIX, NGO, and FUK, you will see CX listed as an option. For itineraries with connections, you are supposed to add it segment by segment.

In any case, an MPO revamp should not change anything AM in general, at least in my opinion.

Oh okay - a newbie misunderstanding then. Thanks for clarifying!

I was intially thinking there must be something up because TPE-HKG-DEL is 80K while HKG-DEL is only 50K. But I guess it's by design - some route redemptions are not worth it I guess

Thanks again

You should call to redeem anyway - the redemption form isn’t useful.

Thanks a lot for the explanation.

How did you calculate the miles btw? I seem to always mismatch. e.g. if I google distance between CGK and TPE it says 2,350 miles. But if try to redeem on AsiaMiles it seems to direct me to the 2,501-5,000 miles (award zone C).

What I typed originally for the distance calculation is wrong. I just re-read the T&C:

Award zones are based on the one-way distance between the origin airport and destination airport. If connecting sectors are involved, the sector distances should be added together to determine the total one-way distance and the applicable award zone. Unless indicated otherwise, the awards in the table apply to round-trip flights.

Also the mileage calculated by CX differs a bit from Google, http://gc.kls2.com/, and other airlines, and CX's calculation prevails when redeeming from AM irrespective of which airline's you are taking. If there's a good buffer you can use other more convenient tools to calculate, but if you are cutting close you should always use CX's calculation to double-check.

Okay - that's really clear. Thanks a lot guys!