Advice on Award Ticket
 

Good morning!

I am a long time lurker and I have enjoyed reading the threads over the couple of years. I now need some advice/answers on a couple of award related questions.

I have the current award reservation booked:

GSP-IAD (UA Y)
IAD-LHR (UA F)
LHR-JNB (SA C)

JNB-LHR (SA C)
LHR-EWR (CO C)
EWR-GSP (CO Y)

The total ticket was 135,000 miles (75,000 + 60,000) plus taxes.

There is a flight I would like to take now where space just opened (LX C/F) from LHR-ZRH-JNB, except it leaves the day after my originally scheduled departure out of LHR. My current layover in LHR is 10 hours and this change would add a stopover on my journey since the layover changes to 31 hours.

So my questions:

1. Is changing this flight allowed?

After reading various other threads, I assume this is allowable since I can have one stopover on my award ticket and space is available.

2. Will this ticket require any additional mileage?

Since I am flying TATL in F on my way to JNB, I assume no additonal mileage is required even though my European to South Africa flight was originally C but will now be F. I am not sure if adding a stopover changes the mileage required.

3. Will there be any fees associated with this change?

I am assuming no since I am not changing my origin or destination, just changing the SA flight to a LX flight departing a day later, which results in a stopover. My flight is more than 21 days away. I do understand there may be additional taxes.

I am very eager to try out LX F, even if it is the "old" F (I have never flown F before...I have flown C a number of times). I am also happy to have the opportunity to visit London since this city is always escaping my mind when I travel to Europe. Therefore, any advice/answers to my questions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

1. Yes. Your read is correct.
2. No. Looks like you're paying the F rate USA-Africa already.
3. You may get hit with the change fee since you're adding a stopover. If you were just keeping it as a connection, it would be no problem, but this one is debatable.

You may want to play the change as "first seats opened up and I'm on a first class award, so I'd like to grab those seats" and see if the agent misses the stopover add. If they say there's a fee, pushing back may help, but I don't think you have terribly solid footing as you are adding a destination (via stopover).

3. Also if they do impose a change fee, try to change the date of your first to legs so you arrive a day later. IME UA first is pretty easy to come by. But personally I like to spend a couple days in London as a stop over and then carry on (but it really depends on how long the holiday/trip is going to be). I would even pay a change fee for it that is if they made me. Have flown the states-LHR-JNB quite a bit and with kids, so on the way over I like to have that stopover or else you have that half a day layover which I am not looking forward too. (On our next trip had to do the long layover as booked two one ways and no stopover allowed:( but was able to score 4 seats in C on the same flights, and don't think that would have been easy if I waited to book it as a return).

Good luck and let us know what happens

A quick update:

I called in a week ago and the agent mentioned that I could not go through Zurich as it would be considered a double stopover. Really?!?! She wouldn't even try to change the flights.

So, I called back today. The agent today was much more kind and worked with me for 1 hour 17 minutes trying to get the flights to work. She even had her supervisor and customer service try to help. In the end, they could not price the new flights and recommended I do my stopover in ZRH instead.

I really want to try LX F (my award ticket to JNB is F due to UA F on the TATAL leg), so I just looked and am seeing open space to ZRH from the States, so I am going to forget LHR and do a stopover in ZRH.

I am going to try the initial route again through LHR and ZRH with the third agent, but I am willing to change to just a stopover in ZRH.