mtkeller

The taxes would be negligible if it was US-LHR(stop)-EU and the return was from outside the UK to the US. The departure tax is based on distance, so LHR-LIS would incur only Ł22 in J, iirc. There are no arrival taxes at LHR.

tc_jedi

Thanks!

Ok now, how hard is it to book awards on MU?

mtkeller

I know the inventory shows on ExpertFlyer. CZ shows on af.us, but I'm not sure about MU off the top of my head. As with any partner award, finding a capable agent who can book it can be a challenge. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

KVS

You're welcome -- enjoy your award!

grandmarita

I am so done with Delta. We have 140,000 miles each in our accounts, more than enough (I thought) to book us business class tickets to Tel Aviv for next summer. At 12:05 AM, 331 days before the return flight I called to book the tickets. Naturally I wanted at the low mileage. After over 2 hours on the phone with several different people, I had unconfirmed seats on hold with Alitalia through Rome going, and Delta direct returning, for an unspecified number of miles. The next day, the Alitalia flight was still not confirmed and they could not tell me if it ever would be. I opted to book what was definitely available -- which was nothing at the low amount in business. The best they could do was 215,000 miles for both ways in business, which we did not have. I wound up booking 2 economy seats on the Delta direct flights for 130,000 miles each. I paid $120. each way for each of us to upgrade to comfort economy. Their award chart is a joke. You will not know until you try to book a seat how many miles it will be.
We have traveled business class to China, Thailand, and Australia using American miles and hold business class seats to South Africa using United miles, all for less than 130,000 miles each. What the chart indicated was the number of miles needed in each case. The only time these airlines require more miles is if you book at the last minute and want to pay double the miles. You know this in advance.
An email to customer service just said that I should read the rules and I would find out that higher requirements might be needed at high travel times. When I said that their chart should indicate dates when that might be necessary (as American indicates off-peak lower requirements) they thanked me for my comments.
I will stick with American and United from now on. They are much easier to plan and deal with. You know what you need up front -- no surprises. You can also book the outbound and return separately, so you can do each as soon as it becomes available.
Glad I was able to vent about this stressful, frustrating experience.

mtkeller

For the 12 billionth time, DL/AF/KL tend not to open up a lot of award inventory at 331 days out. Sometimes it still works, but a lot of times waiting a bit is the better way to go.

GYEWorldTraveler

This. Yea....wow! People think DL magically opens up the award inventory at low level for every flight at 12am 331 days out. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me and definitely not the way things work. Guaranteed at some point low level business will be opened up on every flight in the system but it is unrealistic to think at the 331 day mark all this low inventory will magically appear!

3Cforme

Some airlines do open award inventory at the ~330-day mark. I checked 15 city pairs with Alaska yesterday and every one showed First award inventory on non-stop flights (one seat, but not two). Some travelers think all airlines operate that way.

wco81

DL also seemed more reliable only a few years ago.

It went downhill after the merger.

Bikeguy

You'll usually have better luck within 72 hours of the flights departure.

Although even that is not guaranteed on Delta.

grandmarita

Well, it worked with American and United. United did tell me that better routings to S. Africa might open up later (and did after 6 days for outbound and 2 days for inbound. Delta did not even give me hope. How can a person wait until 72 hours before a trip to book tickets if you must go on specific dates?

Happy

Well, DL is not AA, nor UA. Each airline works differently. So you dont assume what works on airline A would no doubt works on airline B.

If you must go on specific date, then it is YOUR OWN ISSUE that requires you to work diligently to find a solution. If DL's rules dont work for you, then dont accumulate DL miles. Accumulate miles on airlines that work for you.

FYI, AA no longer works the way you assume - i.e. many seats DONT LOAD at the 331 days mark. You would be better off to brush up your "knowledge" on AA award booking situation on AA forum by reading recent posts since the beginning of this year.

DL2SXM

Has the award calendar gotten worse?

for the past week, I'm inputting PBI to CDG as my city pairs for two BE award tickets, using May as my 'flexible' travel dates. I get plenty of green hits and when I click on the dates, I see nothing less then 150,000 miles. Whats up?

Winkdaddy

I have been trying to put together an award ticket for ATL-EZE, SCL-ATL in BE for late February at low level 100k. Are EZE and SCL difficult routes to find "low" level BE seats? I keep looking every day but 50% dates are medium and the other 50% are "high" level!


Any suggestions or alternate routes/carriers to get to EZE/SCL at low level BE awards?

3Cforme

FlyingBlue will find some Aeromexico awards, as might an agent. Gol, too, is a possibility depending on DL/Gol flight timing into CCS, etc.

Select your departing flight
Tuesday, February 14, 2012New York, John F Kennedy (JFK) NY - United States of America Santiago, A Merino Benitez (SCL) - Chile
Departure Arrival Duration Flight Business
5:45 PM
New York,
John F Kennedy 9:50 PM
Mexico,
Juarez Intl 15h30m AM403 50 000
Classic Award
11:55 PM
Mexico,
Juarez Intl 11:15 AM +1 Day
Santiago,
A Merino Benitez AM010


Tuesday, February 28, 2012Santiago, A Merino Benitez (SCL) - Chile New York, John F Kennedy (JFK) NY - United States of America
Departure Arrival Duration Flight Business
11:30 PM
Santiago,
A Merino Benitez 5:00 AM +1 Day
Mexico,
Juarez Intl 18h45m AM011 50 000
Classic Award
10:35 AM +1 Day
Mexico,
Juarez Intl 4:15 PM +1 Day
New York,
John F Kennedy AM402