craig44485

So how can I tell when I have gotten in touch with a Chisholm elite agent? Never thought it would be this hard. Heck I am even willing to buy the domestic tickets to the hub cities. I have fairly wide open dates, any time in February, March or even April for a 2 week trip, US hub city JFK, ATL, MSP, SEA, SLC, DTW, PDX, LAX to MNL on either DL or KE.

seansmother

I'm a newbie, hope you can help. I want 3 tickets to Italy; my first preference is FLL to VCE, back via ROME to FLL or MIA. That's not working out. But I do find flights on AF, JFK-CDG, CDG-VCE, and returning FCO-CDG, CDG-JFK; I can get 3 in Premier Voyageur (on the intercontinental legs) for 189,000 on AF, but have DL miles; of course on DL it's like 325,000 .... If I am reading this thread correctly, I should be able to call DL and tell them those flights on AF, and I can book through DL for the 189K? I have to transfer some miles/points around to get that many, but I can do it. Then I'll have to buy R/T tickets from FLL to JFK ...

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie. This stuff makes my head spin ...

mtkeller

Welcome to FT!

Only economy and business are bookable with DL miles, so you won't be able to get the premium voyageur seats.

Denolloyd

Hi All,

Just an FYI regarding PM's for award travel assistance. While I welcome messages regarding help, please always try and post in this forum first due to the following:

1) Many individuals have the same questions, thus keeping the dialogue here often helps benefit others.

2) While I am familiar with the DL award engine, others FT members such as; 3Cforme, mtkeller, and Jaimito Cartero, are active in this thread and have advanced knowledge of the award ticketing process as well.

3) I don't get to my PM's often due to work and a heavy class load, so would hate to keep you waiting

So... Happy searching and safe travels...

Cheers!

seansmother

And Premium Voyageur is Premium Economy? Bummer. Some flights only have availability in that class (or business class and I don't have 300k for that).

3Cforme

Don't give up. There are lots of Delta, Air France, KLM and Alitalia gateways that could be useful to you: JFK, Newark, Miami, Orlando, Boston, Wash Dulles, Philadelphia, PIT, Montreal, Toronto... The ~eighteen cities Atlanta-Europe non-stop is just a start.

seansmother

Okay I'll keep trying. I've tried JFK, ATL, MIA, FLL to VCE, FCO, Florence whatever the code is ;-).... Milan... No luck yet. But I hadn't thought of some of the other cities you mention, so I'll stick with it. Thanks!

3Cforme

Don't overlook the Pisa airport, PSA, and an $8 direct train, ~70 minutes to the center of Florence.

wco81

There's a train directly at that airport or do you have to go into Pisa?

How often does it run?

3Cforme

There are trains (I did say direct) from Pisa airport to Florence's main train station, Firenze SMN. Connections via Pisa Centrale are possible but not required.

Googling 'train schedule Pisa airport Florence' leads one to this site operated by the Pisa airport authority:

http://www.pisa-airport.com/index.ph...en&id_sect=269

craig44485

If I go to the local official DL ticketing office here in Manila, would they be able to help me find low level BE awards from a hub city to MNL?

tebfunk

Are you getting Alitalia results with whatever tool you're using? They have direct flights from MIA to MXP and FCO, and seem to have good availability outside of the peak summer months.

3Cforme

Hard to say.

By restricting your search to Delta and KE, you're omitting some (easily found) award capacity. Flying Blue finds China Airlines business and coach awards from their North American gateway cities (LAX, SFO, YVR) to Taipei and on to Manila. While some have objectively criticized CI's business product, IMHO a bad Business seat is better than a good coach seat, and most any coach seat is better than no award at all.

ExpertFlyer also finds CI coach seats.

Flying Blue will also find some North America - Asia awards on China Southern (LAX-CAN, YVR-CAN) but seems to struggle with China Eastern (LAX-PVG, JFK-PVG, YVR-PVG), another airline supported by ExpertFlyer.

seansmother

That's the problem; going in peak summer months since I have a 13 year old and that's when school's out. I'm trying for early June. It does bring up some Alitalia flights, but on DL still showing lots of miles.

3Cforme

If you're seeing an award price higher than Low band it's due to the Delta segments to/from the North American gateway. All partner award segments (excluding a narrow Hawaiian Airlines exemption) are Low or not available. As the original post counsels, try looking for one-ways - if not segment by segment, then at least FLL-North American gateway city, gateway-destination (and it seems you can find some Alitalia flights).

FlyingBlue shows 3 coach Miami-Milan Malpensa on May 31 at Classic level (if that meets your end-of-school timing). That should be bookable by phone with DL miles. I'm sure more time searching would yield more results.

added: There's a LOT of MIA-Rome appearing in early June with connections via London and/or Paris on dates where I clicked through.