orca15

Given the end of the RTW awards, I was hoping someone could help me with a strategy for getting one now, but using it sometime far in the future.

SO and I want to do a RTW BE award ticket, but won't be able to use it until late 2015 at the earliest, more likely 2016.

Facts/assumptions: DM for 2015; at least PM in 2016; more miles than I need for any forseeable awards (no problem tying up the SMs); will likely use all the stops going to SoAm, Russia, China, AUS/NZ.

I don't even know how it works, do you buy a RTW blank ticket and book the stops at a later date, or must you book them all now? Can I buy one, book something for summer, then just keep moving it back? Is it "any seat available" or low award level seats needed?

Any thoughts, either experience or predictions, appreciated. I understand that I may be able to get four or so one ways later for about the same price, but want to stick to the idea of RTW for now.

orca15

Can anyone at least answer if the RTW legs have to be booked at the time of award and can they be changed later?

3Cforme

You've got to ticket a qualifying routing for the RTW. One can't ticket a single segment to CDG and plan on making it up as one goes.

http://thepointsguy.com/2013/01/vide...-world-ticket/

RealHJ

I wouldn't count on DL allowing any changes after the end of 2014, so you should book it how and when you want to/can fly and prepare for the worst (and most likely) outcome of no changes allowed starting 2015.

DL has clearly said that any changes to awards booked now will be repriced at the new SkyHigh levels of 2015, even if it's just removing a flight and not making any changes or additions. Not sure how it applies to RTW, but given DL's continous anti-customer moves, most likely it'll mean that after end of 2014 you can redeposit it and otherwise if you make even the slightest change, it'll be all repriced at the new segment-by-segment pricing.

STBCypriot

A related question - if I were to book a RTW award ticket (Business class) before the end of the year and then have to cancel it, does anyone know what the fees would be for the cancellation and reinstatement of my SkyMiles into my FF account? Would the fees vary by Medallion status? I am a lowly FO these days, having left DL 2 3 years ago.

SCEflyer

Keep in mind that your entire trip must be concluded within 330 days (11 months) of purchasing your ticket(s).

MSPeconomist

AFAIK they can be changed through the end of this month. If you're DM, there shouldn't be a fee to change award tickets, but RTW has different rules and is normally more flexible in some ways.

I agree. Assume the worst.

I would assume that the same fees apply to a RTW award ticket as any other award ticket: free for DM/PM account, $150 otherwise.

Is it 330 days or one year?

richardinmotion

Subscribed

I'll be calling the RTW desk today or tomorrow to try and book 4 RTW BE award trips.

howtofreetravel

Ask the Rtw desk if you could make changes make sure you get a reference number too

RealHJ

Ticket validity is exactly 1 year from date of issue (i.e. can't change to flights more than a year after the original booked date, as that is past the ticket validity period).

Booking of actual flights is generally open 331 days in advance.

This means that, if there are no program changes or other rules forbidding it, that after a ticket is booked, some flights can be moved up to a month further back from the original 331 days after booking date date.

It's two different timeframes here: one for ticket validity, other for how far in advance flights open up for booking.

richardinmotion

Quick question before I call the RTW desk to attempt this booking: How can I search on my own for BE award space on a specific flight on a specific day? I'm on a Mac, so I can't use the KWS tool. Do I use delta.com? If it shows me a one-way flight in BE with a seat available for a certain amount of miles, does that mean a seat is available to me on a RTW ticket? I did a one way search LAX-CHC and its showing that I can book a BE seat for 160K miles. So, I'm good on that segment? Just a noob trying to figure this out

MSPeconomist

I'm not an expert on this, but I think you need low inventory for a RTW award ticket.

I'm not sure whether you need to search by segments or whether DL is trying to impose married segment logic on RTWs now.

For some partner segments, you should be able to search on other SkyTeam websites, such as AF or KE, or EF if you have a subscription. Remember that low means classic award levels and not all of these seats may be available to DL (such as AF/KLM business class O inventory).

richardinmotion

Thanks. It appears that you are correct. I called into the RTW award desk and spoke to Keisha. We didn't get very far. I asked whether there was low level award space on my first segment: LAX-CHC. She informed me that that flight was not possible because, even though Virgin Australia is a SkyTeam partner, they do not participate in the RTW program. So, I am back to the drawing board.

lking

I suggest going into skyteam.com and there is a program there that describes the rules, and you can input the places you want to visit and it will tell you whether it is a qualifying route, etc. I suggest you get a world map, list the countries you'd like to visit, what you want to do at each stop and determine how many days you want to be at that stop. When you call Delta, they will put you into the RTW desk. They will ask you for the places, put it into their system and if it's a qualifying route, then they'll start the search by dates for availability.

I booked a couple tickets and in one country, only one BE seat was available so one is listed in coach (can check later to change if available). That advance preparation of days needed is essential because when you are booking, if the date you want is not available then you have to be prepared to have them search availability before and after your requested date. One date change will then affect each subsequent country on your itinerary. It took about an hour on the tele and we were booked.

It was 280k for BE, 180k for coach. I'm not sure if I want to do it either because it is a bit limiting -- you have to book all at once so any change will mess up everything else. And the time involved -- even for a simple 6-stop itinerary will be at least a month. So I think it's a great idea and wonderful thing to do, but one needs to make sure they have enough time for each stop, including accounting for the unforeseen.

Good luck and enjoy that adventure!

richardinmotion

Update: I just successfully booked a BE award trip for myself. It was not easy, but I was very flexible with dates, so we made it work. It took about 90 minutes. BE low award space was fairly straightforward to find on partner airlines, but nonexistent on Delta flights. So, my entire RTW is non-Delta.

Now, for the good part:

According to the excellent rep I worked with, you CAN book a dummy trip before 12/31 and modify it later. If you are DM, or book your wife's flight using your DM miles, there are NO change fees for changing flights, right up to the 72 hour window. You will ONLY be charged for taxes. My wife is GM, so I was very happy to hear this. I can't speak for non-DMs, sorry.

I have several more RTWs to book in the next 13 days, so I will try to verify this info by calling into the RTW desk again and speaking to another agent. If some of you can also do it, it would be helpful.

One other caveat: Once you make your RTW booking, you CANNOT change your departure date and airport after 12/31. So, be VERY careful about this one.

Also, remember that the RETURN date of your RTW ticket must not be more than 331 days from the date you book. For today, that means 11/14/15.