austin86

Hi,

I've booked an itinerary in late December/Early January primarily with three legs below.

ATL to GOT, Sweden (Swedish citizen, and will stay for 10 days for quarantine requirements for South Africa)
GOT to CPT (Cape Town, South Africa)
CPT to ATL direct flight.

First Question: I haven't been able to book ATL-GOT + CPT-ATL as an Open Jaw ticket. The pricing is calculated as one-ways. Can anyone shed some light as to why this is the case (is it Africa vs. Europe, or the fact that I would not be connecting through europe?)

Second Question: I found that a round-trip from CPT to ATL to CPT is 50% of the cost of a one-way from CPT to ATL. Is there any issue with booking the round-trip and simply skipping the final return leg back to CPT?

Thanks in advance for any help on either of the above.

Austin

NYC Flyer

Generally, on an open-jaw itinerary, the distance between the "open jaw" or surface leg cities must be shorter than each of the flown legs. GOT-CPT is further than ATL-GOT.

You might be better off purchasing roundtrip ATL-CPT with a stopover in Europe (say LHR, AMS or CDG), then purchase a side trip to GOT as a separate ticket.

austin86

Thanks, that's helpful re: Open Jaw rules.

How would I purchase a round-trip with a 10+day stopover in europe? Would I need to call Delta to have this arranged?

NYC Flyer

Multi-city booking on Delta.com might be productive, but a call to DL or a travel agent might yield better/more options.

austin86

Thank you. Do you know if the round-trip + stopover itinerary would impact my ability to use a single GLobal Upgrade Cert (GUC) from ATL to CPT? In other words, would I need to use two GUCs for the ATL-AMS-CPT route, due to the stopover?

Currently, I have this booked/planned:
One way from RDU to GOT ($450 for Economy + confirmed upgrade on DELTA/KLM with GUC)
One way from GOT to CPT (80K Delta Skymiles for Business Class on KLM)
Plan to book: Round-trip CPT- ATL, with return skipped ($900 + confirmed upgrade on DELTA direct with GUC)

NYC Flyer

T&Cs suggest that you can use one certificate if fare permits a stopover, but I have no direct experience.

MSPeconomist

I've done this and was surprised that it worked, so the agent called a supervisor's supervisor. The rule when I did it was that a GUC covered all segments (for which upgrades were applicable and available) on the same fare component. Hence an official stopover according to the fare rules means that you're covered but a multi city itinerary in which each segment is priced separately, even if on the same ticket/PNR, would require an additional GUC (and the route might not be upgradeable at all with DL instruments).

austin86

Thank you, the advice on this thread (and this forum in general) is invaluable.

Now, to make the calculation whether my current one-ways mixed between SkyMiles/cash is better or worse than a round-trip w/ stopover. I am slowly learning the tricks of flight booking alchemy...

flyerCO

Be forewarned, for a bit they went to a rule where the connecting flight needed be within 24 hours to use 1 GUC. However the new terms just posted have gone back to the original 1 GUC per fare component rule. Not all agents may realize it's back to the original rule again.

austin86

I just spoke with Agent and they quoted the 24-hour rule as making the GUC ineligible after the stopover in Amsterdam. Thus, my GUC could not be used for the Amsterdam-South Africa leg.

Could you direct me to where these new terms that you are referencing for the GUC?

Update: A second agent confirmed to me the 24 hour rule is still in place for the GUCs.

flyerCO

The terms were just updated this week. Refer them to the online section regarding elite upgrades using certificates . It's on same page that discusses medallion free upgrades.

austin86

Thank you, I will look. For reference, my GUC states the below T&C which appear to confirm the 24-hour rule, but also say Stopovers are up to the fare rules.

Upgrade Offer: This certificate is valid for qualifying one-way travel on flights operated by Delta Air Lines or select partners, for the named SkyMiles Certificate owner and/or a companion who is SkyMiles Member traveling on the same flight pursuant to the terms and conditions of this offer. Eligible connections do not exceed 4 hours for domestic routes or 24 hours for international, between the origin and destination of a ticket fare(s). This upgrade offer may also be available on certain Delta Connection carrier flights and for flights with Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, Korean Air and Aeromexico as set forth in "Applicable Routes" below. Only one companion per Certificate owner may be upgraded on each flight segment. Any stopovers are governed by the fare rules. All rules of the fare purchased will apply except as changed by this offer. SkyMiles mileage credit based upon purchased fare class. Space is limited and subject to availability. Seats may not be available on all flights or in all markets.

austin86

Tried a third time, was put on hold for 30 minutes while agent spoke with Ticketing. They responded with the same 24-hour rule to use the GUC, even if you have an eligible Stopover on a single ticket.

MSPeconomist

On international, up to 24 hours is a connection and not a stopover.

Radiocycle

Work with a Chisholm reservations office agent.... to apply the newly updated. rules.

The Chisholm agents will be able to do it the first time they try.

Good Luck

RC