asnovici

I have used KE excellent 80K to Europe redemptions a few times and while its a nightmare of bureaucracy to redeem on partners, it was always eventually completed to satisfaction. Today was a whole another story.

Trying to fly from LED (St Petersburg) to JFK through Moscow. KE doesn't see any award seats, while in GDS there are 5 in the Business award class. Tried a flight from CDG to Moscow on Aeroflot, and they again don't see availability while there is plenty in GDS. Makes me think KE link with Aeroflot is broken, but agents of course say nothing and their English and manners are far from acceptable for North American call center (I realize they are in Malaysia and probably another south Asian country based on the accents).

Tried to add Marrakech as a stopover point, its in Morocco and Im well aware its Africa by any geo definition, but yet the new KE award charts indicate that Algeria, Morocco and Tunis are considered Europe for award purposes. Again, KE agents refuse to tell me which countries belong to their European award region and instead say they need to price it first to be able to tell.

I booked Aeroflot through KE awards before and this is the first time Im running into this. Also, the quality of the agents has never been good, but today I experienced the worst of customer service.

I can forget Morocco if it really isn't a part of their European award region, but I really don't understand why they cant see Aeroflot availability when GDS clearly shows it. Any advise is appreciated.

bobbybrown

https://www.koreanair.com/content/ko...orization.html

Morocco is in Europe zone. If you booked Aeroflot award several times already using KE miles, you might know better than anyone else here. But it might be system glitch that you want to try later. Also, check through DL site (or any partner airline that SV allows online award booking) to make sure seats are definitely opened to partners.

lewinr

Where are you getting your "GDS" data from?

It used to be possible using KVS to see the exact same SU availability that KE sees, but that no longer works.

Recently I've noticed that DL shows "standard" inventory for SU which AF/KL does not show and KE also does not see.

Unfortunately I havent found a good new definitive source of SU X/O inventory.

Agree with you about the many problems with KE "english skypass helpdesk" agents, some are much worse than others, and a few are good. I've given up on calling and just use email [email protected], but sometimes I need to send a follow-up email to remind them and if it is an urgent situation then it can be frustrating to wait. I really cannot understand why KE cannot make partner award booking available online when so many other airlines are able to do it...

asnovici

First of all, thank you to the Moderator for fixing my mistyped "fiasco"

I use GDS from a friend who has access. Also, I have ExpertFlyer subscription and they match. I also checked Delta.com and of course it matches GDS. There is plenty availability almost on every Aeroflot flight yet KE doesn't see any availability on any of flights I inquired about.

I did indicate to the agent that according to their own charts Morocco is in European award zone, yet he told me no such chart exists. When pointed him to his own website he changed his tune to saying they would need to price it first and Morocco is in Africa.

In addition to an extremely condescending tone from the supervisor who told me "he was doing it for years and this is just how things are" even though I told him about my different experiences with his own desk before, he apparently instructed his agent who came on the line after him to not discuss any flight availability with me but only to take down the information for call back, when I asked him to check on another flight the agent told me his supervisor instructed him not to do so.

Is there another phone number outside of the US I can use to get to the award desk that would be different from Kuala Lumpur one that works with the US? I know one can do it with other airlines (for EY availability one may need to call AA Australian desk or for availability with AZ miles one may need to call their UK office, just some little inside knowledge).

mikesaidyes

I believe for English, they only use KL worldwide. Several years ago, if you called the Korea domestic number, they had an English team during Korean office hours, but they have closed that. Even if you call Korean domestic number, you go to KL.

asnovici

Update, Morocco priced at the level it should as European zone despite idiotic remarks and condescending laughs from the first agent I encountered. The usual agent I deal with at Korean Air took over upon request and she was marvelous as always. Still, no Aeroflot availability is seen by Korean Air at all on any flights when award availability exists.

There is something wrong with Aeroflot and Korean Air link but no one at Korean Air is interested in looking at it.

flipflyer

I was attempting to book AF LAX-CDG in J last year using availability found in ExpertFlyer. At least two agents told me that they didn't see the availability in their system. I cancelled my EF subscription soon after.

Maybe it's time I try it again. Thanks for the data point.

rshelton

Any updates on booking Aeroflot through Korean Air? Korean Air tells me they see no availability when expert flyer and delta both show seats.

lamphs

Duplicate post...

lamphs

Is my understanding correct that I can not book a partner flight with a KE award, i.e. I found a suitable award flight from SFO/LAX to ICN, but I need to get there from the east coast? I need to book a separate award ticket for east coast to SFO/LAX? Thks.

jin0906

Recently I had to call the centre and the person there told me that even though Korean air is in the skyteam alliance, they only have access to flights on Delta, China Southern/Eastern, KLM, Air France Alitilia. Probably that is the reason why they were not available to find seats.

lamphs

I should re-word my question. I want a one-way award on KE. I'll need to get to one of the US airports (with KE) from my location. Am I correct in understanding that I can NOT include DL, i.e. PHL-KE airport-ICN, on a one-way award ticket? (If it were a roundtrip award ticket, including DL would not be a problem.)

gpy

Yes that is correct. You can not book partner airlines on any leg of a one-way award.

lamphs

Thanks!