KLM Availability
 

I have tried and tried to use a KLM award and no luck. From Houston they fly a 747 to Amsterdam and are adding an additional flight a 767, and then Continental is starting service to Amsterdam as well. These flights can't be that full. Any phone number to call at KLM to ask them to free something up. LatinPass does there request by email, so its easy for KLM to email back not available.

KLM award availabilty is rather diffficult out of IAH, and I'm talking as a KLM Flying Dutchman member. I usually have to route through ORD, SFO, LAX and sometimes JFK to get award availability. Even having the 2nd flight hasn't seemed to free up any award seats.

MileTex do you think with Continental flying there that more seats will open up? Thanks for the help do you suggest LAX ORD or SFO. I really want to go to LOndon should I request this or just by that portion on my own?

I think KLM has resumed service out of Atlanta to Amsterdam. This may offer a few more seats.

Well CO has been flying the IAH-AMS route for a while and it still has not impacted the weak availability for KLM award flights. You can try to search for avail. award seats on www.klm.nl (change to English) and then call LatinPass for your request. Good Luck :)

MileTex I went to KLM.nl and the choice cities are only four in the Netherlands. I could not find the section on availibility of flights. Where and How do we do that? At least doing this is a great idea, because why ask LP for an award that is not available.

You'll need to enroll in KLM's freq flyer program (with an address outside of North America and Asia) and then log onto their website. then, go to award bookings to "try" to book an award seat (to see if space is avail).

I live in Dallas so I can't enroll. If anybody with this access would like to help time permitting of course, Iwould appreciate the offer. We are trying for three business tickets from anywhere in US or Canada to London. If Business is not available or coach is OK. Not all three must be in the same class. I will just use my American miles to get to the city that has KLM seats to London. The dates are three days around March 17 returning a week later. Thanks to anyone who can help.

KLM Availability
 

I suggest that you go to www.nwa.com and register and obtain a NWA Worldperks number if you don't already have one). Then you can register for their online service, choosing your password. Once you have logged on you can go to the right top and click on "Worldperks" and then on the left of the next screen "redeem miles". then "Award Travel Reservations" and put in your desired itinerary. Make sure to first just check for IAH-AMS and no other cities as the trick is to check "Nonstop flights only". If the dates you asked for are not available, they will then give you the option to check 3 days before or 3 days after (an option that the KLM site does not give you)...

Once you have some flights that are available with the mileage that you are looking for, then look to make sure that the flight is a KLM flight and then you can put instead of AMS any city that you actually want to use as your destination. At least then you will have something to tell to Globalpass when making your request.

You guys are making it waaaaay too complicated. ;)

Go to www.nwa.com/jp

You can check award availability from the homepage with no log-in. :) Plus you can search forward and back 7 days at a time.

That doesn't work because it only searched flights on Northwest and not KLM. It also only let me pick coach. I want to get 2-3 Business Class seats from any US city to London on March 17 returning the 25 or 26 of March

It does work, but you need to work around a glitch in the website. Select "lowest fare", then input the class of service, dates, and which airlines to check. THEN click "WorldPerks award" to locate seats. Good luck getting WBC seats! To locate, you'll want to first check the various U.S. gateways

I have no idea how KLM sells any seats. Try any date from Houston to AMS buying a ticket and you are always routed through a Northwest Hub. Concerning your suggestions I tried. I could never find the section which airlines to check. I put in lowest fare, class of service, dates and was not given the choice of which airlines to select. I tried numerous times. Help?

I could have sworn an airline selection was avail on the Japanese site -- I've been looking at CO, NW, and DL award res sites recently and I distinctly remember a drop down menu on one of those. Call NW res and ask them to search for KL flight avail. You're looking for D class seats in biz. (I'm assuming you're trying to use some LatinPass miles to travel on KL?) ATL and NYC are likely avail choices for travel from the US to AMS if IAH isn't avail. Also, ORD is usually avail.

Atlanta new route no luck I am down to SFO and LAX and ORD I will then need to spend miles to get there. I do have reservations using miles on United. I get a credit card every quarter as does my wife with no annual fee. We get 120,000 miles per year on United,with no fee's. Why doesn't everybody do this? It is beyond me. Talked to a credit friend he said tons of cards does not hurt your credit score. I have tons of cards for different deals and keep getting them.

Well after six weeks and eight airports with six alternative dates no seats in Business or Coach. In my opinion this is really phony on either LP or KLM. Eight months out, coach or business six different dates eight airports come on they aren't that full.

Have you independently confirmed whether the flights have availability in the award inventories and had LP tell you they're not avail? I sent in a request three weeks ago for some Jan05 flights that I know (confirmed directly with KLM) still have D class avail ... my suspicion is that LP is the culprit for "non-availability".

No I have no way of knowing if there are seats on the KLM flights. I have tried numerous times and there is not a section on Northwest web site that will tell you that. I tried March 17-27 from all the airports to London via Amsterdam no luck. I had dates forward/ backwards for three business/coach tickets no luck.

You can call NW award res and ask them to look at the avail of space on KL flights -- I'd be really surprised if those flights were actually sold out at this point. LP "did" get back to you to tell you that KL could not confirm the space? How long did it take, each time, for LP to check and then tell you to pick other dates? I believe that altho LP may tell us that they're submitting a long list of alternative dates/cities to KL, in fact LP is only submitting one itinerary and waiting to see if it clears/doesn't clear. That's why being armed with dates you KNOW are already avail can simplify the process. It may also be valuable to call and ask LP if they're issuing anymore KL award tickets for this year -- seem to recall that last year around this time, they were honest and telling folks that they had already used up their allotment. I'm out of country currently and can't make the call myself. Maybe they'll give you an update?!?

The LP desk says they have no contact with KLM they talk via email only. Even if I give them specific times and dates they will just send an email and wait four days till I call back. I had a backup plan on United via Lufthansa that is now gone, as United changed their rules with Luft tickets. This operation as usual is half--- as it took me August 17 through September 29 to run through all the cities. So basically unless your going to Central America your toast. And if your going beyond South America that is not a good option as it takes two days, because you arrive in Costa Rica at 6 then the flight South have already left so stick around till tomorrow. Then do this drill on the return

milesrus,

I'm tending to agree with you that there is some underlying lack of effort on Latinpass' part to book KLM tickets, for whatever reason. There has been some anecdotal evidence here of people obtaining KLM award tickets, so we know it does happen.

I don't know what amount of effort and follow-up is required to get a ticket. Whether it means calling every single day, over and over and over, without losing patience. Being available to take any seat on any day. I really don't know as I haven't been down that road.

I did try to book some KLM award tickets once a year or two ago, but I wasn't successful, so I gave up.

I called Delta and they were able to secure seats on KLM so where is the problem KLM telling Delta Yes and LP No or LP ? LP sends an email and three days later KLM responds. If they were truly out of allotment or something why would they just not tell us so? Instead I wasted 7 weeks trying to secure seats and now have flights on Delta but not the times I would have liked.

It seems that LP has minimal allocation on KL. I have given up trying to use LP miles on KL. As you experienced, you waste a lot of time for no results.

Just a Guess
 

I believe it is probably related to a desire to avoid exchanging cash, and whether any KLM customers want FF seats on Globalpass airlines in return. If KLM members are asking for FF seats on some TACA flights, they probably trade some availability. If KLM customers are not asking for Globalpass FF seats, then Globalpass would have to pay KLM cash for the seats (in whatever amount) and does not want to.

Just a guess as to why no KLM availability. (I am among those who have given up. Tried for a couple years to get KLM seats to Europe, and gave up.)

Djlawman

I asked the girls at LP where are people getting seats to? The answer is Europe to Asia. I am reday to help somebody like Doctors without Borders giving some away. I would imagine the doctors could afford tickets but maybe not some of the nurses. If you know of the group I'd be interested in helping them.

I can confirm that LP KLM tickets are available on Asia-Europe routes as well as intra-European routes. I think LP's allotment of Trans-Atlantic tickets are limited (except maybe AMS to CCS or LIM.)_

Davistev, yes it was you I was thinking of as having reported success on KLM bookings. So, it does happen. You're all over the place. As I recall most recently you were in Tokyo. Now Khartoum?

I'm surprised to hear that Europe to Asia is easy to get using LP. Europe to FarEast (BKK, KUL, SIN, PVG, PEK) is nearly impossible to get in D class (biz award space) for everyone (incl KL FD members) and can be a little tricky even for Plat Elite, whose avail is equiv to C class. I've been trying to get between AMS and any of these FarEast destinations for at least a year (of failed attempts). Maybe there's alot of seats in economy and/or to destinations in the MidEast.

I am also very surprised.

My attempts to get flights to Asia or South Africa (AMS-BKK, AMS-KUL, AMS-SIN, AMS-JNB, AMS-CPT) have resulted in 100% failure.

From what I recall of earlier messages on this board, a few people reported getting transatlantic or intra-European tickets. I would have thought that these would have been easier to get, at least until last year or so, as KL often had plenty of availability under its own FD scheme. FD availability has become more scarce over the last year.

KL to lima or caracas using GP miles is also impossible. I've tried many times, always unsuccessgully, and have now, like many others on this forum given up on transatlantic KLM tickets via GP

My friends and I recently were able to redeem our LP points for 3 KLM WBC tickets to Prague and then returning from Vienna for February 2005.

KLM does restrict award seating so you have to be flexible. I

f your willing to fly in January, February, and maybe March you can use your miles.

Send me your itinerary and how many are traveling and I'll check availability for you.

I have been trying to go from Houston first choice or any other US City to London in Business/coach in Mid March like 17-27 of March

For those who are hoping to get tickets from the USA, my experience is getting anything on KL thru global pass is a complete joke!!! I tried to get a ticket from the USA to Africa recently and I tried continuouly for one and a half year from every city in the US that KL flies out of, for any date and never got a flight!!
I don't know how anyone has ever gotten a US to anywhere except S.America flight thru Global pass.

I would have considered Avianca or Aeropostal to Europe but flights are terrible times. Flights leave Dallas at 5:40 arrive San Jose CR at 9PM. The flights to Bogota leave the next day at 4 PM then you need to overnight in Bogota because that flight leaves at 5 as well. So if I left Dallas Monday, I would need to overnight in San Jose, Bogota, then one night on the plane. So I leave Monday and arrive Thursday, kind of silly. I would love to see a thread on the success of KLM to Europe. They have not yet started service from Atlanta, and I could not get seats from there either. It appears I did the 700,000 mile run not the million as I doubt I will use the remaining 330,000 miles. Our Hilton is dead, all our domestic airlines are dead and any new additions to the program are exempt from the mileage run miles.

Among dozens of requests I was successfull as follows:

1) AMS-BKKrt: 2 Business class seats, in 2001, don't remember exact dates
2) Mid-May 03 ZRH-AMS-LAXrt, 1 seat in coach class
booked late March 03.
deemed successful due to low bookings at onset of Iraq war
3) Beg. of Dec 03: SFO-AMS-SFOrt, 1 seat in business class
booked Sept 03
deemed available due to past-Thanksgiving/pre X-mas season.

Looks like availability decreased even further in 2004.

After making a request one week ago, was surprised to be phoned today by Globalpass and told that KLM had actually confirmed my request for travel to Rome on March 2-10. Ultimately decided against it as KLM only offered up Y seats and a connecting flight to FCO on the day after arriving in AMS. Still, I guess it shows one shouldn't give up entirely on KLM...

Instead I chose to ticket the confirmed reservation I got in J on Taca to EZE for that same week, feel pretty lucky to have snagged those tickets, so will simply save Europe for another time!

Cheers,

freeflyer

Good decision. Taca is a great airline and EZE is wonderful.

freeflyer,

Is that for IAD-EZE? If so, what is the routing?

Let's just say we're taking the "scenic" route to Buenos Aries :D

581 IAD-SAL 08:10-12:00
681 SAL-SJO 13:20-14:40
625 SJO-(one 45 min. stop in LIM)- EZE 15:25-03:15

624 EZE (via LIM) SJO 07:10-13:30
680 SJO-SAL 14:30-15:50
580 SAL-IAD 16:40-21:50

That's about 17 hours each way, right? Taca rep told me that seats on the SJO-EZE route are hardest to get, which makes sense given its "bottle neck" status.

OTOH it's nice to see Taca serving IAD so well, with two flights a day to SAL and an almost daily flight direct to GUA.

That's the route I would have guessed for EZE, but this IAD-GUA non-stop flight is news to me. When did it start? It could open up some reasonable routings to more destinations from IAD.