[PREM FARE GONE] ST: AZ NBO-LAX OW 977 euro - fully flexible J class
Jun 29, 2019, 6:58 am
#151
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
Thank you for the very detailed response! I'll also be getting there on an award and doing the transit visa, so good to hear it works well.
I've never flown KQ before, so nice to hear a good review, but good to know we should plan ahead for dinner (anyway, the KQ flight to FCO leaves quite late, so having dinner beforehand makes sense).
Earnings on Flying Blue should be pretty much as good as with DL, especially as a FB Platinum.
I've never flown KQ before, so nice to hear a good review, but good to know we should plan ahead for dinner (anyway, the KQ flight to FCO leaves quite late, so having dinner beforehand makes sense).
Earnings on Flying Blue should be pretty much as good as with DL, especially as a FB Platinum.
One other thing - if an immigration officer suggests you go see if KQ will pay for your transit visa, say something like thanks, I already checked and they won't.
Only because it's a waste of time with KQ - seems they must justify every expense and separate tickets obviously isn't justifiable
the immigration officer seemed quite confident that it would be quick and easy, and my hotel room wasnt quite ready yet, which is why I entertained it. But it is fruitless (as one would expect).
Jul 4, 2019, 10:35 am
#152
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: NY-NCE-FCO
Programs: DL Diamond - Marriott Titanium - Hilton Gold
Posts: 24
You're welcome!
One other thing - if an immigration officer suggests you go see if KQ will pay for your transit visa, say something like thanks, I already checked and they won't.
Only because it's a waste of time with KQ - seems they must justify every expense and separate tickets obviously isn't justifiable
the immigration officer seemed quite confident that it would be quick and easy, and my hotel room wasnt quite ready yet, which is why I entertained it. But it is fruitless (as one would expect).
One other thing - if an immigration officer suggests you go see if KQ will pay for your transit visa, say something like thanks, I already checked and they won't.
Only because it's a waste of time with KQ - seems they must justify every expense and separate tickets obviously isn't justifiable
the immigration officer seemed quite confident that it would be quick and easy, and my hotel room wasnt quite ready yet, which is why I entertained it. But it is fruitless (as one would expect).
Jul 4, 2019, 7:56 pm
#153
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
I believe if you must pay with a card, its best to do it online prior to arrival.
Jul 5, 2019, 1:20 am
#154
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
Programs: BA Gold, A3 Gold, FB Gold, Bonvoy Titanium / LTP, Accor Plat
Posts: 13,896
There is an ATM dispensing both US Dollars and Kenyan Shillings in the corridor to the immigration hall, in Terminal 1A.
Transit visas generally get issued immediately after paying, online. Tourist visas can take a little longer to approve. I've also found the SkyPriority immigration line aren't happy at issuing transit visas on arrival.
Oh and they are very flexible with transit visas but it DOES have to be a "real" transit - FCO-NBO-FCO will likely get a refusal, if they notice.
Transit visas generally get issued immediately after paying, online. Tourist visas can take a little longer to approve. I've also found the SkyPriority immigration line aren't happy at issuing transit visas on arrival.
Oh and they are very flexible with transit visas but it DOES have to be a "real" transit - FCO-NBO-FCO will likely get a refusal, if they notice.
Jul 5, 2019, 8:54 am
#155
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
There is an ATM dispensing both US Dollars and Kenyan Shillings in the corridor to the immigration hall, in Terminal 1A.
Transit visas generally get issued immediately after paying, online. Tourist visas can take a little longer to approve. I've also found the SkyPriority immigration line aren't happy at issuing transit visas on arrival.
Oh and they are very flexible with transit visas but it DOES have to be a "real" transit - FCO-NBO-FCO will likely get a refusal, if they notice.
Transit visas generally get issued immediately after paying, online. Tourist visas can take a little longer to approve. I've also found the SkyPriority immigration line aren't happy at issuing transit visas on arrival.
Oh and they are very flexible with transit visas but it DOES have to be a "real" transit - FCO-NBO-FCO will likely get a refusal, if they notice.
They noticed for mine and it wasnt a problem.
Jul 9, 2019, 10:28 pm
#157
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: AF/KL Gold, DL Diamond, Hertz PC, Bonvoy Gold Elite; Hilton Gold
Posts: 997
FYI... On my second NBO trip in Feb 2020, I was booked on AZ7151 NBO-FCO nonstop then FCO-LAX-JFK. AZ7151 got changed to NBO-GVA-FCO as KQ128 and AZ7151 no longer exists on that day (but does on other days). There were 2 problems with rebooking me on KQ128, 1) I don't want to do the GVA stop and 2) As a Delta flyer KQ is Skyteam tier 2 and doesn't get any class of service bonuses, RDM and MQM are only at 100% even in J.
I hunted around on Expert Flyer for an AF or KL routing. One option was to do either NBO-CDG-FCO or NBO-AMS-FCO (both options offer AF or KL codeshare operated by KQ or pure KL and AF operated flights). It would have resulted in more MQM's but I ended up choosing NBO-AMS KL 787-10 to AMS-LAX KL 747-400MIX. I was able to snag seat 1A in the nose of the 747 for the LAX flight. I know the KLM 747's are a bit dated, but I decided I wanted to ride in the 747 one last time before they retire. 1A is also one of the 2 seats that are singles on the KL 747 nose. I'll still get to try out AZ operated FCO-LAX later this month on my first trip.
Called the Delta Platinum line and they were able to reissue the ticket easily. At first they used DL flight numbers but I was watching them online in My Delta account and was able to ask that they use pure KLM flight no's for better earning and they had no problem changing it. Although the AF and KL flights were not valid in the original fare routing, any valid route is acceptable when a schedule change is involved with Delta. I'm so glad I got it issued on 006 DL stock originally! The NBO-GVA-FCO routing adds 4 hours to arrival time in FCO, so its easy to get them to do anything on it.
I hunted around on Expert Flyer for an AF or KL routing. One option was to do either NBO-CDG-FCO or NBO-AMS-FCO (both options offer AF or KL codeshare operated by KQ or pure KL and AF operated flights). It would have resulted in more MQM's but I ended up choosing NBO-AMS KL 787-10 to AMS-LAX KL 747-400MIX. I was able to snag seat 1A in the nose of the 747 for the LAX flight. I know the KLM 747's are a bit dated, but I decided I wanted to ride in the 747 one last time before they retire. 1A is also one of the 2 seats that are singles on the KL 747 nose. I'll still get to try out AZ operated FCO-LAX later this month on my first trip.
Called the Delta Platinum line and they were able to reissue the ticket easily. At first they used DL flight numbers but I was watching them online in My Delta account and was able to ask that they use pure KLM flight no's for better earning and they had no problem changing it. Although the AF and KL flights were not valid in the original fare routing, any valid route is acceptable when a schedule change is involved with Delta. I'm so glad I got it issued on 006 DL stock originally! The NBO-GVA-FCO routing adds 4 hours to arrival time in FCO, so its easy to get them to do anything on it.
Jul 17, 2019, 2:35 pm
#158
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: NY-NCE-FCO
Programs: DL Diamond - Marriott Titanium - Hilton Gold
Posts: 24
Thanks btonkid and Utsikat for your reports.
Similar thing has happened to me as well, Alitalia did not update yet the new schedule change from KQ, so it looks like the AZ codeshare is not there on that day and I have been rescheduled on KQ128 via GVA. I will check to be put on the KL or AF coded flights. What is surprising to me (don't know if it happened the same to you), the ticket reissue due to the sched change was made by AF and the ticket has switched from DL 006 ticket stock to AF 057. Still it should not be an issue as a lot of times DL on the phone has done the opposite thing when reissuing an AF ticket.
Similar thing has happened to me as well, Alitalia did not update yet the new schedule change from KQ, so it looks like the AZ codeshare is not there on that day and I have been rescheduled on KQ128 via GVA. I will check to be put on the KL or AF coded flights. What is surprising to me (don't know if it happened the same to you), the ticket reissue due to the sched change was made by AF and the ticket has switched from DL 006 ticket stock to AF 057. Still it should not be an issue as a lot of times DL on the phone has done the opposite thing when reissuing an AF ticket.
Jul 17, 2019, 3:09 pm
#159
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: AF/KL Gold, DL Diamond, Hertz PC, Bonvoy Gold Elite; Hilton Gold
Posts: 997
Thanks btonkid and Utsikat for your reports.
Similar thing has happened to me as well, Alitalia did not update yet the new schedule change from KQ, so it looks like the AZ codeshare is not there on that day and I have been rescheduled on KQ128 via GVA. I will check to be put on the KL or AF coded flights. What is surprising to me (don't know if it happened the same to you), the ticket reissue due to the sched change was made by AF and the ticket has switched from DL 006 ticket stock to AF 057. Still it should not be an issue as a lot of times DL on the phone has done the opposite thing when reissuing an AF ticket.
Similar thing has happened to me as well, Alitalia did not update yet the new schedule change from KQ, so it looks like the AZ codeshare is not there on that day and I have been rescheduled on KQ128 via GVA. I will check to be put on the KL or AF coded flights. What is surprising to me (don't know if it happened the same to you), the ticket reissue due to the sched change was made by AF and the ticket has switched from DL 006 ticket stock to AF 057. Still it should not be an issue as a lot of times DL on the phone has done the opposite thing when reissuing an AF ticket.
Jul 29, 2019, 11:34 am
#160
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: NY-NCE-FCO
Programs: DL Diamond - Marriott Titanium - Hilton Gold
Posts: 24
Great question. Its in the fare rules, but almost always its like this:
1) Change to flights on first fare component = reprice with today's valid fare
2) Change to second fare component = reprice with original issue date historical fare.
3) Change after first segment is flown (travel commenced) = reprice with original issue date historical fare.
1) Change to flights on first fare component = reprice with today's valid fare
2) Change to second fare component = reprice with original issue date historical fare.
3) Change after first segment is flown (travel commenced) = reprice with original issue date historical fare.
The first segment is in October, if I make a date change on the FCO-LAX-JFK, is it still repriced with historical fare?
Just asking as you mentioned "change to second fare component" and with the stopover I am not sure if my FCO-LAX-JFK becomes a 2nd fare component rather then 2nd segment.
Jul 29, 2019, 11:52 am
#161
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: AF/KL Gold, DL Diamond, Hertz PC, Bonvoy Gold Elite; Hilton Gold
Posts: 997
My itinerary is NBO-FCO stopover for 5 days then FCO-LAX-JFK and return JFK-MIA-FCO-NBO.
The first segment is in October, if I make a date change on the FCO-LAX-JFK, is it still repriced with historical fare?
Just asking as you mentioned "change to second fare component" and with the stopover I am not sure if my FCO-LAX-JFK becomes a 2nd fare component rather then 2nd segment.
The first segment is in October, if I make a date change on the FCO-LAX-JFK, is it still repriced with historical fare?
Just asking as you mentioned "change to second fare component" and with the stopover I am not sure if my FCO-LAX-JFK becomes a 2nd fare component rather then 2nd segment.
On another note, I'm in Nairobi right now. Took my one-way Z ticket down last week. Had a misconnect and got rerouted. When they rebooked me, the rebooked J instead of Z so I got 200% instead of 150%. Huge win!
Aug 9, 2019, 8:34 am
#162
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Washington D.C.
Programs: AA 1MM, AA Plat, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 448
Question-I am flying the AZ coded flight from NBO to FCO with a stopover. Then FCO-LAX on AZ. Is it possible to reroute to FCO-CDG-LAX with AZ coded flights and operated by AF?
Aug 9, 2019, 7:35 pm
#163
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: AF/KL Gold, DL Diamond, Hertz PC, Bonvoy Gold Elite; Hilton Gold
Posts: 997
CDG was not in the original legal fare routing, but my experience is that most changes have been manual reissues and agents have mostly ignored the routing table. I think they see it’s J inventory and assume anything is possible. Who issued the ticket? I think you’ll have more mileage if DL issued it, less if an OTA issued it. So basically, it shouldn’t work but you might get lucky.
Aug 10, 2019, 9:42 am
#164
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Washington D.C.
Programs: AA 1MM, AA Plat, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 448
CDG was not in the original legal fare routing, but my experience is that most changes have been manual reissues and agents have mostly ignored the routing table. I think they see it’s J inventory and assume anything is possible. Who issued the ticket? I think you’ll have more mileage if DL issued it, less if an OTA issued it. So basically, it shouldn’t work but you might get lucky.
Aug 10, 2019, 5:44 pm
#165
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: AF/KL Gold, DL Diamond, Hertz PC, Bonvoy Gold Elite; Hilton Gold
Posts: 997