Has anyone come up with an efficient itinerary for a second mileage run that includes Aces, Saeta, Taca Peru, and Nica? (naturalspringwater: you mentioned having to get these carriers in on your second quest for miles. I've been trying to get in touch with you, but your email address doesn't seem to be working.) Originally, I didn't plan to go for the million, hence not getting the Nica flight in, but am now considering it as a strong possibility.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

vandykes..

NICA, SAETA, ACES, TACA PERU. ugh.
Yeah, I am working on it. Let's collaborate and see what we can come up with. It's cheaper by US$200 to go MGA-MIA rather than MIA-MGA, at least according to Expedia. The problem is travel between Nicauragua and South America -- nasty expensive.

I will have some time today to do some more checking, so perhaps I'll have more to share this evening.

My correct email address is:
[email protected]

Cheers,
nsw

tfjim, I'm thinking of going around that time also . Email me [email protected]

Looking as well for an itinerary that would include, NICA, TA PERU, SAETA, ACES. Same as vandykes4, I wasn't going to go for the million, but I'm rethinking it. I have done some research already and Naturalspringw.. is right MGA-MIA is about $200 cheaper than MIA-MGA. Haven;t come up with anything decent here.

without wanting to 'jump the gun' (I haven't even got my million bonus miles yet!) I do have a few questions about what they can be used for.

Can anyone clarify any of the following?

a) Can one transfer the points to HHonors, and if so, is it at the 1 mile to 2 HHonors points conversion rate?

b) Latinpass states that those people who are enrolled in a GENERIC latinpass account may transfer their miles to a MEMBER airline frequent flyer account (i.e Taca, Copa, Aviateca etc etc.) Am I correct in the assumption therefore that the miles could go to my COPA or TACA account if I held one?

c) If the answer to b) is yes, then once the miles were in the COPA or TACA account, one would spend them according to the rules of the COPA or TACA account. So am I right in thinking that one could, in the case of TACA, redeem them for travel on AMERICAN AIRLINES or AMERICAN EAGLE without having to transfer them on again - just cash them in as a TACA reward for AMERICAN?

d) I am assuming that the latinpass miles could not be transferred from the generic Latinpass account into the US airways or KLM frequent traveller account if one was held.

Any experienced FT'ers out there who could share their thoughts and knowledge on this matter? It would be great if one could transfer them to TACA and use them on American Airlines!


SAMUEL

PS - sorry if this is a bit off topic for the thread!

[This message has been edited by SamuelS (edited 04-16-2000).]

[This message has been edited by SamuelS (edited 04-16-2000).]

Sorry for a real "newbie" question on this thread. I just read the official rules for the LatinPass million mile deal and some things don't seem totally obvious to me. The following statement in red in the official rules..."Members enrolled in LatinPass or in any of the LatinPass Member Airlines participating programs from March 20th, 2000 or after will not be eligible for this promotion." This statement, as written, seems to state that virtually no one is eligible at this point. It doesn't say "members who enroll after March 20, it says members enrolled." I belong to both TWA and USAirways FF programs but have never enrolled in LatinPass. Am I eligible or not?

Also are the million miles that are earned usable on any or all of the partners? I do no flying to Latin America but travel quite often to Europe. Thanks for the help.

Sorry if you were not enrolled in LatinPass as of 3/19/00 you can not participate in this promo.

SamuelS -

a) yes / yes
b) Yes, you may transfer miles to a member program, but this does not apply to Copa or the partner airlines.
c) yes
d) correct

Just back from getting the remaining 4 carriers. All flights on the LPass carriers were fine, but I arrived 6 hours late on AA due a LIM airport closure and a reroute to some unkown Pervian city where we waited 3 hours. Since I missed my initial LIM-CUZ return, an agent at AA was able to rescedule everything by 1 day and i ended up staying that extra day in Lima.

For those of you flying on the ACES LIM - UIO return on the cheap V fares, please note that this fare is NOT changeable within 7 days of departure. I was initially told i would need to pay 199 each way to fly, however, in the end I was allowed to upgrade my VSpecial fare to a KE45 fare that allows changes for 20 dollars more.

I will hopefully post more details later, but all in all a good laugh.

rich

taking the plunge.........here's the itinerary i'll be on along with my brother.......total cost (all flights in y or c except aces in v class) $2490:

sat 27 may
taca 514 (nica): lv mia 3:53pm - arr mga 4:28pm

lacsa 711: lv mga 7:20pm - arr sjo 8:25pm

sun 28 may
aviateca 910: lv sjo 7:05am - arr gua 8:40am
(this is a code share operated by taca - an aviateca ("destinos") rep and latin pass confirmed (in writing) that this would qualify as the aviateca segment)

taca 580 lv gua 12:05pm arr sal 12:50pm

copa 411 lv sal 3pm arr pty 6:20pm

copa 211 lv pty 7:35pm arr gye 9:25pm

aeropostal 924 lv gye 10:30pm arr lim 12:15 am

mon 29 may
aces (saeta) 520 lv lim 6am arr uio 8:10am

aces 521 lv uio 10:04pm arr lim 12:14am

tue 30 may
taca peru 7 lv lim 6am arr cuz 7am
(chopper service to and from macchu picchu)

wed 31 may
taca peru 8 lv cuz 7:50am arr lim 8:50

avianca 76 lv lim 11:35am arr bog 2:35pm

avianca 8 lv bog 4:20pm arr mia 9pm

this itinerary allows for a full day in uio and a half day run to the ruins at macchu picchu which is what we had hoped to see during our quest for 1,000,000...........the tight connection in gye (1hour and 5 minutes) has me worried - has anyone tried this connection yet? any advice transiting thru gye?

hope to see other ff'ers along the way

[This message has been edited by billedr (edited 04-16-2000).]

billedr,

My experience in connecting from Aeropostal to AA in GYE will give u little encouragement for your tight connection. It took close to 1 hour and 20 minutes for me to reach the AA gate after my departure from the Aeropostal plane. My guess is that it can be done faster, but here is my experience.

Since there is no concept of transit in GYE, you must clear immigration. This was no small task as we arrived following a full Ecuatoriana Airbus. Choose the foreigners line to the direct right of the Ecuadorian Citizen lines as you will be able to use the Ecuadorian lines when they become empty.

After, clearing immigration zip through customs and turn left where u will have a 200 meter walk. All doors into the check in area are locked except the furthest door from where you left Customs.

A military guard will check your passport and ask your destination. Continue straight as you walk through the door and you will quickly see Aeroposatal check in. It is next to American Airlines.

You will be expected to pay the 25USD departure tax. (Showing a same day arrival stamp in your passport does not get a waiver like it does in Quito). Ask Aeropostal at check in, since after I complained to AA they were able to get me through without paying. You will then need to walk up a flight of steps where u will clear outbound immigration. This line was also quite long as a KLM jumbo was leaving the same time as AA.

You will then clear security and all gates are pretty close together mixed with groups of shops.

You probably can do the connection if you have better luck with shorter lines at immigration. I would plead my case to the Copa rep as you deplane to see if they can escort you through the process. An aeropostal rep did run over to AA to tell them they had 3 transist passengers. When he returned he said they know we are here, but since there was still 2 hours till my flight and the lines had reduced I did not ask for any more help.

Also Aeropostal was almost 2 hours late arriving in Lima from GYE the day I took the flight back to GYE.

Hope the details help and good luck,
rich

Hi all. I'm new to FT. I'm planning a 1 mil trip from L.A. over Memorial Day weekeend. Is anyone from L.A. area planning similar and want to travel together? Do I need to go through MIA from L.A.? Seems kind of a long way just to get started. Does anyone have a good, proven itinerary from west coast? Any help would be MUCH appreciated!

mileage junkie - I hope you enrolled in LatinPass prior to March 20 because if you didn't you aren't eligible for the bonus.

Mileage Junkie: If you are going for the 1,000,000 bonus, you have to fly either MIA==>MGA or MGA==>MIA. There is no way you can get around Miami. If you are going for the 500,000 or 100,000 bonus you can avoid Miami.

Flying D. - yes, I signed up in Feb. Thanks