DanTravels

Back in December I picked up a bunch of vouchers during my little adventure. I've held onto them, but since some of them were printed and made out to NWA/PASSENGER (ah, the good old days!) I couldn't use them on NWA.com, had to call in.

Anyway, I had to plan travel from NJ-Hawaii and back in June (outbound early in the month, return a few weeks later after the summer peak fares kick in), and wasn't overly thrilled with the fares, until I remembered that I had the certificates!

So I called the WP G/P line while poking around a little on NWA.com, found a PE500 promo fare PHL-DTW-LAX-HNL for about $827, which the G/P line lady also found, applied a PK075 to knock $100 off the base fare (bringing it down to $760ish), and once I mail in my $200-off ETCV receipt, it should be down to $560. I'm happy about this.

Off to favorably TTU about the agent...

slippahs

And here's hoping that everything works out with the ticketing department.

mot29

I used a PK182 for $50 off a ticket and then paid for it with part of an ECV a few weeks ago. I was pretty surprised that the www site accepted both. It took about 30 hours for a ticket number to show up, but it eventually did.
tom

DanTravels

I mailed the ETCV "signature required." The postal clerk looked at me kinda funny, since the envelope was quite thin, but I explained that the value of it getting there was a lot more than the cost of the tracking.

NWA_5479

I hate when I rush to TTU after an agent does his or her job.

slippahs

I've done this before too, when NW still had the paper TCVs. And I sent it insured too (even though I think such airline tickets are not covered under USPS insurance)...

DanTravels

Well, Royal Mail (UK) charges 3 pounds or whatever for "International SignedFor" service that does... what, exactly? All indications are that important international mail is tracked, and can be checked on through their website... until it's handed off to a foreign postal service, after which one gets no more info. Far more useless than one would think, given its name. What a rip-off.

Fortunately, I had another form of delivery confirmation! Namely... the ticket receipt I got in my email this morning from NWA showing my PHL-DTW-LAX-HNL-LAX-DTW-PHL for the desired $560.20 price. ^

For the insanely curious, PHL-DTW-LAX is fare basis LR7V8N/PK075, LAX-HNL-LAX is VRW7NI/PE500, and LAX-DTW-PHL is VR14W1NC/PK075. Nice slashy fare basis codes.

So now I just have to wait 'til the 27th/28th (I'll be GMT+3 that weekend, so I don't really know when I should call the GE/PE line) to call in and ask about better seats (da 464 kine).

slippahs

Careful. I've been told that the PE500 (as a webfare) does not qualify for the Hawaii resident elite certs (this restriction isn't in the fare rule itself, but on the certs).

klt845

Too bad you spent the money to mail an electronic certificate. They are electronic. There is no reason to mail them.

DanTravels

Oooh, that would suck. (Well, as much as being right near the front of Y instead of up in domestic F can possibly suck. )

Let's see... the 464 rules say:

Meanwhile, the PE500 fare rules say (in a manner that seems rather self-contradictory):

And NWA.com says the fare rules for my other fare basis codes aren't even available... which makes it rather difficult to see whether they differ from that!

I think I may have to call the nice GE/PE line people again and see whether the rumors are true, and if so, how much it'd cost to change those segments to a non-PE500 fare... and then decide whether I really care, since it's a 753 anyway and riding up front would mean missing out on my beloved trail mix!


The PK075 is electronic, yes, and I didn't mail it in. The $200-off voucher was issued right around the time that NWA was getting serious about always keying them to passenger names so they could be used electronically and couldn't be transferred, but for whatever reason, they didn't do so in this case.

So when I got off a delayed flight, it was just handed to me at the door, made out to NWA/PASSENGER, instead of being made out to me and included in my little stapled packet of onward boarding pass, PK cert, etc. So it wasn't linked to my account, which meant NWA.com wouldn't take it, and when I called the GE/PE line to use it, I was told that I had to mail it in, and that the tickets would be issued at $560.20 instead of $760.20 only after they received it.

Oh by the way, klt845, I see that was your first post. Welcome to FlyerTalk! ^

slippahs

I think the elite line can shed more insight into it; but I'd advise not to even bring it up (so they don't mark your PNR)!

A PE500 fare is a "web fare," which makes it supposedly taboo under the 464 rules.

The PE500 fare rules state that you need to refer to the WorldPerks rules (i.e., the 464 rules). So I'm guessing it's one of those, ack! things.

I was trying to get to SFO next month, but nwa.com could only pull up PE500 fares. So I booked HNL-PDX/SEA-HNL instead. No matter, a few extra miles can't hurt, and the HNL-PDX was booked into K making it a bit cheaper than HNL-SFO. It's just a big headache to try to book around the PE500 fare when even the phone res. agents can't book around it (and why they call this a web fare, I don't know...)

I know NW Scoop has a strong interest in the redemption of 464 certs. Perhaps s/he can chime in?

DanTravels

Well, I'll have to call 7 days out to try for the 464, so maybe at that point if they lapse into KLMese and say "It is not possible!" I can speak KLMese back and ask about a "pay-up" to the cheapest 464-able fare.

Are you sure? It's available on the phone as we both know. Maybe it's a "promotional fare" that's just grouped with true "web fares" or something like that...

I'm all ears, Scoopy! Y'all gave me a lot of these critters, and I want to use 'em.

While we're at it, maybe someone could explain what the word "Any" means in the big friendly letters at the top of the 464 template on NWA.com, in the phrase "Hawaii Resident Any Fare" - it seems that a new, different and not very exciting definition may be getting promulgated.

slippahs

That's how it's listed in the fare rules, IIRC... but then again, you don't have access to them.
I know the folks in Eagan really wanted to clarify the use of these certs with regard to discount certificates. But I feel as if nothing's changed...

DanTravels

Well, I think taking them electronic has been a big improvement.

And the initial rules for using the electronic ones were an anti-improvement.

And the revised rules for using them (booking into a different class, etc) pretty much corrected that anti-improvement.

So now, things are almost pono... they just need to be a little clearer, so we don't get into situations where "the large print giveth, and the small print taketh away."

Of course, if this occurs, it will be the first time anything about fares has ever been clear, and no doubt something horrible will result (eruption, tsunami, universal collapse).

NW scoop

I am going to post information in the NW participation on the Northwest Forum topic to explain some of this today. While I may not be able to get to all of your questions, my reply should provide some clarity on these topics.

NW scoop