DeltaSilverBoy

(edit: i realize this may need to change to the MR forum, so go ahead mr. mod if you need to)

I know I'll probably get berated for asking questions which are in the archives, but the search function blows so....

I have a Northwest round trip ticket booked for NBO-AMS-DTW-TVC July 9 and a return on Sept 6. I was reading the archives of this site about adding segments that will give me more miles but not incur any cost.

Is it better to add extra segments in the US since there is more variety, or are there some of who you have taken crazy segments around Africa to get more miles? Should I add these segments in Europe or the States?

I really have no idea how to add more segments without incurring extra cost to my ticket. Do I use travelocity or expedia to see the cost of a AMS-DUS flight and a DUS to DTW flight, and if these combined are cheaper than AMS-DTW I ask for that segment changed?

I guess one of the lessons I'm learning is this: before I book another $2000 roundtrip ticket between Michigan and Kenya i should really put work into using this cash towards getting more miles than what a direct flight gives. I mean, this flight is going to be around 16,000 miles roundtrip, which is enough for me to get SE, but I understand that (correct me if I'm wrong) I can get GE for the same money if I find the right connections and go crazy places at crazy times and do FT craziness like openjaw/nestedtix/blahblahblah. I'm all about getting more miles for my money and getting a higher elite status, fo sho.^

PS: Am I hindered by my dates needing to be July/Aug travel? Do most MRs occur in the "low" season? Are segment costs lower in the off season? Honestly, I have so many questions that I would rather Skype with a FTer who could hold my hand through some of these basic questions.

DanTravels

Africa's not going to help you much, really, because you'll be on Kenya Airways (KQ) for which you get banked miles but no EQM. So while NBO-EBB-AMS may be more banked miles than NBO-AMS direct, it's fewer EQM because the NBO-EBB segment is on KQ.

In addition to racking up miles AMS-{NBO,EBB} myself, I find flights for some Kenyan colleagues, and it's common for NBO-AMS direct to be basically the same price as NBO-EBB-AMS or NBO-DXB-AMS. Again, the NBO-{anywhere but AMS} legs are going to be on Kenya Airways, not KLM proper, so... good for bankable miles, not so good for EQMs.

Something like that. Although that'd only get you 500-700 miles extra, for example.

Basically, when you're searching for flights, look at the options it gives you. Obviously NBO-AMS-DTW-TVC is the logical one. That doesn't necessarily mean it will always be the cheapest - after all, most people will want the most direct routing.

So there may, at times, be situations where, for example, the AMS-DTW segment has no cheap seats and you get offered AMS-MEM-DTW in its place.

The other thing to look at is whether it makes sense to split your itinerary. I go to NBO from Hawai'i (yeah, I know) and booking sites find that sufficiently complex that they rarely offer decent fares. By splitting it into Hawaii-AMS and AMS-NBO, I can sometimes come in under $2000. I don't know whether NBO-AMS RT + AMS-TVC RT would be cheaper than NBO-TVC RT, though.

Let's just say it doesn't help any. I was looking at $800 or less EDI-EBB RT back in March-April, couldn't do it then; wound up booking it for next week and paying $1200+.

Drop me a PM; I might have time to at least IM somewhere in my travels.

DCA-John

I do the IAD - NBO flight about six times a year on KLM

ticket prices are so high intra-africa that there really aren't to be many good options for MRs. Plus, as noted, until KQ joins skyteam (which they have been on the verge of doing for 2 years now) you're not going to earn EQMs

when they do join, you could take DL to Johannesburg and then up to NBO on KQ. That would be about 21k miles, and fits the MR acid test of being pointlessly convoluted