AA/BA/IB ALG-LAX rt Business $1500-1900
Mar 4, 2018, 4:28 pm
#46
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FWIW CAI-LAX on OW prices out as low as $1926 in September, surely other dates too, and CAI is a better destination for positioning for other flights as well.
Bookable on AA.com
Bookable on AA.com
Mar 4, 2018, 5:10 pm
#47
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Mar 4, 2018, 5:11 pm
#48
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The number one rule of this mileage run forum should be “don’t rely exclusively on Google flights” Before you suggest something is gone, at least look at some other site besides Google flights, and ideally confirm that the fare is no longer in the GDS. Momondo and Iberia websites both seem to pick this up fairly well. It’s greatest limitation is that the fare rules have a specified set of travel agent identifiers who are able to book this. That seems to be a fairly rare thing, and in this case it means many OTA’s that you are used to using won’t be able to price or sell this particular fare. I am still on the hunt for a real life travel agent who would be able to book this for me because the options most OTA’s pull up are not what I want.
This one probably isn’t going anywhere because it isn’t a particularly cheap fare for what it is, a round-trip between Cairo and JFK that just happens to permit routing through LAX and include a stop over. The fare itself isn’t likely to get pulled, it’s more likely that someone would tighten up the routing rules. That is, as long as people don’t start abusing it, like dropping final segment back to Algiers.
This one probably isn’t going anywhere because it isn’t a particularly cheap fare for what it is, a round-trip between Cairo and JFK that just happens to permit routing through LAX and include a stop over. The fare itself isn’t likely to get pulled, it’s more likely that someone would tighten up the routing rules. That is, as long as people don’t start abusing it, like dropping final segment back to Algiers.
Mar 4, 2018, 7:06 pm
#49
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yeah, I mean the IB fare, just had CAI on the mind. The fare on this thread is not a ALG-LAX fare, it's a ALG-JFK fare that as I said just happens to allow both a stopover and routing through LAX. That is why you have to transit through JFK one way or the other...
Mar 5, 2018, 2:36 pm
#50
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Actually I found it, it's ALG-LAX with stop in JFK.
Mar 5, 2018, 3:29 pm
#51
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That may be what you think you see when you book a ticket via an OTA , but actually that’s not what the underlying fare is. I assure you this is a ALG-JFK fare that allows routing through LAX, and a stop over there. JFK is your destination, you just don’t have to stay there at all because there is no minimum stay on this particular fare. Try booking Iberia ALG-LAX without going to JFK in either direction, you won’t be able to for this price, and there in lies your first clue that this fair is not between Algiers in Los Angeles.
Mar 5, 2018, 7:02 pm
#52
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That may be what you think you see when you book a ticket via an OTA , but actually that’s not what the underlying fare is. I assure you this is a ALG-JFK fare that allows routing through LAX, and a stop over there. JFK is your destination, you just don’t have to stay there at all because there is no minimum stay on this particular fare. Try booking Iberia ALG-LAX without going to JFK in either direction, you won’t be able to for this price, and there in lies your first clue that this fair is not between Algiers in Los Angeles.
So you are saying the JFK 2 hour layover is actually coded as the destination?
Mar 5, 2018, 9:21 pm
#53
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Mar 17, 2018, 8:17 am
#54
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Just received an email that the ALG-MAD flights on my reservation have been canceled Anyone else receive this message? The other segments still show confirmed so I'm assuming IB has just dropped its ALG flights from MAD.
Mar 17, 2018, 10:11 am
#55
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It looks like Air Nostrum has taken over the route, although you can still find an IB coded flight. You should be able to call and get that added back. I think the timing is different now, so you may have connection issues in MAD.
Mar 17, 2018, 10:25 am
#56
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My flights were in November/December and Iberia no longer shows any flights during those months. I called to see if I can drop the ALG segments, or at least change the departure to RAK. US call center couldn't do anything except refund me, but recommended I call them in Spain directly.
Mar 19, 2018, 7:26 pm
#57
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My flights were in November/December and Iberia no longer shows any flights during those months. I called to see if I can drop the ALG segments, or at least change the departure to RAK. US call center couldn't do anything except refund me, but recommended I call them in Spain directly.
Mar 19, 2018, 7:35 pm
#58
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Same thing happened to me - my final leg in December (MAD > ALG) was cancelled and now both Orbitz and Iberia (US call center) are telling me my only choice is to cancel the entire trip for full refund, though I'd much prefer to just drop that final leg. I haven't tried calling Iberia Spain directly but will do so this week.
I might try changing the dates to sometime earlier when flights to ALG are available, will report back if I'm successful once I find suitable dates.
Mar 27, 2018, 8:48 am
#59
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Most OTAs will not consider LAX a routing point on an ALGNYC fare and most would not examine the ALGNYC tariff until late into the search if you specified LAX as the destination.
Folks may have better luck with a multi city search.
Staying in LAX would qualify as part of the minimum stay requirements on a fare between TC2 (Europe/Africa) and TC1 (Americas), on whatever particular city pair the fare is published. On fares between these TCs, you count from one day after the transatlantic flight departs until the day of departure from the last stopover immediately prior to the return translatantic travel. The rule for transpacific fares is similar.
Last edited by Calchas; Mar 27, 2018 at 9:33 am
Mar 27, 2018, 2:16 pm
#60
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Good additional info Calchas, it does indeed look like a 3 day min stay from last stopover and indeed if you route through LAX it is almost impossible to not be at the three day mark when you hit NY.
But a couple other things I figured out in working with a TA on this:
(1) use a TA, its a commisionable fare so you shouldnt have to pay the TA (that’s really a cool feature for this cheap fare)
(2) when IB metal was running the ALG-MAD segment, it was impossible to find I space for a stopover in MAD. Air Nostrum appears to be letting out I space on the first/last segment in far greater amounts if you stopover in MAD.
(3) if you read the routing table carefully, you can fly ALG-MAD-LAX then LAX-JFK-LAX then LAX-LHR-MAD-ALG. In other words, a free premium cabin RT on thr 32T. The main limit on this is indeed a tough find of I space on the AA transcon. But if you are just 1 or 2 it should be fairly easy to pull off.
(4) the timing of the Air Nostrum flight allows you to do a tight same day connection to MAD-LAX, whereas when it was IB metal you had to stay overnight in MAD to take the MAD-LAX flight.
But a couple other things I figured out in working with a TA on this:
(1) use a TA, its a commisionable fare so you shouldnt have to pay the TA (that’s really a cool feature for this cheap fare)
(2) when IB metal was running the ALG-MAD segment, it was impossible to find I space for a stopover in MAD. Air Nostrum appears to be letting out I space on the first/last segment in far greater amounts if you stopover in MAD.
(3) if you read the routing table carefully, you can fly ALG-MAD-LAX then LAX-JFK-LAX then LAX-LHR-MAD-ALG. In other words, a free premium cabin RT on thr 32T. The main limit on this is indeed a tough find of I space on the AA transcon. But if you are just 1 or 2 it should be fairly easy to pull off.
(4) the timing of the Air Nostrum flight allows you to do a tight same day connection to MAD-LAX, whereas when it was IB metal you had to stay overnight in MAD to take the MAD-LAX flight.