MightyTravels

So I have hit a strange issue - I'm checking availability for KQ 450 NBO-SEZ.

This flight appears just fine on airfrance.us (almost) always with 4 seats in O available on Tue/Thu.

It's also available for cash.

So far so good but Delta can't see it AT ALL for any dates. I first blamed it on inept Delta agents but then I checked flightstats.com which is a great way to see fare class availability for almost all airlines without using a paid service like expertflyer.com.

Now it gets interesting as ALL direct outbound flights NBO-SEZ disappear after 10-23 until end of schedule. The inbound SEZ-NBO shows though for all flight dates. But in e-travel the flight is bookable as it is on most OTAs.

Now this seems to be a screw-up and I was planning to call KQ. But what do I actually tell them? Which reservation system do they use and what may have gone wrong there?

cityflyer369

I can't comment on the details of your story, but note that availability with DL's program tends to be lower than what FB airlines offer to their own customers. Such a thing happens in all alliances (with LH and SQ in *A, for example). So O availability for FB does not necessarily imply O availability for DL's program. Kenia is a FB airline after all.

MightyTravels

I did not realize that - thanks. However so far FB low awards have always been accessible via DL Skymiles for me (outside of their frequent 'glitches').

But what's so strange why would the flight not show at flightstats.com? All flights I ever looked up show that are in a major GDS show availability there.

MSPeconomist

For award flights using miles, all partner segments must be available in low but apparently not all low inventory on some partners is available for DL award tickets.

Nevertheless, you might have success if you call DL and get an agent to try doing a "long sell" (essentially requesting the seats from KQ) for a specific date that you think should be available in low. Some agents will resist doing this. In principle, you should also be able to have the phone ticketing fee waived since you cannot book the ticket on line, but a workaround might be to have the agent complete the reservation, which you then proceed to actually ticket on line yourself. This could risk losing the award space. YMMV.

MightyTravels

Agent just tried a long sell (they say that is the only way to request KQ seats) and response was that the flight is not bookable at all and goes via Kilimanjaro? However it's bookable on most OTAs for cash.

Update: I called Kenya Airways and they can confirm 2 seats in O. They also confirmed it is available to all Skyteam partners I'll have a conf call with Delta and Kenya airways tomorrow. Let's see.

MightyTravels

Another update: I spoke 1hr+ with a Delta Supervisor. She was trying to be helpful. She determined that there was/is a schedule change planned on KQ side and that is the reason systems are out of sync. That normally only takes just a couple of days to resolve itself. Very odd.

She put the reservation on tentative hold and asked me to call back next week.

MightyTravels

This saga continues. Today the flight has re-appeared in Deltamatic and shows availability correctly.

Alas agent and supervisor can't get a booking confirmed - long sells bring no results.

Seems DL and KQ are not on best terms ...