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SkyTeam Asia Pass + SkyTeam Booking on Line
I am planning on using the SkyTeam Asia Pass on a trip in September. I am flying out from Europe to HKG (Hong Kong) and returning from BKK (Bangkok) both flights on KL so I qualify for a Skyteam Asia Pass.
I plan on visiting SIN (Singapore) and perhaps a couple of other side trips as mileage runs! None of the cities I plan on visiting are actually connected by direct SkyTeam fights though once China Southern joins the pack, that situation should improve. I plan on connecting through either NRT (Tokyo) or ICN (Seoul) which would help my mileage. I don't mind the long cnnection times as I will take advantage of the transit tours at Incheon. My question is this. If I am making a connection, does the connecting point count for one of the coupons? The online info on the SkyTeam website also refered to certain flights not being available. In the EXTRACT from the terms and conditions of sale you find the folowing "Excluded Flights: see SkyTeam Asia Pass fare rule in airline GDS." This is not much use as the public can't get easy access to these fares rules - unless someone knows how to access the fares rules in the GDS (Global Distibution Systems) Any help would be appreciated... And finally... any sign of SkyTeam coming up with an online booking system that will work across all the partners? |
Passes and RTWs usually count stopovers, not actual connections. Something like the last flight at night that connects to a flight the next evening works out as well .. almost a stopover, but still counted as a connection. You have to start and end at the same place, not recross etc.
The restrictions are usually on codeshare flights and such - or possibly limit the number of airlines you can fly on etc. |
Originally Posted by hserus
(Post 8175749)
Passes and RTWs usually count stopovers, not actual connections. Something like the last flight at night that connects to a flight the next evening works out as well .. almost a stopover, but still counted as a connection. You have to start and end at the same place, not recross etc.
The restrictions are usually on codeshare flights and such - or possibly limit the number of airlines you can fly on etc. I've blocked out an itinerary which might look at first glance a hell of a long way to travel to move round the three destinations but it produces 16,000+ base miles in my frequent flyer account - all for $600. I've now passed it over to my travel agent (who thought I did everything on line and was surprised to see me back) and he has secured the seats at the correct class code and is probably away to attend course from Sky team to figure out how to do the ticketing.:) He might have to issue a paper ticket!:eek: Here is the outline itinerary Day 1 Hong Kong KE604 HKG 1225 ICN 1655 Seoul KE671 ICN 1810 KUL 2345 Day 3 Kuala Lumpur KE672 KUL 0110 ICN 0845 Seoul KE641 ICN 1605 SIN 2115 Day 6 Singapore NW6 SIN 0600 NRT 1415 Tokyo NW27 NRT 1905 BKK 2359 The only close connection is in Seoul on the first flight but I am pretty relaxed about these things. If I miss the connection it becomes a bigger adventure to see what the airline do do cope with the situation. :) Thanks John |
Originally Posted by hserus
(Post 8175749)
Passes and RTWs usually count stopovers, not actual connections. Something like the last flight at night that connects to a flight the next evening works out as well .. almost a stopover, but still counted as a connection. You have to start and end at the same place, not recross etc.
Originally Posted by John MacCalman
(Post 8176999)
I've blocked out an itinerary which might look at first glance a hell of a long way to travel to move round the three destinations but it produces 16,000+ base miles in my frequent flyer account - all for $600.
Here is the outline itinerary Day 1 Hong Kong KE604 HKG 1225 ICN 1655 Seoul KE671 ICN 1810 KUL 2345 Day 3 Kuala Lumpur KE672 KUL 0110 ICN 0845 Seoul KE641 ICN 1605 SIN 2115 Day 6 Singapore NW6 SIN 0600 NRT 1415 Tokyo NW27 NRT 1905 BKK 2359 Here are the complete fare rules for the Skyteam Asia Airpass: Code:
PTC: ADT-ADULT FTC: XAP-ADVANCE PURCHASE EXCURSION |
Aaaaargh.. It looked too good to be true.
Thanks for that. I'll get back to the drawing board and figure something out. Glad you posted the info as I was about to book hotels at non-refundable discount rates! I think I'll try HKG - GUM CO (Fri) GUM - NRT CO NRT -SIN NW SIN - ICN KE ICN - BKK KE So five sectors on their pass would be $1320? But when I read the fine print it would appear that the South West Pacific Area only works if you fly out of Korea. I'll sleep on it! I'll also figure out some alternates. Basically I need to go from HGK to SIN and BKK on SkyTeam carriers for the miles! Dates are pretty flexible in a window of 7th to 16th September. The side trip to Guam would be useful for some business I am planning in that region. Very helpful info. God bless FlyerTalk! I've just signed up for KVS as well. Thanks |
Originally Posted by John MacCalman
(Post 8179990)
I think I'll try
HKG - GUM CO (Fri) GUM - NRT CO NRT -SIN NW SIN - ICN KE ICN - BKK KE So five sectors on their pass would be $1320? But when I read the fine print it would appear that the South West Pacific Area only works if you fly out of Korea. And the fares that it books in to are pretty bad. L fares on the Co Mike flights are not all that readily available. I am guessing that Q on NW and H on KE are similarly tough, though they aren't the absolute bottom economy fare buckets (except CO), so you might have a chance. Finally, unless you are really desperate for the EQMs, you're giong to be paying a ton of money for these tickets. Routes like BKK-SIN are ridiculously cheap thanks to the LCC competition in the region. You'll get much better value for your Mileage Run Dollar by taking another trip later in the year than this plan. S. |
Originally Posted by sbm12
(Post 8185934)
And the fares that it books in to are pretty bad. L fares on the Co Mike flights are not all that readily available. I am guessing that Q on NW and H on KE are similarly tough, though they aren't the absolute bottom economy fare buckets (except CO), so you might have a chance. Finally, unless you are really desperate for the EQMs, you're giong to be paying a ton of money for these tickets. Routes like BKK-SIN are ridiculously cheap thanks to the LCC competition in the region. You'll get much better value for your Mileage Run Dollar by taking another trip later in the year than this plan. S. The availability was OK even on Air Mike but you are so right about the cost. I run a cents per mile check on all my bookings and this one woud have been very silly. Also on the LCCs bringing the cost down by digging around I was able to find some remarkably good one way fares, sadly not on SkyTeam carriers, that would take me HKG/SIN/BKK and I might just do the side trip to GUM by burning off some miles as there is availablity in F at the moment. Perhaps when China Southern join the gang it will improve in the region. Thanks for your help. John |
I ended up buying a round trip on CO from HKG/GUM at a reasonable fare.
I still fancied trying out the Skyteam Airpass so I booked HKG/ICN/SIN/ICN/BKK - 4 coupons $750. They then slapped a $100 "fuel surcharge" on the ticket. I am beginning to go off the Skyteam marketing people. I thought this hidden extras thing had been eradicated. I believe in the price quoted being the price you pay. Time they got their act together with a bit of honesty in advertising. Disappointed. |
Originally Posted by John MacCalman
(Post 8236386)
They then slapped a $100 "fuel surcharge" on the ticket. I am beginning to go off the Skyteam marketing people. I thought this hidden extras thing had been eradicated.
2. The fact that additional surcharges + taxes are in addition to the the fare are clearly listed in the Skyteam marketing materials. |
Originally Posted by rcs85551
(Post 8244255)
1. Pretty much all airlines do this
2. The fact that additional surcharges + taxes are in addition to the the fare are clearly listed in the Skyteam marketing materials. I think the marketing people show an artificially low price just to get the sale then they slap on the "fuel surcharge". The price advertised SHOULD include the "fuel surcharge" I appreciate that the taxes may vary depending which airport you use for the airpass but even those could be averaged out and included. Still... they got the sale. I bought it. |
Originally Posted by John MacCalman
(Post 8236386)
I ended up buying a round trip on CO from HKG/GUM at a reasonable fare.
I still fancied trying out the Skyteam Airpass so I booked HKG/ICN/SIN/ICN/BKK - 4 coupons $750 + $100 fuel surcharge Got the upgrades on the CO flights HKG/GUM/HKG and was able to change my seats on the KE flights at the airport check-in to exit row for each flight. On the KE flights the purser sought me out at my seat on each flight as a SkyTeam Elite Plus Member to thank me for chosing Korean Air. The Korean Air SkyTeam Lounge at Incheon was one of the best in the world complete with free hot food, drinks, Internet and showers. My only gripe is I'm still waiting for the miles to be posted to my OnePass account. From what I can see elsewhere on FlyerTalk, Korean are not very good at passing on this information to OnePass. All my boarding passes had my OnePass number on them so it is in their system In fact I would be interested to hear if any OnePass member has flown Korean and had the miles posted on their account without having to put a claim in for them. The first flight was two weeks ago and I thought it would have appeared by now on my account. |
During 2008, I will find myself travelling around Asia and Oceania courtesy of two Skyteam members who need to be a bit more careful with their fares. :D
Unfortunately, my plans to take advantage of the AZ offer to visit Korea, Taiwan, and Japan vanished together with my Citric reservation. Therefore I'm going to need an alternative. The Skyteam Asia Pass sounds like a good idea, as it's priced at just $200 per segment (only WHY class available, but I can live with that for flights up to 3-4 hours). Problem is that official rules seem to stipulate an inbound intercontinental return ticket. Sadly, Aeroflot could only give us single tickets at the offer price. ;) Any comments on the product? Is availability any good? Do they actually check your intercont. flight activity, or is it just a case of jotting the tkt number down for reference purposes? I guess I could always buy a fully refundable one if need be ;) I'm assuming you can buy any segments you like (e.g. buying a HKG-ICN, a NRT-PEK, and a CAN-BKK without the in-betweens), or do you have to have them sequentially? Any info would be great! |
Originally Posted by graraps
(Post 8663269)
During 2008, I will find myself travelling around Asia and Oceania courtesy of two Skyteam members who need to be a bit more careful with their fares. :D
Unfortunately, my plans to take advantage of the AZ offer to visit Korea, Taiwan, and Japan vanished together with my Citric reservation. Therefore I'm going to need an alternative. The Skyteam Asia Pass sounds like a good idea, as it's priced at just $200 per segment (only WHY class available, but I can live with that for flights up to 3-4 hours). Problem is that official rules seem to stipulate an inbound intercontinental return ticket. Sadly, Aeroflot could only give us single tickets at the offer price. ;) Any comments on the product? Is availability any good? Do they actually check your intercont. flight activity, or is it just a case of jotting the tkt number down for reference purposes? I guess I could always buy a fully refundable one if need be ;) I'm assuming you can buy any segments you like (e.g. buying a HKG-ICN, a NRT-PEK, and a CAN-BKK without the in-betweens), or do you have to have them sequentially? Any info would be great! I can only go on my own experience and I had a return ticket on a Skyteam partner. This was cross referenced on the AirPass booking. If your Aeroflot booking comprises of two single tickets to make up a round trip, this may be possible. With regard to the price, they will add on a fuel surcharge. It was a total of $100 for 4 sectors for me. I don't see anything in the rules that states the trips have to be sequencial. I would imagine that you can use other means to get between points of ticketing. I had no problem on availability but all my flights were on KE (Korean) in "H" class. I reckon your main problem is round trip transportation into the Asia area. One other snag I found is the segments could not be booked on line. You have to use either a travel agent or one of the SkyTeam partner airlines reservations service. Then you have to find an agent who actualy knows something about the product. :) Good luck! |
BKK-TPE-BKK on KL would be a good MR. $320 for Q class (same day return) or $520 for Z class.
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Is there a SkyTeam J class option for Pacific Circle fares?
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