FlyerTalk Forums - Help with stopover

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Help with stopover

Hello folks,
I'm trying to book a trip between BRU-GRU using YVR to stopover. Looking the fare rules, I have one free and one for $100 but, when I use the ITA-Matrix with a multi-city configuration, the price grows 3x.
So, the question is: could I book the trip in a "regular" way without the stopover and, after that, ask to Delta to open the ticket?
If someone have a time to help me, these are the fare rules: http://cloud.michelazzo.net/index.php/s/0uCgMc6iVl6aGik

Thanks

Normally a stopover must be at a connection point (or even hub) along a normal legal routing.I suspect that DL doesn't offer a through fare from BRU to GRU with a connection at YVR; it's too far out of the way and for fare rules that use a maximum mileage requirement rather than specific allowed routings, YVR would surely exceed the miles permitted for BRU to GRU. Some fare rules further specify continents on which stopovers can occur.

A general comment is that delta.dumb doesn't do very well on complex and/or multicity itineraries, so it can b useful to call and ask them to put together a ticket with the segments you want; you should do your research and decide what you want before calling.

ADDED: for this itinerary on DL, ATL would be the obvious connection point/stopover. In the USA, JFK and even DTW might be allowed. Some fares could allow AMS/CDG/LHR too, but I suspect you're not so interested in such stopovers. By contrast, if you fly AA, then MIA would be the obvious connection/stopover and others that might be allowed would include MAD (using partner IB), LHR, DFW, ORD, CLT, etc.

I would think that AC would be the only airline on which this is remotely possible. Even then, it seems like a stretch...they'd almost certainly want to connect you in YUL or YYZ, not YVR. You'd need BRU-YUL-YVR-GRU to be an allowable routing, and you'd need AC to actually sell these kinds of tickets. I don't know either.

Another option would be to find a BRU-GRU R/T that (a) allows a stopover and (b) connects somewhere in the western part of the U.S. Then you snag a cheap R/T to YVR or BLI (or even Seattle, if necessary) as a separate ticket.

This assumes that you can enter the U.S. and that the simple triangle trip really is 3x the cost. At some point, the time spent outweighs the cost savings...

You also need to look at the routing rules. In this case it is a Maximum Permitted Mileage (MPM) fare.

Code:

/VIA THE ATLANTIC/ MPM 7202

MILEAGE SYSTEM APPLIES BETWEEN ORIGIN AND DESTINATION

MILEAGE SYSTEM APPLIES ORIGIN TO DESTINATION

TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 2850 MILES APPLIES

WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA ATL AND/OR NYC

The trip in 5983 miles point-to-point but north of 9,000 if routed via ATL. That's where the "Ticketed Point Deduction" comes in to play, giving you credit for the fact that Delta doesn't have other options. Putting YVR into the mix destroys the distances (nearly 12K without accounting for real-life connections) so the fare is not valid on that itinerary. The tripled price is almost certainly BRU-YVR + YVR-SAO.

Wouldn't you have to satisfy both the MPM *and* have it be a logical routing? (Essentially the airline's hubs, for the most part...)

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinniped (Post 29423709)

Wouldn't you have to satisfy both the MPM *and* have it be a logical routing? (Essentially the airline's hubs, for the most part...)

Nope.

MPM fares can go anywhere so long as they meet the other fare rules like number of transfers and such. That's part of the fun with them. That said, staying under MPM without mostly just going through the hubs is generally uncommon.

Also worth noting that some MPM fares allow a surcharge for exceeding the distance. So going over by 25% could see a 25% fare increase, for example. This was commonly useful a few years ago on AA MPM fares from the west coast to Asia as a "backtracking" routing via Miami was relatively cheap to add, even exceeding the MPM. Especially because the YQ/YR doesn't get increased, just the base fare. So a super cheap base fare where most of the cost was buried in the YQ was an even better deal if you wanted to fly crazy routings.