Air passes
 

Good evening all:

I have a question about USA air passes that I'm hoping that some of our European-based friends may be able to answer. I used to live in London and often used the various air passes offered by US carriers - I think I've used those of DL, UA and US in the past. Now, I live in the US. Next summer, I may be working in England and will, if I do it, have to take 2 transatlantic trips - will the plan below work in order to qualify me for one of these air passes. The reason I want one is that I often go to a ranch in WY - flying into Billings (Montana) and the fares are often very high. An air pass would save me a lot probably - so since I'm taking two transatlantic trips anyway, I thought I may as well try.

Buy a fare:
BOS --> London --> BOS
dep. June ret. September
Buy a fare from a London travel agent:
London --> BOS --> London
dep. August ret. August
Buy air pass in connection with above ticket.

Thanks for any assistance.

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Cheers.

Leo.

I was planning another trip - this time to South America and looked at the air pass options there. Most are not that great value. But, there's one that seems to be very good value. It's called the Mercosur air pass and allows you to travel in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. It's measured by distance and allows 2 flights per country with one int'l. flight between the various countries being required. Max. amount of countries to be visited is four. Most major airlines in the region participate: Varig (for Star Alliance fliers), Vasp, Lan Chile, Aerolineas Argentinas (all either oneworld or other AA partners) and Transbrazil - to name a few. I'll post the approximate prices later tonight.

Leo,

Your plan should work, but i found that most of the Airlines will sell u these airpasses without proof of TransAtlantic travel. I found this true of both American, United, and Southwest.

All ticketing was completed by mail and none asked to see my TransAtlantic ticket. In the UA and AA cases I did have 1, in the Southwest case i did not. Although since this purchase Southwest had implemented a policy not to sell these passes to Americans (a policy I pointed out to my travel agent that was completely illegal under European law).

I would try calling an overseas res office and try to see what happens. My AA and Southwest purchase was done this year in london. My UA purchase was done 3 years ago in London. They do ask for a ticket number, but just give them a number from another airline.

The Southwest rules also specify they may ask u to prove overseas residency at check in. However, I was never asked for anything at check in.

rich

ps. I tried this in reverse 1 time, but BA refused to sell me their European Airpass without a ticket. However, I probably could have gotten a refundable ticket and gotten away with it, but it was not worth the effort at the time. The biggest benefit to these passes I found is that changes are usually completed at little to no cost.

the UA airpass: 3-8 coupons, 1 coupon = one flight number which can include stopovers as long as it is the same flight number, includes continental us, plus Canada, plus Mexico, plus Puerto Rico, plus Alaska, plus Hawaii (surcharge for Hawaii segments) officially needs a transatlantic ticket on a StarAlliance carrier (ticket number of transatlantic ticket is imprinted on your air-pass), first segment not later than 30 days after transatlantic journey, last segment not later that 60 days after first air-pass-segment. First segment must be fixed when buying, later segments can be open and/or changed (fee for different routing, no fee for time/day-change). You earn miles, you can upgrade.

Could someone point me to somewhere I can get basic info on air passes? I am living in Europe (and have my little Belgian residency card to prove it!) and, since I'm an American, travel back and forth at least 2-3 times per year. In fact, I'm doing it again next week, and I just did it in September. Any info would be much appreciated! Since this is probably old news to everyone else, if anyone who can help would e-mail me at [email protected] directly, I'd be grateful.

Is there such a scheme in Asia? I will be flying NW into SIN quite a lot with a need for continuing air travel into Indonesia. Normally, I choose Garuda and pay full fare of $300.

However, I wonder if there is a way to get a pass???

Thanks.

Carberry

canonlaw: For Belgian based clients UA offers their USA airpass on http://www.ual.be/logic.asp?ID=0202#Airpass There you find also the pricelist: low season, high season, different fares dependiding on transatlatic carrier.

Otherwise the same ruels as I mentioned in a poster above apply (30 days rule etc).

I usually buy 8 segments, low season (the seasonalitiy is defined by the first segment's date), and than a segment (which is defined as ONE FLIGHT NUMBER, even with stopovers it is just one segment) costs me an average of $79 (even for a transcontinental flight!, a max of two transcontinent flights is allowed).

Carberry:
Why not do the CX Asia Air Pass - it's a fab deal, but NO miles. I'll look in the other air passes in SE Asia for you later today.

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Cheers.

Leo.