sbm12

True, but the official policy is still, AFAIK, no trips to Oz/NZ via Europe. You might be able to tease it out of co.com but agents generally won't price it as their rules say it isn't valid. Similarly, I'd be quite surprised if they permitted South Africa to North America via Asia.

encierro98

Well I will still try but losing faith quickly about being able to book it.

If I book a business award and then upgrade to first will it cost additional fees besides the difference in taxes and miles?

sbm12

Depends on status and when you make the change.

encierro98

Sorry, posted that earlier, No status and outside the 21 day close in change period. I assume their is no charge as long as I don't change departure and arrival city.

legionnaire

Well, if true, my current routing of JFK-(fra)-sin-syd and back the same way would be an invalid routing? Or is that routing kosher because i am only transiting fra and not making a stopover there?

UAFlyer

9348 must be the MPM for going via the Pacific, so if you are flying ORD-FRA-BKK-HKG, you should be using the MPM for going via the Atlantic. That must be much higher than 9348.

Pingtung

Are you flying SQ? The likely explanation is that the ticket is issued as JFK-SIN-SYD and there just happens to be a stop in FRA. Did you book this online or through an agent? One of the nice things about the co website is that it will sometimes offer routes that shouldn't be allowed and therefore you can bypass the phone call altogether, but it's really a crap shoot as to what you might find.

alenguy

I just flew from Austin to Auckland in December and the system wouldn't allow me to travel through Europe (despite multiple efforts and calls). I had to travel through SE Asia to get there even though the availability was much more desirable through Europe.

legionnaire

Via an agent. On SQ. The website had difficulty finding space on the return despite availability.

encierro98

So after a long booking process time I was able to book a variation of my Option 2. They did have trouble booking it at first but got another Star at CS who persisted and was able to get it done. Anyway the routing is

1) JNB to HKG (12:25) on SAA biz
2) Overnight stop in HKG
3) HKG (10:30) to NRT (15:40) on UA biz
4) NRT (17:05) to LAX (9:45) on NH biz 773 ( I believe the new seats correct me if I am wrong)
5) LAX to IAH on CO first

So any recommendations on the specific carriers I should be taking. I know I will have to make some edits to it, but after about an hour on the phone, I decided I better hold that reservation. I wasn't expecting for it to be able to book, I was actually just calling up to verify it couldn't be done. They proved me wrong.

So does this itinerary look decent enough. I believe I know the answer to the question but is there any way I might be able to get First on NH from NRT to LAX.

Ok might have jumped the gun a little too quick. still not ticketed, but hoping that it should be updated soon enough

mobilebucky

Thanks, another call to 1K told me MPM for ORD-HKG via Atlantic is 12,696 miles.

Any reason why co.com says the flight is available but both CO Plt line and 1K line says no? Was looking MUC-ORD F on LH as part of HKG-BKK-FRA-MUC-ORD.

Can I reserve the MUC-ORD F on CO.com and call CO add the remaining segments? This is from my Mom's GM account not my Platinum account.

andryas

I've been able to book (and flown) some crazy routing on CO website. My best one was an itinerary of > 15000 miles for only 25k OP miles. That's why I value OP miles more than others. I hope the CO award booking engine stays after 3/3.

ORDnHKG

Don't know why, but back in December I did ORD-IAD-FRA-KIX-(ITM)-NRT-BKK-HKG for 70K one way F using CO, that is even longer than what you have.

You certainly can book a segment you want on CO.com and add something on the phone, but sure the tax will be higher after other segments added.

mobilebucky

Actually, tax will be much cheaper in that case, since this is no longer originate from Germany, I believe no F luxury tax when connecting in Germany. By the way this is just MPM, the rule is 15% over MPM on UA side and CO is even more relax on that rule at the moment.

Mountainman

[I][I][I][B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by encierro98

So after a long booking process time I was able to book a variation of my Option 2. They did have trouble booking it at first but got another Star at CS who persisted and was able to get it done. Anyway the routing is

1) JNB to HKG (12:25) on SAA biz
2) Overnight stop in HKG
3) HKG (10:30) to NRT (15:40) on UA biz
4) NRT (17:05) to LAX (9:45) on NH biz 773 ( I believe the new seats correct me if I am wrong)
5) LAX to IAH on CO first

So any recommendations on the specific carriers I should be taking. I know I will have to make some edits to it, but after about an hour on the phone, I decided I better hold that reservation. I wasn't expecting for it to be able to book, I was actually just calling up to verify it couldn't be done. They proved me wrong.

So does this itinerary look decent enough. I believe I know the answer to the question but is there any way I might be able to get First on NH from NRT to LAX.

Ok might have jumped the gun a little too quick. still not ticketed, but hoping that it should be updated soon enough

I'm amazed and pleased for you. Question: How many miles did this award ticket require?