zyxlsy

Hi Guys

I am very much interested in purchasing "around the world fare" from Star Alliance website.

However, I am not sure whether the spending would count towards PQD for the segments on UA metal (I suppose not, because it is not 016 ticket, right?).

Also, when the 2015 revenue based miles calculation come, how many miles would people earn for segments on UA metal in a "around the world" itinerary?

Thanks guys!

ryman554

If you purchase from the *Alliance website, then it's LH stock, IIRC.

However, you will earn PQD for any segment on UA metal.

That being said, there is no reason why you can't price it on the * site and then call in to UA, ask for the round-the-world desk, and get them to price it for you. Then it's on 016 stock, and you should get your PQD.

Such pricing isn't instantaneous, however.

And be sure you want a RTW ticket -- they are expensive fo rwhat you get unless you're using up all 16 segments.

Also, you can look at starting from Japan (IIRC) -- where it's significantly cheaper, at least is was. Check out the StarAlliance forum here for the latest prices.

discoverCSG

I seem to recall some discussion (when PQD was first announced), to the effect that all *A RTW tickets were LH-plated. Is that not the case?

zyxlsy

Thanks! So it's not bucket sale or anything like that, right?

I just feel that the *A website makes using multiple airlines in a itinerary look very simple. UA website just doesn't show me all the direct non-UA flights...

And, I've never called UA to purchase tickets, and I think usually UA guys on the phone are not helpful... right?

So, based on your information, if I purchase RTW in 2015 from *A website, I will get the price-based miles based on PQD of the same segment?

WineCountryUA

that's an odd statement for someone who has never used a phone agent. Certainity something most other elites would not say.

Not sure what the question here is.

As mentioned earlier, if PQDs are the goal, the *A site is going to be a problem for all the non-UA flights.

If the question is about RDMs, MP RDM earn of post March 2015 for non-UA flights is still an uncertainty.

zyxlsy

Sorry I wasn't clear. I've never booked a flight on the phone with UA, but I've called them regarding my ticket issues (not as good as phone services from Chase or Amex). I've obtained my status only from UA.com purchased tickets.

Since people have been telling horrible customer service stories about UA reps, I don't whether building a 5+ segment RTW itinerary would be doable through these guys...

For the second question, I just want to know whether in 2015, the RDM you earn on RTW purchased on *A.com would be the similarly based on the PQD you would get from that same itinerary (of course if the itinerary has UA metal segments)?

eghansen

*A RTW prices are expensive for economy, but very good for business class.

An itinerary SFO-NRT-SIN-BKK-IST-CPH-FRA-SFO is 21,339 miles and $5293 for economy and $9566 for business. Econ is 24.8 cents per mile which is lousy, but 44.8 cents per mile for business which is quite good.

Plus you get to fly airlines like SQ, NH and TQ instead of UA.

zyxlsy

The reason I wanna do *A RTW is because I am thinking flying J or F. No other website lets me choose non-stop segment as easily as *A website as far as I know.

So, I just wanna know I can at least earn PQD for UA-metal segments, and appropriate miles (as long as UA doesn't consider this as bucket sale, it's going to be Z class very often)...

gnaget

I bought a lot of tickets RTW from Japan and always used the *A website, effectively LH. United refused to sell me a ticket unless the first leg was UA metal and I normally wanted to fly west so that was impossible.

If you need to change something then UA is going to be a hassle whereas *A was an easy phone call or email. I even got close to instant response on email requests for changes, as long as you did it during extended European business hours.

Your option is to plan the trip on *A website and then call it in with a UA agent. You cannot book a RTW online with UA.

Oh, I don't track PQD because I do not have a US address but when it started I was flying RTW segments and I was talking to the Tokyo desk and for curiosity asked for the PQD on my flown UA segments for the RTW and they were quite paltry. No idea how they calculate.

zyxlsy

Thanks a lot man! That's the information I very much needed.

Glad to know that buying from the *A website is easy and following service is nice.

I don't worry too much about reaching the PQD requirement, as purchasing two RT BusinessFirst (from UA website when I don't need the airlines mix) would pretty much do that, and earn lots of RDM in 2015.

One question, did you receive correct UA RDM for your RTW itineraries purchased on *A website? Z class RDM received, right?

Sawasdee

I received correct UA RDM for my RTW trip bought from *A website. One thing that bothered me for couple times...I was not able to finalize and purchase a RTW ticket on the web as it seems to have outdated availability. The website let me choose my desired flights, but at the end gave me an error and I would need to call in. However, their phone agents are the nicest people I have ever dealt with (LH staffs).

Since I am out of Denver, I called the UA RTW ticket desk to buy RTW tickets most of the time.

gnaget

Most *A airlines book business class RTW in D class, including UA, LH and ANA. This means that you easily can upgrade UA and LH flights to F class using GPU (or miles).

Yes, I always got the correct miles.



I never experienced that problem.

Maybe once or twice I had the opposite problem. I could see availability on Expertflyer and the *A site did not show it. I think that they booked a segment manually for me once.

zyxlsy

Thanks~ Did you find using UA RTW is anything better than using *A? Getting more PQD?

How did UA RTW ticket desk do each time? Helpful? One thing I experience with UA phone service that I don't like is being routed to India...

exwannabe

Sorry for being ignorant, but what is an RTW revenue ticket, and how do they work?

All the aliances have RTW award tickets, all with various rules, and I get how that works. But I have ever heard of any such thing for a revenue ticket.

Or are we just talking tickets that happen to cross both oceans? In which case I fail to understand what the question is. It is just a ticket.

WineCountryUA

Paid *A RTW tickets are special paid tickets with a large number of stopovers (up to 15), simple routing rules, very flexible change rules, ....

The is no equivalent award ticket. 2 ocean award tickets are sometimes mistakenly called RTW, which they are not in the *A sense.