JetSetDave

Easily booked a UA J award EUG-SFO-IAD-ADD-CAI, 2 weeks out from departure. How will United check my bags, will they go all the way thru to CAI or IAD, ADD? I read online that ET will hold bags while in transit at ADD.

SkyWest out of EUG, sometimes doesn't understand the weird international baggage process. IAD would be considered short checking from previous experience but I may need to go airside to check in and get hotel voucher.

Also have a 15 hour layover at ADD so I will I get my hotel, meal and bus voucher for ADD at IAD? Hope I can get it airside at IAD to make the transition easier at the transfer desk at ADD.

Also posted similar questions on the Addis Ababa thread on the Africa forum.

WineCountryUA

assuming no lengthy stays, your bags will be check-thru to CAI

SkyWest out of EUG, sometimes doesn't understand the weird international baggage process. IAD would be considered short checking from previous experience but I may need to go airside to check in and get hotel voucher.

and why would you expect that or any vouchers for a voluntary scheduled connection?

Posting the same questions in multiple forums is not allowed by FT rules, please follow the rules.

jphripjah

You might get the ADD hotel voucher at IAD. You might have to get it on arrival on ADD, which isn't problematic, it's just an inconvenience.

As far as determining to where the airline will check your bags, I think this depends on length of layover, on the airline, and on the agent. Often the agent will want to check my bags all the way through to "final destination" and I'll say "But I have a 16 hour layover in city B and I want to get my bag" and then they will "short check" it to city B.

I've also had agents at smaller airports refuse to check to final destination if it's a layover over 8-12 hours, I never really know.

JetSetDave

Thanks for your warning, I wont repeat the same questions in 2 different forums. I fly next week, hence hoping for quick answers.

ET offers while in transit: free visa on arrival, bus transportation and hotel for 8 to 24 hour layovers. So yes, its a valid question and I would like to know how can I pick them up at IAD.

JetSetDave

Thanks! I think I will attempt to get my bags checked thru to CAI, if not, then at ADD. Upon arrival at IAD, I will go airside and get my vouchers since I have almost 4 hours. Probably easier than doing it all at ADD.

JetSetDave

Hotel voucher update: They are distributed after you board the plane, not at the gate, nor the check-in counter. Once you arrive at ADD, go to the transit desk and they will verify and stamp your voucher paper. Then onto immigration, where you will get a free VOA from your voucher.

Once you exit customs, you will see the Hilton office (other hotels too) in the arrivals hall. Go there and ask the person when the shuttle bus is available, lucky they were able to send me right away. I walked around the surrounding area and visited the Red Terror Martyrs Museum after a short nap. The buffet food at the Hilton was good.

I recommend leaving the hotel earlier than the departure time that is posted on the voucher paper. The bus was fully loaded and the traffic was hectic and also its a slow process getting to the gate. The Business class fast lane after passport control into the gate area was hard to find but well worth the effort.The general boarding security line to some of the gates were at least several hundred people deep! The lounge was packed but the food and drinks were plentiful and the wifi was decent.

My bags were checked thru ADD, which was great because of the hotel layover. Hope this helps!

RockyMntFlyer

Anyone successfully booked an ET award via MP recently? I am looking at awards, but then then the award appears unbookable on .com. I know this is an ongoing issue.

("Due to rapidly changing partner availability the following flights are no longer available. Please choose another flight or modify your search criteria.")

I am just looking at reasonable options right now and don't want to book today (until I get some safari bookings sorted). However, it would be nice to know if these options are truly available.

Appreciate your feedback. Thanks.

RockyMntFlyer

Just checked my desired award via ANA and Aeroplan's websites. The ET awards do not appear. Looks like ghost award issues continue on UA.com.

narvik

Maybe better posted in the Other Middle Eastern and African Airlines forum? Not sure.

I'm looking at booking a flight in August PEK-EWR-PEK and it is crazy expensive. In fact Business (P) is only slightly more expensive than economy (no low bucket fares available), and sometimes even a LOT cheaper than economy.

Found only ONE saver award through united.com flying ET. The leg ADD to EWR appears to stop over in in Lomé, Togo for one hour, and also with the remark "SUBJECT TO RECEIPT OF GOVERNMENT OPERATING AUTHORITY", what exactly does that mean, and can they be denied such an authority and we could be stranded in Lomé or Addis Ababa?

findark

Usually it means that the route is not currently flown, and requires government approval before it is final. The warning indicates that your flight may be canceled (well ahead of time) is the approval is not received. Given the timing of the flight (I see it on the schedule starting in July), either ET is cutting it close, or UA systems are out of date and/or wrong (more likely). I don't know the story behind that route on ET though.

WineCountryUA

Don't know the details of the flight or governments or ET, but it is not uncommon for "final" approval to be given fairly close to the inaugural flight.

UA was reporting this same warning less than 2 weeks prior to the inaugural SIN-SFO earlier this month. That said I might be less worry about UA saying this for a flight where there are many alternatives and UA as the ticket seller might have a stronger obligation to cover if there are problems.

narvik

Thank you both for the feedback.
I have until tomorrow to decide. Cheers.

grlmopz

Hi all,

A few months ago, I did some research on United's site about a fare I wanted to book this month. It was a complicated itinerary involving numerous flights on Ethiopian Airlines.

Fast forward to today:

I'm now trying to reproduce the work I did, but I can't find award availability on any Ethiopian flight, even though I can find it using AC or ANA searches. I'd prefer not to call in on this one, since the itinerary is complicated.

Has United removed Ethiopian awards from its search engine?

(An update: I do see some availability on United's website -- for example EWR-ADD is available in September, 2016 but not June, 2017, even though there is daily availability on the Aeroplan site. Additionally, I can't find any availability for ADD-LLW, ADD-HGA, etc. even though there is availability virtually every day in the next 11 months.)

cur

https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/AA...baba-stopovers

tk does the same thing, nice way to spend a day

i see et awards for my african-originating bookings in business way more than i want to. whether or not it's phantom inventory like the ongoing issue with eva i dunno.

SEAskyrider

I noticed this as well. United shows some ET flights for my routes but a good chunk of awards are no longer available, including all the economy space. They show up on Aeroplan. I suspect this is a United.com issue, but when I called an agent, they only saw what was on the website.

Does anyone have experience with ET space opening up within 2 months or so of departure, or are ET awards usually not available that close?