degas

Hello all,

I bought a ticket through Expedia in which the first segment is operated by Brussels Airlines and the second segment is United operated by Brussels Airlines. My ticket number starts with 016 and is a K fare. I have read the Brussels chart on the United website and I think I will be accruing 5 x fare (I have no status), but I am not sure. Is this correct? If yes, how do I know what is my fare? Thank you for your help.

TULflyer

If its 016 ticket its 5x the fare (not including taxes)

degas

Thank you for your reply. So if the fare is $56 it's $280 for all four legs?

jsloan

That's correct -- a $56 fare would result in 280 MileagePlus miles. However, any fuel surcharge also counts for this calculation, and that could easily be more than the fare itself, depending upon the route.

I tried to look up an example for you, but I couldn't figure out a route where you could buy flights the way you're describing. :-)

degas

Thank you for your reply. I am flying JFK-BRU-PRG and BUD-BRU-JFK, all on Brussels Airlines (the return is United, operated by Brussels, though). There's no mention of fuel surcharge in my receipt from Expedia, just a broad "taxes and fees." How can I find out what is the fuel surcharge?

WineCountryUA

Go to united.com and pull up the inin -- if your MP account is in the itin/PNR, it should be there once you log it. Then get the UA e-receipt (the listed airfare {top line of the pricing breakout} will include airline imposed surcharges.

You award mile earnings will be 5x that number.

Additional the itin may have a value listed for earning -- sometimes that is wrong (too low).

jsloan

Exactly.

I put in a couple of sample dates and got an itinerary pricing as $441.96 all-in. Of that, $52 was base fare and $250 was fuel surcharge; the remaining costs were all taxes. This particular itinerary should earn (52+250)*5 = 1,510 MileagePlus miles round-trip. Yours may be slightly different, as there are different K fares filed, but this should give you an idea what to expect.

degas

Thanks WineCountryUA and jsloan for the help. I was able to pull up my receipt and saw that I will be accruing a measly 290 miles. I am seriously considering cancelling and booking a new ticket with another alliance based on better departure times. The 6:30am flight on the return is not worth the 290 miles.

Richym99

You won't get a lot more on any other airline in the a* alliance. In fact, some will offer you less if you are on a K fare (Lufthansa for example which gives 0 for a K fare.).

The only way to increase your RDM's for the trip is to increase the amount you pay for your ticket. At the moment, you are buying the cheapest ticket available and the award miles reflect that.

emcampbe

IME, unless something has changed in the last few months (the last true international itinerary I flew was in Jan.). The 'airline surcharges' are typically only the 'international surcharge', which is the updated name for "Fuel Surcharge". On my last e-ticket, it was listed out separately among other taxes and fees, and listed as:

This is the way I always have recalled it being listed - I have never seen it listed within 'airfare'. I'm not sure the exact reason it was YR vs. YQ, but either of those should be added to the airfare to get the PQD, and that is the number to multiply by 5 to get the mileage total. In some cases, the international surcharge can be equal to or more than the airfare, and so the mileage earned could be similarly impacted.

WineCountryUA

Suspect you are looking at the wrong number.

What is the "airfare"? -- the top item in the ticket pricing description. (not the total ticket price)
The estimate jsloan provided is probably in the right ballpark.

As mentioned earlier, the info on mileage earning in the receipt may be wrong.

As others have mentioned, for the same total price, you will not likely earn significantly better award miles from any *A carrier and perhaps worse.

During the purchasing process, the "international surcharge" is listed separately. But once booked, the surcharge is integrated into the airfare on the ereceipt. This has confused many in the past. (just verified this is still true by looking at the ereceipt for two different TATL flights in the next couple of months.)

degas

Fare Breakdown

Airfare:
306.00 USD
USD
U.S. Customs User Fee:
5.50 USD
U.S. Transportation Tax:
18.00 USD
U.S. Transportation Tax:
18.00 USD
U.S. APHIS User Fee:
3.96 USD
U.S. Immigration User Fee:
7.00 USD
September 11th Security Fee:
5.60 USD
Belgium Embarkation Tax:
42.74 USD
Hungary Security Charge:
4.83 USD
Hungary Airport Departure Tax:
29.80 USD
U.S. Passenger Facility Charge:
4.50 USD
Per Person Total:
445.93 USD
USD
eTicket Total:
445.93 USD
USD


I meant buying a ticket from a non-Star Alliance member. I am currently looking at Iberia.

Does anyone know how I can get Brussels Airlines seat assignments? Do I call or can I do it online?

Thank you all for your very valuable help!

EDIT: just saw that I will be accruing 1,540 award miles.

jsloan

That's the relevant number. Your earnings would be 1,530 MileagePlus miles.

degas

Thanks, just saw on the reservation that I will be accruing 1,540 award miles.

WineCountryUA

Need to consider the issues with orphan miles. A few miles here and a few miles there lead to no ability to use the miles and a high chance the miles will expire.

Only the flight operate will provide seat assignments.

Generally you will need the partner's PNR for the flight (different from UA's), to get that see wiki of http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-alliance.html