cfischer

yeah, that happens from time to time. Have you tried coach to CAI then business for the remainder of the flight?

Sherab Sherab

that would be multi city and separate awards right? wont cost lot more?

cfischer

no, a segment in coach combined with a segment in business will cost the higher of the two prices ... but as a through award. An agent should be able to price it correctly.

robr

UA website shows plenty of biz class availability for 4 on egyptair from various east coast locations, but when I try to book, Im given an error. I've talked to 3 different customer service people and after trying various things, all of them have told me they've been unable to book biz class on egypt air from anything coming from the US.
My plan was BOS (or reposition to JFK) > Cairo > excursionist to AUH (or DXB). Egyptair is by far the easiest route.

Currently I have reserved BOS>LIS (biz on TAP) > IST (biz on turkish) > CAI (biz on turkish) then on to AUH (economy on egypt as they couldn't book biz) (and a throw away leg in the US to qualify for excursionist)

I don't know if there's just tons of phantom inventory or if customer service and I are missing some trick to booking on egypt. any help appreciated. Departure is xmas week 2020. Maybe egyptair biz doesn't open for booking at 330 days?

JayhawkCO

I booked JFK-CAI-JNB and onward in C back in August right at 330 days. Obviously that was 6 months ago, but no issues at all there, and that was for 4 passengers. I am also using the Excursionist Perk to visit the Seychelles later in the trip.

Chris

AirbusFan2B

Yes, tons of phantom inventory and I found that every single departure JFK-CAI showing inventory was phantom. This was for January 2020 and I started seeing the inventory mid-2019, on and off. Egyptair uses B777 LHR-CAI with flatbeds so that’s at least a nice service compared to most other carriers Europe-Cairo if LHR is a logical connection point for you.

robr

Like most of us in this hobby, I avoid LHR like the plaque due to the ridiculous surcharges. I'm going to try calling in again now just to see if somehow egyptair miraculously may work. It's so much easier with wife and kids in tow to fly a 787 in biz nonstop JFK-CAI than the ridiculous route I have now.

jsloan

If you were asking agents to book it this way, I doubt they were particularly motivated to find a solution.

I seem to remember seeing other reports of phantom Egyptair availability, but I'm not certain. If the agents can't book it, they can't book it. Does it show up on other *A partner sites (e.g., ANA or Aeroplan?)

I assume you're talking about the UK Air Passenger Duty. It's not applicable on connecting flights, although I don't know what your chances are of finding four UA J award tickets to LHR at a good price.

RobOnLI

For several days during the week of XMas MS986 JFK-CAI shows 4 seats open in "I" class. Now, can UA book them? That's a story for MS and UA to tell. But as far as I can tell, the availability is there. You could also call MS and ask them if they see the inventory.

-RM

robr

found 3 biz on egypt air nonstop JFK>CAI. I'll suck it up and pay the $500 change fee and fly in economy myself and just reposition to JFK from BOS in the AM. Looks like I get back $125 from my $300 fee with the other booking so really only a $375 change fee.

well, after 45 minutes mostly on hold so the rep could work with her manager to try to make these changes, i was disconnected. i saw above RobOnLi mentions he sees 4 seats. I'm looking at 12/21 or /22 on expertflyer and not even seeing what UAs site is showing me (and that the rep was trying to book).
this is definitely a challenge.

robr

called egyptair to see if they had 4 partner award seats, wasnt sure what that would get me even if they did if united cant see them, but only operations was open, they said call back monday when reservations was open.

jglenn16

Trying to book a simple award using United miles on Egypt Air. The flight is in economy from CAI-LUX on 12/23/21, but getting this error after I try to purchase the ticket. I checked award availability on ExpertFlyer and it's showing up to 4 available award tickets. I was able to book a separate award using United miles on Egypt Air from ASW-CAI, so am confused as to why this award isn't processing correctly. Any advice on how to get this booked would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

rbakker

I just tried to book AMS-DOH on Egyptair using United miles. It lets you get all the way to payment (miles + $100) but then it says:

We are unable to process your request

We are unable to process your requestPlease try again later or contact united.com support in the U.S. and Canada at 1-800-396-1751; the U.K. at 0800 028 5003; elsewhere use the local phone number.

I called the 1K number and the lady there suggested I try flying to a different country! She said United is not able to verify seats on Egyptair so we (and she) can't make reservations there. I asked why then does it show up as an option when you're looking to book flights. She did not know. Is this normal? I've never encountered this problem before with other airlines.

Thank you

Happy

Trying to book Aswan to Abu Simbel in Nov. UA shows plenty of availability but fails at the payment step. Get the same error We are unable to process your request.

Just 2.5 hours earlier at 7:50pm EST that was 1:50am Cairo time I was able to book Cairo to Aswan, ticketed immediately.

Is this a phantom inventory?

ssruindia

I am trying to book my flight from Medina (MED) to Washington (IAD) and I see Egyptair available in jan/feb 2023.
when I select and go thru all the way, at the very end, it says 'Error" and to contact United Customer Service.
note, I do have enough miles needed and all that.
When I chatted with United, they did all the same things I did and they got the same error and they said, because it is Egyptair, they cannot confirm on the final page and they could not do anything.
They gave me a customer service number to call and alsoi said that they might see the same error/issue.
has anyone gone thru such issues/error?