nwflyboy

I'm getting ready to make the call to United to attempt to book a reasonably complicated trip using miles, and want to make sure I have all my ducks lined up before I take a run at their agents. Any advice welcomed.

The goal is to snag 2 seats in coach from the US west coast (SEA) to Jakarta (CGK) and back, with a "stopover" for a few days in BKK on the way in (of course, at the "saver"/cheapskate level). This is more than 6 months out so I'm hoping availability is not too challenging. I've successfully done something similar about 2.5 years ago, but I know things change. I also know (or think I know) all of the following:

• I'll need to call to book this, since dot bomb only shows United metal
• I'll end up paying for the privelidge of booking with a human (no status) - that's OK
• Using the ANA tool, I have found a routing that I believe should work
• I believe the routing is legal
• I believe the "stopover" in BKK should be legal (at least it was last time I tried this - hopefully that rule has not changed)
• I see "availability" on the non-UA metal on the ANA site
• I know that UA's evil *net blocking means I can't necessarily count on that availability
• The domestic legs (from home in SEA to SFO where we would presumably switch to SQ metal, and back again on the return) do show up as available on dot bomb

I've found several routings that appear to work and have ANA availability - all start on UA metal from SEA to SFO (or maybe LAX), then go on a variety of (probably nicer) Asian airlines (e.g. SQ) via Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, or Hong Kong, then on to BKK on TG. (United will, of course, try to put me on UA metal to NRT or HKG - dot bomb actually shows seat availability as far as HKG, I believe, but the timing or connections won't work beyond that). After the BKK "stopover" (4 or 5 days), we would continue on to CGK on TG. The return trip would be slightly less complicated (no "stopover"), so just CJK > SIN > HKG > SFO (all on SQ) then SFO > SEA on UA. Whew.

Here are my questions for the cognoscenti....

• At what point will they charge me for the service of booking the flight - only if/when it has been successfully booked? In other words, if (as I suspect) I have to call multiple times before I get an agent who will let me spoon-feed them each leg (or if it just never works out), there's not going to be any charge for that - right?
• Last time I did this, I had all the info for each flight segment ready, and spoon-fed it to the agent, and they plugged it in (after I did all the work, it was actually pretty easy). I have heard/read different things about policy changes that might make that practice more difficult. What's the current state of that? Is that practice (letting callers spoon-feed individual segments) now discouraged (or outright prohibited)? Any tips for getting the agent to do that?
• What's the best time/day to try calling, in hopes of finding a cooperative agent?

Any other tips/suggestions welcomed. Thanks!

cspurrier

The $25 booking fee only applies when the flight is ticketed. They will search for you without fee and even let you put it on hold without fee.

I never had very good luck feeding them segments, but I generally found giving them the cites you wish to connect via works fairly well.

Henwurst

You seem to have everything in order. I've had no problem spoon feeding my flights (but I usually just tell them the routing and ask what they see) and I've never encountered any starnet blocking while booking award routings in Asia so the odds should be in your favour, but it is good to have some extra options. You should also ask them first to see if they come up with something better (not common that they do if you've done your homework on ANA, but it wont cost you anything). Your proposed route should most certainly be within the MPM so that wont be a problem. Sometimes they don't tell you about the booking fee, but they will charge you the $25 once it has been ticketed. The booking fee and the taxes come up as separate charges and the booking fee might show up a lot later on your credit card statement.

AndrewM

Hopefully, you have flexibility in your dates. changing your departure + or - one day sometimes makes a big difference in grabbing a seat on the airlines of your choice.

ckpeter

One thing that may be an obstacle is which carrier would allow you to have a stopover in BKK.

The last time I did a redemption, I ran into problem with restriction on where I can stopover, based on the over-the-water/international carrier.

If you are looking to stopover in BKK, there is a chance that you will be restricted to only flying TG, in which case the only available TG pacific routing would be LAX-BKK.

It was never clear to me exactly how the rules apply and I hope that you don't run into this problem, but be ware of the possibility.

dsquared37

If you are able to get a routing with SQ included you will need to ticket immediately. SQ doesn't allow (according to UA) a hold on tickets.

That's a broad statement and you've apparently been quite lucky. I've had problems with TG, NH: BKK-NRT v.v, TG: PNH-BKK v.v., OZ: PNH-ICN, SQ, TG: BKK-SIN v.v. SQ: SIN-DPS v.v. TG: BKK-RGN v.v. (as well as domestic TG flights) and there are many other reports of problems. That said, some days UA shows no flights available (eg BKK-SIN which has 3 SQ and 5 TG) and the next day it's wide open. Having some flexibility is a bonus and you should be able to get your intra-Asia flights with some semblance of continuity. Your TPAC will be more difficult to arrange.

OP: I don't have any experience with SIN-CGK and I'd be curious to know your success on this... if that's the routing you were going for.

cspurrier

Last time I booked a SQ flight (a few weeks ago), I was told that by the agent, but then allowed to put it on hold for 24 hours. No idea if this is policy or just an oddity.

nwflyboy

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

We don't have a lot of flexibility in our days - maybe 1 day either way if necessary. We are pretty flexible about the routing, though. We just need to go through BKK on the outbound (for the "stopover") en route to Jakarta, and then get home.

TG is fine with us - we like TG (the ANA site did not show any availability on the LAX > BKK flight, though). I like SQ, too (of course - I think everybody does).

Getting ticketed immediately is fine with us - when I call, I will be ready to commit, once we get a routing that works. I'm hoping to get this settled in the next few days. I will post back with the results.

Any suggestions on the best time/days to call to get a cooperative agent?

Thanks again,

dsquared37

I haven't encountered a problem with a layover in BKK, regardless of carrier TPAC. Not to speak definitively, just my experience to date. I do know NRT layover is restricted to return flights only.

ckpeter

The last time I was trying to book a trip, I was trying to do a stopover in HKG before returning from TPE, but the agent would not let me, citing that the over-the-water carrier (UA) would not allow a stopover in HKG.

It's very possible that a different agent would have allowed it, but I had not tried it again.

nwflyboy

I've tweaked my proposed routing a little, and am ready to give them a try.

Can anyone suggest the optimal time of day/day of week to call? As I understand it, if you call at certain times, you're more/less likley to get a specific call center (although I'm not sure which one I should be trying for - any guidance there?).

I'm hoping to find an agent who is cooperative (i.e. willing to let me spoon-feed them my preferred route)?

Thanks.

DanK

One thing I've found in doing similar things is that the agent you talk to does matter. Some are more experienced/creative/willing than others. So if your first call doesn't get you what you want, call back the next day. Reserving a seat may be worth doing, even if it's not exactly what you wanted, then call back and see if you can get something better.

npei

HNL call center has some of the best agents - usually I call late evenings when other USA CC are closed (and I avoid India CC).