Change to *A Award routing rules (Effective 11 FEB 2011)
Jun 14, 2011, 1:43 pm
#151
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Aurora, CO
Programs: Statusless and proud
Posts: 7,582
Jun 14, 2011, 2:40 pm
#152
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Programs: UA-1k, 1mm, Marriott-LT Platinum, Hertz-Presidents Circle
Posts: 6,355
OK let me be the 100th person to say ^ to stopover and open jaw being allowed!
Great new feature.
I just ticketed
DXB-BKK on TG - C (stopover)
BKK-MNL on TG - C (destination)
MNL-SIN on SIN - C (connection)
SIN-AUH on SIN - C (destination)
$53.20 in tax only
Ticketed before June 15th, for it is 90k instead of 100k miles after June 15th. I was tempted to go with US air at only 75k miles, but they have the award booking fee and I have no status with them and my dates could easily change. As a result I'm holding this UA reservation and when my dates firm up I'll see if I can snag something from US air for only 75k.
Great new feature.
I just ticketed
DXB-BKK on TG - C (stopover)
BKK-MNL on TG - C (destination)
MNL-SIN on SIN - C (connection)
SIN-AUH on SIN - C (destination)
$53.20 in tax only
Ticketed before June 15th, for it is 90k instead of 100k miles after June 15th. I was tempted to go with US air at only 75k miles, but they have the award booking fee and I have no status with them and my dates could easily change. As a result I'm holding this UA reservation and when my dates firm up I'll see if I can snag something from US air for only 75k.
Jun 22, 2011, 8:23 am
#153
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Seattle WA
Programs: AS 100K, Marriott LT Platinum
Posts: 1,828
Just had a phone agent tell me that double open jaws were permitted only on all-UA metal itins and not on *A itins.... Thanks to this thread I knew that was wrong and pushed back -- he reluctantly "checked with a supervisor" and came back and said no dice... But by that point I'd also found the Star Alliance Award Rules page on dot bomb that directly confirmed it, and after a second check with supe he apologized and agreed
Just shows how critical it is to be informed!
Just shows how critical it is to be informed!
Jun 22, 2011, 7:59 pm
#154
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA EP, UA Gold-MM, UA 1K (former), GS (former),SPG LT Platinum, Hyatt Diamond, HH Diamond
Posts: 2,299
Just talked to a second GS agent and he like the 1st was unaware of the change. I politely asked if he could double check and looked up the rules and was happy to book the stopover/open jaw combination for me. Definitely need to ask if they are still thinking under the old way!
Sep 2, 2011, 12:18 am
#155
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 6
Award booking Aust-Europe-NA-Aust
I'm hoping to do a MileagePlus reward trip beginning/ending in SYD that has to take me to Germany and MCI (Kansas City). No other stops are needed and I have plenty of flexibility on connections. I assume it effectively has to be a Star Alliance award.
First question: How many miles will it cost? The best case would be that I can get it for the Aust-Europe price; worst case is RTW price. I briefly talked to a United agent on the phone here in Australia who said it has to be RTW because I'm stopping in 3 regions. After having pored over the forums here I feel confident that it should be possible to get this award booked for less than the RTW price, but I haven't seen any cases exactly like this - traveling from Australia with stops needed in Europe and NA.
Second question: I would really like to do the whole thing in business class. I will only have 110,000 miles earned but I'm happy to buy the remainder since business class around the world would be a pretty special experience for me. I'm wondering how realistic is it that I could get all the segments in business, and which carriers should I try to be on?
Third question: The trip would be next August for an event in Germany. The arrive/depart dates are flexible, it just has to include a certain week. How early can/should I start trying to make the booking? Would there be any advantage in waiting to book? What will my change options be and is it easy to switch to better flights as they become available?
Thanks. I hope this is in the right place since I couldn't find a Star Alliance award booking thread for MileagePlus.
First question: How many miles will it cost? The best case would be that I can get it for the Aust-Europe price; worst case is RTW price. I briefly talked to a United agent on the phone here in Australia who said it has to be RTW because I'm stopping in 3 regions. After having pored over the forums here I feel confident that it should be possible to get this award booked for less than the RTW price, but I haven't seen any cases exactly like this - traveling from Australia with stops needed in Europe and NA.
Second question: I would really like to do the whole thing in business class. I will only have 110,000 miles earned but I'm happy to buy the remainder since business class around the world would be a pretty special experience for me. I'm wondering how realistic is it that I could get all the segments in business, and which carriers should I try to be on?
Third question: The trip would be next August for an event in Germany. The arrive/depart dates are flexible, it just has to include a certain week. How early can/should I start trying to make the booking? Would there be any advantage in waiting to book? What will my change options be and is it easy to switch to better flights as they become available?
Thanks. I hope this is in the right place since I couldn't find a Star Alliance award booking thread for MileagePlus.
Sep 7, 2011, 8:27 pm
#156
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Missoula, MT
Programs: Delta DM, United GS, Avis CHM, Hertz GP
Posts: 65
Dear Ninewise,
I am not even close to as "in the know" as most people active on the forum, so please take the following responses with that in mind: (hope it helps)
1. As per the *A award chart Australia to Europe is 75K, Europe to NA is 50K, and NA to Australia is 67.5K which totals 192,500 miles for business class. RTW mile requirement seems to be 260K. I would just book one ways OZ-Eur, Eur-NA, and NA-OZ
2. So it looks like you would need to buy 82,500 miles more for the trip. If your dates are flexible +/-3 days or so, you should be able to get TG for SYD-BKK-FRA . They have lie flat seats on most of the aircraft (not 180 degrees though) but service is good.
Lots of choices from FRA/MUC to USA on LH. Again lie flat seats, but availability is good on this sector although you might have to watch out for Starnet blocking here.
The only consideration I have for NA-OZ is probably Air New Zealand. You could possibly do LAX-AKL-SYD.
3. Are you 1K or will you become 1K before around 60 days from the trip? If so, then I would make a tentative booking and then check with more ideal airlines and routes closer to the date (since as 1K fees are waived for changes or cancellations on award bookings). If you aren't, I've noticed 6 months out to be a healthy starting point.
Hope this helps,
pm
Dear FTers,
I tried to book the following award ticket with UA today:
Business class
01/17 BOM ZRH LX 155
01/17 ZRH ORD LX 8
01/17 ORD DEN UA 949 Arr: 6:36pm
01/18 DEN MSO UA 5521 Dep: 8:10am
1. The rep told me that it is not a valid routing and that if I want to use Denver I have to come in from IAD or directly from FRA. ORD-DEN cannot be used with BOM-ZRH-ORD. Where can this rule be found? I know this thread says something about "routing validation". So how do I validate a routing before checking?
2. She told me that the stop in DEN is illegal because it is more than 4 hours and DEN is a domestic stop. So I asked her that even if it is an international reservation a domestic stopover is defined as one if its greater than 4 hours? (not 24 hours?) -- and she said yes.
She also checked with her supervisor on both these things and came back to me with a confirmation that what she was saying is right.
I never have booked the ORD-DEN within a larger itinerary, so I can't speak to this experience. However, just under 7 months ago I booked an international itinerary with a 20 hours wait in DC and it was accepted by UA.
I would love to know a breakdown of the new rules that can help me figure out this issues.
Thank you,
pm
I am not even close to as "in the know" as most people active on the forum, so please take the following responses with that in mind: (hope it helps)
1. As per the *A award chart Australia to Europe is 75K, Europe to NA is 50K, and NA to Australia is 67.5K which totals 192,500 miles for business class. RTW mile requirement seems to be 260K. I would just book one ways OZ-Eur, Eur-NA, and NA-OZ
2. So it looks like you would need to buy 82,500 miles more for the trip. If your dates are flexible +/-3 days or so, you should be able to get TG for SYD-BKK-FRA . They have lie flat seats on most of the aircraft (not 180 degrees though) but service is good.
Lots of choices from FRA/MUC to USA on LH. Again lie flat seats, but availability is good on this sector although you might have to watch out for Starnet blocking here.
The only consideration I have for NA-OZ is probably Air New Zealand. You could possibly do LAX-AKL-SYD.
3. Are you 1K or will you become 1K before around 60 days from the trip? If so, then I would make a tentative booking and then check with more ideal airlines and routes closer to the date (since as 1K fees are waived for changes or cancellations on award bookings). If you aren't, I've noticed 6 months out to be a healthy starting point.
Hope this helps,
pm
Dear FTers,
I tried to book the following award ticket with UA today:
Business class
01/17 BOM ZRH LX 155
01/17 ZRH ORD LX 8
01/17 ORD DEN UA 949 Arr: 6:36pm
01/18 DEN MSO UA 5521 Dep: 8:10am
1. The rep told me that it is not a valid routing and that if I want to use Denver I have to come in from IAD or directly from FRA. ORD-DEN cannot be used with BOM-ZRH-ORD. Where can this rule be found? I know this thread says something about "routing validation". So how do I validate a routing before checking?
2. She told me that the stop in DEN is illegal because it is more than 4 hours and DEN is a domestic stop. So I asked her that even if it is an international reservation a domestic stopover is defined as one if its greater than 4 hours? (not 24 hours?) -- and she said yes.
She also checked with her supervisor on both these things and came back to me with a confirmation that what she was saying is right.
I never have booked the ORD-DEN within a larger itinerary, so I can't speak to this experience. However, just under 7 months ago I booked an international itinerary with a 20 hours wait in DC and it was accepted by UA.
I would love to know a breakdown of the new rules that can help me figure out this issues.
Thank you,
pm
Last edited by iluv2fly; Sep 7, 2011 at 11:42 pm Reason: merge
Sep 7, 2011, 9:04 pm
#157
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,693
Dear FTers,
I tried to book the following award ticket with UA today:
Business class
01/17 BOM ZRH LX 155
01/17 ZRH ORD LX 8
01/17 ORD DEN UA 949 Arr: 6:36pm
01/18 DEN MSO UA 5521 Dep: 8:10am
1. The rep told me that it is not a valid routing and that if I want to use Denver I have to come in from IAD or directly from FRA. ORD-DEN cannot be used with BOM-ZRH-ORD. Where can this rule be found? I know this thread says something about "routing validation". So how do I validate a routing before checking?
2. She told me that the stop in DEN is illegal because it is more than 4 hours and DEN is a domestic stop. So I asked her that even if it is an international reservation a domestic stopover is defined as one if its greater than 4 hours? (not 24 hours?) -- and she said yes.
I tried to book the following award ticket with UA today:
Business class
01/17 BOM ZRH LX 155
01/17 ZRH ORD LX 8
01/17 ORD DEN UA 949 Arr: 6:36pm
01/18 DEN MSO UA 5521 Dep: 8:10am
1. The rep told me that it is not a valid routing and that if I want to use Denver I have to come in from IAD or directly from FRA. ORD-DEN cannot be used with BOM-ZRH-ORD. Where can this rule be found? I know this thread says something about "routing validation". So how do I validate a routing before checking?
2. She told me that the stop in DEN is illegal because it is more than 4 hours and DEN is a domestic stop. So I asked her that even if it is an international reservation a domestic stopover is defined as one if its greater than 4 hours? (not 24 hours?) -- and she said yes.
Sep 7, 2011, 11:30 pm
#158
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Worldwide
Posts: 12,949
I tried to book the following award ticket with UA today:
Business class
01/17 BOM ZRH LX 155
01/17 ZRH ORD LX 8
01/17 ORD DEN UA 949 Arr: 6:36pm
01/18 DEN MSO UA 5521 Dep: 8:10am
1. The rep told me that it is not a valid routing and that if I want to use Denver I have to come in from IAD or directly from FRA. ORD-DEN cannot be used with BOM-ZRH-ORD. Where can this rule be found? I know this thread says something about "routing validation". So how do I validate a routing before checking?
Business class
01/17 BOM ZRH LX 155
01/17 ZRH ORD LX 8
01/17 ORD DEN UA 949 Arr: 6:36pm
01/18 DEN MSO UA 5521 Dep: 8:10am
1. The rep told me that it is not a valid routing and that if I want to use Denver I have to come in from IAD or directly from FRA. ORD-DEN cannot be used with BOM-ZRH-ORD. Where can this rule be found? I know this thread says something about "routing validation". So how do I validate a routing before checking?
[KVS Availability Tool 6.5.1/Diamond - Reference: Maximum Permitted Mileage [MPM]: BOM-ZRH-ORD-DEN-MSO]
Code:
CTY DC TPM CUM MPM DC SUR HGL LWL 25M XTRA
BOM 3
ZRH 2 EH 4064 4064 5088 EH 0M 1024 0 6360 0
CHI 1 AT 4433 8497 10399 AT 0M 1902 0 12998 0
DEN 1 US 903 9400 11307 AT 0M 1907 0 14133 0
MSO 1 US 676 10076 11710 AT 0M 1634 0 14637 0
2. She told me that the stop in DEN is illegal because it is more than 4 hours and DEN is a domestic stop. So I asked her that even if it is an international reservation a domestic stopover is defined as one if its greater than 4 hours? (not 24 hours?) -- and she said yes.
Sep 9, 2011, 12:45 am
#159
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Missoula, MT
Programs: Delta DM, United GS, Avis CHM, Hertz GP
Posts: 65
Thank you mduell and KVS. Will try again with another agent.
Sep 9, 2011, 12:49 am
#160
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Missoula, MT
Programs: Delta DM, United GS, Avis CHM, Hertz GP
Posts: 65
Dear Ninewise, Ypu might have been wondering why I didn't include any UA flights for the last two regions. The main reason is that I have had absolutely no luck in getting their 747 or 767 new business cabins on saver award. If u are able to get them, then they would be better than LH or NZ.
Sep 10, 2011, 5:08 pm
#161
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Missoula, MT
Programs: Delta DM, United GS, Avis CHM, Hertz GP
Posts: 65
So I called United today and there were absolutely no problems or hiccups in booking the last two sectors from ORD-DEN and DEN-MSO with the rep. I'm so glad I tried it again. 
Last edited by peace_meal; Sep 10, 2011 at 5:09 pm Reason: grammar
Sep 10, 2011, 6:03 pm
#162
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: 1P, AA EXP, SPG Gold
Posts: 1,491
Dear Ninewise, Ypu might have been wondering why I didn't include any UA flights for the last two regions. The main reason is that I have had absolutely no luck in getting their 747 or 767 new business cabins on saver award. If u are able to get them, then they would be better than LH or NZ.
Last edited by SFOTurtle; Sep 10, 2011 at 6:09 pm
Sep 12, 2011, 9:20 pm
#163
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Missoula, MT
Programs: Delta DM, United GS, Avis CHM, Hertz GP
Posts: 65
SFOTurtle - you are right in calling me out on that one. I didn't properly compare NZ LAX-AKL to UA LAX-SYD.
I have not flown LAX-AKL on NZ but I have done UA LAX-SYD which I thought was very good especially the private upper deck.
Ninewise - pls consider that I am not in the right position to compare NZ and UA, however what you would get with UA on your return is a non-stop to SYD from USA and fairly new hard product on their 747. I enjoyed it.
LH however has an old C config (not flat bed) and I stick by UA new reconfigs being better than present LH TATL routes.
Thanks SFOTurtle for pointing the NZ thing out.
I have not flown LAX-AKL on NZ but I have done UA LAX-SYD which I thought was very good especially the private upper deck.
Ninewise - pls consider that I am not in the right position to compare NZ and UA, however what you would get with UA on your return is a non-stop to SYD from USA and fairly new hard product on their 747. I enjoyed it.
LH however has an old C config (not flat bed) and I stick by UA new reconfigs being better than present LH TATL routes.
Thanks SFOTurtle for pointing the NZ thing out.
Oct 20, 2011, 4:05 pm
#164
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: SF, CA, US
Programs: AA Plat Pro, UA MM Gold, HHonors Silver, Marriott Bonvoy Plat, IHG Ambassador
Posts: 1,236
I am looking to book a friend's honeymoon trip to India from SF, using my miles. They would like to incorporate a stopover in Dubai. It doesn't necessarily have to more than 24hrs, although it would be nice to have the option. I'm not sure if this can be done, since there are no *A airlines that fly between Dubai and India, so any routing would include significant backtracking, through Europe most likely. Would a routing like DXB-IST-India or DXB-CAI-India work, or does any possible indirect routing exceed MPM? TIA
Oct 20, 2011, 4:22 pm
#165
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM SK EBG LATAM BL
Posts: 23,308