Oct 14, 2013, 4:55 pm
Last edit by: NewbieRunner
Update 08APR2014: Star Alliance Awards must have been booked by March 30, 2014. They are no longer available through US. This thread is mostly useful for historic purposes, and discussing issues such as schedule changes/route changes that affect FTers existing *A awards booked before 3/31/2014.
Discussion on using US miles to book oneworld awards is available here.
If you are looking for discussion on US's new partner awards that use various partners not in oneworld (many of whom are former *A partners), see the devoted thread on using US miles to book NON-oneworld partners here.
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Update 07JAN14: American Airlines award tickets bookable online on usairways.com or through reservation.
Please see the devoted thread on using US miles to book AA here.
Discussion on using US miles to book oneworld awards is available here.
If you are looking for discussion on US's new partner awards that use various partners not in oneworld (many of whom are former *A partners), see the devoted thread on using US miles to book NON-oneworld partners here.
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Update 07JAN14: American Airlines award tickets bookable online on usairways.com or through reservation.
- Award travel must be wholly on American Airlines or a combination of American Airlines and US Airways.
- American Airlines awards cannot be combined with any of our current partner.
- American Airlines award travel chart (PDF)
Please see the devoted thread on using US miles to book AA here.
Star Alliance Award Bookings Using US Airways Miles - FAQ and Help Thread [MERGED]
Jul 30, 2013, 6:09 pm
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,403
I have an award booked in business, with economy on the domestic leg, and business (first) now available for redemption.
I know the FAQ says it is possible to change this without incurring the change fee but I'm having a tough time getting an agent to do so.
I talked to 5 different agents, the last 3 keep saying that because the segment is booked/ticketed on a partner (United) that it is not possible without the change fee. Only possible on US metal.
Anyone have success with this lately? Is this standard or am I just unlucky? Do I need to keep calling?
I know the FAQ says it is possible to change this without incurring the change fee but I'm having a tough time getting an agent to do so.
I talked to 5 different agents, the last 3 keep saying that because the segment is booked/ticketed on a partner (United) that it is not possible without the change fee. Only possible on US metal.
Anyone have success with this lately? Is this standard or am I just unlucky? Do I need to keep calling?
this changed some time ago and now it is the norm for the fee to be levied, although as always, YMMV.
if you have called five agents, and the last three are telling you the same thing, it could be possible there is a note in your booking to this effect, and it probably won't matter how many more times you call... you'll get the same answer now.
Jul 30, 2013, 7:52 pm
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ, UA, Delta, BMI(RIP), Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Diamond (Thanks Amex) Hyatt Discov
Posts: 1,942
90k plus taxes for RTW business is no doubt a great deal, but I don't think the same ticket would cost $12.5k to buy!! You can buy a *Alliance RTW for a lot less than piecing together one way fares for each segment!!
Jul 30, 2013, 8:11 pm
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Washington DC
Programs: DL GM US silver AA GM Jet Blue True Blue
Posts: 240
Reservation Cancelled HELP
I placed a DM itinerary on hold and when I called back to ticket, the agent summarily cancelled it because I have "too many stopovers" and "transited too many regions." I politiely tried to reason with her to no avail, but I didn't push in the hopes that I could HUACA. However, the reservation appears cancelled online already. Is there anything I can do to get it back? I didn't think my reservation was especially egregious but maybe I am violating US rules?
The trip is:
IAD-ORD UA C
ORD-NRT NH F (22 hr layover)
NRT-SIN UA F(stopover)
Sin-SYD SQ regional C(dest)
SYD-BKK TG F
BKK-ZRH TG F
ZRH-IAD UA C
The trip is:
IAD-ORD UA C
ORD-NRT NH F (22 hr layover)
NRT-SIN UA F(stopover)
Sin-SYD SQ regional C(dest)
SYD-BKK TG F
BKK-ZRH TG F
ZRH-IAD UA C
Last edited by NE flier; Jul 30, 2013 at 8:20 pm
Jul 30, 2013, 8:21 pm
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,403
I placed a DM itinerary on hold and when I called back to ticket, the agent summarily cancelled it because I have "too many stopovers" and "transited too many regions." I politiely tried to reason with her to no avail. The reservation appears cancelled online already. Is there anything I can do to get it back? I didn't think my reservation was especially egregious but maybe I am violating US rules?
The trip is:
IAD-ORD UA C
ORD-NRT NH F (22 hr layover)
NRT-SIN UA F(stopover)
Sin-SYD SQ regional C(dest)
SYD-BKK TG F
BKK-ZRH TG F
ZRH-IAD UA C
The trip is:
IAD-ORD UA C
ORD-NRT NH F (22 hr layover)
NRT-SIN UA F(stopover)
Sin-SYD SQ regional C(dest)
SYD-BKK TG F
BKK-ZRH TG F
ZRH-IAD UA C
if it has been cancelled you can ring back and try another agent, assuming the seats are back in the inventory (if not keep a close eye on it over the next couple of days).
IAD is closer to SIN than SYD (only by 90 miles), so the stopover is correctly placed (not like sin is the destination with a massive detour to SYD).
did the agent out it via the rate desk? or just decide off their own back that it was unacceptable?
Jul 30, 2013, 8:34 pm
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Washington DC
Programs: DL GM US silver AA GM Jet Blue True Blue
Posts: 240
in theory that looks ok! max permitted mileage was an issue for a while some time back, but leaving from IAD it should have been ok (I did almost the same routing in reverse via IAD just a month ago).
if it has been cancelled you can ring back and try another agent, assuming the seats are back in the inventory (if not keep a close eye on it over the next couple of days).
IAD is closer to SIN than SYD (only by 90 miles), so the stopover is correctly placed (not like sin is the destination with a massive detour to SYD).
did the agent out it via the rate desk? or just decide off their own back that it was unacceptable?
if it has been cancelled you can ring back and try another agent, assuming the seats are back in the inventory (if not keep a close eye on it over the next couple of days).
IAD is closer to SIN than SYD (only by 90 miles), so the stopover is correctly placed (not like sin is the destination with a massive detour to SYD).
did the agent out it via the rate desk? or just decide off their own back that it was unacceptable?
The agent who cancelled the reservation told me that she checked with a supervisor who confirmed that the inventory is invalid. First she said I had two stopovers but I pointed out that we only had one. Then she claimed I was "backtracking," which is clearly wrong. Finally she decided that I was transiting too many regions and claimed that a stopover is only allowed in the same region as the destination. The thing that gets me is that I was willing to change the reservation to comply with the agent's reasonable interpretation of the rules, but she didn't give me a chance.
The seats aren't back in inventory; does anyone know when TG, UA and NH tend to put award seats back in inventory? What's particularly sad is that we had managed to coordinate so that the flight from SYD to BKK on TG was with our infant's grandparents so that we could have the whole family in F!
Last edited by NE flier; Jul 30, 2013 at 8:39 pm Reason: additional clarity
Jul 30, 2013, 8:40 pm
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 352
Here's a new one. The agent just told me I couldn't connect in DUS (Dusseldorf, Germany) because all connections have to be through a *A hub.
Was trying to fly MUC-DUS-IST. Connection in DUS was 90 minutes -- clearly not an overnight or any other kind of abuse. Only backtracking by about an hour or two flight time compared to the MUC-IST flight, and there was no availability nonstop.
Agent insisted connecting in DUS wasn't valid, even though the routing shows up on all sorts of normal booking sites (including United).
HUACA.
Was trying to fly MUC-DUS-IST. Connection in DUS was 90 minutes -- clearly not an overnight or any other kind of abuse. Only backtracking by about an hour or two flight time compared to the MUC-IST flight, and there was no availability nonstop.
Agent insisted connecting in DUS wasn't valid, even though the routing shows up on all sorts of normal booking sites (including United).
HUACA.
Jul 30, 2013, 8:47 pm
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,403
The agent had to call her "help desk" because i asked her to confirm the fare for our lap infant. The funny thing is that the agent who originally booked the itinerary checked with the rate desk about the infant fare. It was higher than I would have liked but I was prepared to pay it.
The agent who cancelled the reservation told me that she checked with a supervisor who confirmed that the inventory is invalid. First she said I had two stopovers but I pointed out that we only had one. Then she claimed I was "backtracking," which is clearly wrong. Finally she decided that I was transiting too many regions and claimed that a stopover is only allowed in the same region as the destination. The thing that gets me is that I was willing to change the reservation to comply with the agent's reasonable interpretation of the rules, but she didn't give me a chance.
The seats aren't back in inventory; does anyone know when TG, UA and NH tend to put award seats back in inventory? What's particularly sad is that we had managed to coordinate so that the flight from SYD to BKK on TG was with our infant's grandparents so that we could have the whole family in F!
The agent who cancelled the reservation told me that she checked with a supervisor who confirmed that the inventory is invalid. First she said I had two stopovers but I pointed out that we only had one. Then she claimed I was "backtracking," which is clearly wrong. Finally she decided that I was transiting too many regions and claimed that a stopover is only allowed in the same region as the destination. The thing that gets me is that I was willing to change the reservation to comply with the agent's reasonable interpretation of the rules, but she didn't give me a chance.
The seats aren't back in inventory; does anyone know when TG, UA and NH tend to put award seats back in inventory? What's particularly sad is that we had managed to coordinate so that the flight from SYD to BKK on TG was with our infant's grandparents so that we could have the whole family in F!
the main problem is probably communication between the rate desk and the agent... much of what this thread is about is interpreting why a particular itinerary is deemed invalid, because often the agent doesn't correctly relay that information to the passenger.
for example, they might think the itinerary is being rejected because they think you can't have a stopover except in the same region, but the reason may be something entirely different.
now the stopover issue... I've had this happen before where an agent has decided I had two stopovers... this was because they used the star alliance booking tool, and any itinerary that was outside the suggested routings they would deem a 'construction' and therefore decided it was a stopover even if less than 24 hours. (it's what AA might deem as two awards in future if there is no published through fare).
there is however a rule that says stopovers are only permitted on the most direct route. flying the way you are is probably not considered a 'direct' route. try plugging in IAD-SYD into the star alliance flight finder.
that being said... as always... YMMV. I got the same route as you for travel last month, but routing via ICN rather than NRT. is there any way you can skip Asia and just fly direct IAD-FRA-BKK-SYD? (or similar)
Jul 30, 2013, 8:48 pm
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,403
Here's a new one. The agent just told me I couldn't connect in DUS (Dusseldorf, Germany) because all connections have to be through a *A hub.
Was trying to fly MUC-DUS-IST. Connection in DUS was 90 minutes -- clearly not an overnight or any other kind of abuse. Only backtracking by about an hour or two flight time compared to the MUC-IST flight, and there was no availability nonstop.
Agent insisted connecting in DUS wasn't valid, even though the routing shows up on all sorts of normal booking sites (including United).
HUACA.
Was trying to fly MUC-DUS-IST. Connection in DUS was 90 minutes -- clearly not an overnight or any other kind of abuse. Only backtracking by about an hour or two flight time compared to the MUC-IST flight, and there was no availability nonstop.
Agent insisted connecting in DUS wasn't valid, even though the routing shows up on all sorts of normal booking sites (including United).
HUACA.
Jul 30, 2013, 9:09 pm
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Washington DC
Programs: DL GM US silver AA GM Jet Blue True Blue
Posts: 240
time for seats to go back into inventory can vary. TG is usually pretty quick.
the main problem is probably communication between the rate desk and the agent... much of what this thread is about is interpreting why a particular itinerary is deemed invalid, because often the agent doesn't correctly relay that information to the passenger.
for example, they might think the itinerary is being rejected because they think you can't have a stopover except in the same region, but the reason may be something entirely different.
now the stopover issue... I've had this happen before where an agent has decided I had two stopovers... this was because they used the star alliance booking tool, and any itinerary that was outside the suggested routings they would deem a 'construction' and therefore decided it was a stopover even if less than 24 hours. (it's what AA might deem as two awards in future if there is no published through fare).
there is however a rule that says stopovers are only permitted on the most direct route. flying the way you are is probably not considered a 'direct' route. try plugging in IAD-SYD into the star alliance flight finder.
that being said... as always... YMMV. I got the same route as you for travel last month, but routing via ICN rather than NRT. is there any way you can skip Asia and just fly direct IAD-FRA-BKK-SYD? (or similar)
the main problem is probably communication between the rate desk and the agent... much of what this thread is about is interpreting why a particular itinerary is deemed invalid, because often the agent doesn't correctly relay that information to the passenger.
for example, they might think the itinerary is being rejected because they think you can't have a stopover except in the same region, but the reason may be something entirely different.
now the stopover issue... I've had this happen before where an agent has decided I had two stopovers... this was because they used the star alliance booking tool, and any itinerary that was outside the suggested routings they would deem a 'construction' and therefore decided it was a stopover even if less than 24 hours. (it's what AA might deem as two awards in future if there is no published through fare).
there is however a rule that says stopovers are only permitted on the most direct route. flying the way you are is probably not considered a 'direct' route. try plugging in IAD-SYD into the star alliance flight finder.
that being said... as always... YMMV. I got the same route as you for travel last month, but routing via ICN rather than NRT. is there any way you can skip Asia and just fly direct IAD-FRA-BKK-SYD? (or similar)
If it's the rate desk that's kicking these tickets, will I have any luck with HUACA? Even if I persuade another agent to grab this tickets, will the rate desk kick back? Would it make more sense to wait for a "shift change" at the rate desk?
I had previously found
JFK-VIE OS C (stopover)
VIE-MXP OS Y
MXP-BKK TG F
BKK-SYD TG F (destination)
SYD-BKK TG F
BKK-ZRH TG F
ZRH-IAD UA C
IAD-JFK UA Y
There's no workable award availability to JFK that connects to the OS flight and I can't find a way to get from IAD to Europe via the UA award tool. I can fly the IAD-JFK sector if I need to but don't mind throwing it away. Would this routing work? This itinerary only crosses one ocean from, though of course it is not as direct as IAD-LAX/SFO-SYD. Thanks for all of your wisdom!!
Last edited by NE flier; Jul 30, 2013 at 9:18 pm
Jul 30, 2013, 10:05 pm
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: CLT
Programs: US Airways Chairman's, Marriott Platinum, SPG Platinum
Posts: 65
Does anyone know how many miles HNL - NRT - CLT would cost for business class? Based on the chart on usairways.com, I'm guessing 90k a person?
Jul 30, 2013, 11:06 pm
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 352
Jul 31, 2013, 1:04 am
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: Hyatt Glb, MR Plat
Posts: 2,577
I was told by a couple agent that cities with airports like HND/NRT or TSA/TPE are considered separate when booking the routing. Anyone ever get them to consider it as one city for the routing? HUACA?
Jul 31, 2013, 1:08 am
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,403
for me getting the agent to read back the full name of the airport worked... they all know NRT is Tokyo, but only after saying 'Tokyo haneda' (rather than just haneda) did it click both airports were in the same city.
Jul 31, 2013, 1:20 am
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
When I read the segments I always say "Tokyo, but the other airport in Tokyo, so it's actually H-N-D instead" (or the same for Seoul, Shanghai etc.) Never had an agent treat it as an open jaw if I do this.
Jul 31, 2013, 1:57 am
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 600
Anyone has insights / would like to share their experience on NH First Class availability to/from Europe? Especially as to how long in advance they open up their inventory.
(Been trying to book them for several trips now, and when searching for availability through a period of several weeks, nothing ever shows up)
I have the same issue with CA, but since I'm not such a big CA fan, that's not too important
(Been trying to book them for several trips now, and when searching for availability through a period of several weeks, nothing ever shows up)
I have the same issue with CA, but since I'm not such a big CA fan, that's not too important