goodo

I ticketed today an award for travel in June/July 2014 so that's certainly not the case! SQ C here I come!

goodo

Air Rarotonga

Why shouldn't they (if they find the available seats in their system)?

beachfan

SQ wouldn't budge. I spoke to them myself, and got a helpful USAIR rep who called SQ three separate times and spoke to three separate people (one of them a supervisor), all of whom said there was nothing they could do.

So I guess I lose a night in the Maldives. If this was within 90 days, I'd be screwed because of the cancellation penalites. As it is, it's a bummer - I can get there if I'm will to take an extra stop in CMB, but LAX-HKG-SIN-CMB-MLE-transfer to island seems too much.

frudd38

does USDM charge both the redeposit and close in fee if changing a few days out?

murtuza

I am looking for 4 J class seats on SQ for trip from BOM-SIN-BOM, but currently only see 2 available seats in J. I want all the 4 PAX to reach SIN at the same time (there are 2 adults and 2 kids). I have 2 options here:

A. Book 2 PAX in J and 2 PAX in X right now and hope for J availability to open up at later date..

B. Split it on 2 different flight such as below reaching at ~ same time in SIN such as:

1. BOM-SIN-BOM for 2 PAX in J
2. BOM-DEL-SIN-DEL-BOM for 2 PAX in J


For option B, do I need to buy separate ticket from BOM-DEL and DEL-BOM or are there other options available?

murtuza

Yes, as far as I know!

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

I'm sorry to hear that

this seems to confirm that sq can be a bit of a tough nut to crack. about three years ago a friend and I both booked SQ F on a 'regional' route which was rumoured to become an a380. my ticket went through ok, but SQ claims they didn't receive the ticket number from USDM in time and auto cancelled (and back then I think SQ was instant ticketing).

my friend initially got the 'cant help' response, but to his credit, 6 months later, and after escalating to every known individual in Singapore airlines (and I mean literally everyone he could find) they reinstated the ticket! (we joke about it now but we suspected at the time the $$ in wasted staff hours probably outweighed the cost of the ticket so they just gave it to him!)

it's a shame they can't be more flexible.

VanquishShadow

hi,

im wondering if USDM offers the 24 hour cancellation policy (full refund, no fees) on award tickets booked thru USDM?

(Similar to what is offered by UAMP for award tickets booked there)

ellylex

Before USAir-AA merger takes place, I decided to use the miles for the reward everyone raved about - USA to Asia via Europe for 90K.
I will be booking the following route:
LAX-EWR/or IAD-AMS (stopover) so far on United
AMS - ZRH- PVG on Swiss
PVG - Seoul - LAX on Asiana

I would love to experience/get seats more on Asian airlines: like Singapore,ANA, Asiana, Thai.
1. Reading reviews of other travellers got me to think - maybe it would be a much better experience to get First Class for 120K OR it is not worth it, business class would be just as great?

2. Also, perhaps someone can suggest "better" routings to get seats on Asian airlines.
OR Asiana has great business class and there is no point in changing for another airline?

3. How do you rate first/business classes between the airlines: Singapore,ANA, Asiana, Thai. I also found seats on United Dreamliner for Asia-USA segment

tc69

Apologies for this basic question. I have not used dividend miles to redeem for flights before so this is a very newbie question. I just called us airways to ask how many miles it would take to redeem a return flight from Manchester, England to Tokyo in first class and the call person said 110,000 miles. This is 10,000 miles higher than I was expecting given the partner award chart from Europe to north Asia in first. Is 110,000 miles correct? If not, should I call back again and hope the next person I get tells me that is 10,000 miles less?
Many thanks.

RTW1

Why call them when you can clearly see on the Partner Award chart that it's 100.000 miles to get you to North Asia in F?

Only call them when you are ready to book your award and only then when they quote you a different mileage point out to them that Japan really is a North Asia destination. Sometimes the call center agents have no idea where airports are located.

tc69

I called because I was worried there may be "hidden charges" in terms of mileage. The BMI award chart I used to use had extra charges in terms of mileage when I had a connecting flight within the UK- sometimes this was not so obvious to spot in the actual award chart.

RTW1

There's no hidden charge, just expect something like $175-200 in taxes/processing fee. Might be a bit more due to the higher UK taxes for C and F flights.

It's best to find availability first by using something like the UA website for awards or the ANA award tool, and when you have the dates/flights you want then call them to book. Unfortunately for partner flights it cannot be done online.

First might be difficult to find, but Business normally has decent availability.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

competing issues here!

a little matrix for you to consider might be this:

generally speaking, any full flat bed in business class outweighs an angled bed. so UA wins out over it's European and Asian competitors with angled beds.

the exception might be a short regional daytime Asian flight... where you might choose Singapore airlines over united.

if the Asian or European operator is offering full flat beds (and not all their routes do!), then generally speaking even their business class will surpass any offering by united (even first class) in terms of food, alcohol, service and lounges.

the difference between first class and business class on United is not that great... both offer full flat beds, almost the same meals etc. you get a wider seat in first.

for other carriers, the difference between first and business class is much greater. better amenities, wider seats and/or private cabins, pajamas, premium alcohol and food including caviar, some superb lounges, great ground handling (with Thai).

would I pay the extra for first class? absolutely if you can include asiana (particularly their suites ICN-JFK), and also include a sector departing from bangkok (buggy service and massage from Thai). note that Singapore airlines and Lufthansa/swiss first class is not available for long haul fights... so you need to choose thai, asiana, ANA.

(in fact I always try for first regardless, but not everyone sees the better value for example on united.)

tommyleo

I agree with everything LHR/MEL/Europe FF wrote above, except that certain OZ and CA (Air China) flights have fantastic lie-flat business class seats, too. And those airlines' service and food are WAY superior to UA's.

As for the reasons for flying in F, take the time to visit the links in my signature below. (Note that LX F is no longer available.)