LHR/MEL/Europe FF

it must vary I guess. I know in Australia it is common for insurance to fly you home in the same class of travel booked.

arunv

I meant calling into my bank's 24hr customer service line and reporting my cards stolen. As another poster mentioned this was very easy and the issuing banks were very accommodating about sending out replacements.

I have emergency medical evac insurance but I didn't purchase a more thorough travel insurance. This was probably a mistake but I've learned my lesson. Luckily, I did not get hurt when I was robbed but it was still pretty unsettling. Also have some friends here that have been very supportive since. Appreciate everyone's advice, just figuring out my next steps at this point.

agjil

Hi everyone,

I booked a *A award flight USA-North Asia in business class back in February, and I just found out there were a couple of schedule changes, which messed up my booking.
From what I read, US can't fix any *A flights anymore with the exception of a few airlines, but unfortunately I'm flying on UA, NH, and OZ, which are not dealing with US anymore I believe.
So instead of trying to fix it somehow, I'd rather re-book the whole journey on OW carriers, as my destinations are all served well by OW airlines.

I have a few questions about going down this road before I commit though:

1) The required miles for USA-North Asia in J has increased by 20k miles since I booked my award flight.
Is US going to ask me for the additional miles if I want to re-book the whole thing with OW airlines?
I'm not sure how this is going to work as the flight schedule changes are the reason I need to make this change.

2) This thread has too many posts so I couldn't read the entire thread, however I'm wondering if there was any case where someone fixed a *A award booking successfully after March 30 due to a schedule change.

3) Other than re-booking the whole journey with OW carriers, is there any other option I have at this point?

Thank you-!

beofotch

In Dec 2012 usdm changed my parents flights after they started travel when they missed a bkk - hkg flight and bought their own.

It took much supervisor discussion and $150 change fee on each ticket.

I was a chairman at the time

SPLP007

I would check my home owners or renters insurance , I have collected on a few things that I did not think i had insurance for -- get copies of the police reports and embassy report ,you may need them when you get back home

flyinstyle

Today I tried to look at my reservation , I found my SK flight got schedule change which is only 5 mins different, same flight number..and it doesn't affect my trip at all. I called US AIR.. they told me that my ticket doesn't need to be reissued.. and I checked on saudi website the ticket is still showing the original flight schedule... Are they right for no need to reissue ticket?

Thanks

Air Rarotonga

1) by 99% you will be charged the higher amount of miles, valid as today

2) yes

3) award with remaining US partners


Yes.

siaa380

Has anyone had to change their flight mid-trip for something beyond their control? (i.e. weather, flight cancellation etc.) How was it handled? Did you have to book OneWorld flights as a substitute?

eponymous_coward

Day of flight it's usually handled by the operating airline (they're responsible).

Month in advance you're on your own, US can't wave a wand and make *A inventory magically appear any more.

What's the specific situation? The cases of "OMG weather the day I am flying" and "OMG the airline cancelled my flight 6 months from now" are substantially different.

siaa380

Not really anything specific, I just have a trip planned in January with multiple segments with multiple airlines so I wondering if anyone has had to deal with this already in case the worst happens.

puchalskir

I called OZ to see if they could just switch me to the later flight, which I saw had 2 award seats available in business. They said they couldn't and I would have to call US Air. They said they would leave the ticket as is.

I am willing to take the risk of missing my connection in ICN. I've transited through there before, so I think we can make a 45 minute connection. However, I have a few concerns.

When I show up to the airport to leave from EWR, will my ticket be valid even though I have an illegal connection? I don't want to get to EWR and have issues.

My connection is going from LH from MUC to an OZ flight (in business).
If I can just do carry on, I should be fine, but LH is notorious about carryons, but are they as strict with business class tickets?

If I miss my connection, would OZ still accommodate me on the next flight? I don't care about class of service.

If I miss the connection, would my return flight on Eva still be valid?

I can pay for my one-way flight from ICN-TPE if I miss the cnx, but I don't want my return flight to be cancelled.

Any thoughts would be helpful.

On another note, can anyone tell me if there is availability of any oneworld flights from ICN-TPE on June 29th after noon or on June 30th for 2 people?

Thanks.
Rich

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

if you miss any flight segments, it's always a good idea to call US airways and confirm the rest of your ticket is still ok.

this applies even if OZ accommodates you on another flight, because you never know for sure the agent has rebooked you correctly and hasn't 'no showed' you (which would cancel the rest of the ticket).

buying your own ticket (if that happens) puts you more at risk. always call USDM to update them, and ensure that whatever you're doing is ok. (it would ideally be better for OZ to help you and do the rebooking)

hand luggage on Lufthansa premium classes shouldn't be a problem

Pseudo Nim

Normally, the minimum connection time in ICN is 1h10min for international to international. That said, I was on a KIX-ICN-RGN flight recently where my connection was just under an hour (55 mins if memory serves) and it was way, way more than enough. I had time to meander around a bit and consider going to the lounge; when I finally went to the gate, boarding had started but was far from over.

I'd say you'll be tight with 45 mins, but should not be dangerous. Furthermore - once you have started flying the ticket, doesn't the airline take control of it? Ie, if they need to rebook you, isn't it out of US's control at that point anyhow and so, shouldn't they no longer care?

Air Rarotonga

As many posters say, it might good be possible to make the connection, if everything goes smooth.

If there are irregularities, the operating carrier *could* refuse to pay for rebookings, accomodation, etc. as the ticket was not issued correctly and the minimum connection was not obeyed... It could be, but does not has to be this way... So if possible, I would change the connection in advance.

jphripjah

Well, here's an interesting one. I've got a wonderfully convoluted pre-merger Star Alliance award booked, for 120k miles in J, leaving in the US in two days and going to Asia like this:

LAS-YYZ (AC)
YYZ-MUC (AC) - 9 day stopover in Munich
MUC-BKK (TG)
BKK-PNH (TG)

Then I return in September like this:

PNH-ICN (OZ)
ICN-VVO (OZ) - 23 hours in Vladivostok
VVO-PEK (CA)
PEK- LAX (UA)
LAX-PHX (US)
PHX-LAS (US)

Yes, it's one segment too many, originally it went LAX-LAS but that flight was cancelled I think. It's been changed a few times due to schedule changes.

Here's what is happening now. US just called me and said that Air China no longer flies VVO-PEK. Flight cancelled. She asked if I need to go to VVO, I told her I did want to go there. (It was a deliberate 23 hour stop in a city I've never been to). She said she would look into this and get back to me.

As far as I can tell, no former Star Alliance partner with whom US Airways has a current relationship flies out of VVO anymore.

When she calls back, I am going to suggest keeping everything unchanged up to VVO, then routing me on OneWorld carriers on the way back to LAS from there-- VVO-NRT on S7 is available and then NRT-LAX-LAS on AA (though this is available only at standard/high level).

I know that US doesn't allow combining *A and OW on the same ticket, but do you folks think it's something they COULD do if they wanted to? They have the award inventory up to VVO on *A, I'm ticketed on those flights, I would hope they would feel an obligation to get me back home from VVO, and it seems they have the OW inventory to do this.

Should I push for that, or is it a lost cause? Is there some reason why US would be unable (vs. unwilling) to do combine carriers from both alliances? Could/would they do it as two separate award tickets (one ticket to VVO on *A and one from VVO-LAS on OW) and just agree not to charge me the extra miles?

I don't know what other options I would have aside from canceling the ticket, or maybe they will try to route me back from PNH directly on former *A carriers, skipping VVO, but that will be hard now that they no longer partner with EVA or OZ or UA.

Let me know what you think my chances are of getting them to combine *A and OW, or issue me two tickets for no extra miles charge, due to the dropped route. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.