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]
Aug 6, 2010, 5:45 am
#2911
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: ZRH
Programs: M&M SEN (*G), HH Diamond
Posts: 2,418
Aug 6, 2010, 9:28 am
#2913
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: SIN
Programs: UA Platinum, DL Platinum, AFKL Gold, Qatar Gold
Posts: 895
What is the total mileage for all those flights?
Aug 6, 2010, 7:50 pm
#2914
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Perth, Australia
Programs: Hilton Diamond, QFF WP, Velocity Gold
Posts: 647
Hey guys,
I just managed to book one also:
PER-BKK TG C
BKK-DEL TG F
DEL-ZRH LX F (333!)
ZRH-FRA LH C
FRA-MCO LH F
MCO-FRA LH F
FRA-ICN OZ F
ICN-NRT OZ C
NRT-BKK TG F (still waiting on one first class seat...but hopefully they won't charge me for the change =))
BKK-PER TG C
All in 140 000 miles, 150 taxes 50 fee. First agent said I could do max 8 segments only but the second agent just put it through (albeit taking 1 hr 10 mins)
I just managed to book one also:
PER-BKK TG C
BKK-DEL TG F
DEL-ZRH LX F (333!)
ZRH-FRA LH C
FRA-MCO LH F
MCO-FRA LH F
FRA-ICN OZ F
ICN-NRT OZ C
NRT-BKK TG F (still waiting on one first class seat...but hopefully they won't charge me for the change =))
BKK-PER TG C
All in 140 000 miles, 150 taxes 50 fee. First agent said I could do max 8 segments only but the second agent just put it through (albeit taking 1 hr 10 mins)
Aug 7, 2010, 3:10 am
#2915
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: NAN, YVR
Programs: AC *SE, Westjet PLAT, UA Prem, Alaska MVP, Marriott Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 311
Aug 7, 2010, 3:15 am
#2916
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: NAN, YVR
Programs: AC *SE, Westjet PLAT, UA Prem, Alaska MVP, Marriott Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 311
Aug 7, 2010, 5:27 am
#2917
Join Date: Jul 2008
Programs: US*G BR*CE
Posts: 13
Hey guys,
I just managed to book one also:
PER-BKK TG C
BKK-DEL TG F
DEL-ZRH LX F (333!)
ZRH-FRA LH C
FRA-MCO LH F
MCO-FRA LH F
FRA-ICN OZ F
ICN-NRT OZ C
NRT-BKK TG F (still waiting on one first class seat...but hopefully they won't charge me for the change =))
BKK-PER TG C
All in 140 000 miles, 150 taxes 50 fee. First agent said I could do max 8 segments only but the second agent just put it through (albeit taking 1 hr 10 mins)
I just managed to book one also:
PER-BKK TG C
BKK-DEL TG F
DEL-ZRH LX F (333!)
ZRH-FRA LH C
FRA-MCO LH F
MCO-FRA LH F
FRA-ICN OZ F
ICN-NRT OZ C
NRT-BKK TG F (still waiting on one first class seat...but hopefully they won't charge me for the change =))
BKK-PER TG C
All in 140 000 miles, 150 taxes 50 fee. First agent said I could do max 8 segments only but the second agent just put it through (albeit taking 1 hr 10 mins)
nope, they won't charge for change fee
so if it becomes available, and you're gonna call to change, if the agent says they'd require you to pay a fee, hang up the phone and try again!
Aug 7, 2010, 6:11 am
#2918
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PHL
Programs: Former long-time US GP; now AA dirt
Posts: 4,904
You are my HERO!!! I just got home from what I thought was a long routing: PHL-LAX-ICN-BKK-HKG and HKG-BKK-ZRH-JFK. All in F except form ICN-BKK in C. But what you have planned is amazing. How did you get five segments in each direction? I thought the limit was four.
Aug 7, 2010, 6:22 am
#2919
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PHL
Programs: Former long-time US GP; now AA dirt
Posts: 4,904
Aug 7, 2010, 12:04 pm
#2920
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Washington, DC (DCA)
Programs: UA, AA, AS, SPG.
Posts: 3,463
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9650/5.0.0.699 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)
My record booked was 37,650 in F. But I ended up changing the return making it a "RTW" but reducing the mileage to about 32k
My record booked was 37,650 in F. But I ended up changing the return making it a "RTW" but reducing the mileage to about 32k
Aug 7, 2010, 12:10 pm
#2921
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: PDX/AUS
Programs: AA-UA-AS IHG-SPG-Carlson
Posts: 4,562
a few more Track-It-Back stickers...
Aug 7, 2010, 1:59 pm
#2922
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: NAN, YVR
Programs: AC *SE, Westjet PLAT, UA Prem, Alaska MVP, Marriott Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 311
Yes, you are right - they said 8 segments in total. I told them that BKK to AKL was one segment (via SYD) and the same coming back (AKL to BKK as one segment via SYD). They were OK with this since there were no first class between BKK-AKL direct.
Aug 7, 2010, 6:54 pm
#2923
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PHL
Programs: Former long-time US GP; now AA dirt
Posts: 4,904
I love it. That makes no sense at all (that BKK-SYD-AKL, on two different carriers, is one segment) -- but US went with it anyway!
Aug 9, 2010, 5:56 pm
#2924
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: MCI
Programs: Mega Bus Plaid; Southwest Airlines Ruby and Bates Motel Platinum
Posts: 246
I love this thread. I am a newbie at booking a *A US DM rewards trip, but the info in this thread has been tremendous. Now, I find myself confussed 
...not hard to do, I must say!
In looking to book my first awards trip, I have these questions.
The sticky at the front says that 2 stopovers per trip are permitted, but recent posts seem to suggest it is now either one open jaw or a stopover. Is that firm? Secondly, I am wondering how US Agents define a segment? I suspect it is a flight between airport A and B, but wonder if this is always the case. For instance, UA runs a flight which runs from OGG to KOA which last probably all of 17 minutes before the plane returns to ORD...would that first flight constitute a segment? The flight is generally denoted as OGG to ORD (with one stop). I am worried about bumping up against the segment limit...here again the initial sticky says limit of 10, but again recent posts suggest a tightening of the policy to 4 each way...any consensus?
Finally, I am probably looking at redeeming on a Biz class award...one leg of my flight will likely be in Coach and there is a short segment between MCI-ORD in which UA offers Coach and F. On a business award ticket am I limited to the coach level or would they allow a F redemption for this leg and possibly considering that I am downgrading later in the trip and no biz is offered on that flight?
Thanks so much for any available insight anyone can provide.
...not hard to do, I must say! In looking to book my first awards trip, I have these questions.
The sticky at the front says that 2 stopovers per trip are permitted, but recent posts seem to suggest it is now either one open jaw or a stopover. Is that firm? Secondly, I am wondering how US Agents define a segment? I suspect it is a flight between airport A and B, but wonder if this is always the case. For instance, UA runs a flight which runs from OGG to KOA which last probably all of 17 minutes before the plane returns to ORD...would that first flight constitute a segment? The flight is generally denoted as OGG to ORD (with one stop). I am worried about bumping up against the segment limit...here again the initial sticky says limit of 10, but again recent posts suggest a tightening of the policy to 4 each way...any consensus?
Finally, I am probably looking at redeeming on a Biz class award...one leg of my flight will likely be in Coach and there is a short segment between MCI-ORD in which UA offers Coach and F. On a business award ticket am I limited to the coach level or would they allow a F redemption for this leg and possibly considering that I am downgrading later in the trip and no biz is offered on that flight?
Thanks so much for any available insight anyone can provide.
Aug 9, 2010, 6:05 pm
#2925
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Purgatory
Programs: Too many to list. Status is a half dozen.
Posts: 9,235
Finally, I am probably looking at redeeming on a Biz class award...one leg of my flight will likely be in Coach and there is a short segment between MCI-ORD in which UA offers Coach and F. On a business award ticket am I limited to the coach level or would they allow a F redemption for this leg and possibly considering that I am downgrading later in the trip and no biz is offered on that flight?
I'll be interested to see what others answer regarding your segment question. On a revenue ticket, you don't get miles each segment on direct flights with a stop so I avoid them - which means I don't know how the segment count posts either. But if a revenue ticket on that route nets two segments, then I'd guess an award would require it too. YMMV with every agent, of course.