Lewis42

I know you have to book a return ticket but I also know people have had success doing...

LAX -> HND
HND -> ORD

Can you do...
LHR -> HND
HND -> LAX?

newyorklondon

I'm not sure. The best way to find out would be to search UA for 'Saver Award' availability as two one-ways, then call up VS to see if they can ticket the segments as as a 'return'.

Fc912

Sorry if I missed this in the thread, but is it possible to change the date of the return segment once travel has started?

newyorklondon

This is definitely worth a call to VS to confirm, but I assume as VS is - in effect - the travel agent for NH, any changes would be the standard Ł30/$50, even if mid-trip. I've done this with VS, but not with an NH reward ticket using VS miles.

However, I think you would not be eligible for any mileage refund at all if you wanted to cancel the return segment outright after flying the first segment.

frudd38

Slightly off topic, but when booking an award seat for a child (age 2-12; not lap infant), the taxes come out to 4-5 times higher than an adult award.. Is this some sort of VS policy? The operating metal is DL and I verified it's not coming from them. VS site won't let you book a child as an adult either.

Some research shows they axed some child tax a couple years ago when departing UK and just wondering if the site is lagging behind on updates. TIA

Edit: Looking further in the breakdown, it's a YR charge of 14k yen for HND-LAX. So basically a BS charge like YQ?

newyorklondon

Yeah, YR is carrier-imposed charges, and the YR is 0 on adult redemptions on that route on DL metal, which makes me think this is a fare computation error at VS's end. I'd call up VS and explain the situation, and see whether their ticketing department can override the JPY 14k per sector. It's very clear that a child should not be being charged $200 or so per sector when an adult is being charged $0.

frudd38

Thanks, the supervisor was able to adjust it after holding an hour. They agree it's a system error and will look into it.

newyorklondon

Thanks for reporting back, that's great to know (but not great that you had to hold for an hour, though)!

dommer

Hey everyone!

Trying to book ANA F from either JFK/ORD/IAD/IAH-NRT. I gave the VS representative about 8 different dates June/July 2019 once I found availability on United Saver. The rep said all of those seats came back unconfirmed.

Any reason why I got didnt get any seats(looking for one)? Is it because it is too far in advance? Any advice will be helpful

Thanks!

frudd38

Apologies I just noticed there's a separate thread for partners non NH, if mods can move my posts, thanks.

AZ Travels the World

I had this happen to me. I saw the saver seats on the United website, called VS and the agent said she didn't see the availability. I told her that I could see the seats on another partner's website and she took it as a challenge and tried a couple more things and then found the seats and they came back confirmed.

As discussed earlier in this thread, some agents just don't know how to get the system to show them. Keep calling back until you get an agent who does -- or is willing to work at it.

Drew523

It isn't just you. I'm having the same problem as well booking flights from LAX to both HND/NRT for April/.May 2019. I was pretty flexible on my dates too. Both ANA and United websites would show 2 seats available if I book through them but it would be a higher redemption rate compared to VS... I also use ExpertFlyer and result show up as having open seats on those additional dates I was open to fly out on. I've called a few times, gave them flight# and everything and they either come up as either "unavailable" or only 1 leg of the trip had either First or Business Class available...

I may have to just book Delta One Suite through VS instead since I can't get a ANA flight. ANA would be more ideal and cost effective too..

newyorklondon

I'm sure you've got this right, but just to be clear, the UA search needs to return availability in the Saver Award category (J or F), not Everyday Award. If you can see it in Saver Award, then it is available to be booked as a redemption via VS. If it's not working out then see below!

Absolutely +1 to this. Although it appears common on FT, these kind of redemptions are very rare for the average VS phone agent. We are also rare here on FT in that we are probably phoning up looking for a particular cabin redemption on a specific flight on a specific day. Of the few people who do seek NH redemptions via VS, I suspect many phone up saying something like, "I''ve got 200k VS miles and I want to use them to fly to Japan on NH. What's available?" Unlike DL redemptions, which can be booked immediately, the NH redemptions need to be requested by VS, so the process - which is on a per booking basis, rather than looking at a range of dates - is much longer. The result is that you can hear the heart sink in many - not all - VS agents when you call up and just mention the letters N and H!

dommer

Yes I was referring to Saver award category. Looked on expert flyer and seats were available as well. Just gonna HUCA until I get it!

newyorklondon

Good luck and do report back!