CO Onepass questions
 

What's the reservation hold period for an intl partner award booked through Onepass? Do they have a partner desk like Skymiles?

Is there a fee to change dates for standard awards?

What's the fee to change origin/destination or redeposit a standard award?

Thanks!

http://www.continental.com/onepass/r.../ticketing.asp

If you are Elite yo uusually get "extra good" service, though the standard customer service is pretty darn good.

Thanks for the link. Do you know if the $50 fee applies when changing dates only but not origin/destination? Do you know how long the award hold period is?

Phone numbers to call for Onepass awards are here:

www.continental.com/contact/onepass/default.asp

Seperate numbers for domestic, international and EVA/Qantas.

Yes, the change fee applies when even just changing the date.

The hold may depend on the partner airline used, but usually they can put a 7-day hold.

Thanks, rkkwan!

FYI, the fee applies only for changes made after your travel has been ticketed, so if you put a hold on an itinerary and then change to other available dates before actual tickets are issued there is no fee. With partners it can take 24 hours or more for confirmation of availability; if you are at the end of yor 7 day courtesy hold and can't get confirmation from the partner you can always ask that they extend the hold. In my experience, usually they are quite willing to do so.

<With partners it can take 24 hours or more for confirmation of availability>

Does that ever happen if I'm only looking for availability on Skyteam carriers? I know when booking certain partner carriers like SQ using Skymiles, they have to send a request and wait for confirmation, but on an all Skyteam itinerary, they can confirm instantly. Is this how it works with Onepass too?

Depends on which Skyteam partner. Definitely instant with NW, DL, KL or AF. Don't know about AZ or KE. For OK, no.

Great, thanks! Mostly looking at KL. Interesting that OK doesn't provide instant access. Come to think of it I've never tried booking OK through Skymiles either.

Actually, rk, it is not always possible to verify reward travel instantly on SkyTeam partners, especially international. Sometimes options on NWA show up if you try to book online, but they are still working out the kinks on the system integration, so it is often better to speak with an agent. There is often a 24 hour period required for confirmation by partner airlines, according to the Elite desk agents.

One more question... I think I'm allowed both a stopover AND an open jaw on an award, am I reading that correctly?

Seamus - You may be right. But I've claimed NW awards online and AF awards on the phone, and everytime the confirmation is instant. I of course can't say it'll be true for all itineraries.

As for open-jaw and stopover, yes, I believe you can have one of each on the same award.