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Novice Needs FF Help--JFK to Asia-Flying Blue

Novice Needs FF Help--JFK to Asia-Flying Blue

Old Feb 11th, 2009, 06:02 AM
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Novice Needs FF Help--JFK to Asia-Flying Blue

Please bear with me here. I have never used FF tickets.

I plan to travel from New York area to Asia. I plan to visit Vietnam and China; hopefully I can fly JFK to Hanoi or Saigon and depart Asia from Shanghai or Beijing. This will be in March/April 2010.

I have enough miles for a business class ticket. KoreanAir comes to mind, but China Southern and Continental also fly from NY area. Korean would probably be my first choice because they have good connection from Seoul to Saigon/Hanoi and from Chinese cities to Seoul. What are my chances to get a FF ticket?

Please tell me what I need to do to snag a free ticket. Who do I call and when? (DoI call FlyingBlue or do I call Korean?) What is the penalty for changing dates? I am flexible about dates and would like to plan the trip around these FF flights. Trip will likely be 3-4 weeks duration.

I am also willing to pay for an upgradable coach ticket if I can be guaranteed the upgrades.

The whole FF issue seems so overwhelming--please give me guidance. Thank you so much!
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 06:22 AM
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You call the airline that you have miles with.

Good luck!
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 06:25 AM
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btw, just because they may not have any award inventory available on the day you call, do not give up. Keep on calling back. Award inventory opens up at all different times, and usually about 30-60 days before the flight is the best time.
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 06:30 AM
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Hi, ekscrunchy!

In addition to the advice given by AAFrequentFlyer, you might also view the website of the airline whose frequent flyer miles you possess. Check out the website feature that is usually called Reward Travel, or similar.

Happy travels, and do let us know how you end up.
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 07:02 AM
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Thanks so much! I feel like a dunce asking these basic questions--the whole issue sounds so complicated!

I thought that people book 330 days out--and now you say 30-60 days--what to do?

Any thoughts on which routes/airlines to choose from the list I mentioned above?




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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 07:11 AM
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People do call 330 days out and in most cases they are successful in securing seat(s), but what I meant is this, if all the initial seats were given away do not despair. Airlines will release more as travel date is closer for flights that are not selling well.

When booking award seats you will have to be at least somewhat flexible with dates, and then grab any seats that are available in the class of service you want, regardless of the airline(s).

Good luck!
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 08:06 AM
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I usually book 330 days out (I just secured UA flights from JFK to SYD for December, and I note that that the free seats are gone already, only two days after I booked). That's not to say that free seats won't free up, but there are other ramifications from delaying.

For example, from SYD I am flying to Vanuatu and back from New Caledonia, and right now, the cheapest seats are available. Assuming I did not get my UA tix to SYD until much later in the year, those cheap tix may no longer be available.

I assume you'll also purchase some add-on flights to get from Vietnam to China, and again, those are likely cheapest now.
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 08:11 AM
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assume you'll also purchase some add-on flights to get from Vietnam to China,

why would you assume that?
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 09:17 AM
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You can try using www.asiares.nwa.com to check award availability. Select search by Worldperks award. I use it to search Skyteam availability on several carriers but haven't used it much for Korean or China Southern so can't vouch for the accuracy of those two carriers. And in any case, you'll still need to contact Flying Blue to book as that site is for Worldperks members.

I'm not familiar with Flying Blue but in looking at their from North America award chart, it doesn't explicitly exclude routing through Europe as an option for North America to Asia (as it does for North America to Latin America 2) so you might want to ask about that possibility as well.

For Skyteam mileage upgrades, here are the applicable fare classes http://www.klm.com/travel/nl_en/flyi...d/index.htm#11 In most cases, it is from full Y only.
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 09:21 AM
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PS - You might also want to post this on the Flying Blue forum at Flyertalk.
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 09:31 AM
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<<assume you'll also purchase some add-on flights to get from Vietnam to China,

why would you assume that?>>

Because most of the threads on Fodors, compared say to Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, are not from those undertaking lenghty overland journeys. I would be very surprised, albeit pleasantly so, if I read a thread on Fodors from someone overlanding from Vietnam to Beijing. I know that I have posted some trip reports on Fodors from some of my overland journeys and people reacted as if I was a modern-day Marco Polo.

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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 09:34 AM
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What I meant was that it's possible to book an an award ticket for all the spots mentioned.

US-China-Vietnam-US or something close to it.
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 09:41 AM
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From the KLM website -

Can I modify an award ticket?

Yes, if the ticket is not issued, any change is possible free of charge
Once the award ticket is issued, you can change it against EUR 40 administrative fees (free of charge if Open Miles award ticket).
· Before departure: You can change the date and destination (in the same zone)
· After departure: only the date can be changed.

Please note that a cancellation will require a new booking to be made without delay.If you cannot make a new booking immediately, you can request to have your ticket reimbursed. Administrative fees of EUR 40 are also applicable.
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 10:26 AM
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MANY thanks! I only wish I could go overland from Beijing to Vietnam! Not with the two friends who will travel with me however!

Yes, I am hoping to get the ticket routed through to Vietnam and home from China or vice versa if need be.

I wonder what the reason is for the 330 days..why not just one year ahead?
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 10:54 AM
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The 330-day rule has stumped me, too, and its not universal -- I think some airlines use 331 days, and others use periods a few days more or less than that.

You can usually go to the airline's website and use the book award ticket function to see the furthest date that you can book. I have checked that on Continental, Delta and United, but not KLM.

Your around three months away from being able to book March. And, some airlines will allow you to hold the outbound (as soon as it becomes available) and then add your return (as it becomes available). Some airlines, however, to not.

I put a tickler in my calendar to remind me of the dates that free tix become available for planned trips and I call as soon as possible. I know that United, for example, based their calendar on midnight, Hawaii time, so I got up early in NY to call them.
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 11:58 AM
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Many thanks, Michael. I will figure out the first date to call and mark it (with pen!) in my calendar. (As you might imagine, I've no idea about a tickler!) I am certainly willing to get up and call the first minute it becomes possible!

Where are you off to next?
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Old Feb 11th, 2009, 12:23 PM
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Leaving Friday (two days) for El Salvador, but paid for that ticket, not using miles. I like to pay for fares when they are reasonable (I have a figure in my head for what I like to "earn" per mile, and I usually only cash in miles if ticket would be $2,000+). So, I don't use miles for Europe, the Caribbean or Central America, only for Asia, Africa and the Pacific (incl. Australia and NZ).
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Old Feb 12th, 2009, 06:23 AM
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I agree--not want to waste my (limited) miles on such "short" trips. Have a terrific time! I look forward to seeing the pics!! You really should be taking notes for a book..

Thanks so much for your help--I may come back with more questions as things progress.
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Old Mar 3rd, 2009, 04:27 AM
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The plan for this winter 2010 trip has changed. We plan to visit Burma and Shanghai. So I will try to get FF tickets from the NY area to Bangkok, and then from Shanghai to NYC. (Will purchase intra-Asia flights)

Question: is it possible to get this type of open-jaw FF ticket? (from NY to Bangkok and return from Shanghai?)


I was hoping to snag KoreanAir flights via Seoul...
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Old Mar 3rd, 2009, 06:20 AM
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Yes. It may be a better use of miles to get a roundtrip to Bangkok, with a stopover in Seoul. And, during your Seoul stopover you would buy a roundtrip to visit Shanghai. That is, it may be cheaper to fly roundtrip from Seoul to Shanghai, than one-way from Bangkok to Shanghai.

You can also check if you can fly on China Southern, and fly them roundtrip to Bangkok with a stopover in Guangzhou, and from Guangzhou do your roundtrip to Shanghai (that's probably cheaper than doing the roundtrip from Seoul).
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