US Dividend Miles - Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[MEL_Traveller]

So I am now at T-4days to lose my TG virginity - what can I expect in TG J - PJs? Amenity kit? More importantly - what champagne do they serve please?

Important to manage expectations when it comes to TG J.

No PJs and a pretty poor amenity kit. Champagne vairies, but I think the latest offering is Piper heidsieck. If you have full flat beds that's a saving grace, but otherwise the food and service by all accounts lately has gone down hill significantly: expect more of a premium economy offering with business class hard product.

lounges are fairly poor in BKK (there are better Qantas clubs in Australia) - but the best of the bunch is the lounge on Concourse D, opposite the spa.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Thanks MEL - yes I have been forewarned by a couple of mates who are also SQ regulars but who have sampled TG - I have 466 J MEL-BKK / 970 F BKK-ZRH / 921 F FRA-BKK / 461 J BKK-MEL. Both J sectors day flts. But they do have F lounge in BKK don't they?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks MEL - yes I have been forewarned by a couple of mates who are also SQ regulars but who have sampled TG - I have 466 J MEL-BKK / 970 F BKK-ZRH / 921 F FRA-BKK / 461 J BKK-MEL. Both J sectors day flts. But they do have F lounge in BKK don't they?

there is a first lounge which is actually not too bad (has been eclipsed by many other F lounges around the world now, but it's nice enough). if you are connecting straight through on the way back to MEL you will be also able to use the F lounge by virtue or arriving in F (but as a connecting business class passenger you'll only get a 30 minute rather than 60 minute spa treatment).

a buggy should pick you up from the arriving flight (466) and take you straight to the F lounge. and same for reverse if you are connecting straight through (the buggy will otherwise take you to baggage reclaim).

being an F pax will make the transfers in bangkok a lot easier...they do everything for you.

 

[diningdecadence]

i've asked this before, but how long is too long in the F lounge? if you're on a connecting flight your departure tax is not included if you decide to go into the city right? so that's an extra 700BHT cost? with time taken from airport to town and back, plus clearing security - how long would it worthwhile going into town for (e.g. go if you have an 8 hour layover, but don't if you have a 6 hour layover etc)

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Thanks again MEL - part of me is wishing I had never got tangled up in this USDM concept - after I confirmed this flt I had 2 other confirmed bookings into PVG and PEK but TG changed schedules to render both unworkable so had to cancel. When I cancelled those I was worried about this upcoming flt so I waitlisted 2 x F flts with SQ - now ZRH-SIN-MEL has confirmed and I can see availability J MEL-SIN-ZRH and FRA. But I gotta burn these pts so will endure it - no problem - I treat any flt like an adventure.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks again MEL - part of me is wishing I had never got tangled up in this USDM concept - after I confirmed this flt I had 2 other confirmed bookings into PVG and PEK but TG changed schedules to render both unworkable so had to cancel. When I cancelled those I was worried about this upcoming flt so I waitlisted 2 x F flts with SQ - now ZRH-SIN-MEL has confirmed and I can see availability J MEL-SIN-ZRH and FRA. But I gotta burn these pts so will endure it - no problem - I treat any flt like an adventure.

First class is actually ok! Quite enjoyable. Just their business class is such a huge step down from F, and has deteriorated somewhat over the last few years. They do mix a good martini in business class though. Enough of those and the flight is ok.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

i've asked this before, but how long is too long in the F lounge? if you're on a connecting flight your departure tax is not included if you decide to go into the city right? so that's an extra 700BHT cost? with time taken from airport to town and back, plus clearing security - how long would it worthwhile going into town for (e.g. go if you have an 8 hour layover, but don't if you have a 6 hour layover etc)

The 700 is sometimes collected - but not always. Depends how observant the immigration officer is. It's about 50/50 whether you will be sent back to pay it or not.

I would say around 4 hours is about the max time in the lounge: arrive, settle and order a drink; check emails; have a massage; have something to eat and check more emails. 8 hours though won't get you much in terms of time in BKK - maybe two hours at most. You'll have to decide if it's worth heading out into the heat for a couple hours.

 

[bismarck]

Thanks again MEL - part of me is wishing I had never got tangled up in this USDM concept - after I confirmed this flt I had 2 other confirmed bookings into PVG and PEK but TG changed schedules to render both unworkable so had to cancel. When I cancelled those I was worried about this upcoming flt so I waitlisted 2 x F flts with SQ - now ZRH-SIN-MEL has confirmed and I can see availability J MEL-SIN-ZRH and FRA. But I gotta burn these pts so will endure it - no problem - I treat any flt like an adventure.

Be sure to report back Cruiser. I am TG J to FRA in about a month. Also tossing up whether to head into BKK for my 7 hour transit.

 

[bcworld]

Thanks MEL - yes I have been forewarned by a couple of mates who are also SQ regulars but who have sampled TG

Food is certainly better on SQ...but if amenity kits concern you, well there is none in SQ J! I think TG do some OK kits in terms of them being reusable for whatever...they're always changing though. No pjs on either in J...in common with most airlines. Flying TG J is not a hardship...we might've gotten a bit bored of it because it's always available and often it's the only option but I have very few complaints about it.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Flying TG J is not a hardship...

Just pleased I will have SQ F Lounge in MEL before I depart.

 

[bcworld]

Just pleased I will have SQ F Lounge in MEL before I depart.

How will you get access to the F lounge?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Chocolate bars to SQ staff Rita, Rico and Lucky on front desk over last whatever years + chocolate bars to 2 x lounge ladies inside = ANYTIME ACCESS - easy

 

[casanovawa]

I've had no problem with TG J... Thankfully i still keep my expectations in check so am usually pleasantly surprised...

Flying their 787 and then a 747 in J in October, never flown either of those TG products so looking forward to checking them out...

From reading all this it sounds like booking USDM flights have gotten quite a bit more complicated since they left *A, although it was easy enough to check availability back then but I had several 2+ hour skype calls trying to get my itineraries booked...

 

[whole-lotta-moxie]

Chocolate bars to SQ staff Rita, Rico and Lucky on front desk over last whatever years + chocolate bars to 2 x lounge ladies inside = ANYTIME ACCESS - easy

Is this a joke or is it code for something else? Surely it can't be as simple as a chocolate bar???

 

[bismarck]

Is this a joke or is it code for something else? Surely it can't be as simple as a chocolate bar???

Cruiser flies SQ R out of MEL quite frequently I believe....probably has more to do with it

 

[whole-lotta-moxie]

Cruiser flies SQ R out of MEL quite frequently I believe....probably has more to do with it

Ohhhh lucky thing. Ok that makes sense

 

[Cruiser Elite]

....probably has more to do with it

Yes maybe a tad more to it than that - add wit, charm, good looks, fabulous sense of humour .................... now you're getting the drift

 

[jgm]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Four weeks going goggled-eyed with availability searches and phone calls to US Airways and still getting no-where. Whenever I find award availability it doesn't show up on the USDM system. This is my first time redeeming miles and I'm about ready to give up on my 360,000 miles and go by ship instead. I'm looking at flying MEL- anywhere in Italy (or thereabouts) anywhere in the first 2 weeks of June 2015 (or thereabouts) and returning ANYTIME after 20th July 2015. So, I'm pretty flexible. I know the USDM system is only going up to about 23 July so far so that doesn't show too many options.

One good thing in all these phone calls was that one of the support staff did say that it would soon be possible to book one way flights with half the points of a round trip. Yay!! So you could lock in an outbound flight while waiting for a return to come up.

Anyway, my question is. Am I trying too early? Can I ignore it for a while and try again in a month or 3 or 6 and still be safe?

What class are you looking for, & how many seats? I can see availability in 2 x J PER-HKG on 1/6 & 1 x f HKG-MIL on 2/6 both with CX (haven't looked for return flights yet). MEL-PER has plenty of availability with QF.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Ohhhh lucky thing. Ok that makes sense

On a serious not wlm I have done dozens and dozens of ret F and J flts with SQ ex MEL - I started the chocky gift concept very early on and just do it every trip - the staff love that someone brings them a small gift - it's no big deal and a very small cost to me - tickles my fancy that I can be flying J* / VA or whoever and the girls on front desk of SQ lounge wave me in.

 

[bismarck]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Four weeks going goggled-eyed with availability searches and phone calls to US Airways and still getting no-where. Whenever I find award availability it doesn't show up on the USDM system. This is my first time redeeming miles and I'm about ready to give up on my 360,000 miles and go by ship instead. I'm looking at flying MEL- anywhere in Italy (or thereabouts) anywhere in the first 2 weeks of June 2015 (or thereabouts) and returning ANYTIME after 20th July 2015. So, I'm pretty flexible. I know the USDM system is only going up to about 23 July so far so that doesn't show too many options.

One good thing in all these phone calls was that one of the support staff did say that it would soon be possible to book one way flights with half the points of a round trip. Yay!! So you could lock in an outbound flight while waiting for a return to come up.

Anyway, my question is. Am I trying too early? Can I ignore it for a while and try again in a month or 3 or 6 and still be safe?

I miss the days of *A. *O availability is so much harder to find (despite the product often being a little nicer since SQ was pretty much off limits).

It just scrapes into the first 2 weeks of June, but I can see...

[KVS Availability Tool 7.4.1/Diamond - Awards/OneWorld/AU-QFA-SP1]

MEL  Melbourne Metro / Tullamarine VI AU = MEL AVV [YMML]
MXP  Milan Malpensa IT [LIMC]
SUN  14 Jun 2015 | 2 Seats


Carrier    Flight  From  Depart    To    Arrive         St  Availability
---------  ------  ----  --------  ----  --------  ---  --  -------------
CX         134     MEL   07:40     HKG   15:20          0   FS-  CS+  YS-
 -> CX     233     HKG   01:00 +1  MXP   07:40 +1       0   FS+  CS-  YS-

Or you could combine one of these....

[KVS Availability Tool 7.4.1/Diamond - Awards/OneWorld/AU-QFA-SP1]

MEL  Melbourne Metro / Tullamarine VI AU = MEL AVV [YMML]
HKG  Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl HK [VHHH]
FRI  05 Jun 2015 | 2 Seats


Carrier    Flight  From  Depart    To    Arrive         St  Availability
---------  ------  ----  --------  ----  --------  ---  --  ------------
CX         104     MEL   14:20     HKG   21:50          0   CS+  YS+
QF         632     MEL   18:05     BNE   20:15          0   CS+  YS-
 -> CX     156     BNE   00:55 +1  HKG   07:45 +1       0   CS+  YS-
QF         636     MEL   20:05     BNE   22:15          0   CS+  YS-
 -> CX     156     BNE   00:55 +1  HKG   07:45 +1       0   CS+  YS-

With this...
[KVS Availability Tool 7.4.1/Diamond - Awards/OneWorld/AU-QFA-SP1]

HKG  Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Intl HK [VHHH]
MXP  Milan Malpensa IT [LIMC]
SAT  06 Jun 2015 | 2 Seats


Carrier    Flight  From  Depart    To    Arrive         St  Availability
---------  ------  ----  --------  ----  --------  ---  --  ------------
CX         645     HKG   18:40     DOH   22:05          0   CS+  YS-
 -> QR     123     DOH   00:45 +1  MXP   06:10 +1       0   CS+  YS-

And then coming back...

[KVS Availability Tool 7.4.1/Diamond - Awards/OneWorld/AU-QFA-SP1]

MXP  Milan Malpensa IT [LIMC]
MEL  Melbourne Metro / Tullamarine VI AU = MEL AVV [YMML]
SAT  25 Jul 2015 | 2 Seats


Carrier    Flight  From  Depart    To    Arrive         St  Availability
---------  ------  ----  --------  ----  --------  ---  --  ------------
CX         234     MXP   13:15     HKG   06:35 +1       0   FS+
 -> CX     163     HKG   10:35 +1  MEL   21:50 +1       0   FS-  CS+

Haven't really looked into alternate ports though. Could be some more options there.