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

[MEL_Traveller]

awards can generally be put on hold for three days. there used to be two exceptions, Singapore airlines and air china, those required instant ticketing. Singapore airlines is now eligible for three day holds, not sure about air china.

 

[wafliron]

I think that that is the "real" question !! Can it be done?

A much more succinct way of asking the same question

Earlier in the week I brought a trial 10k & received the bonus 10k, I shared the 20k this morning into the other halves account, just waiting for it to show up now. I'm going to try and share miles across both accounts until we max out
the 50k.

Thanks for sharing - pun intended Please do let us know how it goes - and more importantly, how it goes when you are the recipient of the shared miles. I'm pretty confident your "other half" will get the miles as he/she is the one getting the bonus in this case (and doesn't sound like he/she has received bonus buy/gift miles this month) - the real question is whether you will be eligible to be the recipient of a bonus twice.

I wasn't going to bother purchasing miles as I already have next years holiday booked but it seems a great deal and you just don't know what the Aussie $ will do over the next 12 months.

Exactly my thinking as well..

 

[Alanslegal]

For those wondering it took close to 72 hours for the share points to hit my recipients account - so those who are going to do long sharing chains, be wary of any possible sharing delays.

 

[Flashback]

For those wondering it took close to 72 hours for the share points to hit my recipients account - so those who are going to do long sharing chains, be wary of any possible sharing delays.

That seems to be the case with buying miles these days, also. Makes it a lot harder to get the itin, put on hold, then buy the miles. They're onto us. Anyway...... I had a look at how cheap it was and decided to share 50+50 for my parents and send them in F rather than J on their next trip over here. In a way, I'm glad they dragged their feet and didn't buy last month!

 

[aikman]

Since I've read it can take a while to book over the phone, are there any tips to make the booking process more efficient? Should you give an overview of your itinerary first or just start quoting each segment one by one? Do you need to specify which is your stopover and destination city? Do you quote flight numbers or origin/destination pairs? City names or airport codes?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Since I've read it can take a while to book over the phone, are there any tips to make the booking process more efficient? Should you give an overview of your itinerary first or just start quoting each segment one by one? Do you need to specify which is your stopover and destination city? Do you quote flight numbers or origin/destination pairs? City names or airport codes?

You don't get to specify your destination and stopover city - it depends on the turn-around point. Booking with USDM is a case of agent roulette - you get some good agents and some not so good ones. Lately there has been a real push by them to go and check the validity of your routing even before you get too far into the call. They may for example go to the star alliance website and simply plug in your origin and destination, then based on the flights that come up they will look for availability.

But even for complex bookings it is worth being patient and thanking them profusely for their efforts. I usually find the first 20 mins of a call is taken by them wanting to search out a routing for you. Then they come back and say they can't find anything and that's your chance to open up the conversation for flights you might have found. Sometimes they'll come back with a long routing which you can then say 'hey I found those flights too but i have something shorter'. Taking this approach i recently got a complex round-the-world routing (for the same price as AU-USA) done in about 40 minutes.

Trying the 'i spoke to your colleague a while ago and they found some flights for me which I'd now like to book' seems to be wearing thin with some agents (liek they've heard it all before!!). It used to work great in the past (100% success rate) but not now at least for the agents i have had recently.

If you are trying to book AU-USA for example, some agents will stop after looking for UA/NZ flights. Others will say right at the beginning of the call 'oh - that's a really hard route - but maybe we can get you there via Asia'.

Remember that USDM reserves the right to choose the routing for you. Starting off quoting flights may get them off side, not worth it if you have a sticky agent who wants to do it their way to start.

 

[GCC]

Hope that makes some sense.

Yes, thanks again. Could work quite nicely, booking SYD - LHR return for all of us, with separate outward dates and all of us on the same flight LHR - SYD. I can fly SYD - LHR and spend a few days there then fly LHR - YVR return, either paid or as a QFF award.

Appreciate your thoughts on kids and the F cabin, but the attraction is really flying F. We would all be together for the homeward leg, and Toddler G is a very seasoned traveller.

Starting from scratch and using the current promo, the cost of flying TG J takes us into "would it be better to fly QF Y+" territory, which has some advantages like F lounge, SC's, points earn and possible j upgrade (assuming there is a Y+ sale). With F cabin though, that argument doesn't really have much sway!

The TG reviews don't seem very complimentary, although the new A380 might change all that?

 

[travelislife]

Ok, I currently have two accounts each with 120,000 I was going to use for J return MEL-BKK-Europe. With the current share promo what is the easiest way and how much would it cost to take each of these accounts to 150,000 miles?

If I share 30k from one account that gives account A with 90k and account B with 180k after bonus. I then share 30k to account A from account B to end up with 150k in both accounts? Total cost of this is $600 USD? ($300 each share).

If the above is correct with what I have said it is pretty much a no brainer even if we still only fly business class MEL-BKK and then pick first up from there for another $300!

 

[Alanslegal]

The TG reviews don't seem very complimentary, although the new A380 might change all that?

If people using USDM aren't happy about TG F or J, then as far as I am concerned they can fly Y At the end of the day folks are getting premium flights for the same price (or even less sometimes) than equivalent economy flights.

However TG is the easiest carrier to book with from Bangkok to/from Australia, and Bangkok to/from Europe. TG F is a very good product all round; yes some existing plane cabins look dated but F is still a nice flat bed, caviar is served, as well as Dom Perignon, they provide great ground service at BKK, very good service onboard as well. And now some routes will be serviced by the flagship A380's this will really give some stiff competition to its competitors. IMO the overall TG F A380 package will beat QF F A380!!

 

[Alanslegal]

If I share 30k from one account that gives account A with 90k and account B with 180k after bonus. I then share 30k to account A from account B to end up with 150k in both accounts? Total cost of this is $600 USD? ($300 each share).

Well almost correct The actual share cost is $10 per 1,000 miles plus 7.5% tax plus a $30 administration fee. So sharing 30K = $10 * 30 * 7.5% + $30 = USD$352.50.

 

[Pumbaa]

My partner and I are leaving for our first US airways award redemption flight in the next few hours. I have a range of emotions and feelings. Excitement, but also have this feeling that somethings is going to go wrong when I try to checkin and they won't let us fly!

Anyways, I'll keep you all updated on my flights:

PER-BKK-ZRH | GVA-JFK | JFK-ICN-HKG-BKK-PER !!

 

[hummel]

My partner and I are leaving for our first US airways award redemption flight in the next few hours. I have a range of emotions and feelings. Excitement, but also have this feeling that somethings is going to go wrong when I try to checkin and they won't let us fly!

Anyways, I'll keep you all updated on my flights:

PER-BKK-ZRH | GVA-JFK | JFK-ICN-HKG-BKK-PER !!

I know the feeling. But it will all be ok

I remember lining up at F checkin in SYD... handing over passports, receving boarding passes and then turning to my girlfriend and having the biggest sigh of relief!

It's all worth it in the end.

 

[Pumbaa]

I know the feeling. But it will all be ok

I remember lining up at F checkin in SYD... handing over passports, receving boarding passes and then turning to my girlfriend and having the biggest sigh of relief!

It's all worth it in the end.

Thanks Hummel, you're making me feel better already

One question, how did you find the food on the airplane in J/F?

Our flights are PER-BKK J | BKK-ZRH F
But the BKK-ZRH flight starts just after midnight. I was tempted to eat in the lounge and sleep while on the plane if the food was average.
Interested to hear your thoughts!

 

[Stephen65]

Since I've read it can take a while to book over the phone, are there any tips to make the booking process more efficient? Should you give an overview of your itinerary first or just start quoting each segment one by one? Do you need to specify which is your stopover and destination city? Do you quote flight numbers or origin/destination pairs? City names or airport codes?

Contrary to the reports of some other posters I have had no problems getting the USair agents to book the itineraries I want.

The way my calls go is like this (I have done this twice in the last few days so my recollection should be good):

- they say hello and I tell them I want to make star alliance flight award bookings for myself and xx others (I usually book in lots of two because generally you can't get more than two seats at a time) each using our own DM points balance - the latter is important if you want to do it that way so they set it up correctly from the outset

- they will then ask you what the DM account numbers are for the people flying, at this point they will be able to ID you on the computer

- they then ask you where you want to go and when

- say something like A to B (final destination) leaving on xx June and returning on yy July

- then before they go off and investigate by themselves tell them that you have searched for flight availability online and have a suggested itinerary

- so far in my experience (and I've done this at least 6 times) agents always are willing to check the itinerary you suggest

- tell them for each flight in your itinerary - departure date, flight number (with airline prefix), departure time and class of travel

- they will then check each flight in their computer and hopefully their computer will show the same availability as you

- do this for each flight until you have done your full itinerary

- they will then ask you if you want to ticket the itinerary, I always do but there is the option to have it put on hold

- if you say yes they will then go away for a little while and then come back with the points and dollar cost of each ticket

- at this point they will usually read the itinerary back to you, make sure you check it carefully against yours because mistakes do happen particularly be very careful about flights leaving near midnight that they have got the correct day

- make sure that they have the name of the traveller correct, including middle name, be especially careful if there is anything unusual or tricky about the name's spelling

- you then give them your CC details and pay on the spot for that ticket

- they will then read out the US air 6 digit PNR for that traveller, at this point ask them for the PNRs for any other airlines you are using because each airline will have its own PNR for the flights it is carrying you on, the agent will have this information and it is most important to get it and get it accurately (read back for confirmation) so that you can check your flights on those other airlines websites, from then on you should only have to deal with the carrier airlines.

- you then repeat the ticketing, double checking and paying process for each extra ticket reminding them that the points should come from the traveller's own DM account (if that is how you are doing it)

 

[hummel]

Thanks Hummel, you're making me feel better already

One question, how did you find the food on the airplane in J/F?

Our flights are PER-BKK J | BKK-ZRH F
But the BKK-ZRH flight starts just after midnight. I was tempted to eat in the lounge and sleep while on the plane if the food was average.
Interested to hear your thoughts!

I had BKK-CDG F with very similar timing and the food was quite good from what I recall. However I'm not too keen on eating at that time of night as it is so had a good feed in the lounge.

Ask if you can have one of the 'private' sections and try and get a mssage 1.5hr before the flight. That way you go on all relaxed and it's pretty easy to drift off.

Have a blast.

 

[Stephen65]

You can check in online with Thai on their website up to 24 hours before the flight. That might relieve some of your worries about whether you are actually flying! I've done 8 DM award flights with Thai so far and I have had no problems whatsoever.

One further tip, as soon as you arrive in BKK and are escorted to the first class lounge duck across the corridor to where the Spa is and book yourself in for the one hour massage that first passengers are entitled to at whatever time is convenient and available. There is a choice of massage types.

 

[Alanslegal]

One further tip, as soon as you arrive in BKK and are escorted to the first class lounge duck across the corridor to where the Spa is and book yourself in for the one hour massage that first passengers are entitled to at whatever time is convenient and available. There is a choice of massage types.

To make it easier when you arrive at the F Lounge, just ask the host that you would like a massage and they will book one in for you. You can enjoy the lounge first and they will find/inform you once the booking is completed.

 

[hummel]

Talking abot USDM get's me excited again!

Has anyone done any redemptions to Bora Bora or Maldives? Looks like I may have a honeymoon next year and am tossing up some options. I know availability y is pretty scarce but worth a shot..?

 

[anat0l]

I've got a 100% Buy Miles promo right now, and with this Share Miles promo going on, I was wondering if I could use this promo to get 100k miles into each of my parents' accounts (currently zero balance, as am I), so that they can be 'ready' for the next promo (or, if push comes to shove, just buy the residual 20k at the prevailing rate).

The way I see it, if I purchase 50k miles and get a 50k Buy bonus, giving me 100k in total, I can transfer 50k each to my parents' accounts, and with the Share Miles promo, they will end up with 100k points each. Sounds legit? (The way I read the promo, it's limited to receiving 50k miles per account. So, technically, you could transfer off as much points as you want to many accounts and they will all get up to 50k bonus miles each.)

As for the economics..... the way I calculate it, by generating 100k for two accounts in this way, I save about USD 300 per account getting those 100k. I could buy the extra 20k at the prevailing rate without any Buy bonuses and the total net cost would be the same as a 50k buy promo with bonus (which may be targeted).

 

[markis10]

Would you not be better off getting 25K through buy, transfer to sis1 who gets 50K, who transfers to parent 1 in total, resulting in parent 1 getting 100K and then transferring 50K to parent 2 who then transfers to you, giving you 100K?

Purchase 25000 for 940.63
Transfer to Sis1 for $250 + taxes
Sis 1 to P1 $500 taxes
P1 to P2 $500 + taxes
P1 to you $500 + taxes

End balance You 100K
P1 50k
p2 50K

Does that makes sense?