2nd DONE4!

[serfty]

Go SJU-LGA-AUS for another couple of hundred miles.

QF136 stops in SYD (to MEL on Su & Fr).

QF180 is a direct flight - it's Departs NRT at a similar time as QF136 on Mo & Sa.

MNL-NRT-DPS-NRT-MEL-CNS-MEL-LHR-MCT-LHR-IST-LHR-LAX-SJU-LGA-AUS-SEA-DFW-JFK-NRT-MNL

63158 miles

 

[Keith009]

Thanks mate. LGA sure beats ORD as a transit point. ^ Extra 2 hours of snooze time too.

EDIT: I can't seem to find the single flight number service LGA-AUS, what's the departure time?

EDIT mk 2: Ah never mind - just found them. Hmm I can just forsee being in a situation where I have 1 coupon for 2 different flights due to AA's tendency to break flights up without warning.

I can't do QF180 unfortunately as I need to fly out of NRT on that very Sunday, and back to uni/work by Monday arvo. And leaving a day earlier would leave me with too short a stay in Bali.

 

[Keith009]

Just got off the phone with the ATW desk. The super staar urged me to issue asap as the impending segment reduction to 16 to accomodate mandatory eticketing is apparently very imminent though she's not sure when. So I'm aiming to pay for the ticket by mid April. Will know what the total price inc taxes is in about 24 hours.

Got the following booked, to commence in July 08 and stretching till July 09 (with dummy dates for the most part - instead of open dates to protect myself against routes getting canned):
MNL
xNRT "JL for JO"
DPS "JL for JO"
xNRT "JL for JO"
MEL QF
CNS QF
MEL QF
xLHR QF
MCT BA
xLHR BA
IST BA
LHR BA
LAX AA
SJU AA
xORD AA
AUS AA
SEA AA
xDFW AA
JFK AA
NRT AA
MNL "JL for JO"

6 week hold period.

For some reason she couldn't find the SJU-LGA-AUS single flight number services in her system, probably not loaded for that the dates I gave her.

 

[Keith009]

Fare returned within less than 2 hours. :shock:

USD7755.80 (yes, actually denominated in USD and not pesos)
~ AUD8382.48

Base fare was USD7022.

 

[thegurio]

Thanks for this QF009 - Its nice to have a ball park figure re the price. I have read about DONE4's till im blue in the face and have been trying to work out what they are all about, which isn't easy mind you!

i guess you could knock a few more dollars off for a whY fare but i would imagine these would also be very hard to get...

 

[Keith009]

Thanks for this QF009 - Its nice to have a ball park figure re the price. I have read about DONE4's till im blue in the face and have been trying to work out what they are all about, which isn't easy mind you!

i guess you could knock a few more dollars off for a whY fare but i would imagine these would also be very hard to get...

I am actually doing ex-MEL LLGLOB26 :shock: :shock: in Sept - base was A$2799 (i only needed to hit HNL, LAX, TXL, PVG and HKG). +++ came up to about A$410. It is organised via my TA but ticketed on AA stock.

 

[serfty]

Thanks mate. LGA sure beats ORD as a transit point. ^ Extra 2 hours of snooze time too.

EDIT: I can't seem to find the single flight number service LGA-AUS, what's the departure time?

EDIT mk 2: Ah never mind - just found them. Hmm I can just forsee being in a situation where I have 1 coupon for 2 different flights due to AA's tendency to break flights up without warning. ...

SJU-LGA:

AA 809 10:00 AM  4:30 PM via MIA

LGA-AUS:

AA 721 10:20 AM  2:50 PM via DFW
AA 321 11:30 AM  4:20 PM via ORD
AA 1051 4:25 PM  8:45 PM via RDU
AA 785  6:25 PM 10:55 PM via DFW

These flights are valid in July '08, but only AA1051 (4:00PM - 8:40PM via RDU) shows November. There seems to be significant changes from Sept 3rd.

TBH, I had not realised they were one stoppers. Obviously you intend to revalidate to July next year sometime in/after August. Always a bit dangerous with single flight numbers for multiple segments.

 

[Keith009]

SJU-LGA:

AA 809 10:00 AM  4:30 PM via MIA

LGA-AUS:

AA 721 10:20 AM  2:50 PM via DFW
AA 321 11:30 AM  4:20 PM via ORD
AA 1051 4:25 PM  8:45 PM via RDU
AA 785  6:25 PM 10:55 PM via DFW

These flights are valid in July '08, but only AA1051 (4:00PM - 8:40PM via RDU) shows November. There seems to be significant changes from Sept 3rd.

TBH, I had not realised they were one stoppers. Obviously you intend to revalidate to July next year sometime in/after August. Always a bit dangerous.

The dummy dates I put in are for Jan08 and she couldn't find the SJU-LGA single flight number service. I decided to stay with ORD anyway as that gets me into AUS at a better time and I don't want to pay the rerouting fee when the time comes to revalidate my ticket if they end up breaking the flights up.

 

[NM]

The dummy dates I put in are for Jan08 and she couldn't find the SJU-LGA single flight number service. I decided to stay with ORD anyway as that gets me into AUS at a better time and I don't want to pay the rerouting fee when the time comes to revalidate my ticket if they end up breaking the flights up.

Ahh, there is the problem. All the Jan08 flights have been removed from the timetable before the beginning of Feb08.

 

[Keith009]

The inevitable reroute occurs:
MNL-xNRT-DPS-xNRT-MEL

to

MNL-xNRT-DPS-xHKG-MEL

Reason being after the elite bonus I get on CX vs 0 bonus on JL/JO - the total award miles end up being quite similar. Both routings will tip me over the magic 100k EQPs for EXP status - or are there benefits to 'excess' EQPs that I'm missing?

Schedule wise - the latter gives me another Saturday night in Lan Kwai Fong as I'd be looking to connect to QF30 the next morning. Whereas the NRT route will have me stuck for more than 10 hours in NRT in the day - Shinjuku will be barely open at those hours. Now perhaps I should do some research into lockers and public shower facilities in HK.

I noticed DPS-HKG is a 2 class 744 per EF - I didn't know CX has those? Or is it a 3 class plane sold as 2 class? And if so - what are my chances of getting a pseudo op up to get a seat in the nose?

 

[serfty]

... I noticed DPS-HKG is a 2 class 744 per EF - I didn't know CX has those? Or is it a 3 class plane sold as 2 class? And if so - what are my chances of getting a pseudo op up to get a seat in the nose?

All CX 744's are 3-class configured so this is 3-class sold as 2 and there will be First Class ones in the point end. How many seats in rows 1-4?

If a total of 12 seats, then they are old style seats, if nine they are the new style (with herringbone setup in J).

On CathayTalk - powered by vBulletin it's mentioned it helps to be CX Diamond to get these seats; E/F is showing them as premium/blocked:

As a Sapphire, you may be able to call CX and make a request (you would need to do this anyway). Shame you wont be EXP until this flight (or just before/after) - that would make your chances better.

Anyway, 'tis only a 4½ flight - enjoy your evening meal.

 

[Keith009]

There are 12 seats in rows 1-4 - so I guess they're old style like you said.

Yes pity I won't be EXP for this flight. HKG-MEL QF30 is my qualifying flight. Will put in a request with CX anyway - can't hurt to try.

 

[Keith009]

I have to keep being reminded that JL/JO flights do not earn the 100% status bonus, and thus the 'longest' routing might not be best when other considerations are taken into account.

Am thinking of changing MNL-NRT-DPS JO to MNL-HKG-DPS CX. Only 400 extra award miles doing CX. But better timings on the CX routing (gets into bali nice and early instead of 10pm), plus nicer lounge at HKG. Better champagne on CX too - if they serve Billecart Salmon instead of Deutz that is.

Hard product and service will be much of a muchness (since CX uses 773s for that day for MNL-HKG-DPS), but much much shorter travel time on CX.

I think I can still make EXP after the july trip despite the cull in status miles - but can someone please reassure me that my calculations are sound (base miles according to GCC x1.5 for D segments):

Currently sitting at 64 334 Qpoints.

And i've got the following confirmed:
MEL-SYD in whY
= 500 Qpts

Rest of existing DONE4:
SYD-WLG
WLG-MEL
MEL-AKL
AKL-HKG
HKG-SIN
SIN-NRT
= 22 864.5 Qpts

July bit of new DONE4:
MNL-HKG
HKG-DPS
DPS-HKG
HKG-MEL
= 14 359.5 Qpts

Total pending Qpts = 37 724 Qpts

So 64 334 + 37 724 = 102 058 Qpts, ie comfortably over the line for EXP. Am aiming to make EXP by then so i can use the OWE status for the September LLGLOB (!).

Booking isn't ticketed yet.

No work flights on the horizon just yet, or it'd make me even more comfy over the line.

Ta in advanced! Sorry for being such a n00b.

Whatever I needed to do in MNL in 20 hours, I now have to accomplish in 17 hours...

 

[Evan]

So 64 334 + 37 724 = 102 058 Qpts, ie comfortably over the line for EXP. Am aiming to make EXP by then so i can use the OWE status for the September LLGLOB (!).

Booking isn't ticketed yet.

Even nice lounges, eVIP's etc can't make an LLGLOB a good thing, especially for you ! Sorry i am sure you did not need to hear that !

 

[Keith009]

Even nice lounges, eVIP's etc can't make an LLGLOB a good thing, especially for you ! Sorry i am sure you did not need to hear that !

Oh well... at least evips come in handy to ameroliate the pain a little. At least it's only a LLGLOB26 so I'd be doing very straightforward routings and not a totally maxed out LONE4 or something. :shock:

 

[v8Statesman]

A variety of airlines fly into SA actually - the usual suspects BA/QF/CX all fly into JNB, and BA flies into CPT. Plus you can end the ticket anywhere in Africa. BA offers a limited intra-African network through its ComAir franchise.

The reason why it's so cheap, even cheaper than MRU when this wasn;t the case before, is that the Rand is dropping like a lead balloon.

Anyone know of a cheap OW route SIN-JNB?

 

[Keith009]

Timeline on purchasing via AA MNL, data point 1:
Rang up Dallas last night to prepare my itinerary for pricing and ticketing
Rang Dallas back this morning - fare and +++ totalled USD7779.70. +++ = USD753.70 which includes AA's transpacific/transatlantic YQ (~$200), one hit of UK apd (80 quid), Phillippines special tourism tax ($30), and airport taxes.
Rang AA MNL - lady on the phone sounded very pleasant and knew what she was doing. I was told to fax/email a copy of my passport over so they can verify the spelling of my name. I was also emailed the requisite details for a wire transfer.
She's now in the process of contacting the courier to get quote so I can include courier charges into the transfer.

Stay tuned for more....

 

[Keith009]

Data point 2:
It costs USD30 for FedEx and it'd take 3 days for them to deliver the ticket to Australia.

Will wire the money tomorrow...

 

[Keith009]

Data point 3:
Wired money over to MNL today. Takes 1-2 working day to process. The GSA wanted a copy of my receipt for their accounting dept, so I scanned and emailed it over. They've been most responsive thus far.

 

[Keith009]

data point 4:

We have already recieved the payment and I am issuing the ticket right now. We'll be sending the paper ticket to you tomorrow through FEDEX. Will give you feedback tomorrow as to when it will arrive to you.