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Question:

> sounds more like a CRS problem…the miles gained are designated by > computer…if your ticket is ewr-beijing, the direct route might be 6500 > miles…but going through tokyo, the computer sees x miles for EWR-NRT and > y miles for NRT-Bejing and then adds the two together…which does not > necessarily equal the distance for the direct route…

Don’t most airlines use the boarding passes as "evidence" to give points ? If that is the case, wouldn’t it depend on how the agent checks the passenger in ? Eg: issues a boarding pass for each segment instead of a single boarding pass ? Does it matter if the single numbered flight involves a plane change or not ? In my case, for instance, flying YUL-YVR-HNL-AKL gives me a single CP fare, and on my ticket, I have YUL-YVR and YVR-AKL, but when I check in, I end up with YUL-YVR, then YVR-HNL and HNL-AKL boarding passes. And on the FF statement, the segments awarded match what I had in boarding passes.

Response:

I see Congress wants a new Ammendment to the US Constitution making Frequent Flyer Programs a Right rather than a marketing tool offered by the airlines.  That should satisfy most whiners and people who try to circumvent the rules and complain when it doesn’t work to their favor. Wonder what we did before FF programs?

Response:

>I see Congress wants a new Ammendment to the US Constitution making >Frequent Flyer Programs a Right rather than a marketing tool offered by >the airlines.  That should satisfy most whiners and people who try to >circumvent the rules and complain when it doesn’t work to their favor. >Wonder what we did before FF programs?

Yes, that is the truth.  The pursuit of FF miles has become a full-time occupation for many individuals.  A whole new industry has developed from tracking  miles and being concerned how program changes.  While service deterioratess passengers are bought off with FF programs.  It is the great equalizer for the airlines. It used to be you took a flight to get from point A to B in comfort and safety.  All I hear about from most people is how many miles am I going to get.. Talk about a bribe! I told a young executive one time that I used to fly before FF miles.  He was shocked at that thought and told me he would quit his job if he didn’t get FF miles.

Response:

No wonder why the airlines jumped from 40K to 50K for issuing international flight coupons! Robert Straw                             University of St. Gallen

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I recently found out that on direct flights, United will credit your > account as if it were a nonstop if you book the ticket as a direct > flight.  For example, flight 803 goes from Newark to Beijing > with a stop in Tokyo (and a change of planes I might add).  If your > coupon says From Newark to Beijing you get about 6500 miles.  If you have > two flight coupons one which says from Newark to Narita and another > which says from Narita to Beijing you get about 8000 miles.  This can > happen on any of the flights from the east coast or Chicago with a stop on > the west coast on their way to Asia (such as 805 or 001 to HK) or on > directs through Tokyo (like 803 or 853). > United claims that ticketing two segments usually costs > more, so you deserve to get a mileage bonus.   My travel agent says there > is no additional cost to book it the latter way.  It sounds like a way to > skimp on miles to me. > Anybody else experienced this? > — >      Jeff Hopkins >      (disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer)

sounds more like a CRS problem…the miles gained are designated by computer…if your ticket is ewr-beijing, the direct route might be 6500 miles…but going through tokyo, the computer sees x miles for EWR-NRT and y miles for NRT-Bejing and then adds the two together…which does not necessarily equal the distance for the direct route… I don’t think they are trying to skimp but  rather you found a limit to the capabilities of UA’s CRS system… Gordon. — <URL:http://w3.one.net/~flypba/index.a.html> <URL:http://w3.one.net/~flypba/COMAIR/>

Response:

>> I recently found out that on direct flights, United will credit your > account as if it were a nonstop if you book the ticket as a direct > flight… >sounds more like a CRS problem…the miles gained are designated by >computer…if your ticket is ewr-beijing, the direct route might be 6500 >miles…but going through tokyo, the computer sees x miles for EWR-NRT and >y miles for NRT-Bejing and then adds the two together…which does not >necessarily equal the distance for the direct route…

The computer does not "see" the two segments if there is only one coupon.  All it knows is that you went from the starting point to the ending point. The same coupon can be used for a nonstop or direct flight, while ticket rewriting is required if there is a transfer.  Anyway, the FF rules are clearly stated whether the logic is clear or not: a direct flight is credited as a nonstop, not as two segments. See the fine print for your FF program. Of course it is pretty sleazy that flights with a change of plane should be listed as "direct" flights with the same flight number. It’s high time this practice was made illegal.

Response:

>I recently found out that on direct flights, United will credit your >account as if it were a nonstop if you book the ticket as a direct >flight.  For example, flight 803 goes from Newark to Beijing >with a stop in Tokyo (and a change of planes I might add).  If your >coupon says From Newark to Beijing you get about 6500 miles.  If you have >two flight coupons one which says from Newark to Narita and another >which says from Narita to Beijing you get about 8000 miles.

Interestingly, if you book two segments, say DTW-ORD and ORD-DEN, then standby and fly direct DTW-DEN, they will only credit you for what you flew, not what you paid for.  Seems UAL is playing this game both directions… | David S. Berhenke           |           /         /   | | Chicago, Illinois           |  /    /’ `—-, /`   /’ |

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I recently found out that on direct flights, United will credit your > account as if it were a nonstop if you book the ticket as a direct > flight.  For example, flight 803 goes from Newark to Beijing > with a stop in Tokyo (and a change of planes I might add).  If your > coupon says From Newark to Beijing you get about 6500 miles.  If you have > two flight coupons one which says from Newark to Narita and another > which says from Narita to Beijing you get about 8000 miles.  This can > happen on any of the flights from the east coast or Chicago with a stop on > the west coast on their way to Asia (such as 805 or 001 to HK) or on > directs through Tokyo (like 803 or 853). > United claims that ticketing two segments usually costs > more, so you deserve to get a mileage bonus.   My travel agent says there > is no additional cost to book it the latter way.  It sounds like a way to > skimp on miles to me.

I think there is a difference between ticketing a direct flight as one segment vs. two segments.  Say for example you are flying from Chicago to Hong Kong roundtrip.  UA805/UA806 is a direct flight going through SFO.  If you ticketed it as two segments, ORD-SFO-HKG and HKG-SFO-ORD, and on your trip back you need to change your travel plan, flying HKG-NRT-ORD (800/882) would constitute a routing change.

Response:

I recently found out that on direct flights, United will credit your account as if it were a nonstop if you book the ticket as a direct flight.  For example, flight 803 goes from Newark to Beijing with a stop in Tokyo (and a change of planes I might add).  If your coupon says From Newark to Beijing you get about 6500 miles.  If you have two flight coupons one which says from Newark to Narita and another which says from Narita to Beijing you get about 8000 miles.  This can happen on any of the flights from the east coast or Chicago with a stop on the west coast on their way to Asia (such as 805 or 001 to HK) or on directs through Tokyo (like 803 or 853). United claims that ticketing two segments usually costs more, so you deserve to get a mileage bonus.   My travel agent says there is no additional cost to book it the latter way.  It sounds like a way to skimp on miles to me. Anybody else experienced this? —      Jeff Hopkins      (disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer)

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