bcworld

A week ahead only 9 and 10th Dec have availability.

[KVS Availability Tool 7.3.1/Diamond - Awards/StarAlliance-7D]

spouse of scouse

A review of my husband's last minute mad dash to the UK, using US Airways dividend miles.

Booking the flights - the only trouble I had was due to my own ignorance, as I'd somehow got it into my head that US Air were in an alliance with One World. The first person I spoke to was quite rude - 'this is US AIRWAYS, we don't operate in Australia' (in a tone of voice that was saying 'you idiot!')

The second person was much more helpful, explaining that the merger with AA which would see US Airways join the One World alliance had been passed by the Justice Department, and staff had been told it would be finalized very early in the New Year. He said that all US Airways staff had been told they would keep their jobs

Third time lucky, armed with the quite useful information that I needed to be checking and booking Star Alliance flights . The person I booked the flights with was chuffed that I already had all the flights numbers etc. The actual booking process took about 40 minutes, as something kept going wrong and the agent had to keep checking with the help desk.

I was able to check the flights through my US Airways dividend miles account, but to confirm that the seats have indeed been ticketed, and to request particular seats, you need to contact the relevant airlines direct. I spoke to Thai's Perth office and they were very helpful, confirming the flights and changing my husband's seats to aisle ones. I didn't bother checking SK, too knackered by then and I assumed that if the two Thai flights were ticketed, that one would be too.

Thai business class seats PER - BKK very ordinary
9 hour layover in BKK not a lot of fun, business lounge very old, crowded and lacking amenities

Thai business seats BKK - Copenhagen fantastic
At Copenhagen airport, you need to go through Customs and Immigration to access the lounge. Husband did this as he wanted to use the lounge showers. He was in and out in around half an hour, prompting an airport official to have a joke with him about him being the first person ever to visit Copenhagen just for a shower

SK business seats to MAN non existent, Scandinavian Airlines have changed their domestic and inter-Europe aircraft, which now only have one class of seating. I believe that economy plus and business class passengers receive a choice of one menu item and a drink from the trolley, whereas economy passengers pay for these. Not an issue on an under 2 hour flight.

Hope that Perth based BE-ers find this info useful/interesting.

bcworld

I find this is a bit surprising. There are several business lounges to choose from at BKK and I guess they're not all the same and there can be 20 minutes walk between them but it's worth checking out another lounge if you're not happy. I've just finished a big trip and have been in the flagship business lounges of Singapore Airlines and Asiana and I think Thai at BKK compares pretty favourably - they certainly have the nicest showers of the lot and better food than Asiana.

On the subject of Asiana...I have to say, this is not an airline I'm in a hurry to fly again! They maintain a Skytrax 5* rating year after year but they certainly don't belong in the company of Singapore, Cathay etc!

nic75

BCworld, I am continually amazed by your wealth of knowledge.

beautifulgorgeous

Four of us are planning a trip down under at the end of june and I wondered if these flights can be booked from the uk and where to start with buying miles as I would love not to have to travel cattle class. I have read the thread but am confused by merger talks and initials. Please help!

spouse of scouse

Thanks bc, interesting info. Without knowing for sure, I suspect my husband just set up camp in the closest lounge. Either that or he just got them on a bad day.

spouse of scouse

Hi BG (nice nic ) Someone who knows more about this will undoubtedly be along shortly, but I did read somewhere on this thread that the cost advantage of using dividend miles for a UK - AU - UK flight isn't as great as the other way. Might still be worth it though - good luck!

bcworld

Yes that's right. The high cost of airfares in the Australian market makes this deal much more compelling from this end...at one time it was an absolute no brainer, the costs have crept up over time though and while it's always great value it only reaches no brainer status at really expensive times of the year like Xmas.

So, from the UK. Let's say the cost per person is approx USD2800 assuming all miles were bought in 100% promos. At today's exchange rates that's about GBP1750...potentially double or more than what you could buy an economy air fare for at many times of the year.

4 seats is also very difficult if not impossible.

beautifulgorgeous

Thank you for your prompt reply. I didn't want to commit to four in cattle if there was an economical way not to. Has anyone flown with virgin premium?

foreveryoung1

Thanks all for the recent updates on this thread, I'm sure there are lots like me who look in now & again just to be informed.
It looks like those of us who have been lucky to use flight TG482 & 481 PER/BKK rtn as a very quick connection for the onward flights to Europe will now be dissapointed. Thai have stopped them indefinitely for operational reasons which leaves us with a lengthy stopover if we use 484/3, even the staff aren't happy.
I'm sure the Qatar and Emirates routing from Perth must be hurting Thai.
I have recently used Virgin Premium LGW/LAS it is obviously better than economy but no where near as good as business.
I also flew Premium into SYD same comment.
I will be using it again soon LAX/LHR so it can't be too bad.

I have found some good lounges over the years by using a Priority Pass lounge card, it gets me in a lounge sometimes when flying premium.
I use a Priority Pass lounge access card so if the airline lounge is not very good I usually have an alternative.

k974

Booked in for Christmas thanks or the help, anyone any idea when the next 100% offer will be?

bcworld

Ordinarily you'd say there is some sort of promo running almost continually. The moving forward with the merger probably complicates things though...while AA does sell miles with special offers it's nothing to the extent that US does...and with annual limits etc. Who knows what Oneworld thinks of US and its discount flights scheme!

For future Star Alliance travel you should probably concentrate on LifeMiles...while bearing in mind all its advantages and disadvantages. I just booked the partner's parents 2 business seats on the Singapore A380. Just a simple SIN-MEL for about $800 each one way.

Hino

Many thanks for all your informed input bcworld, though the fact that the US Airways deals seemed to be mainly dependent on the goodwill of their partners was one of the main reasons I did not follow your advice ( to my regret ) when this thread started.

I just wondered how long US partner airlines would continue to honour the 'free' tickets written by US Airways.

bcworld

I've been playing for 4 years now and I can't think of a single substantiated claim of any partner refusing to take a US Airways booking or blocking US specifically from their inventory. Sure, there have been loads of rumours about that, many of them perpetuated by US Airways call centre staff but to the best of my knowledge it just hasn't happened. What would be more likely to happen would be that the Star Alliance would ask US to cease and desist it's mile selling business.

US of course chooses to block some redemptions...like Lufthansa first class and in other cases suffers from long standing technical problems that prevent them finding available seats, or make it difficult but I don't think they ever get blocked by anyone.

spouse of scouse

I was one of the 'this is too good to be true' brigade, it takes a good read of the thread to understand the process and get your confidence up. No qualms at all now, still have points for two Oz-UK-Oz business flights in hand - if I find that the points aren't worth as much after the merger, so be it. I'm sure they'll take us somewhere