TotallyOz Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 As a Northwest flyer for years, I am glad to see this merger. I wonder how this will effect travel to and from Thailand? I know NWA is strong over the Pacific and this won't affect me that much but do wonder how it will affect others. Last trip, I took the Thai Airways flight from JFK nonstop and I loved it. It was long and tiresome but it did save a few hours and quite a bit of money. NWA has increased its fares for upgradable tickets from USA to over 3500 on most flights when last year it was only 2300. They keep bumping up that fare you need in order to upgrade that it finally drove me to Thai. I was glad it did. Quote
Guest laurence Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 Same GT, the prices for upgradable tickets on NW drove me to Thai. But when I tried to upgrade my Premium Economy on Thai to Business I was told "so sorry, no seats Business Class"; "July high season". Bait and switch seems to be the name of the airline game. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 I wonder what will happen to the Northwest/KLM deal? when I tried to upgrade my Premium Economy on Thai to Business I was told "so sorry, no seats Business Class" Welcome to the reality of major airline alliances! It's not just THAI frequent fliers trying to redeem miles on THAI, it's also the members of the 19 or so other Star Alliance airlines all trying to get seats on THAI's popular routes. Increasing demand will always far outstrip fixed supply. But then it's the same for One World, on which I earn most of my miles. Spending miles on a decent long-haul seat has become increasingly difficult. Freebie business class tickets and upgrades on non-stop services from BKK to Europe are all but impossible. Same going east when you more or less have to take Cathay Pacific. Try booking on the non-stop HKG/JFK service even 364 days ahead and you will not get a seat. In fact, my hunch is that airlines will increasingly bar their most popular long haul flights from any frequent flyer redemptions. Quote
Guest Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 Same GT, the prices for upgradable tickets on NW drove me to Thai. Just checking for the dates of my next trip and it said: 3800 USD plus 60,000 miles for upgrade. That is just crazy. I can get the Thai Premium economy for 1300 total. The Premium is not first class but very comfortable and easy to sleep with a Thai valium. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 3800 USD plus 60,000 miles for upgrade. That is just crazy. I can get the Thai Premium economy for 1300 total And increasingly that is exactly what the airlines want - revenue for each seat, which means we will all be left with vast quantities of miles we can only use on the least popular routes at the least popular times of year. Quote
Guest Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 And increasingly that is exactly what the airlines want - revenue for each seat, which means we will all be left with vast quantities of miles we can only use on the least popular routes at the least popular times of year. Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. I have almost 1/2 million on one carrier and am thinking of just using them up to fly for free for a bit. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted April 16, 2008 Posted April 16, 2008 I have almost 1/2 million on one carrier and am thinking of just using them up to fly for free for a bit That is, in my experience, no easier on popular routes. I checked this morning the seat availability section of the Cathay Pacific website for redemption business class tickets to destinations like Paris, New York and San Francisco over random dates in the next 9 months. In a handful of cases, I could get a flight to or from - but no possibility of a return within two or three weeks! Quote
Guest laurence Posted April 16, 2008 Posted April 16, 2008 Same GT, the prices for upgradable tickets on NW drove me to Thai. But when I tried to upgrade my Premium Economy on Thai to Business I was told "so sorry, no seats Business Class"; "July high season". Bait and switch seems to be the name of the airline game. Surprise, surprise! Thai Air had put me on a wait list for an upgrade to Business Class. They actually called me from Los Angles two times over a period of a week to say they were contacting Bangkok to see if a seat in Business was available. Whenever I called them in Los Angeles I said "this is Mr. Laurence" and immediately they replied, " yes, Mr. Laurence, we know you, we ask Bangkok for upgrade for you, we call you". And they did upgrade me! Do others get this type of service? Quote
fedssocr Posted April 16, 2008 Posted April 16, 2008 That is, in my experience, no easier on popular routes. I checked this morning the seat availability section of the Cathay Pacific website for redemption business class tickets to destinations like Paris, New York and San Francisco over random dates in the next 9 months. In a handful of cases, I could get a flight to or from - but no possibility of a return within two or three weeks! I typically plan using my miles as far in advance as possible to get a free ticket. And I have always managed to get in general what I want. Sometimes I have to adjust by a couple of days or take a routing that is not the most direct. Sometimes you just have to try a couple of times until you get an agent who knows how to work the system and is willing to check all of the partner airlines. I am never able to find anything on airline websites, I always call even though it means a small fee. Cathay must belong to one of the big alliances, right? Call and ask them to check on the partners unless you will only fly CX metal. I managed to get a free seat from Washington to Malta a couple of years ago on about 3 months notice. That was on Lufthansa via FRA using UA miles for a StarAlliance award. But last year and this I am booked in business class to BKK using All Nippon which is very nice. Those were both booked about 8-9 months in advance. I flew business class to Australia several years ago on UA which is typically not an easy route to get so I basically had to book it about at the outer limit of 11 months or so. Be persistent and keep checking. Seats get released all the time for a variety of reasons. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Cathay must belong to one of the big alliances, right? Call and ask them to check on the partners unless you will only fly CX metal. Yes, it belongs to One World which has less than half the number of airlines as Star. And you're right. Finnair and Royal Jordanian will also wing you from Asia to Europe if there are no seats on the big names - Cathay, British Airways and Qantas. But trans-Pacific is more difficult on One World unless you are based in Tokyo and have access to American. Japan Airlines recently joined the alliance, but it does not allow any upgrades. So for upgrades it's Cathay or nothing! But I just flew to Canada on Cathay on an upgrade ticket booked and paid for 9 months ago - so I suppose I should not complain too much! Quote
