Questions and Answers

Hi, i am looking to redeem thai airways first class seats, from BKK-AKL or BKK-SYD, for a traveling party of 3 people

based on past forum threads, it appears that 2 seats are released each time for biz class, and i found this trend to be true as well for first class.

however, what i want to know is,

1) After the 2 first class award seats are taken up, is there a chance Thai Airways will release another pair of seats on that same date? If yes, how soon does that happen? Or will it only happen closer to departure date?

2) If I redeem 2 first class award seats, and 1 biz class award seat for now, is there a good chance to upgrade from the biz class award seat to first class award seat later (for example, closer to departure date)?

Thanks in advance.

1 – it’s possible, not guaranteed. i’d assume it happens closer to the departure date, maybe even only at 24-48 hours before departure.

2 – depends on what program you book the tickets with but generally, expect to pay the difference in miles plus change fees.

if you absolutely need to travel together on the same flight, I would book pax into whatever seats are available for first, and the rest for business and hope for an upgrade. If traveling in first class is more important than traveling together, then book seats in first on different flights, maybe a day or two apart, and then change the date of the flight if new space opens up. This would also require a change fee.

If you’re booking using Avianca LifeMiles, i believe it’s easier (and cheaper) to cancel existing tickets, redeposit the miles and rebook the ticket instead of dealing with their call center. For UA or Aeroplan, I would just call. If you’re using SQ’s program you will have to call in both situations

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 16518, member: 29″]1 – it’s possible, not guaranteed. i’d assume it happens closer to the departure date, maybe even only at 24-48 hours before departure.

2 – depends on what program you book the tickets with but generally, expect to pay the difference in miles plus change fees.

if you absolutely need to travel together on the same flight, I would book pax into whatever seats are available for first, and the rest for business and hope for an upgrade. If traveling in first class is more important than traveling together, then book seats in first on different flights, maybe a day or two apart, and then change the date of the flight if new space opens up. This would also require a change fee.

If you’re booking using Avianca LifeMiles, i believe it’s easier (and cheaper) to cancel existing tickets, redeposit the miles and rebook the ticket instead of dealing with their call center. For UA or Aeroplan, I would just call. If you’re using SQ’s program you will have to call in both situations[/QUOTE]

Thanks David! My plan is to book it with UA. It seems to be the program that require the least mile to redeem- but correct me if i am wrong.

Based on the rule i see here, [URL]https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/awards/travel/ticketing.aspx[/URL] , it seems that a change fee ($75 or $100) is required, regardless of whichever option you pick – the option i meant is the following
– Book F for 2 persons, J for the remaining 1 person. Everybody’s flight on same date
– Book F for 2 persons on Date X and F for remaining 1 person for Date X +/- 1.

Yes, booking with UA means that when you make changes, you will be charged a fee of $75-100 depending on when you make the change.

great, thanks for confirming.

also, another thing – i know the ANA search tool is considered more reliable for finding award space. so am i understanding right that any extra seats i observed on ANA search tool is technically redeemable under any *A program?

Example – if i see F seats available in more numbers or available at more dates in ANA tool (compared to say, united.com award reservation tool), then technically i can book for that using UA miles? I just have to ring the UA customer service up to do that since i cant do that online, right?

That’s true but ANA’s tool isnt as great as it once was. It could be phantom space. I’d also check for seats via Aeroplan and/or LifeMiles. If additional seats are showing on all these programs but not UA, then there is a good chance the space is there and not phantom. But if it was only showing on ANA but nowhere else, it’s probably not there.

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 16535, member: 29″]That’s true but ANA’s tool isnt as great as it once was. It could be phantom space. I’d also check for seats via Aeroplan and/or LifeMiles. If additional seats are showing on all these programs but not UA, then there is a good chance the space is there and not phantom. But if it was only showing on ANA but nowhere else, it’s probably not there.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip David – you have been a great help!