Questions and Answers

Hi There – got this ticketed because of this site (and Travel is Free and Codextravel) as a guide. I’m ticketed for JFK-ICN-BKK (less than 24hours)-KUL (stop for a few days)-BKK-HKG (destination) then ICN-JFK return. There might be an open-jaw there without having realized it. I asked Travel is Free the same question, but in case someone here also knows of the answer: I called United last week to see if I can change my return to be TPE-ICN (less than 24hr stop)-JFK and they said it was invalid. Can’t really explain why. They initially said anything more than 14 hrs is considered a stopover but that wasn’t it either. I’m perplexed and wondering if this should be possible. Thanks.

Well, this is the problem with United. They don’t really publish their award rules, so if something doesn’t price, you have no real recourse.

I [I]think[/I] it might be that while you are thinking of Hong Kong as your destination, United is thinking Kuala Lumpur is your destination (I’m guessing that, because they typically don’t allow you to transit an airport twice in a single direction of travel anymore).

You’re generally only allowed to have an open-jaw at your turn-around point, so if the system thinks KUL is the destination, it won’t allow a combination stopover/open-jaw in Hong Kong/Taipei.

I think [USER=7]@Tiffany[/USER] is right on it thinking KUL is the destination. You can’t have an open jaw at a stopover. BKK and HKG can be problematic for some reason. Funny thing is this sound like it’s allowed under the new rules
JFK-ICN-BKK-KUL
Excursion or whatever they call it KUL-HKG (this will be on Thai as a single ticket through BKK)
HKG-TPE-ICN-JFK
The UA agent was wrong on 14 hours, it’s 24 absolutely.

What I have done when the agent wouldn’t cooperate is build the itinerary and book it. Call them and show them it’s possible. Then they can either cancel your existing (and waive the fees which they did for me but no guarantees) or change the existing and then cancel the one you made which you can do in the first 24 hours.

Here is your itinerary, it’s valid

Thanks to the both of you Tiffany and Mark S. Appreciate you’re taking the time to look into this. I’m in Asia now but will try to reach United in the next few days. I was thinking, either I got away with something that I shouldn’t have gotten, or that they’re just as perplexed as I was.

Took a closer look at your itinerary (thanks again!) and think that the reason yours work is because HK and KUL are in the same region, which I think is your open jaw. I’m actually in TPE for a few days with ICN as the stopover for less than 24 hours. Coming from MNL using an Avios award (HKG-MNL-TPE). My current return is ICN-JFK. Initially thought I’d redeem avios for TPE-ICN, but to save a few miles, called to change it to TPE-ICN-JFK, which in my mind should be possible. I haven’t called to see if TPE-JFK would work, but will try also. Maybe I’m being too aggressive adding ICN for a stay of less than 24hrs. Thanks much. I’ll update this post after I reach United hopefully by the weekend.

[QUOTE=”MarkS, post: 21461, member: 2121″]I think [USER=7]@Tiffany[/USER] is right on it thinking KUL is the destination. You can’t have an open jaw at a stopover. BKK and HKG can be problematic for some reason. Funny thing is this sound like it’s allowed under the new rules
JFK-ICN-BKK-KUL
Excursion or whatever they call it KUL-HKG (this will be on Thai as a single ticket through BKK)
HKG-TPE-ICN-JFK
The UA agent was wrong on 14 hours, it’s 24 absolutely.

What I have done when the agent wouldn’t cooperate is build the itinerary and book it. Call them and show them it’s possible. Then they can either cancel your existing (and waive the fees which they did for me but no guarantees) or change the existing and then cancel the one you made which you can do in the first 24 hours.

Here is your itinerary, it’s valid[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=”Ezraulo, post: 21476, member: 2100″]Took a closer look at your itinerary (thanks again!) and think that the reason yours work is because HK and KUL are in the same region, which I think is your open jaw. I’m actually in TPE for a few days with ICN as the stopover for less than 24 hours. Coming from MNL using an Avios award (HKG-MNL-TPE). My current return is ICN-JFK. Initially thought I’d redeem avios for TPE-ICN, but to save a few miles, called to change it to TPE-ICN-JFK, which in my mind should be possible. I haven’t called to see if TPE-JFK would work, but will try also. Maybe I’m being too aggressive adding ICN for a stay of less than 24hrs. Thanks much. I’ll update this post after I reach United hopefully by the weekend.[/QUOTE]

[USER=2100]@Ezraulo[/USER] , I don’t have an open jaw on the itinerary that I built. It is a round trip with the destination as KUL and a stopover in HKG. The open jaw is what is making your itinerary not work. And if you wanted to make the stopover in TPE instead of HKG that wouldn’t be a problem either. Your itinerary would look like:

This is a round trip ticket
Outbound: JFK-KUL (routing through ICN then maybe BKK or TPE. (ICN and BKK/TPE could be layovers of less than 24 hours)

Destination: KUL

Return: KUL-TPE (could be direct on EVA or route through BKK on Thai. It could even route through BKK and Hong Kong with Thai then EVA to TPE) You could get a layover, less than 24 in BKK or HKG. It could even be on Singapore Airlines through Singapore.

Stopover: TPE

Return continued after stopover: TPE-JFK (routing could go through ICN which could have a <24 hour layover, NRT or even PVG, SFO, ORD)

The # layovers (less than 24 hours) don't matter. Only if you backtrack. But TPE-ICN-JFK is valid. If you enter a search for TPE-JFK chances are good something through ICN will come up.

You CAN'T have the open jaw at the stopover city. This the issue messing your plan up. Pick HKG or TPE for the >24 hour stopover and it works. Adding in BA miles on the stopover breaks the plan.

Hope this helps.

Hi everyone — thanks for the help on this. In the end, I kept the itinerary the same after talking to at least three agents (including 1 manager) that said it couldn’t be changed. I considered adding a hawaii stop for a later date but thought I’ve probably pushed my luck enough on this one. Thanks everyone and happy travels