America West First. - tier point opportunity

I have to go to LAX on VS in May and on to San Diego then Seattle then back from LAX on VS in June.

I need therefore three or possibly four domestic sectors:-
LAX - SAN
SAN - SEA (America West is via LAX or PHX)
SEA - LAX

I know they are all short sectors but first is only $50 or £100 more than coach and gets me 1 tier point per sector. Im that close to Gold that Im considering it.

Can anyone think of better ways to snag those extra few tier points or see a problem with my logic.....

[preiffer]

Just bear in mind that it usually requires the BOOKING to be in first. If you take advantage of an "on the day upgrade" to First for $50, many people have reported not receiving the Tier Point, as the booking/ticket was not issued in that class (which kind of makes sense).

As I say - no issue with it, just make sure it's booked as first, not just flown.

Also - I believe your SAN-SEA trip will only count as one trip, not two. Isn't it ticketed as a flight with a stopover?

Thanks I will check all these things. Appreciate the input.

[mcmbenjamin]

Also (ISTBC) you currently can only earn miles/TPs on HP metal not US Airways metal even after the merger.

Ive found it absolutely impossible to book this online (America West wont take any UK card I have, even Centurion) - flying club wont help me either since my work travel agent did the original booking. Centurion cant see the fares you can see on America West Website.

Work travel agent wont book first due to 'policy'

Sigh.. Perhaps I'll walk from SAN to SEA....

Im feeling its not worth it for 1tp per leg

[mitchja]

Have you tried Expedia or Travelocity - as they both sell HP flights. I've found Travelocity to be slightly cheaper than Expedia. Travelocty also offer e-tickets (which means you can check-in online or use the self service machines at the airport, where as Expedia dont).

You are right in that you cannot book using the America West web site with a UK card. Not many airlines do allow you to do this as your card has to be issued in your departure country. The only exception I've found is Singapore Airlines which do allow you to book direct from their web site even if you are not departing from the UK.

Regards

I had problems booking on the America West site too. Called their support team and it was due to my address not being in the USA. They told me to change my country back to USA, state to Arizona and zip to something like 00000. (I may have gotten bits of this wrong so check with them before doing this!)

Also, I'm quite sure you can book America West through Expedia - if their website's giving you hassle.

Cheers,
Neal

You can book HP thro travelocity instead of their own site the only problem is for some of their flights you can't preselect your seats.

I did it!

It took me a long time but I ended up using my cenurion amex with the American West Web site set country set to United States, Stare Set to Arizona, but with correct UK phone numbers and post code.

That seemed to be the magic key.....

Thanks for all the advice..

FYI I got Fare Basis YA7UPN
SAN - SEA for $337 in First (2 legs)
SEA to LAX for $318 in First (2 legs)

Has US updated (as in scrapped!) AmericanWest website in last few days?
I was looking at flights from BNA to LAS last week & Im sure I was doing it through AmericanWests not so easy to navigate website...
Also - has VS made any announcement re: continuance of points earning with AWA... i thought I read something in here a while back, but cant find with search (ive also read of search probs & didnt wanna do too much re: server capacities)

[Scrooge]

yep,they now have the http://www.usairways.com website only,if you put in say americawest.com you will be redirected to the Usairways site.

As far as I know you still earn miles with HP flight's,I have asked my friend at HP to confirm if we will continue earning on US metal.

[mcmbenjamin]

US is weird. You go to book and they show the logo on the their express carrier operating the flight.

Also looks like a purchaser cannot enter partner FFP (Star or any partner) info on the US Airways site.

Would be great is VS miles could be earned on both HP and US metal. If not, how would VS after the full merger takes places as the HP flight numbers will be gone?

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by mcmbenjamin
US is weird. You go to book and they show the logo on the their express carrier operating the flight.

Also looks like a purchaser cannot enter partner FFP (Star or any partner) info on the US Airways site.

Would be great is VS miles could be earned on both HP and US metal. If not, how would VS after the full merger takes places as the HP flight numbers will be gone?

That's the million dollar question,im sure at some point someone will pull their head out and let their pax know what the score is,however from reading the message boards US seem's to be taking a rather hand's off approach to dealing with their pax let alone VS's.

very wierd & even more annoying... I tried booking a flight (on a known HP route - trying from PHX & from LAS) & couldnt get the direct flight option.
As I dont have my entire life to waste trying to book direct (the hour or so wasted so far, id almost have saved the time had I gone via somewhere else to begin with), i`m gonna give them another chance in a couple of days (in the hope my query may have been answered) failing that I`ll be seeking another partner to book the flight with - If i wanted a non-direct flight I could have had it booked with someone else already.[:(!]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virgin Atlantic
One mile for every mile flown
Minimum of 500 miles credited per flight segment
Mileage earned on eligible fare classes - see details below
Miles Earned count towards Preferred qualification
Class of Service Bonus for Upper Class Travel*: 100%
*Class of Service Bonus miles are based on ticketed class. Upgrades are not eligible.


This is confusing. VS have not updated their partner listing for America West since the merger, but the above comes from the new USAir dividend miles listing for partner miles benefits--and does not distinguish between flights currently listed as America West and those as USAir. It actually reads quite clearly as one being able to earn USAir miles on Virgin metal....any thoughts?[?]

RR

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by roadrunner
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virgin Atlantic
One mile for every mile flown
Minimum of 500 miles credited per flight segment
Mileage earned on eligible fare classes - see details below
Miles Earned count towards Preferred qualification
Class of Service Bonus for Upper Class Travel*: 100%
*Class of Service Bonus miles are based on ticketed class. Upgrades are not eligible.


This is confusing. VS have not updated their partner listing for America West since the merger, but the above comes from the new USAir dividend miles listing for partner miles benefits--and does not distinguish between flights currently listed as America West and those as USAir. It actually reads quite clearly as one being able to earn USAir miles on Virgin metal....any thoughts?[?]

RR

Not right now,the reply I got from my friend was mostly 4 letter words and details about where the team that is handling the site up-date could take very large objects and where they could place them [:0]

Guess she is not impressed so far with it.

Well I sent my tickets and confirmations off to Flying Club withg the form for partner miles and they wrote

"..in order to process your claim America West require the boarding passes to prove the actual date travelled and also either the original ticket or eticket receipt to confirm fare and class....."

I sent them the web confirmation which says "Your new reservation is now complete and has been electronically ticketed. No paper tickets will be sent". and I sent them the original boarding passes which are absolutely all I ever had.

What should I do now? There is no other documentation to send..

... and the america west website seems to have morphed into US Airways now too making it seemingly impossible for me to see how to request an eticket receipt.....

I know answering my own posts is a subtle form of madness but I finally got through to them and they advised to send it back with a covering letter explaining that a) there is no other documentation and b) america west seems to have been assimilated by US Airways...

I will post the outcome.

Although VS FC still list HP as partner--I noted that the USAir in- flight mag I pulled out of my flight seat pocket last week, listed VS as a "US Air Partner' with no language about miles/tp only in HP...

Hard to imagine what would happen to VS award seats for VS FF if all US Air had access.
[:(]RR

How beautiful is this:- 4 tier points achieved. This is the exact result I hoped for. I suppose America West can't continue for much longer as a VS partner but while it does this is a very good tier point collection mechanism .... 5 to go to Au!

YOUR STATEMENT
America West, SAN-LAS First Class 750 1
America West, LAS-SEA First Class 1,299 1
America West, SEA-LAS First Class 1,299 1
America West, LAS-LAX First Class 750 1

[preiffer]

Originally posted by mysteryflyer
How beautiful is this:- 4 tier points achieved. This is the exact result I hoped for. I suppose America West can't continue for much longer as a VS partner but while it does this is a very good tier point collection mechanism .... 5 to go to Au!

7th October for Gold, then?

Well Im thinking I should upgrade for cash on my next Y sector - do cash upgrades on the day get the extra tier point?

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by mysteryflyer
Well Im thinking I should upgrade for cash on my next Y sector - do cash upgrades on the day get the extra tier point?

No they don't,but it has been known to happen by mistake [:I]

Scratch that plan then....