Segment-by-segment award tickets - Revision history

Editor: /* Disadvantages of separate reservations */

2021-09-12T16:55:14Z

‎Disadvantages of separate reservations

Editor: /* Uncovering hidden award space */

2021-09-12T16:40:32Z

‎Uncovering hidden award space

Editor: Editor moved page Segment-by-Segment Award Tickets to Segment-by-segment award tickets without leaving a redirect

2021-02-19T05:07:11Z

Editor moved page Segment-by-Segment Award Tickets to Segment-by-segment award tickets without leaving a redirect

Editor at 19:21, 12 February 2021

2021-02-12T19:21:52Z

Editor: /* Searching for your long-haul flight */

2021-02-04T17:45:04Z

‎Searching for your long-haul flight

Editor: /* Searching for your long-haul flight */

2021-02-04T17:44:51Z

‎Searching for your long-haul flight

Editor at 17:41, 4 February 2021

2021-02-04T17:41:53Z

Show changes

Editor at 04:19, 17 May 2020

2020-05-17T04:19:52Z

Editor: /* Searching for your long-haul flight */

2020-05-17T04:16:01Z

‎Searching for your long-haul flight

Editor: /* Uncovering hidden award space */

2020-05-17T04:13:04Z

‎Uncovering hidden award space

@@ Line 96: / Line 96: @@
 </ul>
-{{Box{Mitigating the Risks}}
+{{Box|Mitigating the Risks}}
 '''One approach for dealing with the risk is to purchase a backup flight'''. Until recently, this was usually an expensive option. But with the major US airlines introducing free cancellation, it can be a sensible option. Just to be sure that you get to your main flight, you buy a second positioning flight that leaves a little later than your main flight. If everything is going as planned, you cancel the backup flight at the last minute. If not, you cancel the original flight and use your backup.

@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 {{Byline|GCM}}
-{{Box|Disadvantages of Separate Reservations}}
+=== Disadvantages of separate reservations ===
 Hopefully, searching segment-by-segment will let you uncover a set of flights you can book as a single award. But sometimes that isn't possible or would require a route that is too inconvenient.
@@ Line 86: / Line 87: @@
 <ul class="simplelist">
-<li>You won't be able to check luggage all the way through to your final destination. If you need to check bags, you will need to head to the baggage claim at the connecting city, wait for your bags, re-check them, and go back through security. However, if you are connecting at a port of entry, there is a good chance that you'll receive your checked bags to go through customs and can re-check them more easily.</li>
+<li>'''You won't be able to check luggage all the way through to your final destination'''. If you need to check bags, you will need to head to the baggage claim at the connecting city, wait for your bags, re-check them, and go back through security. At an international airport, you may need to go through customs and immigration both ways.</li>
-<li>If your flight is delayed and you miss your flight, you may be out of luck. Neither airline is responsible for getting you to your next destination.</li>
+<li>'''If your flight is delayed and you miss your next flight, you may be out of luck'''. The airline from your first ticket isn't responsible for getting you to your next destination and the airline from the flight you missed isn't responsible for you being late. Unless they take pity on you, you may need to buy a last minute replacement ticket or find a last minute award flight.</li>
-<li>You will need to add extra connecting time to deal with both of these issues and it might not be enough. On the flip side, if everything goes as it should, you'll wind up spending a bunch of extra time waiting around the airport.</li>
+<li>'''You will need to add extra connecting time to deal with both of these issues and it might not be enough'''. Then if everything goes as it should, you'll wind up needing to spend a bunch of extra time waiting around the airport.</li>
 </ul>
-When you are thinking of using separate reservations, it can be best if you stay a day or more and visit the city you are connecting in. That greatly reduces the risk you'll miss your flight but adds days to the total length of your trip.
+{{Box{Mitigating the Risks}}
 {{/Box}}

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|segment by segment}}}}
-{{Page|article|award ticket strategies}}
+{{Page|article|use points|award ticket strategies}}
 {{ImageX|PuzzlePieces.jpg|full}}

@@ Line 123: / Line 123: @@
 Unfortunately, as your search for availability expands, the number of different combinations that you need to search dramatically increases. You’ll need to search for several different hubs from each of the convenient gateway cities.
-<li>'''To reduce the number of combinations, start with the most convenient US gateways'''. If there are flights from a nearby airport, start with those. If not, start with US cities that you can fly to cheaply and/or that are in your general direction of travel. For example, if you live in Ohio and want to fly to Europe, it is less useful to look for routes out of San Francisco and Los Angeles than for routes out of Chicago or New York. Start with most convenient connecting cities, if you can’t find space, move on to less convenient options, .</li>
+<li>'''To reduce the number of combinations, start with the most convenient US gateways'''. If there are flights from a nearby airport, start with those. If not, start with US cities that you can fly to cheaply and/or that are in your general direction of travel. For example, if you live in Ohio and want to fly to Europe, it is less useful to look for routes out of San Francisco and Los Angeles than for routes out of Chicago or New York. Start with most convenient connecting cities, if you can’t find space, move on to less convenient options.</li>
 </ul>

@@ Line 109: / Line 109: @@
 <li>'''If you want to travel to a less-connected destination, you may need to search for nearby hub''' There aren’t many long-haul flights into smaller cities, or even the largest city, in many countries. You’ll typically have to connect through the country’s capital, major city, or major tourist destination. So, if you are trying to fly to a minor destination, you should focus most of your effort on figuring out how to get to a more connected nearby destination. Then you can figure out the way to travel the final leg.</li>
-For example, if you want to fly to Queensland Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, you are mostly likely going to fly through Sydney and perhaps Melbourne, which have many more international flights. However, sometimes you can connect through a neighboring country instead. For example, there are plenty of flights to the Queensland area of Australia from Auckland, New Zealand.
+For example, if you want to fly to Queensland Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, you are mostly likely going to fly through Sydney and perhaps Melbourne, which have many more international flights. However, sometimes you can connect through a neighboring country instead. For example, there are flights to the Queensland area of Australia from Auckland, New Zealand.
 {{Image|ToCairns.jpg|480}}
@@ Line 123: / Line 123: @@
 Unfortunately, as your search for availability expands, the number of different combinations that you need to search dramatically increases. You’ll need to search for several different hubs from each of the convenient gateway cities.
-<li>'''To reduce the number of combinations, start with the most convenient US gateways'''. If there are flights from a nearby airport, start with those. If not, start with US cities that you can fly to cheaply and/or that are in your general direction of travel. For example, if you live in Ohio and want to fly to Europe, it is less useful to look for routes out of San Francisco and Los Angeles than for routes out of Chicago or New York. Start with most convenient connecting cities, and move on to less convenient options, if you can’t find space.</li>
+<li>'''To reduce the number of combinations, start with the most convenient US gateways'''. If there are flights from a nearby airport, start with those. If not, start with US cities that you can fly to cheaply and/or that are in your general direction of travel. For example, if you live in Ohio and want to fly to Europe, it is less useful to look for routes out of San Francisco and Los Angeles than for routes out of Chicago or New York. Start with most convenient connecting cities, if you can’t find space, move on to less convenient options, .</li>
 </ul>

← Older revision	Revision as of 05:07, 19 February 2021
(No difference)

@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 <li>'''Making an extended connection'''. Award search tools will only look for normal connecting flights between cities, where you typically spend less than 4 hours, and always less than 24 hours, at the connecting airport. For example, if they are checking for a connection through Chicago, they will need to find availability on a flight into and out of Chicago on the same day. They won’t consider an award flight that gets you into Chicago on one day and a separate award flight that leaves a day or two later.</li>
-If you are willing to spend some time in one of the connecting cities, it opens up additional options for your trip. And with many frequent flyer programs, there would be no additional mileage needed to take this stopover. {{Link|free stopovers}}.
+If you are willing to spend some time in one of the connecting cities, it opens up additional options for your trip. And with many frequent flyer programs, there would be no extra mileage needed to take this stopover. {{Link|free stopovers}}.
-<li>'''Getting a separate ticket to / from a US gateway '''. Award search tools will only show space that is available for your entire trip. As US carriers have gotten stingier and stingier with domestic award availability, there often isn't any end-to-end award space to your destination, even if there is plenty of space for the expensive long-haul part of your trip. This problem is compounded by the fact that you can usually only combine award flights on a single US airline with any given international flight, so to find a complete award ticket you have to get lucky with availability on a specific combination of airlines.</li>
+<li>'''Getting a separate ticket to / from a US gateway'''. Award search tools will only show space that is available for your entire trip. As US carriers have gotten stingier and stingier with domestic award availability, there often isn't any end-to-end award space to your destination, even if there is plenty of space for the expensive long-haul part of your trip. This problem is compounded by the fact that you can usually only combine award flights on a single US airline with any given international flight, so to find a complete award ticket you have to get lucky with availability on a specific combination of airlines.</li>
 By separately searching for different parts of your trip, you can see what is available and decide if it makes sense for you to make your own way to and/or from the departure city.
@@ Line 90: / Line 90: @@
 <li>If your flight is delayed and you miss your flight, you may be out of luck. Neither airline is responsible for getting you to your next destination.</li>
-<li>You will need to add extra connecting time to deal with both of these issues and it might not be enough. On the flip-side, if everything goes as it should, you'll wind up spending a bunch of extra time waiting around the airport.</li>
+<li>You will need to add extra connecting time to deal with both of these issues and it might not be enough. On the flip side, if everything goes as it should, you'll wind up spending a bunch of extra time waiting around the airport.</li>
 </ul>
-When you are thinking of using separate reservations, it can be best if you stay a day or more and visit the city you are connecting in. That greatly reduces the risk you'll miss your flight, but adds days to the total length of your trip.
+When you are thinking of using separate reservations, it can be best if you stay a day or more and visit the city you are connecting in. That greatly reduces the risk you'll miss your flight but adds days to the total length of your trip.
 {{/Box}}
@@ Line 109: / Line 109: @@
 <li>'''If you want to travel to a less-connected destination, you may need to search for nearby hub''' There aren’t many long-haul flights into smaller cities, or even the largest city, in many countries. You’ll typically have to connect through the country’s capital, major city, or major tourist destination. So, if you are trying to fly to a minor destination, you should focus most of your effort on figuring out how to get to a more connected nearby destination. Then you can figure out the way to travel the final leg.</li>
-For example, if you want to fly to Queensland Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, you are mostly likely going to fly through Sydney and perhaps Melbourne, which have many more international flights. However, sometimes you will can connect through a neighboring country instead. For example, there are plenty of flights to the Queensland area of Australia from Auckland, New Zealand.
+For example, if you want to fly to Queensland Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, you are mostly likely going to fly through Sydney and perhaps Melbourne, which have many more international flights. However, sometimes you can connect through a neighboring country instead. For example, there are plenty of flights to the Queensland area of Australia from Auckland, New Zealand.
 {{Image|ToCairns.jpg|480}}

@@ Line 107: / Line 107: @@
 {{Image|UStoRome.jpg}}
-<li>'''If you want to travel to a less-connected destination, you may need search for nearby hub''' There aren’t many long-haul flights into smaller cities, or even the largest city, in many countries. You’ll typically have to connect through the country’s capital, major city, or major tourist destination. So, if you are trying to fly to a minor destination, you should focus most of your effort on figuring out how to get to a more connected nearby destination. Then you can figure out the way to travel the final leg.</li>
+<li>'''If you want to travel to a less-connected destination, you may need to search for nearby hub''' There aren’t many long-haul flights into smaller cities, or even the largest city, in many countries. You’ll typically have to connect through the country’s capital, major city, or major tourist destination. So, if you are trying to fly to a minor destination, you should focus most of your effort on figuring out how to get to a more connected nearby destination. Then you can figure out the way to travel the final leg.</li>
 For example, if you want to fly to Queensland Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, you are mostly likely going to fly through Sydney and perhaps Melbourne, which have many more international flights. However, sometimes you will can connect through a neighboring country instead. For example, there are plenty of flights to the Queensland area of Australia from Auckland, New Zealand.
@@ Line 119: / Line 117: @@
 {{Image|ToLangkawi.jpg}}
-<li>'''If you can’t find availability on nonstops between the US and your destination (or a nearby city), you may need to check for connecting flights through major hubs'''. This is always going to be the case for destinations that are too far away, or that don’t generate enough traffic to justify a nonstop flight. Even if some flights are available that go directly to your destination, flying through an international hub can vastly increase the routing possibilities.</li>
+<li>'''If you can’t find availability on nonstops between the US and your destination (or a nearby city), you may need to check for connecting flights through major hubs'''. This is always going to be the case for destinations that are too far away or that don’t generate enough traffic to justify a nonstop flight. Even if some flights are available that go directly to your destination, flying through an international hub can vastly increase the routing possibilities.</li>
 For example, if you are flying to Asia, you are going to want to search for availability to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Beijing, and Shanghai, and then from those cities to your destination. You might even wind up having to add in flights through smaller cities that are directly served from the US such as Guangzhou. Or if you are flying to Africa, you need to search for availability to London, other European cities, and the UAE, and then from those cities to your destination.
-Unfortunately, as your search for availability expands, the number of different combinations that you need to search dramatically increases. You’ll need to search for several different hubs, from each of the convenient gateway cities.
+Unfortunately, as your search for availability expands, the number of different combinations that you need to search dramatically increases. You’ll need to search for several different hubs from each of the convenient gateway cities.
-<li>'''To reduce the number of combinations, start with the most convenient US gateways'''. If there are flights from a nearby airport, start with those. If not, start with US cities that you can fly to cheaply, and/or that are in your general direction of travel. For example, if you live in Ohio and want to fly to Europe, it is less useful to look for routes out of San Francisco and Los Angeles than for routes out of Chicago or New York. Start with most convenient connecting cities, and move on to less convenient options, if you can’t find space.</li>
+<li>'''To reduce the number of combinations, start with the most convenient US gateways'''. If there are flights from a nearby airport, start with those. If not, start with US cities that you can fly to cheaply and/or that are in your general direction of travel. For example, if you live in Ohio and want to fly to Europe, it is less useful to look for routes out of San Francisco and Los Angeles than for routes out of Chicago or New York. Start with most convenient connecting cities, and move on to less convenient options, if you can’t find space.</li>
 </ul>

@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 <li>'''Including an extra connection'''. Award search tools are good at searching for routes that involve a single connection. But they get worse when they need to check multiple connections and often won't bother checking more complicated routes. You can often uncover additional award space by substituting an additional connecting flight for one of the legs of your trip.</li>
-In our example, the award search tool may find space between between San Francisco and Singapore but not between Denver and San Francisco, not bother to check a less desirable route from Denver to San Francisco through Portland, and report back that no space is available. By breaking your search up, you can find availability on both pieces and stitch together a complete trip.
+In our example, the award search tool may find space San Francisco and Singapore, but not between Denver and San Francisco. It may not have bothered to check a less desirable route from Denver to San Francisco through Portland. If you know the San Francisco to Singapore space exists, you can focus harder on figuring out a way to get to San Francisco.
-Or they may find space between Seoul and Singapore, but not be able to find connecting nonstop space to Seoul from any US gateway city. By searching segment-to-segment, you might see the space from Seoul to Singapore and then uncover a route to Seoul via Tokyo or Honolulu, which the award search tool didn't try.
+Or the search tool may have found space between Seoul and Singapore, but not been able to find connecting non-stop space to Seoul from any US gateway city. By searching segment-to-segment, you might see the space from Seoul to Singapore and then uncover a route to Seoul via Tokyo or Honolulu that the award search tool didn't try.
-<li>'''Utilizing an out of the way connection'''. Award search tools will only search for routes that involve common connecting cities and will stay close to the minimum possible flight distance for your trip. You can sometimes take advantage of a more out-of-the way connecting city that the search tool didn't bother looking at. For example, you may not find award space to Texas, but you might find space on a flight to the East Coast and then on a separate flight from the East coast to Texas. Just be aware, some frequent flyer programs will limit the number of segments or the total mileage flown, so you might not be able to take advantage of some of the more extreme options you uncover.</li>
+<li>'''Utilizing an out of the way connection'''. Award search tools will only search for routes that involve common connecting cities and will stay close to the minimum possible flight distance for your trip. You can sometimes take advantage of a more out-of-the way connecting city that the search tool didn't bother looking at. For example, the tool may not find award space to Texas, but you might find space on a flight to the East Coast and then on a separate flight from the East coast to Texas. Just be aware, some frequent flyer programs will limit the number of segments or the total mileage flown, so you might not be able to take advantage of some of the more extreme options you uncover.</li>
 {{Image|SeaHouViaNYC.gif}}
-<li>'''Making an extended connection'''. Award search tools will only look for normal connecting flights between cities, where you typically spend less than 4 hours and always less than 24 hours at the connecting airport. For example, if they are checking for a connection through Chicago, they will need to find availability on a flight into Chicago and then on a corresponding flight out of Chicago later the same day. Or in the case of a late evening arrival, leaving early the following morning. They won’t consider an award flight that gets you into Chicago on one day and a separate award flight that leaves a day or two later.</li>
+<li>'''Making an extended connection'''. Award search tools will only look for normal connecting flights between cities, where you typically spend less than 4 hours, and always less than 24 hours, at the connecting airport. For example, if they are checking for a connection through Chicago, they will need to find availability on a flight into and out of Chicago on the same day. They won’t consider an award flight that gets you into Chicago on one day and a separate award flight that leaves a day or two later.</li>
-If you are willing to spend some time in one of the connecting cities, it opens up additional options for your trip. You might not be able to get all the way to your destination on any given day, but you can get there by utilizing award availability on different days. And with many frequent flyer programs, there would be no additional mileage needed to take this stopover. {{Link|free stopovers}}.
+If you are willing to spend some time in one of the connecting cities, it opens up additional options for your trip. And with many frequent flyer programs, there would be no additional mileage needed to take this stopover. {{Link|free stopovers}}.
-<li>'''Getting a separate ticket to / from a US gateway '''. Award search tools will only show space that is available for your entire trip. As US carriers have gotten stingier and stingier with domestic award availability, there often isn't any end-to-end award space to your destination, even if there is plenty of space for the expensive long-haul part of your trip. This problem is compounded by the fact that you can usually only combine award flights on a single US airline with any given international flight, so to find space you have to get lucky with a specific combination of airlines.</li>
+<li>'''Getting a separate ticket to / from a US gateway '''. Award search tools will only show space that is available for your entire trip. As US carriers have gotten stingier and stingier with domestic award availability, there often isn't any end-to-end award space to your destination, even if there is plenty of space for the expensive long-haul part of your trip. This problem is compounded by the fact that you can usually only combine award flights on a single US airline with any given international flight, so to find a complete award ticket you have to get lucky with availability on a specific combination of airlines.</li>
 By separately searching for different parts of your trip, you can see what is available and decide if it makes sense for you to make your own way to and/or from the departure city.
@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 {{Byline|FlightConnections}}
-Once you’ve found the possible award flights for your international flight, you can re-focus your efforts at finding space between your home airport and the “gateway” city. In the end, you may have to purchase an additional inexpensive domestic “positioning” flight or use a separate frequent flyer ticket to get there.
+<li>'''Using a separate ticket for the final leg of your trip'''. If you are travelling to a less well-travelled destination, it may be served by very few airlines. These airlines may not be partners with frequent flyer programs you have access to (or any at all). Or you may not be able to combine flights on that airline with the available flights for the other part of your journey. In many cases, you’ll need to be satisfied with getting an award ticket that gets you into the same “region” as your destination and then booking an additional inexpensive flight for the final leg of your trip.</li>
-<li>'''Using a separate ticket for the final leg of your trip'''. If you are travelling to a less well-travelled destination, it may be served by very few airlines. These airlines may not be partners with frequent flyer programs you have access to. Or you may not be able to combine flights on the airline with the available flights for the other part of your journey. In many cases, you’ll need to be satisfied with getting an award ticket that gets you into the same “region” as your destination, and then booking an additional inexpensive flight for the final leg of your trip.</li>
+For example, by searching segment-by-segment for your trip, you might be able to find award space to Jakarta, Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong, or Kuala Lumpur, even if there is no award availability all the way to Bali. As with the example above, once you’ve found award possibilities that will get you close to where you are going, you can focus on searching for the final leg or you can combine the long-distance award with an inexpensive additional flight or cheap additional award.
 {{Image|PartwaytoBali.png}}
-<li>'''Flying coach for part of your business or first class trip'''. There may be premium cabin availability for your long-haul flight (the main flight(s) between the US and your destination), but not the domestic part of the trip or for the short final flight to your ultimate destination. Depending on the website, the award search engine might not display business or first class award availability unless it is available for the entire trip. If you want to make sure to find this space, you’ll need to search just for the long-haul sections and then again for other pieces of your trip. </li>
+<li>'''Flying coach for part of your business or first-class trip'''. There may be premium cabin availability for your long-haul flight (the main flight(s) between the US and your destination), but not the domestic part of the trip or for the short final flight to your ultimate destination. Depending on the website, the award search engine might not display business or first-class award availability unless it is available for the entire trip. If you want to make sure to find this space, you’ll need to search just for the long-haul sections and then again for other pieces of your trip. </li>
-<li>'''Combining two different award tickets'''. If you are flying to a distant destination, you’ll often have to connect in different region of the world. For example, your flight to Africa may need to connect in Europe, your flight to Australia may need to connect in Asia, or your flight to Southeast Asia may need to connect in East Asia. Often the cost of separate award tickets to the connecting region and from the connecting region to the final destination is the same, or not much more than, an award ticket all the way to the destination. If so, you might be able to find award availability for each part of your journey with separate frequent flyer programs, even when there is no availability for the entire trip with a single program..</li>
+<li>'''Visiting two different regions'''. If you are flying to a distant destination, you’ll often have to connect in different region of the world. For example, your flight to Africa may need to connect in Europe, your flight to Australia may need to connect in East Asia, or your flight to Southeast Asia may need to connect in East Asia. Often the cost of separate award tickets to the connecting region and from the connecting region to the final destination is the same, or not much more than, an award ticket all the way to the destination. If so, you might be able to find award availability for each part of your journey with separate frequent flyer programs, even when there is no availability for the entire trip with a single program..</li>
 </ul>
 {{Byline|GCM}}
@@ Line 88: / Line 86: @@
 <ul class="simplelist">
-You won't be able to check luggage all the way through to your final destination. If you check bags, you will need to head to the baggage claim a the departing city, wait for your bags, re-check them, and go back through security. However, if you are connecting at a port of entry, there is a good chance that you'll receive your checked bags to go through customs and can re-check them more easily.
+<li>You won't be able to check luggage all the way through to your final destination. If you need to check bags, you will need to head to the baggage claim at the connecting city, wait for your bags, re-check them, and go back through security. However, if you are connecting at a port of entry, there is a good chance that you'll receive your checked bags to go through customs and can re-check them more easily.</li>
-If your flight is delayed and you miss your flight, you may be out of luck. Neither airline is responsible for getting you to your next destination.
+<li>If your flight is delayed and you miss your flight, you may be out of luck. Neither airline is responsible for getting you to your next destination.</li>
-You will need to add extra connecting time to deal with both of these issues and it might not be enough. If everything goes as it should, you'll need to spend extra time waiting around the airport.
+<li>You will need to add extra connecting time to deal with both of these issues and it might not be enough. On the flip-side, if everything goes as it should, you'll wind up spending a bunch of extra time waiting around the airport.</li>
 </ul>
-When you are thinking of using separate reservations, it is best if you stay a day or more and visit the city you are connecting in. That greatly reduces the risk you'll miss your flight, but adds days to the total length of your trip.
+When you are thinking of using separate reservations, it can be best if you stay a day or more and visit the city you are connecting in. That greatly reduces the risk you'll miss your flight, but adds days to the total length of your trip.
 {{/Box}}