*A, promoting carbon emission...

[SuperFlyer]

Okay, the title caught your attention, or you are totally bored.

As I like to tour places, and prefer spending less money/miles if possible, I usually try to go through as many places as possible (stopping under 24 hours) and either using the one >24 hour stopover allowed each direction of the trip, or trading one in for an open jaw.

Trying to push to the extreme, as much as I try to respect a logical -the less curved possible- route between departure and point of return, I was told (after the rep* put me on hold) that I passed the 16 segment maximum on one ticket, which is apparently in violation with the *A rules, as well as going over 5% extra distance allowed per direction (per direction I mean, either from starting point till point of return, or point of return till end point).
This was using aeroplan.

*was tested on reps.

I have several issues/questions, which I hope people can (partially) help me out with:

Saying that there is 5% leniency on whatever isn't a direct line from start point to return, and whatever is >5% isn't allowed doesn't make sense, as traveling from a secondary airport to a secondary airport that aren't far apart, and make 1/2 stops, probably pass easily over the 40% of the straight distance between the two cities.

I assume that by indicating to the *A program your starting point and point of return, it generates a flight (or multiple) which it assumes is the shortest routing, and on top of that the 5% leniency is based.
I believe that the feeling we might get that we surpass the 5% by far, is that on routes that I know well, the reps get a generated flight(s) that are far from being the shortest route. That is good news, assuming that my theory is right.

Sometimes, when going from a small airport, to some tiny lost airport somewhere, where .ore than 2 stops are required, the system doesn't find flights by itself. Does that mean that the 5% restriction does not apply?

Furthermore, it seems as if parts of the checks done by the reps to validate a routing are optional, and hence some routings will only work with specific reps, based on their geography knowledge, and how punctilious they are.

Please, your input is appreciated.




 

[aussiebochur]

MPM (Maximum permitted mileage) allowed between two city pairs is generally ~10% of the direct line between the two cities.
Aeroplan then allows another 5% on top of that.
Where it gets interesting is, if an airline has a published fare between two cities, although not direct, that becomes the MPM.
One of the most extreme examples would be Lufthansa's published fare between Los Angels and Hong Kong via Frankfurt.
That means that with Aeroplan you could go 5% over that (United allows 15%) basically allowing some pretty fun routings.

[SuperFlyer]

Thanks, but it still didn't work.

Does this extreme example grant more miles for anyone using the same start and end point, albeit different routing?

[aussiebochur]

Thanks, but it still didn't work.

Does this extreme example grant more miles for anyone using the same start and end point, albeit different routing?

Correct.
It depends on the city pair. Where were you flying to/from? What were you trying to pull off?

[Dan]

With AC it ultimately depends on the agent.  It's up to them to manually check MPM (which you can look up on KVS by the way).  If you get an agent who doesn't check MPM then you're good.

I think with UA the system checks for MPM automatically.  CO doesn't have any MPM restrictions.

[SuperFlyer]

@ aussie, that means that if NRT-FRA-LAX has introduced a high mileage allowance,not necessarily will a NRT-FRA-ORD (which is less miles) be tolerated? Meaning the leniency has been made for this exact routing? In other words, my point of return should be an existing ticket route?

I saw it in kvs, but can't figure it out.

[SuperFlyer]

The 16 segments we cannot get around, correct?

[aussiebochur]

The 16 segments we cannot get around, correct?

Correct. I believe it applies to paid tickets as well.
It's something with the ticketing process, it just can't handle more.

[Dan]

Correct. I believe it applies to paid tickets as well.
It's something with the ticketing process, it just can't handle more.

+1

[SuperFlyer]

@ aussie, that means that if NRT-FRA-LAX has introduced a high mileage allowance,not necessarily will a NRT-FRA-ORD (which is less miles) be tolerated? Meaning the leniency has been made for this exact routing? In other words, my point of return should be an existing ticket route?

if someone could answer this part...

[aussiebochur]

if someone could answer this part...

The only leniency over the MPM being based on the direct distance is when there is an airline that has a published route otherwise. This new MPM will only apply to that city pair.