AA offers 3 distinct types of awards:
- All-Partner Awards,
- All-AA Awards, and
- oneworld awards.
The first 2 are the most common.
All-Partner Awards are typically for travel to a single destination, possibly with a stopover, using any AA partners including the oneworld alliance. They should be discussed at the following link:
This thread below is reserved for discussion of oneworld awards, which are typically awards used for around-the-world travel or travel to multiple destinations.
I have done a lot of reading on flyertalk and the Internet about oneworld awards using
American Airlines AAdvantage miles. There is a lot of conflicting information out there. But the following appears to be the consensus on the applicable rules. (If the
American Airlines website is clear about a rule, then the rule on that website is reflected here even if the rule conflicts with the experience of flyertalkers.)
SECTION 1: ELIGIBLE AND REQUIRED AIRLINES
An award itinerary must include at least two of the following airlines:
(1) British Airways (BA), including the following affiliates: BA CityFlyer (FD), Comair (MN) (not to be confused with the Delta Airlines affiliate that has the same name), and Sun-Air of Scandinavia (EZ). Loganair (LC) was an affiliate through October 25, 2008.
(2) Cathay Pacific Airways (CX), including its affiliate Dragonair (KA).
(3) Finnair (AY), including Aero Airlines (EE).
(4) Iberia (IB), including its affiliate Air Nostrum (YW). Apparently, some IB flights are operated on Air Atlanta Icelandic, Audeli Air, or Denim Air provided aircraft.
(5) LAN (LA), including the following affiliates: LAN Peru (LP), LAN Express (UC), LAN Ecuador (XL), and LAN Argentina (4M).
(6) Qantas Airways (QF), including the following affiliates: JetConnect and QantasLink (including Airlink (ND), Eastern Australia Airlines (UN), National Jet Systems (NC), and Sunstate Airlines (OF)).
(7) Japan Airlines (JL), including the following affiliates: JALways (JO), JAL Express (JC), J-Air (XM), and Japan Transocean Air (NU).
(8) Malev (MA).
(9) Royal Jordanian (RJ).
Only the airlines listed in this section may be used on an award itinerary. Note that the list is significantly shorter than the list of airlines that may be used on an American Airlines all partner award.
The use of an affiliate airline and its parent airline is considered
the use of only one airline for purposes of these awards. For example, a person who wanted to use both CX and KA on an itinerary would have to choose one additional airline to satisfy the two airline requirements of this SECTION.
An award itinerary may, but is not required to, include American Airlines (AA),
American Eagle (including Executive Air), and
American Connection (including
Trans States Airlines (9N) and Chautauqua Airlines).
A person may not use this type of award to book a codeshare, i.e., a flight marketed by a particular airline but operated by a second airline.
oneworld
announced on April 9, 2008, that
Mexicana (MX) and its subsidiary
Click Mexicana (QA) will be joining oneworld sometime during the next 12 to 18 months.
oneworld
announced on May 26, 2009, that
S7 Airlines (S7) will be joining oneworld sometime in 2010.
SECTION 2: TRANSATLANTIC TRAVEL BETWEEN NORTH OR SOUTH AMERICA & THE UNITED KINGDOM
Transatlantic travel between the United States and the United Kingdom may not be on a nonstop flight operated by British Airways. Transatlantic travel is valid on British Airways nonstop flights between the United Kingdom and Canada, the Caribbean, or Latin America.
SECTION 3: SEGMENT MAXIMUM
An itinerary may not exceed 16 segments, regardless of total countable trip miles.
Each flight number produces one segment, regardless of the number of intermediate stops. Therefore, the number of segments in an itinerary is not necessarily equal to the number of stopovers in the itinerary.
An open jaw counts as a segment for this purpose. For example, DFW-LAX-SYD/CNS-BNE-AKL-LAX-DFW would have 7 segments.
A land segment between coterminals counts as a segment for this purpose, regardless of whether the segment is considered to be an open jaw. See
this thread, which was begun on January 17, 2007.
There is no option to exceed the 16 segment limitation by handwriting the ticket.
SECTION 4: STOPOVERS AND CONNECTIONS
(1) The meaning of "stopover" in the rules of American Airlines concerning oneworld awards can vary from the meaning of that term in practice. One flyertalk member even reported that he was able to persuade the airline to change the rule from a 6 hour rule to a 24 hour rule (both varieties are discussed below). It is unclear, however, whether the rule change was a one-time or permanent change.
Several flyertalk members, as recently as
June 28, 2005, have reported that the practice is as described in the remainder of this paragraph. "Stopover" means a stop of at least 24 hours. This applies to all legs of an international itinerary, including legs purely within the United States. Whether a flight to the next destination is scheduled or available during that 24 hour period is irrelevant when determining whether a stop is a "stopover."
However, on May 24, 2005, JonNYC quoted the applicable rule to read as follows:
"Passenger has ... 6 hours to connect.... If there are no scheduled flights within this timeframe, regardless of availability, the passenger must take the next scheduled flight but, may not exceed 24 hours. If the connection exceeds 24 hours, it will be considered a stopover. If there is a non-stop flight that departs after the ... 6 hour window and arrives at the destination earlier than a connecting flight within the ... 6 hour window, the passenger may be booked on the non-stop flight. It is not necessary to check every flight/carrier to ensure passenger is booked on next scheduled flight."
And the
American Airlines website quotes the applicable rule to be as follows:
"Stopover is defined as more than four hours for domestic flights, and six hours for international flights. If there are no scheduled flights within this timeframe, regardless of availability, you must take the next scheduled flight but may not exceed 24 hours. If the connection exceeds 24 hours, it will be considered a stopover."
(2) A person may stopover in each city 1 time. However, a person may not stopover in the person's originating or destination city.
(3) A person may connect through a city not more than 2 times. However, a person may not connect through the person's originating or destination city.
(4) For purposes of these limitations, a stopover does not count as a connection. Therefore, a person could stopover in a city once
and connect through that city twice. (This was last confirmed by andrzej on August 10, 2005, in
this thread, where he described his experiences while booking an award itinerary involving two connections through and one stopover in Santiago, Chile.)
(5) A city includes all its coterminals, which could be a different set of airports than the coterminals included for purposes of revenue tickets. Go to the
American Airlines website to see a list of coterminals for these awards.
SECTION 5: OPEN JAW
One open jaw is allowed anywhere during the itinerary, including in the originating country. For example, the originating city could be Dallas and the last destination could be Miami.
A person may not open jaw between Israel and any Arab League country except Jordan and Egypt.
SECTION 6: ROUTING AND EMBARGOED FLIGHTS
(1) There is no limit on the number of international departures from the originating country, so long as the other limitations described in this post are not violated (such as the prohibition against connecting through the originating city).
(2) A person may backtrack from continent to continent. There is no requirement that a person reenter the continent of origin by crossing a different ocean than when the person left the continent of origin. For example, a person could go from North America to Asia then back to North America before heading on to Europe and then returning to North America.
(3) There is no limit on the number of allowed transcontinental segments within the United States.
(4) A person is not required to use the most direct routing for these awards. However, for tickets issued on or after September 1, 2008, not using the most direct routing could increase the cost of an award. See SECTION 7B.
(5) Qantas flights 11 (Sydney to Los Angeles) and 12 (Los Angeles to Sydney) may not be used for these awards.
(6) Royal Jordanian's (RJ) flights to and from Iraq may not be used for these awards. RJ's flights from Jordan to either the United States or the United Kingdom from July 15th through September 15th may not be used. RJ's flights from the United States to Jordan from May 15th through July 15th may not be used. RJ's flights from the United Kingdom to Jordan from July 1st through August 1st may not be used.
(7) Finnair's flights 1001-3000 (Finnair Leisure) may not be used for these awards.
(8) Travel between two cities in the United States via a city in Canada is not permitted. Travel between two cities in Canada via a city in the United States is not permitted.
(9) Japan Airlines' flights on the dates listed on
its website may not be used for these awards.
(10) Japan Airlines may not be used to travel between the United States (including Hawaii) and Guam.
(11) All flights to and from Cuba may not be used for these awards.
SECTION 7A: TOTAL COUNTABLE TRIP MILES (tickets issued before September 1, 2008)
The information in this section applies only to tickets issued before September 1, 2008.
When determining the "total countable trip miles" of an itinerary, the only relevant cities are the originating city, the stopover cities, and the city in which the itinerary ends.
For example, consider the following itinerary:
JFK (originating city) - LAX (connection) - HNL (stopover city) - SYD (stopover city) - CHC (connection) - BNE (stopover city) - CNS (connection) - HKG (stopover city) - BKK (connection) - SIN (connection) – LAX (stopover city) - JFK (ending city)
The "total countable trip miles" of this itinerary would be 24,557 miles, including only the mileages between the following cities:
JFK-HNL-SYD-BNE-HKG-LAX-JFK
The segment miles of this itinerary would be 30,471 miles:
JFK-LAX-HNL-SYD-CHC-BNE-CNS-HKG-BKK-SIN-LAX-JFK
The "total countable trip miles" of an itinerary does not include any land segments.
SECTION 7B: TOTAL COUNTABLE TRIP MILES (tickets issued on or after September 1, 2008)
The information in this section applies only to tickets issued on or after September 1, 2008.
When determining the "total countable trip miles" of an itinerary, the relevant cities are the originating city, the stopover cities, the connecting cities, and the city in which the itinerary ends.
For example, consider the following itinerary:
JFK (originating city) - LAX (connection) - HNL (stopover city) - SYD (stopover city) - CHC (connection) - BNE (stopover city) - CNS (connection) - HKG (stopover city) - BKK (connection) - SIN (connection) – LAX (stopover city) - JFK (ending city)
The "total countable trip miles" of this itinerary would be 30,471 miles.
The "total countable trip miles" of an itinerary does not include any land segments.
SECTION 8: COST OF AWARDS
Total Countable Trip Miles = 0 to 1,500
Economy: costs 30,000 AA miles
Business: costs 60,000 AA miles
First: costs 80,000 AA miles
Total Countable Trip Miles = 1,501 - 4,000
Economy: costs 35,000 AA miles
Business: costs 75,000 AA miles
First: costs 100,000 AA miles
Total Countable Trip Miles = 4,001 - 9,000
Economy: costs 60,000 AA miles
Business: costs 80,000 AA miles
First: costs 100,000 AA miles
Total Countable Trip Miles = 9,001 - 10,000
Economy: costs 70,000 AA miles
Business: costs 90,000 AA miles
First: costs 120,000 AA miles
Total Countable Trip Miles = 10,001 - 14,000
Economy: costs 90,000 AA miles
Business: costs 115,000 AA miles
First: costs 150,000 AA miles
Total Countable Trip Miles = 14,001 - 20,000
Economy: costs 100,000 AA miles
Business: costs 130,000 AA miles
First: costs 180,000 AA miles
Total Countable Trip Miles = 20,001 - 25,000
Economy: costs 120,000 AA miles
Business: costs 150,000 AA miles
First: costs 230,000 AA miles
Total Countable Trip Miles = 25,001 - 35,000
Economy: costs 140,000 AA miles
Business: costs 190,000 AA miles
First: costs 280,000 AA miles
Total Countable Trip Miles = 35,001 - 50,000
Economy: costs 160,000 AA miles
Business: costs 220,000 AA miles
First: costs 330,000 AA miles
SECTION 9: BOOKING CODES
Economy class: X on all oneworld airlines except American Airlines (AA), Japan Airlines (JL), and LAN (LA). T on JL (international), AA, and LA. S on JL (domestic).
Business class: U on all oneworld airlines, except D on JL (domestic) and R on MA.
First class: Z on all oneworld airlines that offer first class awards except A on JL (domestic and international) and P on QF.
SECTION 10: TICKET VALIDITY AND CHANGES
(1) The ticket is valid for one year from the date of issuance (not from the date of the first flight).
(2) Once the ticket is issued, a change to the date, time, or number of a flight is free.
(3) Once the ticket is issued, a person is not allowed to change the name of the passenger, the routing (including stopovers or connections) of a segment, or the airline for a segment. For example:
(A) A person would not be allowed to substitute British Airways for Cathay Pacific Airways for the flight from Hong Kong to London.
(B) A person would not be allowed to substitute Brisbane for Sydney as the connecting point when flying from Cairns to Los Angeles.
(C) A person would not be allowed to make a Los Angeles to Brisbane flight nonstop if it was originally ticketed as Los Angeles to Brisbane with a connection in Sydney.
(4) holtju2 reported on July 20, 2006, in post #170 of this thread that American Airlines allowed him to change an economy class flight to business class after he began travel on a business class award ticket. holtju2 originally booked the flight in economy class because there was no business class award availability on that flight. The flight was not an American Airlines flight.
SECTION 11: USING A BUSINESS CLASS AWARD ON FLIGHTS THAT DO NOT HAVE A BUSINESS CLASS CABIN
This section applies only to a person who is both using a business class award and taking a flight that does not have a business class cabin.
The person is entitled to first class travel on American Airlines, if there is "Z" availability for that flight. If "Z" is unavailable but "T" is available, then the person must travel in economy class.
For a flight on a oneworld airline other than American Airlines, the person must travel in economy class (assuming that there is "T," "X," or "S" availability, as appropriate).
SECTION 12: RENEWING THE HOLD OF AN ITINERARY THAT HAS NOT YET BEEN TICKETED
The next two paragraphs simply reflect my personal experience in August 2005. Another flyertalk member, however, reported in August 2005 that some, but not all, American Airlines agents are willing to extend holds upon simple request. Perhaps there is no hard-and-fast rule about extensions. Or, maybe the agents are confused about the rule. Time will tell, hopefully.
American Airlines allows an itinerary to be put on hold for 14 days, although various sources have reported that the hold period is being reduced to 5 days effective April 24, 2008, and that this new policy will apply to oneworld awards. There is no option to extend the hold
directly. (In unusual circumstances, such as the need to obtain persmission from oneworld carriers to change the passenger name on an itinerary, an American Airlines supervisor may extend the hold.)
If the traveler does not wish to ticket the itinerary within the 14-day period, the traveler may
indirectly extend the hold by re-reserving all flights in the itinerary. Each of the flights to be re-reserved is subject to availability, as if the flight had never been reserved. The seats originally on hold are not considered to be available, i.e., do not go back into award inventory, when determining whether the flights may be re-reserved. For example, a traveler who is holding a business class award seat on QF 107 from Sydney to Los Angeles that is currently showing U0 availability will not be able to re-reserve that flight.
SECTION 13: EXTREME ITINERARY THAT AMERICAN AIRLINES TICKETED
According to the flyertalk thread
here, American Airlines determined in May 2005 that the following itinerary was within the rules and ticketed it.
(x) = connection
(so) = stopover
MCI - (AA) - (x)DFW - (AA) - (x)LAX - (CX) - (x)HKG - (CX) - (x)DXB - (BA) - (so)LHR // MAD - (IB) - (x)EZE - (LA) - (x)SCL - (LA) - (x)MIA - (AA) - (x)LGA - (AA) - MCI
