Jul 27, 2015, 9:19 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
Please feel free to add to or correct the information herein.
NOTE: For involuntary award changes (caused by the operating carriers), see Involuntary Award Changes / What To Do (merged threads).
Ordinarily, one must call to request or make changes to award tickets.
Award changes, ordinary
NOTE: More extensive listing of terms and conditions are listed in oneworld and other all partner awards rules, Information 2015 on
Award carrier, connection, date or routing changes: As long as origin and destination (but read on for exceptions such as first / last segment) remain the same, change / award redeposit fees are usually waived for awards under certain circumstances when date, connection, routing or carrier changes are made But:Airline / carrier changes incur no change or redeposit fees as long as you do not try to change between all AA oneworld airlines and non-oneworld airlines or vice versa.
E.g. an AA award such as SEA-HNL-SYD using AS can not be changed to use JL without requiring award redeposit. An award using AA LAX-HKG can be changed to JL via NRT or CX Without redeposit ing miles.
If Maximum Permitted Miles (usually 125% of the most direct available routing) for an award is exceeded, two awards may be charged
or
MSC fare requirements: The most significant or prevailing carrier, usually the one with the transoceanic sector, must offer an unconstructed fare between desired origin and destination; if a fare would require "married segments", two awards may be required.
Award validity: Awards must be used within one year of original booking. For travel beyond that, the award miles will have to be redeposited and new awards secured.
Award cancellations can be by phone or online, but online cancellation requires separate action to reinstate the miles. Canceling online does not request or result in miles redeposit.
Award miles reinstatement: Redeposit fees are waived for Executive Platinum members. See here for more information on award miles reinstatement.
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes and fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Co-terminals: For award purposes, there are no co-terminals; changing co-terminal airports (MIA and FLL, PBI; JFK, LGA, EWR etc.) will incur a $150 change fee. See this thread for detail on award miles redeposit.
An award using AS, FJ, HA or TN to South Pacific (e.g. AKL, SYD) can not be changed to AA or QF without requiring award redeposit (or vice versa).
Dropping segments: Awards made on AA or / and "all partner" carriers will allow changes mentioned above without requiring redeposit fees. Instances of dropping an origin segment can be allowed, or a final segment - as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards); changing the mileage (miles required) of the award claimed or the number of awards claimed.
Segments can be dropped as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards). If you are refused, refer agents to the in-house memo/advisory dated 02/03/11 entitled "Dropping OWFA segments." (guv1976)
As JonNYC posted:
This document was current as of December 2014:
For permitted changes and fees, see this post in the airline partner award thread.
If the award is AA and oneworld, changes may be made as long as the main / governing /Most Significant Carrier makes an unconstructed fare on the award routing and the governing fare's carrier is not changed to one not offering such a fare.
Close-in booking fee: Changes made to bring travel to under 21 days from award issue will incur close-in booking fees of $75.
Schedule changes: On international awards, schedule changes of two hours or longer, or those breaking connections by bringing them below MCT / minimum connection times, flight cancellations, generally may be cancelled and redeposited without fees, or engender greater flexibility in changes. With AA awards, it is possible award seating may be opened when there is none; with partners, AA can appeal to the Liaison to the partner to open seating in these cases (the partner airline may or may not grant the exception requested). Equipment change constitutes a schedule change and you will be able to get the fee waived pre this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
Partner changes: If the award includes non-oneworld partners such as AS, EY, FJ or TN, or a oneworld carrier award is changed to include a non-oneworld carrier, or vice versa, significant fees will be incurred ($150).
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes abd fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Changes that require different award type -
Changes to the itinerary which involve different AAdvantage award(s) than originally ticketed require a reinstatement of the original award ticket, payment of the applicable award reinstatement charge (see below), and a new award ticket issued (waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account). However, SAAver awards canceled for AAnytime awards, or changing to a higher class of service, will not incur redeposit fees.
Changes to your outbound travel date, resulting in a departure within 21 days -
Close-in booking fee: A $75 USD award processing charge will apply for a confirmed change to the date on an AAdvantage MileSAAver and AAnytime award ticket if the change results in a new outbound travel date that is within 21 days of the original booking date (waived for AAdvantage elite members using miles from their account).
Contact AAdvantage Reservations to change your itinerary, pay the applicable charge and have your ticket reissued prior to travel.
Canceling Awards / Reinstating Award Tickets
(Waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account)
AAdvantage® mileage will be reinstated for unused and unexpired awards upon payment of a processing fee. For tickets booked on or after November 1, 2018, AAdvantage®mileage will be reinstated upon payment of a processing fee for unused and unexpired awards canceled prior to departure. For each additional award reinstatement from the same account at the same time, an additional charge will be collected. These charges are payable by credit card.
Award class changes: MileSAAver to AAnytime changes generally incur no fees; conversely, AAnytime to MileSAAver awards generally will.
Award cabin class "upgrades" (e.g. Y to J): If the change made is an increase of miles to another cabin class, fees are not normally charged (but some government required fees such as UK Air Passenger Duty, airport passenger facility fees, etc. may change).
Redepositing awards incurs a fee of $150 other than for Executive Platinum members redepositing to their accounts. If two or more awards are being redeposited to the same account at the same time, the fees are $150 for the first award, $25 for every award thereafter. Note the awards do not have to share the same PNR, though some less knowledgeable agents will insist so.
Note: given a 120 hr / 5 day hold is offered, there is no right to “Free” cancellation (without redeposit) within 24 hours of securing the award. OTOH, mere date changes to a year from Booking are free of charge in most instances.
Please see: State of the award reinstatement fee (Nov 2015 - clarifying)
FAQ: Cancel award ticket / cancellation (time frame, taxes, etc.) (merged threads)
Link to ARCHIVE 2017: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
Link to ARCHIVE 2015-2016: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
Link to ARCHIVE 2012-14: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
NOTE: For involuntary award changes (caused by the operating carriers), see Involuntary Award Changes / What To Do (merged threads).
Ordinarily, one must call to request or make changes to award tickets.
Award changes, ordinary
NOTE: More extensive listing of terms and conditions are listed in oneworld and other all partner awards rules, Information 2015 on
Award carrier, connection, date or routing changes: As long as origin and destination (but read on for exceptions such as first / last segment) remain the same, change / award redeposit fees are usually waived for awards under certain circumstances when date, connection, routing or carrier changes are made But:Airline / carrier changes incur no change or redeposit fees as long as you do not try to change between all AA oneworld airlines and non-oneworld airlines or vice versa.
E.g. an AA award such as SEA-HNL-SYD using AS can not be changed to use JL without requiring award redeposit. An award using AA LAX-HKG can be changed to JL via NRT or CX Without redeposit ing miles.
If Maximum Permitted Miles (usually 125% of the most direct available routing) for an award is exceeded, two awards may be charged
or
MSC fare requirements: The most significant or prevailing carrier, usually the one with the transoceanic sector, must offer an unconstructed fare between desired origin and destination; if a fare would require "married segments", two awards may be required.
Award validity: Awards must be used within one year of original booking. For travel beyond that, the award miles will have to be redeposited and new awards secured.
Award cancellations can be by phone or online, but online cancellation requires separate action to reinstate the miles. Canceling online does not request or result in miles redeposit.
Award miles reinstatement: Redeposit fees are waived for Executive Platinum members. See here for more information on award miles reinstatement.
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes and fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Co-terminals: For award purposes, there are no co-terminals; changing co-terminal airports (MIA and FLL, PBI; JFK, LGA, EWR etc.) will incur a $150 change fee. See this thread for detail on award miles redeposit.
An award using AS, FJ, HA or TN to South Pacific (e.g. AKL, SYD) can not be changed to AA or QF without requiring award redeposit (or vice versa).
Dropping segments: Awards made on AA or / and "all partner" carriers will allow changes mentioned above without requiring redeposit fees. Instances of dropping an origin segment can be allowed, or a final segment - as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards); changing the mileage (miles required) of the award claimed or the number of awards claimed.
Segments can be dropped as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards). If you are refused, refer agents to the in-house memo/advisory dated 02/03/11 entitled "Dropping OWFA segments." (guv1976)
As JonNYC posted:
This document was current as of December 2014:
For permitted changes and fees, see this post in the airline partner award thread.
If the award is AA and oneworld, changes may be made as long as the main / governing /Most Significant Carrier makes an unconstructed fare on the award routing and the governing fare's carrier is not changed to one not offering such a fare.
Close-in booking fee: Changes made to bring travel to under 21 days from award issue will incur close-in booking fees of $75.
Schedule changes: On international awards, schedule changes of two hours or longer, or those breaking connections by bringing them below MCT / minimum connection times, flight cancellations, generally may be cancelled and redeposited without fees, or engender greater flexibility in changes. With AA awards, it is possible award seating may be opened when there is none; with partners, AA can appeal to the Liaison to the partner to open seating in these cases (the partner airline may or may not grant the exception requested). Equipment change constitutes a schedule change and you will be able to get the fee waived pre this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
Partner changes: If the award includes non-oneworld partners such as AS, EY, FJ or TN, or a oneworld carrier award is changed to include a non-oneworld carrier, or vice versa, significant fees will be incurred ($150).
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes abd fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Changes that require different award type -
Changes to the itinerary which involve different AAdvantage award(s) than originally ticketed require a reinstatement of the original award ticket, payment of the applicable award reinstatement charge (see below), and a new award ticket issued (waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account). However, SAAver awards canceled for AAnytime awards, or changing to a higher class of service, will not incur redeposit fees.
Changes to your outbound travel date, resulting in a departure within 21 days -
Close-in booking fee: A $75 USD award processing charge will apply for a confirmed change to the date on an AAdvantage MileSAAver and AAnytime award ticket if the change results in a new outbound travel date that is within 21 days of the original booking date (waived for AAdvantage elite members using miles from their account).
Contact AAdvantage Reservations to change your itinerary, pay the applicable charge and have your ticket reissued prior to travel.
Canceling Awards / Reinstating Award Tickets
(Waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account)
AAdvantage® mileage will be reinstated for unused and unexpired awards upon payment of a processing fee. For tickets booked on or after November 1, 2018, AAdvantage®mileage will be reinstated upon payment of a processing fee for unused and unexpired awards canceled prior to departure. For each additional award reinstatement from the same account at the same time, an additional charge will be collected. These charges are payable by credit card.
Award class changes: MileSAAver to AAnytime changes generally incur no fees; conversely, AAnytime to MileSAAver awards generally will.
Award cabin class "upgrades" (e.g. Y to J): If the change made is an increase of miles to another cabin class, fees are not normally charged (but some government required fees such as UK Air Passenger Duty, airport passenger facility fees, etc. may change).
Redepositing awards incurs a fee of $150 other than for Executive Platinum members redepositing to their accounts. If two or more awards are being redeposited to the same account at the same time, the fees are $150 for the first award, $25 for every award thereafter. Note the awards do not have to share the same PNR, though some less knowledgeable agents will insist so.
Note: given a 120 hr / 5 day hold is offered, there is no right to “Free” cancellation (without redeposit) within 24 hours of securing the award. OTOH, mere date changes to a year from Booking are free of charge in most instances.
Please see: State of the award reinstatement fee (Nov 2015 - clarifying)
FAQ: Cancel award ticket / cancellation (time frame, taxes, etc.) (merged threads)
Link to ARCHIVE 2017: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
Link to ARCHIVE 2015-2016: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
Link to ARCHIVE 2012-14: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
Voluntary Award Change / changes: date, time, routing, airline, co-terminal, etc.
Jun 15, 2018, 4:59 am
#76
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,466
Jul 15, 2018, 10:53 pm
#77
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1k
Posts: 144
On a BKK-HKG-JFK award ticket, once it's fully ticketed, is it free to drop the BKK-HKG leg, and keep only HKG-JFK, or does tha incur the $150 redeposit fee? (change of airports, but it says in the wiki that dropping the first segment is fine as long as the destination is the same?) The thing is, HKG-JFK is not available anymore, so they'd need to keep the segment that's already in the itinerary...
Edit: my second related question is, the 24-hour period for free changes & redeposit, that's from time of ticket issue, not of booking, right? Because with Cathay it can take a few days for the ticket to issue...
Any insight would be appreciated.
Edit: my second related question is, the 24-hour period for free changes & redeposit, that's from time of ticket issue, not of booking, right? Because with Cathay it can take a few days for the ticket to issue...
Any insight would be appreciated.
Last edited by augias84; Jul 15, 2018 at 11:03 pm
Jul 16, 2018, 6:08 am
#78
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,466
On a BKK-HKG-JFK award ticket, once it's fully ticketed, is it free to drop the BKK-HKG leg, and keep only HKG-JFK, or does tha incur the $150 redeposit fee? (change of airports, but it says in the wiki that dropping the first segment is fine as long as the destination is the same?) The thing is, HKG-JFK is not available anymore, so they'd need to keep the segment that's already in the itinerary...
Edit: my second related question is, the 24-hour period for free changes & redeposit, that's from time of ticket issue, not of booking, right? Because with Cathay it can take a few days for the ticket to issue...
Any insight would be appreciated.
Edit: my second related question is, the 24-hour period for free changes & redeposit, that's from time of ticket issue, not of booking, right? Because with Cathay it can take a few days for the ticket to issue...
Any insight would be appreciated.
And the 24 hr period generally starts when you click "book" on the website or tell the phone agent you want to ticket it, although there was some debate on this a while back. If you have a CX award that takes 2 days to actually ticket, I would not expect a fee-free cancel if you call at the end of day 3, although you could get lucky.
Jul 16, 2018, 6:25 am
#79
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1k
Posts: 144
Ah, thanks for the info. In a previous attempt I had an agent remove BKK-HKG while the ticket was on request, but then a few hours later the itinerary showed as canceled... I suspect that Cathay just nixed it as they are not offering HKG-NY as an award ticket in their search engine for some weird reason. only the 'married' itinerary BKK-HKG-NY -- so I think I do need to remove the segment once it's fully ticketed, since at that point Cathay won't be able to back out of confirming the space... Might be worth paying the $150 in this case. I'll make sure to call within 24 hours of ticketing and hope for the best. I don't have AA status so the agents aren't usually too kind to me...
Update: the ticket was issued in less than 24 hours so I was able to make this change for free! Indeed, while the ticket has to be reissued, it does not need to go through the whole process of waiting for the Cathay liaisons again.
Update: the ticket was issued in less than 24 hours so I was able to make this change for free! Indeed, while the ticket has to be reissued, it does not need to go through the whole process of waiting for the Cathay liaisons again.
Last edited by augias84; Jul 16, 2018 at 5:34 pm
Aug 7, 2018, 8:22 am
#80
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Cambridge, MA
Programs: AAdvantage, United MP
Posts: 47
Changing reservations made with AAdvantage miles
I am planning to book a trip from Europe to the US by redeeming AAdvantage miles later this year. I am trying to figure out how flexible my return date is, but strangely enough the guidance on the American Airlines website only refers to outgoing travel:
I have some matters to take care of in the US, but it's difficult to predict exactly how long it will take to complete them. I would like to be able to return to Europe earlier if i manage to complete everything ahead of time. Would it be advisable in this case to book a return ticket for the latest date I imagine returning with the expectation that it should be easy to change later if I need to?
Thanks in advance for any pointers on this question!
Changes to your travel date
- If you change your outbound award travel date to within 21 days of the original booking date, a $75 award processing fee will apply, provided the new date is valid for the original award type claimed
Thanks in advance for any pointers on this question!
Aug 7, 2018, 8:57 am
#81
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
I am planning to book a trip from Europe to the US by redeeming AAdvantage miles later this year. I am trying to figure out how flexible my return date is, but strangely enough the guidance on the American Airlines website only refers to outgoing travel:
[/list]I have some matters to take care of in the US, but it's difficult to predict exactly how long it will take to complete them. I would like to be able to return to Europe earlier if i manage to complete everything ahead of time. Would it be advisable in this case to book a return ticket for the latest date I imagine returning with the expectation that it should be easy to change later if I need to?
Thanks in advance for any pointers on this question!
[/list]I have some matters to take care of in the US, but it's difficult to predict exactly how long it will take to complete them. I would like to be able to return to Europe earlier if i manage to complete everything ahead of time. Would it be advisable in this case to book a return ticket for the latest date I imagine returning with the expectation that it should be easy to change later if I need to?
Thanks in advance for any pointers on this question!
Close-in booking fee: Changes made to bring travel to under 21 days from award issue will incur close-in booking fees of $75.
We have merged this into the existing thread on this topic.
Moderator
Aug 7, 2018, 9:07 am
#82
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Cambridge, MA
Programs: AAdvantage, United MP
Posts: 47
Thanks for the answer and for moving this post to the appropriate thread!
Just to clarify: if I make my booking for a stay that is under 21 days (e.g. 20 days), I should be able to change my return date to an earlier one without any difficulties?
Just to clarify: if I make my booking for a stay that is under 21 days (e.g. 20 days), I should be able to change my return date to an earlier one without any difficulties?
Aug 7, 2018, 9:18 am
#83
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
If you’d paid the early booking fee already because your original award Booking was less than 21 days out, I’d hope they’d charge again - though knowing AA, they might. Why not book earlier and then change as necessary? It requires flexibility and availability, but last minute changes do, too.
Aug 7, 2018, 12:28 pm
#84
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
I am planning to book a trip from Europe to the US by redeeming AAdvantage miles later this year. I am trying to figure out how flexible my return date is, but strangely enough the guidance on the American Airlines website only refers to outgoing travel:
I have some matters to take care of in the US, but it's difficult to predict exactly how long it will take to complete them. I would like to be able to return to Europe earlier if i manage to complete everything ahead of time. Would it be advisable in this case to book a return ticket for the latest date I imagine returning with the expectation that it should be easy to change later if I need to?
Thanks in advance for any pointers on this question!
I have some matters to take care of in the US, but it's difficult to predict exactly how long it will take to complete them. I would like to be able to return to Europe earlier if i manage to complete everything ahead of time. Would it be advisable in this case to book a return ticket for the latest date I imagine returning with the expectation that it should be easy to change later if I need to?
Thanks in advance for any pointers on this question!
Aug 10, 2018, 12:56 pm
#85
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Virginia
Posts: 291
Hello...I did search, but couldn't find the answer in this 124 page thread...
Are upgrade awards treated the same as "real" full points only AAwards? I actually found C availability, and I now have a paid Y fare ticket that has been upgraded to J. (yay!)
Do all the same rules apply to this type of award upgrade ticket? I'm presently leaving on a Sunday, but would like to move my dates up to Friday if more C space becomes available earlier in the week. Are date changes allowed assuming the origin and destination remain the same?
Are upgrade awards treated the same as "real" full points only AAwards? I actually found C availability, and I now have a paid Y fare ticket that has been upgraded to J. (yay!)
Do all the same rules apply to this type of award upgrade ticket? I'm presently leaving on a Sunday, but would like to move my dates up to Friday if more C space becomes available earlier in the week. Are date changes allowed assuming the origin and destination remain the same?
Aug 10, 2018, 12:58 pm
#86
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,583
Hello...I did search, but couldn't find the answer in this 124 page thread...
Are upgrade awards treated the same as "real" full points only AAwards? I actually found C availability, and I now have a paid Y fare ticket that has been upgraded to J. (yay!)
Do all the same rules apply to this type of award upgrade ticket? I'm presently leaving on a Sunday, but would like to move my dates up to Friday if more C space becomes available earlier in the week. Are date changes allowed assuming the origin and destination remain the same?
Are upgrade awards treated the same as "real" full points only AAwards? I actually found C availability, and I now have a paid Y fare ticket that has been upgraded to J. (yay!)
Do all the same rules apply to this type of award upgrade ticket? I'm presently leaving on a Sunday, but would like to move my dates up to Friday if more C space becomes available earlier in the week. Are date changes allowed assuming the origin and destination remain the same?
Aug 10, 2018, 1:43 pm
#87
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Virginia
Posts: 291
Oh well, thanks for the confirmation.
Aug 21, 2018, 2:47 pm
#88
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 55
Booked LGA-MIA-GRU-JFK Econ for a trip in October last night using aa miles
1) can I cancel without redeposit fee for 24 hours?
2) can I add a longer stop over LGA - MIA (currently 2 hours, i might wanna do overnight) without fees?
3) I can’t change to jfk-mia-gru-jfk without fees right?
any other advice on flying this route? plan is to upgrade when I have more miles in a month
1) can I cancel without redeposit fee for 24 hours?
2) can I add a longer stop over LGA - MIA (currently 2 hours, i might wanna do overnight) without fees?
3) I can’t change to jfk-mia-gru-jfk without fees right?
any other advice on flying this route? plan is to upgrade when I have more miles in a month
Sep 6, 2018, 1:56 pm
#90
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
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Posts: 12,466
Should be no fee to make the change since all carriers remain oneworld. You will have to pay the extra taxes. As with any change like this, might need to HUCA a few times to get an agent to process the change with no fee.