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Old Mar 30, 2015, 3:26 am
  #1  
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Award tickets - can I book now?

With the merger going on, is it possible/safe to book award tickets now? I want to get in before the award chart changes. Thoughts welcome ^
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 4:02 am
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Originally Posted by agp423
With the merger going on, is it possible/safe to book award tickets now? I want to get in before the award chart changes. Thoughts welcome ^
What is stopping you from doing this? The merger could certainly help in getting the miles needed for the award in case you have mileage across both program, AA & US. I do not see any reason why not.
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 4:15 am
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Looking to book an award

Hi - If this is all answered elsewhere, I'd be grateful for a link. I'm using the AA website to look for an award from MAD>DEL RT in J on Qatar and on the AA website it doesn't seem to offer this for any dates. It generously offers BA (not interested) and other options, but I'd like to the nonstop from MAD>DOH, then DOH>DEL.

Does anyone know if Qatar is simply unavailable through aa.com or they have very restricted availability? I'm checking a wide range of dates.

Thanks.

PS: From looking at AA's award chart, am I right in assuming that the previous US option of doing USA>EU (stopover)>Asia>EU>USA for a very reasonable number of miles is now gone and all USA>Asia travel has to be transpac? And lastly, can you even try to book an award anymore by calling the US award booking number?

EDIT FOR MORE INFO:

I think I see why I can't find Qatar flights. They are not listed as one of the carriers available through aa.com from the little popup box. So for a Qatar booking, you have to phone AA to try to book that?

Booking Awards on Other Airline Participants on aa.com

In addition to flights on American Airlines and American Eagle, you can book award travel with the following carriers and their affiliate airlines, if eligible, on aa.com:

oneworld alliance Partners Other Airline Participants
airberlin Alaska Airlines
British Airways Hawaiian Airlines
Finnair
Qantas
Royal Jordanian Airlines
US Airways









Last edited by Matthew_DC; Mar 30, 2015 at 4:18 am Reason: more info
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 4:21 am
  #4  
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Originally Posted by Matthew_DC
Hi - If this is all answered elsewhere, I'd be grateful for a link. I'm using the AA website to look for an award from MAD>DEL RT in J on Qatar and on the AA website it doesn't seem to offer this for any dates. It generously offers BA (not interested) and other options, but I'd like to the nonstop from MAD>DOH, then DOH>DEL.
This would need 2 awards I believe. My understanding is that US - India allows connection in Europe only

Originally Posted by Matthew_DC
Does anyone know if Qatar is simply unavailable through aa.com or they have very restricted availability? I'm checking a wide range of dates.
You will need to use a different tool to search for availability for QR. If you set up an account for BA, the BA site is pretty decent for searching for awards on One World

Originally Posted by Matthew_DC
PS: From looking at AA's award chart, am I right in assuming that the previous US option of doing USA>EU (stopover)>Asia>EU>USA for a very reasonable number of miles is now gone and all USA>Asia travel has to be transpac? And lastly, can you even try to book an award anymore by calling the US award booking number?
Stopovers are prohibited on AA Awards

North America to Asia 1 has to be directly from North America to Asia 1
North America to Asia 2 allows connection in Asia 1

so travel by Europe would not be permitted

For a stopover / travel via Europe , will need 2 awards
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 4:57 am
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Originally Posted by arollins
What is stopping you from doing this? The merger could certainly help in getting the miles needed for the award in case you have mileage across both program, AA & US. I do not see any reason why not.
Would award tickets then be on AA rules or US rules?
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 5:11 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by agp423
Would award tickets then be on AA rules or US rules?
USDM no longer exists for issuing awards - all awards are now AAdvantage awards so AAdvantage rules apply
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 5:11 am
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Originally Posted by agp423
Would award tickets then be on AA rules or US rules?
I'm thinking that US award ticket rules are a thing of the past. But I was wondering if the US award tel. no. is still active, then maybe you could get someone who would ticket an award with AA miles but with the former US rules. Don't know. Probably won't try, but if anyone does and it works, it would be nice to know.

Thank you, Dave, for all the info!
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 5:17 am
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Originally Posted by Matthew_DC
I'm thinking that US award ticket rules are a thing of the past. But I was wondering if the US award tel. no. is still active, then maybe you could get someone who would ticket an award with AA miles but with the former US rules. Don't know. Probably won't try, but if anyone does and it works, it would be nice to know.

Thank you, Dave, for all the info!
USDM awards are deceased
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 5:34 am
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
USDM awards are deceased
Dave - Do you have any sense of whether the offers to buy miles at cheap rates that US used to have will be replicated by AA? I imagine it's been discussed on the board already. I haven't found the thread for it yet. Thanks, Matthew_DC
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 5:41 am
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Originally Posted by Matthew_DC
Dave - Do you have any sense of whether the offers to buy miles at cheap rates that US used to have will be replicated by AA? I imagine it's been discussed on the board already. I haven't found the thread for it yet. Thanks, Matthew_DC
AA has mileage purchase deals from time to time too, but does have an annual purchase limit

From the T&Cs at https://buymiles.aa.com/en/buygift/tc

Originally Posted by T&C
Members may purchase for themselves or receive as a gift, a maximum combined total of 100,000 AAdvantage® miles in a calendar year
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 5:46 am
  #11  
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Originally Posted by Matthew_DC
I'm thinking that US award ticket rules are a thing of the past. But I was wondering if the US award tel. no. is still active, then maybe you could get someone who would ticket an award with AA miles but with the former US rules. Don't know. Probably won't try, but if anyone does and it works, it would be nice to know.

Thank you, Dave, for all the info!
There is no such thing as an unticketed USDM award any more. Call any number, you will get an AA award with AA rules.

USDM needed to be ticketed prior to 3/28.
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 6:59 am
  #12  
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Originally Posted by Matthew_DC
I think I see why I can't find Qatar flights. They are not listed as one of the carriers available through aa.com from the little popup box. So for a Qatar booking, you have to phone AA to try to book that?

Booking Awards on Other Airline Participants on aa.com

In addition to flights on American Airlines and American Eagle, you can book award travel with the following carriers and their affiliate airlines, if eligible, on aa.com:

oneworld alliance Partners Other Airline Participants
airberlin Alaska Airlines
British Airways Hawaiian Airlines
Finnair
Qantas
Royal Jordanian Airlines
US Airways

Keep going with the details of that pop-up box. Emphasis mine.

Additional award redemption opportunities on all AAdvantage participating airlines can be found by contacting AAdvantage Reservations at 1-800-882-8880 or visit our Worldwide Reservations Phone Numbers page. Service charges may apply.
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 7:02 am
  #13  
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Does anyone know how far in advance I can book AA award tickets on CX? And if PEK-HKG-ORD-DTW is valid? I know AA allows exceeding the mileage by X% but I am not quite clear. Thanks in advance for your help!
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 2:26 pm
  #14  
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Originally Posted by agp423
Does anyone know how far in advance I can book AA award tickets on CX? And if PEK-HKG-ORD-DTW is valid? I know AA allows exceeding the mileage by X% but I am not quite clear. Thanks in advance for your help!
AA requires that the journey be valid for a paid ticket.

In the routing rules for CX fare it does state

BJS-CX/KA-HKG-CHI-AA/US-DTT

so would seem valid for an AA award
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