aau

I just made my first AA award booking, an F award for travel later this year SFO-CNS. The inbound routing is CNS-SYD-LAX-SFO with an overnight in SYD. Two questions: Can I drop the CNS-SYD segment for free? And can I do so after I've started travel on the outbound portion?

guv1976

Yes; and yes. The outbound and the inbound are two separate awards, even though both may be on the same PNR.

ashkale

Looking at doing CMB-Doh (UL)-DOh-LON(QR),the surcharges associated with this fare jumps significantly compared to CMB-DOH-LON on QR alone (Almost US$100+) . Any thoughts or previous experiences appreciated! Many Thanks in advance!

Dave Noble

There are no carrier surcharges for the journey regardless of UL or QR , so shouldn't make a difference. Why would you want to use UL over QR?

Happy

What are you talking about? AA does not charge YQ on either UL or QR.

AA only charges YQ on IB and BAA, with the fee much less on IB.

ashkale

Yes exactly my thoughts but the fees and surcharges change from US$ 45to US$125..UL connection is available on the dates to DOH, QR is not.

Thanks- I meant fee and surcharges , but having tried this on AA website too using RJ+AY the fee goes up by that very much.

Happy

Can you put the reservation on hold then call AA to ask a rate check on the taxes? Would not be the first time AA system makes errors in calculating the taxes and fees.

You could duplicate the itinerary using ITA and see if the UL YQ is wrongly included in the fee, then you can ask the agent to verify with the rate desk.

KnownasEric

New here, didn't think I should create a new thread. Looking for advice, guidance...

I booked award travel to Europe (two one-way fares, as I was hit with less of a BA tax when I separated them). When I booked the return journey (OTP-LHR-MIA-SEA, which is less than ideal) with a business saver award (no anytime available), the last segment from MIA-SEA had no business availability, since it's only coach/first on domestic flights.

I called AA to see if 1) they could shorten the routing and 2) if I could get business on the MIA-SEA flight. They told me they aren't allowed to change the routing at all, and it would cost 205,000 miles to upgrade to first for two people.

This seems absolutely ridiculous. Can I ask for only a certain flight to be upgraded (MIA-SEA) to first? I've had success in the past changing routing for award flights (most recently in January), so should I try with a better agent?

I called the EXP desk and received this info. Not sure if that makes a difference. What are my options here?

Thanks from a newb.

Dave Noble

Well, looking on Matrix, excluding surcharge for selling of ticket outside of Sri Lanka, the taxes for both UL-QR and QR-QR show as being approx $74.70

Qatar Passenger Facility Charge Pfc (G4) $9.60
Qatar Passenger Service Charge Departures (PZ) $2.05
Qatar Airport Fee International (QA) $11.00
Qatar Passenger Service Charge Arrivals (PZ) $2.05
Sri Lanka Embarkation Tax (LK) $50.00

I don;t know how much the sold outside Sri Lanka charge is ( I just recall that there is such a tax / charge ) , but regardless of the carriers , should not be less than about $75. $45 seem quite wrong

Happy

1) you did not tell which are the carriers your itinerary is on. Difficult to know why the AAgent said no routing change, as it is not true if it is among oneworld carriers, as long as the O/D are the same, the routing can be chqanged as long as it meets the published fare rules.

2) Good luck in getting AA opens up Saaver award J seats for you on the MIA-SEA flight.

What AA quoted you, would be the Anytime price, but even so I dont think the agent you talked to, knew what s/he was doing - seems your award is a partner award - for that, all the segments must be in Saaver space, hence there is no way you could upgrade the MIA-SEA to Anytime.

3) MIA-SEA does not have first class, it is domestic first, hence it is booked in U, not Z. It is business class award price. But if AA does not release a business class seat there is nothing you can do, or "ask".

ashkale

Many Thanks- this is what seems to be happening!
My Bad with the $45 and $125, when converting from MYR but the difference of US$ 80 is correct and explained as UL YQ being wrongly added! Thanks again!

KnownasEric

Apologies! BA on OTP-LHR-MIA, AA on MIA-SEA. I asked if there was a more direct route (I know there is a LHR-SEA BA flight, in addition to other AA routes). I booked through AA.com, which is a miserable experience.

The agent wasn't very helpful, but from what it sounds like...it'd be quite lucky to get any improvement. Thanks for the help!

Happy

Do you mean your LHR-MIA is on BA? So you are paying BA YQ on it?

If BA does not release LHR-SEA award seat, then AA could not offer it to you. It is not like AA could get BA to open up award seats so you can improve your itinerary... What you can do is keep monitoring the award availability and then change it to the more optimal routing when seats become available. Other than that I dont know what exactly you expect AA to do on something AA has no ability to do.

KnownasEric

Yes and yes. I was just commenting I saw a different BA flight, and am not expecting AA to magically place me on it. Additionally, I know there are other AA flights that I could take from LHR (getting me off BA from LHR, saving in fees and also saving me from MIA), which is why I asked the agent about different routing. They told me it wasn't possible, which is why I came here.

Happy

Agent is wrong in this case.

The LHR routes on AA metal are tough. OTP is also tough to get out on OneWorld.

Not sure if it would work better if you find a better routing from EU where AA flies to get you back to SEA even with connection midcon but in J, then see if you could make your own way from OTP for the short flight intra-EU is a better solution. Personally I would look for possible options because OTP is just tough to get in and out on One/world.