Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > American Airlines | AAdvantage
Reload this Page >

ARCHIVE: 2009-2015 MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability Help etc.

Old Jan 1, 2015, 8:43 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: JDiver
MODERATOR GUIDEPOST

This is the ARCHIVE through 2015 for older posts from the MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability - Help, Assistance & Discussion (consolidated) thread.


Some of you might have found your thread merged into this "consolidated" thread. If your desire is to become thoroughly familiar with the knowledge that has been accumulated about the process for acquiring MileSAAver awards feel free to read this entire thread. If you only want the assistance from those who have the knowledge your request has been merged at the end. Feel free to wait for a forthcoming answer.

If you have reached this thread by using the search process you have the same choices as above. Read the thread and become knowledgeable or post at the end and wait for a forthcoming answer.

thanks
~magic111





This wikipost can be edited by members with 90 days' tenure and 90 posts; wiki contents may be printed by using the (lower right wiki corner).

Other useful resources include:

MileSAAver / SAAver award reduction / scarcity >= Aug 2011 onward (consolidated)

oneworld and Other Airline (Partner) Awards info, rules 2014 on

Help with British Airways / BA surcharge / YQ (AA award on BA, consolidated)

UK APD / Air Passenger Duty charged for UK departures



Print Wikipost

ARCHIVE: 2009-2015 MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability Help etc.

Old Apr 1, 2009, 10:19 am
  #16  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: DFWex-BOS
Programs: AA PLTPRO, 2MM, Bonvoy PLT, NYT Monday crossword puzzle solver extraordinaire
Posts: 1,456
Originally Posted by quartney
Thanks to everyone who responded, especially gemac and beerup!!! You told me about options that I didn't know about.

I checked daily, and used your advice to book a flight with the ideal return date and a too-early departure date. Then, I found a departure with an overnight in DFW and changed the tickets. First class to Hawaii, yay!!!
A terrific FT success story! Congrats and have a great trip, quartney!
NotDuncan is offline  
Old Apr 1, 2009, 1:20 pm
  #17  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: STL
Programs: AA 2MM, AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,966
Originally Posted by quartney
Thanks to everyone who responded, especially gemac and beerup!!! You told me about options that I didn't know about.

I checked daily, and used your advice to book a flight with the ideal return date and a too-early departure date. Then, I found a departure with an overnight in DFW and changed the tickets. First class to Hawaii, yay!!!
You're welcome. Enjoy the flight and your time in Hawaii.
gemac is offline  
Old Jun 25, 2009, 11:55 am
  #18  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Programs: AAdvantage
Posts: 14
flight recap:

Because of weather, no flights were going into DFW on our departure date. American switched us to Delta/NWA flights the following day *and* got us a hotel room that night. Which surprised us, since I didn't think Airlines gave out hotel vouchers due to weather.

Our newly-scheduled flights got us in to Hawaii only 1 hour later. We traveled 1st-class to ATL and then from ATL to HNL. We were on NWA's 747-400 and WOW was it nice in 1st class. The seats were awesome, we loved the individual tv sets with new movies, and the flight attendants were first-rate, as well.

Coming home, we found out a few hours before departure that AA had accidentally cancelled our return flights when they re-routed us with Delta/NWA on the outbound flight. Thirty minutes on the phone with AA and we got our flights rescheduled.

First class on AA's 757 was a disappointment after flying in the 747-400. While I appreciate AA's customer service, I'm considering switching FF credit cards to Delta.
quartney is offline  
Old Jun 25, 2009, 2:39 pm
  #19  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA, WN, IC AMB
Posts: 52
Originally Posted by quartney

First class on AA's 757 was a disappointment after flying in the 747-400. While I appreciate AA's customer service, I'm considering switching FF credit cards to Delta.


From the sounds of it you don't fly F that often, if ever (neither do I FWIW), so picking a FF program based on a rarely used incentive seems like disaster from my point of view.
Meixner007 is offline  
Old Jun 25, 2009, 2:44 pm
  #20  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Programs: AAdvantage
Posts: 14
I've been an AAdvantage member for 11 years and have used my rewards for 1 coach ticket in the US and 2 F tickets to Hawaii. You're right that I don't fly F often and I rarely use *any* incentives ... so why not get a great incentive on those rare occasions?

edited to add: Delta/NWA flies out of my home airport and American does not. Makes more sense to switch for that reason, too.
quartney is offline  
Old Jun 25, 2009, 4:31 pm
  #21  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 1999
Posts: 12,097
Originally Posted by Meixner007


From the sounds of it you don't fly F that often, if ever (neither do I FWIW), so picking a FF program based on a rarely used incentive seems like disaster from my point of view.
I don't understand your post: OP seems pretty rational to me. He/she learned that there's a drastic difference on how much the same amount of miles buys you, and he/she's going to the program that gives him/her the best value for his/her next free trip to Hawaii.
hillrider is offline  
Old Jun 25, 2009, 5:05 pm
  #22  
brp
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,511
Originally Posted by hillrider
I don't understand your post: OP seems pretty rational to me. He/she learned that there's a drastic difference on how much the same amount of miles buys you, and he/she's going to the program that gives him/her the best value for his/her next free trip to Hawaii.
I agree. It sounds like a reasonable and well-thought-out plan to me as well, without a whole lot of need for discussion. Imagine if everyone who want to choose one program over another felt the need to tell everyone about it and discuss it at length

Different plans work for different people, for a variety of reasons and those who have a favorite are not well-served by trying to "defend" those plans to others, just as those opting for different plans have little need to explain themselves to others.

I'm often surprised by the number of people who come here to try and justify why this plan doesn't work for them (some are much more harsh that that) and that they are going to plan XYZ instead. I'm sure the same happens on other forums as well. People should make their choices based on what works for them, without caring what others think. Likely, most here don't care much about such decisions of others, nor should they,IMO.

To each his/her own.

Cheers.
brp is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2009, 7:18 am
  #23  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: AA EXP, AAirpass, & CK 2MM, MR Plat Premier, DL Plat, US Plat, UA RECOVERING GS
Posts: 2,620
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.1; U; en-us) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413 es61i)

Also probably important to note a few things to aid in your decision:
The NW seats you had on the 747 are probably inferior to AA's 777 F seat (the flagship suite) and IMHO are also inferior to AA's NGBC seat on the 767 and in J on the 777.
NW/DL is about to have a bunch of 757's moving about. I'd look for a bunch more 757 seats to HNL.
You were rerouted in to apaid seat....I have a metric ton of NW/DL miles in both programs and have found AA to be about 18 orders of magnitude easier to redeem.

Of course YMMV, but be careful. I spent almost 8 years flying the wrong airlines after a situation almost identical to yours. I leanred that one flight a pattern does not make....and pick carefully.
DillMan is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2009, 7:36 am
  #24  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: STL
Programs: AA 2MM, AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,966
Originally Posted by quartney
I've been an AAdvantage member for 11 years and have used my rewards for 1 coach ticket in the US and 2 F tickets to Hawaii. You're right that I don't fly F often and I rarely use *any* incentives ... so why not get a great incentive on those rare occasions?

edited to add: Delta/NWA flies out of my home airport and American does not. Makes more sense to switch for that reason, too.
American award availability is reputed to be much better than Delta/NWA. If you make this switch, it would be a good idea to plan future award trips much further in advance. While 3 months in advance for a June trip to Hawaii was difficult on AA, it would probably be impossible on DL/NW.
gemac is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2009, 3:43 pm
  #25  
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: los angeles, calif.
Programs: Alaska Airlines Gold MVP
Posts: 7,170
Originally Posted by quartney
First class on AA's 757 was a disappointment after flying in the 747-400. While I appreciate AA's customer service, I'm considering switching FF credit cards to Delta.
Just FYI: The Northwest F seats on the 744 you flew are inferior compared to the F seats on the 763 you were supposed to fly on.

It does not make sense to compare an international 747-400 to a domestic 757-200.
MAH4546 is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2009, 8:39 pm
  #26  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: CLT
Programs: AA EP, AA AC
Posts: 4,268
Greetings:

This talk of seats on NW-DL v. AA in FC, if comparing apples to apples (i.e. internationally equipped bird to internationally equipped bird), is a really big YMMV situation. Being both a NW PE and AA EXP and having flown both down to HNL in the last year, think I can speak on this one and here is the tale of the tape as with respect to hard product only:

NW:
NW-DL on the 747 out of ATL and NW out of MSP on the A333. It is the same Business Elite/World Business Class (in old NW speak) seat FWIW.

NW-DL birds have 60 inches of pitch with a 176 degree recline lie flat seat. Working AVOD at the seat with about about a 10 inch screen. Seats vary in width from 20 inches to 20.25 inches.

AA:

AA is the 763 out of DFW and/or LAX.

AA birds have 58-60 inches of pitch and are "lie flat" (you can get them pretty horizontal if you manipulate the settings but takes some work). There is no AVOD to HNL on the 763 (there is of course AVOD to "international destinations" on the 763). Seat width is only 18.5 inches.

For just hard product, IHMO, I prefer NW-DL with AVOD and greater pitch.

Now as to food, printed menus and the like, DL-NW, as documented on the NW board has scaled back service levels (no more menus, meaningful meal choices etc.). AA has printed menus.

All in all it is pretty close.

Finally, as to award availability, need to be careful on this one, as NW-DL tends to start releasing a good deal of inventory close in. Taking a look at July, there is inventory at saver levels for FC every week departure and return. Also note, I did not log in as an NW PE where we get expanded inventory as EXP might on AA.

Hope folks find this useful.

EDIT TO ADD: Not going to address ability to use stickers, complimentary nature of upgrades on AA to mileage/SWU upgrade only on higher fares only on NW-DL, and/or AA FAs v. NW-DL FAs and the like. All of that probably swings AA's way IHMO.

Safe Travels

Last edited by GTITAN; Jun 27, 2009 at 6:37 am Reason: clarifications in response to immediately below post
GTITAN is offline  
Old Jun 27, 2009, 3:31 am
  #27  
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: los angeles, calif.
Programs: Alaska Airlines Gold MVP
Posts: 7,170
Originally Posted by GTITAN
Greetings:
AA birds have 58-60 inches of pitch and are "lie flat" (you can get them pretty horizontal if you manipulate the settings but takes some work). There is no AVOD. Seat width is only 18.5 inches.
It requires no manipulation. There is one button that automatically puts the seat to a 180 lie-flat position.

And it does have AVOD, with Bose-noise canceling headsets to boot. Do you really think AA would offer a new biz product absent AVOD? That's crazy. It's stupid enough they keep installing new coach products absent AVOD.

Kind of confused how an EXP'er would miss these two obvious elements of AA's 763 J service unless you flew the old J product back in 2007.
MAH4546 is offline  
Old Jun 27, 2009, 6:22 am
  #28  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: CLT
Programs: AA EP, AA AC
Posts: 4,268
Originally Posted by MAH4546
It requires no manipulation. There is one button that automatically puts the seat to a 180 lie-flat position.

And it does have AVOD, with Bose-noise canceling headsets to boot. Do you really think AA would offer a new biz product absent AVOD? That's crazy. It's stupid enough they keep installing new coach products absent AVOD.

Kind of confused how an EXP'er would miss these two obvious elements of AA's 763 J service unless you flew the old J product back in 2007.
I think you misread me. My original post said "if going to the islands" as I was responding to flying to Hawaii and HNL in particular. (I have now edited to say HNL because that is what this discussion was about).

There is no true "J" service on this route, but more of an "enhanced F service." The portable AVOD player and the BOSE headphones are not supplied. You are of course correct that they are when flying "internationally" (i.e. LHR, FRA, etc). I never said that it was not. I was just on the 763 to DFW from HNL and in reverse.

It is also documented on FT (in this case correctly) that the 763 to HNL does not feature the portable IFE: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...w-hnl-ogg.html

As to the "sleep" position, you are correct that there is a "sleep" button, used it myself once or twice . "manipulation" was a strong word. The sleep button has two settings, so one needs to keep it pushed in. I tend to tinker with it to get the best "lie flat" position possible.

Again, no disrespect to AA or the route, I think it is great, and it is a very nice experience to the islands!! Apologize for the confusion if any, and thanks for the great debate! Made me go back do some searches and think about things to verify! I have also clarified my original post to restrict the discussion to flights on the 763 to HNL.

Safe Travels.

Last edited by GTITAN; Jun 27, 2009 at 6:36 am Reason: Edit post to clarify
GTITAN is offline  
Old Jun 27, 2009, 12:12 pm
  #29  
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: los angeles, calif.
Programs: Alaska Airlines Gold MVP
Posts: 7,170
Originally Posted by GTITAN
It is also documented on FT (in this case correctly) that the 763 to HNL does not feature the portable IFE: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...w-hnl-ogg.html
Wow, really? How stupid of AA. They take the portable IFE units out on Miami trans-cons with the 763, but not HNL.
MAH4546 is offline  
Old Jun 27, 2009, 5:33 pm
  #30  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: DC Metro (WAS--DCA/IAD/BWI)
Programs: AA Plat 2MM, OW Sapphire, QF Bronze, Marriott Silver, Starwood Gold; National Emerald
Posts: 2,533
My portable 10" DVD player (or 17" if I take my portable computer) has much better selection of movies and shows, because I bring what I like. Also makes the front of MD-80s quite good domestically.

The 10" DVD player also fits on half the tray table, so I can watch while I eat too.

Steve
steve32 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.