Qantas Frequent Flyer - Can Confirmed Flight Change on AA be used on QF Award Flights on AA?

Mrs Jrobin is flying on a QF award ticket (Economy T) from YYZ to LAX on Aug 1, leaving YYZ 17:10 via ORD (AA2427/607), arriving in LAX at 00:25 on Aug 2. She has no status with either QF or AA (but is a QC member so plan A is to do the 4 hour wait in an ORD AC).

Can she do a confirmed flight change 12 hours ahead either to an earlier ORD-LAX flight or to a through YYZ-LAX flight on the same day?

Thanks

I have used a BA award to fly on an AA flight, and when I called in to ask about CFC, the AAgent had to read through the fare rules for that ticket, and eventually came back with the answer that it would be $75, which was (coincidentally?) exactly what I would have paid on any AA ticket.

Chances are she will be fine, but it definitely wouldn't hurt to call Customer Service and verify the change is possible before the day of travel.

Here are the AA guidelines, which really don't say anything about who issued the ticket, and it says they apply to any fare in the Main Cabin:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/utility/sameDayTravel.jsp

Have you checked with Qantas to see if they will give you a flight change? BA only charges $40, and AA will change dates on awards for free, both are cheaper than CFC if there is inventory available.

Mrs Jrobin is flying on a QF award ticket (Economy T) from YYZ to LAX on Aug 1, leaving YYZ 17:10 via ORD (AA2427/607), arriving in LAX at 00:25 on Aug 2. She has no status with either QF or AA (but is a QC member so plan A is to do the 4 hour wait in an ORD AC).

Can she do a confirmed flight change 12 hours ahead either to an earlier ORD-LAX flight or to a through YYZ-LAX flight on the same day?

Thanks

this would be subject to the normal international award change fees levied by Qantas... if i read correctly this will be 3500 points if you can do it online. Any earlier flight will be subject to having award availability.

If you need to call QF they will charge an extra 8000 points for international award change assistance.

Have you checked with Qantas to see if they will give you a flight change? BA only charges $40, and AA will change dates on awards for free, both are cheaper than CFC if there is inventory available.
There is no award inventory, which is why I was inquiring about CFC.

I have used a BA award to fly on an AA flight, and when I called in to ask about CFC, the AAgent had to read through the fare rules for that ticket, and eventually came back with the answer that it would be $75, which was (coincidentally?) exactly what I would have paid on any AA ticket. .....Fwiw, BA awards are treated differently than QFF awards due to the terms of the BA/AA/IB TATL alliance, so that isn't indicative of what you can do with a QFF award. In the past it was not possible without EXP status, and the agents made a point if mentioning that it was for EXPs only when I have done this in the past. Perhaps this has changed, AA these days needs every $75 fee it can scrape up.

Fwiw, BA awards are treated differently than QFF awards due to the terms of the BA/AA/IB TATL alliance, so that isn't indicative of what you can do with a QFF award. In the past it was not possible without EXP status, and the agents made a point if mentioning that it was for EXPs only when I have done this in the past. Perhaps this has changed, AA these days needs every $75 fee it can scrape up.
Every penny counts! :D

The changes to the AA CFC policy are fairly recent (January 2012, IIRC) and online it says "any fare in the Main Cabin"; the only exceptions are fares for which the charges are waived. If awards issued on other airlines are not eligible for CFC, AA needs to update their webpage with the appropriate exceptions.

There is no award inventory, which is why I was inquiring about CFC.

then you will need to fly as ticketed.

you could chance it at the airport, but the usual course of action is AA will refer you back to Qantas to make any changes.

if there is a schedule change you may have more luck with QF being able to work with AA to reschedule.

...
The changes to the AA CFC policy are fairly recent (January 2012, IIRC) and online it says "any fare in the Main Cabin"; the only exceptions are fares for which the charges are waived. If awards issued on other airlines are not eligible for CFC, AA needs to update their webpage with the appropriate exceptions.
The exact wording is "If award seats are not available on the desired flight, [Passengers traveling on AAdvantage MileSAAver awards] may obtain a confirmed seat on the same day by paying the $75 [CFC] charge."
No explicit mention of how award flights on AA are treated when ticketed by other airlines.

The exact wording is "If award seats are not available on the desired flight, [Passengers traveling on AAdvantage MileSAAver awards] may obtain a confirmed seat on the same day by paying the $75 [CFC] charge."
No explicit mention of how award flights on AA are treated when ticketed by other airlines.

passengers traveling on awards ticketed by other airlines are NOT travelling on AAdvantage MilesAAver awards, so the provisions do not apply. milesaver awards are, by default, only issued by AA to its own members.

passengers traveling on awards ticketed by other airlines are NOT travelling on AAdvantage MilesAAver awards, so the provisions do not apply. milesaver awards are, by default, only issued by AA to its own members.

Absolutely; the Qantas award on AA is neither an anytime nor mileage saver award, however the reference on the page is only in a footnote (1) detailing exceptions to the $75 fee

Normally I would expect that any changes would be referred back to issuing carrier, however AA's page does seem not to have any exceptions to the $75 change option

I wonder whether AA allows these changes to consolidator fares or other fares where all changes need to be referred to issuing carrier? If they do, then I would expect QF awards to be covered

I think that this is a case for getting an answer from AA itself

then you will need to fly as ticketed.

Not necessarily. The whole point of the confirmed same-day change rules are that the original booking class does NOT need to be available.

Hopefully someone will update this thread with their actual experience of CFC using a QFF award. The prior update of a BA award being eliglible is encouraging but might be covered by the AA/BA/IB JV which would not apply to QFF. AA does have the most sophisticated yield forecasting and overbooking system in the world, so they are pretty sure when a seat would otherwise be unsold -- making this a great extra revenue source for AA at negligible cost. Despite this my money is that AA won't do it for QFF awards.

Not necessarily. The whole point of the confirmed same-day change rules are that the original booking class does NOT need to be available.

exactly - I'm guessing as long as your ticket is issued by AA for travel on AA. I have tried previously to change tickets issued by QF for travel on CX, MU and AA and have always been referred to QF.

... I have tried previously to change tickets issued by QF for travel on CX, MU and AA and have always been referred to QF.
This is my experience also when flying on QF codeshares on AA - change requests are deferred to QF. Part of this is that only a small subset of AA flights are QF codeshares, and QF controls access to them.
[Unless there is a missed connection (late QF arrival in LAX for example), and then AA staff make any AA flight available, not just QF codeshares.]

While Mrs. Jrobin is on a QF award, she is on AA flights, not QF codeshares. So it was AA that first decided the T-class availability on those flights, and AA could decide to allow a passenger to change to another AA flight where there was an unsold seat (for $75 of course).

I wonder whether AA allows these changes to consolidator fares or other fares where all changes need to be referred to issuing carrier?
Good and relevant question.

This is my experience also when flying on QF codeshares on AA - change requests are deferred to QF. Part of this is that only a small subset of AA flights are QF codeshares, and QF controls access to them.
[Unless there is a missed connection (late QF arrival in LAX for example), and then AA staff make any AA flight available, not just QF codeshares.]

While Mrs. Jrobin is on a QF award, she is on AA flights, not QF codeshares. So it was AA that first decided the T-class availability on those flights, and AA could decide to allow a passenger to change to another AA flight where there was an unsold seat (for $75 of course).


Good and relevant question.

i was talking only about QF issued award tickets, nothing to do with codeshares. Not quite sure how that got into the equation.

Anyways, please let us know what AA says.

i was talking only about QF issued award tickets, nothing to do with codeshares.I am on a QF paid ticket on similar AA flights on AA metal but on QF codeshares. Mrs Jrobin is on a QF award ticket on the AA flights on AA metal but on AA flight numbers.

Anyways, please let us know what AA says.
My plan is to call AA about 18 hours out when using Expertflyer I can see E availability may be available on one or more flights she would be interested in changing to.