corky

I need to go to GIG (Rio de janeiro) from LAX on November 28 (thanksgiving day). I started down this rabbit hole months ago. I am using miles and only want to fly biz or first. One way.
It seems that it is fewer miles to book each leg of the trip separately although I know that isn't the safest/smartest way to do it. How much of a risk vs benefit am I taking?
This is what I have so far--I can connect through either JFK or MIA.
I booked a ticket from Mia to GIG a couple months ago (biz) for 138,500 miles which is a bargain compared to what it is now. I did not book it but the LAX to MIA portion but it has consistently been 100k every time I check. So the total would be 238,500K. If I were to book these same flights as one ticket it would cost 350k. Huge difference in mileage cost.
Or I could go via JFK. I booked a ticket from LAX to JFK in Flagship First for 51k miles. I would have to use 221k to fly JFK to GIG for a total of 272k for the trip. If I do the trip all on one ticket it is 267k but that is with the LAX-JFK portion in Biz. Of course I would much rather have the transcon in First & the mileage is not much more but it is still on 2 different tickets.
So complicated. The safe option is all one ticket via JFK but with the first portion in Biz. The more appealing option is via JFK with the first leg in fancy First but 2 tickets. The cheapest option is via Miami and that also saves almost 2 hours but is also 2 tickets.
I haven't played the international mileage game in a couple years so I am rusty and would appreciate opinions/advice. Thx. I don't want to go through DFW.

D3Kingg

I would take the MIA GIG in J ; that will be a great flight. Once that is out of the way Then LAX MIA I would like my chances of an upgrade early morning Thanksgiving day . Book Y and get an in app upgrade offer or wait and see. Late Wednesday night red eyes and early morning Thanksgiving have been notoriously quiet because there�s no business travelers.

corky

Originally I was going to buy (with $, not miles) a coach ticket from LAX to MIA & upgrade with miles but I do not want to take the chance of not getting an upgrade. I can not fly long flights even in Premium Econ. So I need a sure thing & even though changes might be good, I am a lowly PLT.

guv1976

Can you depart from John Wayne? If so, and you don't mind an extra stop, this is currently available:



Something similar is available from LAX for 191K miles.

corky

No...only LAX but I only want to make one stop. I have enough miles for all of the scenarios but I am just trying to maximize comfort, price (in miles) while wondering if booking 2 separate tix is too risky.

guv1976

If you decide to book LAX-JFK in First and JFK-GIG in Business, they do NOT have to be on the same ticket for you to be "safe"; they merely have to be on the same PNR. Reserve the two flights using the multi-city, award booking engine to get them on one PNR; if you cannot then ticket the itinerary online, call AA with the record locator, and have an agent ticket the itinerary. Remind the agent that you want both awards to be on a single PNR.

corky

I don't know if it matters but I have already booked the MIA-GIG ticket and the mileage to book it today is way, way more. I have also already booked the LAX-JFK ticket because I wanted to grab what I think was a great mileage fare. If I were to book the other leg of either of those tickets, I could get them combined so I would be protected in case of a delay etc? I didn't know that was an option.

guv1976

Nope: Once booked separately, there is no way to combine them onto a single PNR. At least you know for next time -- or maybe for this time, if redemption rates come back down, so that you can cancel and rebook.

FWIW, on November 28, Copa is offering a one-stop, Business Class itinerary LAX-GIG on their 737-Max9 aircraft with lie-flat seats for $2.071. Compared to this fare, you'd be getting relatively poor value for your AAdvantage miles -- at least at current redemption rates.

corky

Thanks for the Copa tip...I think I want free for this trip even though I agree with you. The lie flat makes me almost consider it.
Would you (any of you) be hesitant to break up the ticketing rather than all one PNR?

guv1976

That depends. What's the scheduled layover time at JFK? If your LAX-JFK flight gets cancelled on the day of travel, would the next-scheduled LAX-JFK nonstop still get you in in time to make the JFK-GIG flight? And if you will be checking baggage, make sure that you are factoring in the time it will take you to claim your baggage at JFK, check it in again at the AA counter, and re-clear security. AA will not through-check bags across separate PNRs.

corky

always carry on. But flight delays is what concerns me.
It appears that i have shot myself in the foot. I had to cancel the cheap mileage fare I had on my lax to jfk portion in order to book the entire ticket on one itinerary and the mileage went up by 30k miles...

777lover

Just put the two mileage tickets on the same PNR so u will have through checked baggage

guv1976

They've already been booked on separate PNRs, and the redemption rates have since gone up. And the OP is not checking any baggage; the concern is IROPS.

guv1976

Monitor the redemption rates periodically. What goes up sometimes comes down.

corky

I have already happen on a ticket that I booked when I was originally going to go via Miami. I got a nice refund of miles but I canceled that ticket and now the miles are much higher.
There is no way to link things so I just have to be nervous I guess.