Award partner ticket with one segment unavailable
Hi, I've never redeemed for an AS award flight but this year I decided to burn up my points and got 2 award tickets from YWG to LIH then back home from OGG, through SEA and MSP. I booked them at the first availability and got what I wanted except for the last segment back to YWG. Since AS doesn't fly to YWG, I had to fly Delta to MSP and then on AS. There was no seats on Delta back from MSP to YWG but the agent said to keep on trying.
Well, it's been 300 days and there is still no availability! The flight back from OGG is on Mar. 30. Has anyone had a similar issue? Will any seats open up at the last minute? If not, the last agent I talked to said without that segment, I have an invalid itinerary since I'm not returning to my starting airport. If we get desperate enough, I can have one of our kids pick us up in Minn. and we'll drive back but I don't want to have my tickets canceled because the itinerary is not valid. I'd appreciate some advice from knowledgeable FTers who have experience with MP. Thanks.