fyi, AA permits date/time changes without fees, and sometimes charges significantly less miles and taxes/fees than BA (i.e. on trips involving more than one partner airline). AA also offers an extremely useful 5-day complimentary hold on redemptions. while BA requires immediate ticketing with no grace period for changes/cancellations. That said, BA's program offers one very significant benefit that AA doesn't, which can be very valuable when dealing with certain of BA's partners, namely unlimited enroute stopovers (AA provides only a single stopover at a U.S. gateway). Each program has its pros and cons, and unfortunately neither airline has devoted much IT expertise to automating/supporting/debugging the redemption process.