I've had several instances over the course of the last year where there appear to be some serious issues in the interface between the reservation systems of AA and LAN, especially as they relate to mileage awards. Considering AA seems to have successfully been able to work with other oneworld partners, I have to believe the issues are on LAN's end.

To provide some context, I'm currently almost through with a 5.5 month around the world ticket on oneworld, purchased through AA in J class. In the months leading up to the trip, the itinerary went through several modifications, necessitating the cancellation and rebooking of at least two ticketed trips, of which LAN was solely responsible for one. I'll also add, I understand airlines limit award availability, and I consider myself pretty aware of what is reasonable to that end.

Problem #1: On the first iteration of this trip, my friend and I were to fly MAD-GIG on IB, GIG-EZE using 4M's new nonstop service, and then onward from there. Because of QF's notorious stinginess when it comes to award seats on trans-Pacific flights, I had to book the entire itinerary before the actual desired dates of travel (because the QF flights were at the beginning of the trip). This wouldn't be a problem, because there no penalties or restrictions on changing dates and times with this type of ticket. So my GIG-EZE flight was originally booked in early August (the route was BRAND new at this point), but wouldn't actually be flown until the end of September/beginning of October. When I went to change it later, there was absolutely NO award availability for MONTHS....in Y. This route doesn't even have J class, so I just wanted a seat on the plane. Occasionally, there would be a day here or there in February, but even they were few and far between. On some days, the AA system didn't even show the route as being zeroed out...it simply didn't even show it. Time went on, I checked nearly daily, and I eventually decided to cancel the trip and start over. There is simply no way LA/4M had sold every single award seat for over 6 months on a brand new route.

Problem #2: Ultimately, the route became MAD-UIO on IB, UIO-LIM on LA (operated by LP), LIM-SCL on LA, SCL-EZE on LA, and EZE-DFW on AA. This was perfectly fine, however as UIO-LIM was operated by an A320, again, there was no J class. I tried multiple times to get a premium economy seat (mind you, this is a J ticket...this doesn't seem unreasonable), but AA told me there was no way they could do it, and I accepted the T class downgrade. I was, however, informed by more than one reservations agent that LA could likely take care of it at the airport. Fast forward to today, and the LAN check-in staff (rather rudely) informs me that because an "error" was made on AA's end, there's nothing they can do, and AA will have to be the one to fix it. Knowing full well it's a fruitless endeavor, I went and talked to AA reservations again, where I was informed that there is no award class for Premium Economy, which is why they can't do anything about it. It is absolutely unacceptable for someone to be traveling on an around the world ticket in business class to be denied Premium freaking Economy because of an administrative issue such as this. I don't really care where the blame lies, but I'm not asking for anything unreasonable. I'm asking to be seated in a cabin that is only slightly better than the lowest, and vastly inferior to the class that I'm ticketed in for everything else.

Problem #3: My friend is traveling on the paid RTW ticket (oneworld explorer...DONE5 fare basis), and had no problem being ticketed into Premium Economy (W). He recently gained AAdvantage Platinum/oneworld Sapphire status (last week) on our flight from MAD-UIO. Immediately, he went into the AA system, and it recognized it. Fast forward to today, and his boarding pass still says Ruby. I know that sometimes this takes a little while to update across systems (hell, QF still thought I was Ruby in late July despite me losing status on the 28th of February), but the check-in agents continued to insist that he was Ruby because "it's what their system says," and as a result, he wouldn't be allowed to bring a guest in (bearing in mind he is not only Sapphire, but that I should be in W, and shouldn't need to be a guest in the first place). In 2011, there is absolutely no reason that these types of status changes shouldn't be instantaneous.

Problem #4: Originally, I was booked on an A340 between SCL-EZE, and it was later changed to a 767. Fine, no problem. Up until July or so, I had no problems changing flights and times on this route (and I continue to have no problems with the LIM-SCL route if I so choose). However, something changed around that time, and LA changed my flight to an A320 that leaves at 9:50 PM. And, now, when I try to change it, like the whole GIG-EZE ordeal, NOTHING shows up, often for months at a time. When it does, it's the same flight (LA 481) always in Y, and never any of the other handful of flights that show up.

What the hell is going on with LAN? They seem completely hell bent on preventing oneworld partners from using their premium cabins, and/or many of their flights in general.

I've said all along oneworld is the best alliance for RTW tickets, because they have a strong presence in every region. Both Star and Skyteam are very weak in South America, while with LAN's presence is very strong everywhere but Brazil (and that is fixing to change). I can't, however, continue to recommend them if they are going to be so difficult and treat their frequent flyers so poorly.

Cheers,
Cameron