Originally Posted by
evoG
I really appreciate your help.
I called back tonight and a supervisor upheld what the rate desk had told me- AS redemptions on ERA are limited to cities joined by a single published fare.
Era will, indeed, sell my desired itinerary, either as a revenue ticket composed of multiple fares (FAI-BET plus BET-WWT) or a single 50 point award (as you indicated), but stricter rules appear to govern what AS can book for a single redemption. Maybe I'll try agent roulette but I don't expect a different outcome.
Incidentally there is a published fare ANC-WWT, so I may book that for 10k and get to ANC by other means. I'm surprised Era doesn't publish fares joining all of their stations to at least ANC and FAI based on demand for medical services, festival of native arts, shopping etc. Some stations only have fares to BET, OME, or UNK, etc. Maybe I'll try CC and barter MP miles for Era rewards, though ticketing through AS means I can make changes for free.
That's interesting...when I did the revenue search on Era's website, I saw no indication that it was piecing together 2 different fares - it just priced out the itin I selected. I guess I can see why they wouldn't want to give away the seat for 10K r/t...OTOH, they allow it in their own award redemptions - a good reason for FF enthusiasts to collect Era points rather than AS miles when flying Era (MUCH better earning/redemption value, IMO).
Yes, getting the award out of ANC may be the best option in your case; paying an extra 10K for FAI - ANI r/t may not be a great redemption value...though it really isn't terrible either.