Originally Posted by
jackal
Your guess would be slightly off the mark. The $25 is a partner award fee. It is charged to all customers, non-elite
and elite. (
) If you are not elite on AS, you pay the $15 phone booking fee on top of the $25, even if it is not a ticket that can be booked via the website. (The $15 is waived for elite members.)
For years AA charges $25 telephone booking phone despite none of the partner flights could be booked online up till last year when it first added AS flight, then followed by BA, HA and QF.
I am far more annoyed by the AS $100 change fee which can be a big downer when it comes to book CX premium cabin as one often starts with a compromised itinerary and then moves to better itinerary as award seats opening up. Also when folks book months ahead of their actual travel, sometimes things happen and they need to change dates - AS charges $100 versus AA is free - that is a big consideration if one can use either AS or AA to book the award. In OP's case, he has an option because he does not have miles in either program to begin with and he plans to transfer SPG pts in to book his award.