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Originally Posted by shadesofgrey1x
Originally Posted by
aktchi
AA's partner award chart says that Oct 15 - May 15 is "off season", reduced mileage, period for awards to Europe. Sounds simple, but gets less clear when you consider that one is allowed a stop in North American gateway or that tickets are valid for one year.
So what decides if a trip qualifies for off season rate? Does the entire trip need to fit in the off-season period? Just the first flight? Just the flight from the gateway to Europe?
In the following trips, the starred flight (*) is during the off-season. Would either qualify for the lower mileage:
LAX-ORD (September) + ORD-LHR (November*)
LAX-ORD (November*) + ORD-LHR (next June)
I did this last year. With respect to off peak each way is evaluated based on the transatlantic segment dates.
So a LAX-ORD-LHR itn would get the off season only if the ORD-LHR was in the off season. If it did not it, would be an interesting loophole. Since you could get to the EU in the summer by flying the first domestic leg in the off season. AA books all AAward flights now as 2 one ways so your return would follow the same rule.
Did you do a test booking on aa.com? Unless things have changed recently, I expect you will find that what you claim is not the case. At least for bookings made on aa.com, it seems that the date of departure of the
first flight of the itinerary -- even if the first flight is
not the "over-water" segment -- determines the mileage requirement for the entire award.
Awards booked over the phone might be a different story.
