Originally Posted by
cbrown5294
I had purchased a biz class seat for myself Lax-Lhr. Now my partner wants to go but fares are way back up so here are my options / question if I use miles:
1) can I claim 2 coach awards (20k each) one in his name and the other in mine?
This way he will have an empty seat next to him and will be in MCE
If I can't do that then maybe option 2...
2) claim 2 awards both under his name and he can just sit in regular coach but with nobody next to him
To outright buy MCE is $157 so I would rather burn an extra 20k than pay that for a more comfy ride
Last resort is to use 110k for anytime award but that seems like a waste to me
How many miles would an award ticket in business cost for the flight? It might b reasonable compared to two coach award tickets, plus you'd be together and both get business class.
Or would the 110,000 miles for the AAnytime award be a business class ticket?
Originally Posted by
Exec_Plat
Im not sure option 1 is a no go: the seat in your name could be YOUR 'extra seat'.
As stated above there is a specific way AA allows a booking of an extra seat, the name in the booking must include the modifier XTRA SEAT. The info may have changed, but see:
http://flyerguide.com/Extra_Seat_%28AA%29
You should call AA and ask. And know you can HUCA, as this is an odd one. While it appars to work for awards, it is silent on the second seat being in coach. But it doesnt prohibit it! You should gently point this out to the agent, with 'well could we try it?'. If the booking process lets it book, Id say the software will not cancel the seat if it complies with the name rules.
My 2 cents
The extra seat is supposed to be beside the passenger, for example if the person is obese or must look after a delicate musical instrument. I would guess that the only choice is to book guest and extra seat guest together as two award tickets together on the same PNR, with this being done by phone.
Note that even at one cent per mile, 20,000 miles would be worth $200 versus only $157 to reserve a MCE seat.