Originally Posted by
lrdpenn
I've done this before. It's a good strategy and the only one as far as I know.
The voucher is issued for the fare difference (minus change fee) when you ticket the inexpensive A-B, so whether you ultimately board or cancel the throwaway flight is irrelevant. I'm not sure if the voucher would also be transferable, which would be an added bonus.
That's correct, and yes, the voucher is transferable (unlike the original ticket value for the first change, which must be reissued in the same name). I forget exactly what has to be done for transferring the voucher -- it may be that the named holder has to be present if done at the airport. Someone else should be able to jump in on this.
I wonder if, now that AA is doing 24 hour refunds instead of holds, you could also request a 24 hour refund to a second voucher for the A-B you didn't intend to fly...