Originally Posted by
DrBillAtwood
New to this thread. I have two first class plan ahead BE certificates to Europe, but have not been able to find space. The agent said, "Oh, you are too far out (travel in June). You can use an anytime award or wait. Since the flights are wide open, the plan ahead awards should open up."
Has anyone had experience with this? Does it sound right that AA is not opening up any plan ahead BE awards even though the cabins are completely empty, or nearly so?
Does this strategy sound strange to wait? June does not seem THAT far away.
Help and insight appreciated.
The advice above is spot on. A Business Extra award comes from the same inventory as normal sAAver AAdvantage awards. AA has become very stingy with premium award space on AA metal routes to Europe. It's completely normal to see no award space even when the F or J cabin is wide open, especially for the summer high season. It's likely that more space will open up as the date gets closer, but as you're looking for 2 seats it will tough.
Also, as mentioned above, the only routes that AA offers F on to Europe are the 77W flights to LHR from JFK, MIA, DFW, and LAX. Since normal BE awards are only valid on AA metal, you need to focus your search on these routes, which is severely limiting your options.