Originally Posted by
saaveraward
I'm not starting an ethics debate. If AA wants to give free cancel and redeposit and blogs like VFTW say you should make speculative bookings, then I have no problem with it as long as I'm in compliance with program rules. Yes, I can't be in two places at once. But how am I supposed to know which flight is going to get canceled thanks to management? And once it gets canceled, they won't book you on another flight. It's tough luck. By that time, a 57.5k flight could become a 400k flight. I've earned my miles and should have the ability to use them. If there's a written policy saying I can't book a trip to Paris on 3 consecutive dates, then I won't. If I'm not allowed to book 2 tickets to Paris on the same day, then I won't.
It’s not an ethics debate. You are prohibited from holding duplicate/overlapping reservations, whether on hold or ticketed, and whether they find them or not. Your indecision on your travel plans is not AA’s burden.
If you want to get technical on written policy, the AAdvantage program T&C’s also give AA wide latitude to terminate your AAdvantage account, void tickets, and outright refuse to transport you for what they deem to be fraud, misrepresentation, abuse, or violation of applicable rules. AA has a known history of pursuing egregious abuses. Keep poking the bear as many times as you feel lucky.