Originally Posted by
sowhatwegetdrunk
Say I have business availability on ORD-AUH-MLE using AA miles. Now I need a DEN-ORD flight on AA (First or Economy). Can someone help me understand how do I make sure its available to book it (by calling AA over the phone) with my Etihad segments for 70K AA redemption?
Before the dynamic pricing, I just check DEN-ORD on AA site and if I am able to find a saver fare (economy for 12.5K or business for 25K), the agent is able to combine it with Etihad. With dynamic pricing what AA award prices are available to combine the Etihad redemption? Would appreciate the input!
All AAdvantage awards that have any non-AA flights are partner awards and are at the SAAver award level. Dynamic awards, web specials, and AAnytime awards are not combinable with partner awards. So, you need to find connecting flights that have SAAver award inventory available. You can use Expert Flyer for this. If you don't have an EF subscription, you can search on AA.com.
If you use Expert Flyer, do an Awards and Upgrades query for DEN-ORD on AA, selecting 'T' (SAAver coach) and 'U' (SAAver first), and also do a query on AS, selecting the 'T' (coach saver) and 'E' (first saver) awards. You can use two connecting flights, as you're allowed four flights on an international award.
If you use AA.com, sort the results by mileage costs. SAAver coach is 15k, SAAver first is 25k. You can confirm the award availability type by clicking "Details". SAAver coach will show as 'T' and SAAver first will show as 'U'.
Once you find flights, call to add them.