Hello all,

I'm trying to book what I thought was a simple premium economy open-jaw trip US - Norway, but it has turned into a bit of a debacle. I'm able to piece together the flights I want with ITA Matrix as expected (AA on AA metal, AA on BA metal, AA on AY metal, and AY on AY metal (that 1 flight does not have a codeshare that I can find)), but when clicking through to the aa.com website, it immediately pops back with the usual "Choose a different flight or fare" error message, but a new to me "We modified your search. We didn't find a match, so we added nearby airports and all airlines to help with your search." message. I provided the exact flights and fare codes to an AA Agent, and at first they could price out the flight at what ITA gives me, but ran into an error with a Finnair flight not being confirmed. With a different combinations of flights that I was also able to get via ITA, the agent couldn't price the itinerary out at all despite the fare basis being the same, so I ended the call. Subsequently, I tried switching as many codes as possible to either BA or AY in an attempt to book with either airline directly, but doing so at least doubled the cost. Before doing a HUCA, I wanted to inquire your expert minds into this situation.

That being said, ITA gives me link that points to i11l-services.aa.com, which redirects to bookaa.amadeus.com, and allows me to at least get to the payment page (albeit charging in a non-USD currency of my choosing). It is of my understanding that Finnair uses amadeus, so it might be able to book the flights that AA/Sabre can't. Is it a good idea to book through amadeus instead of aa.com? My questions are as follows:

1: I'm building in enough connection time that slight delays shouldn't be an issue, but is AA able to manage the booking in the event of a significant change pre-departure, as well as the respective operating airline during the trip?
2: In the event that I need to cancel the trip, are all the funds gone, or am I able to get them as AA credit (hopefully in USD), or is it issued in another way that must be booked through amadeus?
3: There is an entry point for my AA FF number. I presume all status benefits come through as expected, but should Loyalty Points and Miles accrue as if I booked on AA.com (after currency conversion and sans taxes, etc)?