Originally Posted by
Puzzles
Put a booking on hold after a call. Was told I had 5 days. A few hours later, I notice my hold is gone and so is the award space for this flight. I, stupidly, did not even copy the Hold PNR. Don't have the energy to argue with AA over the phone since I doubt they would open space on QR (my original 'held' itinerary)
Most likely, the agent never put it on hold.
If you go part-way through the booking process (certainly, far enough to select seats) a PNR is created. This is required to hold your space and your seats. This will show up as "on hold" in your AA account but will quickly disappear if you don't pay or put a real hold on it.
It's a nice feature, in case there's an issue with the app (sometimes it kicks me back to the main screen if I switch to another app and back) so this allows you to pick up where you left off. You actually could have gone in and put it on hold yourself before it disappeared.
Keep checking; the award space may reappear. It can take a while after the hold is cancelled.