Originally Posted by
ellipsicon
Bumping this, I've got a y booking YVR-NAN and now see that Alaska shows J space, and confirmed that AA shows J space. When I tried to change it online it says cannot select seat, and the agent supposedly called the partner desk and said there's nothing they can do. Thinking should I cancel my Y ticket and try to rebook into J or try calling back and asking for the partner desk? It seems like there is plenty of Y space so not too concerned if I cancel but there's the $25 partner fee that won't be refunded.
How did you try to change it online? If you choose "
Cancel this trip and use the value toward a new trip," you can just book a "new" itinerary in J with the same date. Make sure to set "Shop for" to First / Business from the drop down list.
Essentially, you are canceling your first itinerary and booking a new one even though the PNR won't change. The search will offer you options and will show any differences in miles and Fees & Taxes; those can be either add/collect or redeposit/refund. Select the new flights you want and proceed to check-out.
Since this is an effective change the partner award booking fee won't be collected again as you already paid that fee on the original booking.
James