Originally Posted by
aj411
Ok. I'm trying to figure out the new policy with award bookngs that involve parnter and AA. No offense to the EXP agents but I'm pretty sure I need to know my options before I talk to them since hey all seem to have different levels of educaiton on options.
I booked two award flights NRT>SFO>ORD>MSP. 60,000 miles. Nice redemptions. Not flying until fall.
NRT to SFO in Business on JAL. The rest in economy on AA and we are on the upgrade list.
I know the schedule will change and I know flights SFO to MSP with only one connection and business awards will become available. In fact, I see a couple of options already but redemption amounts all over the board.
I know in the past I could call at any time and have them extend the business class award to include all flights but now that has changed a bit.
Now, not so sure. Could my flights in the US be tagged as saver awards? Any way to know?
This PNR still hasn't ticketed so I'm guessing I cant' address the AA flights until it does?
And then, if I see flights available on AA SFO>MSP in business in some other way, should I be able to call and have that changed? Coudl it possibly need additional miles?
Apologies if these sound like rookie questions but this is my first partner/aaa combo booking without everything in business since the dynamic pricing changes happened in 2023
TIA
Given you booked for 60,000 miles, your domestic segments on AA would have been booked in partner award space. T class is an economy partner award, and U class is a Business (domestic First) partner award.
If something opens up SFO-MSP in either T or U class, you *should* be able to switch to that flight in place of your currently booked connection SFO-ORD-MSP. I say "should" because there could be some married segment logic that prohibits it. Expertflyer is your friend here to find U and T availability and is worth the subscription price to get the flights that you want.
If there is a schedule change on your SFO-ORD-MSP connection, particularly a schedule change that causes a misconnect or a tight connection from your NRT-SFO flight, then AA *should* switch you to your preferred SFO-MSP flight by opening up T space. I would not expect them to open up U space in that instance given you are in coach now, but at least it would get you on the non-stop. Again I say "should" since some reps will insist on either a misconnect or a substantial 4 hour schedule change or a schedule change the violates the MCT.
If the EXP agent says that awards are not changeable, tell them it is a Partner Award and that it should be changeable per the old rules. If that does not work, HUCA.