Originally Posted by
LlamaJesus
Admittedly I haven't booked with a ton of different partners but IME the only time I had to reach out to AA to have the miles redeposited was after cancelling an award on TN (Air Tahiti Nui, since I know that's not a common one lol). Other partners and every time I've cancelled AA flights they've been redeposited within 20-30 minutes.
Yea, with AA only awards the miles go back almost instantly 99% of the time.
One reason they will not go back automatically even for AA awards is if you're already checked in when you cancel. I've had 2 simple AA awards over the past year that I've cancelled after checking in, both required a call to reinstate the miles.
But partner awards are hit or miss IME. Some do, some don't. Not sure if it has something to do with whether there's an AA segment also on the reservation or the timing of when you cancel, or what.