Originally Posted by
nyalancat
(/gen) I don't see how that contradicts the narrative of "airline frequent flyer programs partner with transferable points programs, causing own-program redemptions to increase and resulting in higher prices / less availability to partners (especially partners that don't price partner awards dynamically)"
Emirates Skywards, Finnair Plus, Cathay Asia Miles, and all of the other Avios flavors all partner with US bank programs, which could be construed to explain why the availability is so terrible through AAdvantage.
Yeah, the previous response seems to answer my question. I have also noticed that SQ on their own program have also drastically reduced award availability as well, notably on F. Last year there were plenty scattered throughout the year, now there are none on any route (I am running with the assumption of 2x F). Why did they claim dynamic "Access" awards would not change the saver level award availability, when it totally did?
Regarding AA, I am seeing A LOT of phantom availability, as a matter of fact, every single one of the available premium cabin seats are phantom. Some AA agents try doing a "manual long sell", but usually come back negative. Is this what VS also does when you call them to request award access on ANA, by chance (I know it is probably not the forum, but just curious)?