Originally Posted by
iwillflytheworld
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that AA does not charge the fee if you make a change inside the 14 day window (it's 21 day in AA), effectively giving a way to circumvent the fee (book for any dates in the far future, and immediately call back and change for your desired dates).
May I add that AA lets you change partner and OneWorld awards after departure. United used to have an important comparative advantage by not having "rush" fees, but right now the overall award structure of AA is clearly superior.
You are correct:
1. AA does not charge a fee for date or time changes on award tickets unless your routing/carriers are changed.
2. Circumventing AA's "expedite fees" as you have noted above is well possible even to those without AA status. (And the expedite fees are not applicable to EXPs under any circumstances).
3. AA lets you change partner awards even after departure, even if no-showing.
Also, AA's award routing rules are far more customer-friendly than UA's .... particularly when it comes to stopovers and creatively convoluted routings.
While I've still got good use for UA and have generally had less hiccups with UA than a lot of other US-based carriers, UA's changes to the frequent flyer program don't win me over -- especially in comparison to AA's program.