NYCtraveler

Six months ago I purchased using Aeroplan miles a First Class air ticket on ANA from BKK-HND-JFK. I went to assign seats yesterday and it showed one of my flights was cancelled by ANA for operational reasons and therefore my flight on ANA to New York is now a "misconnect". ANA would not help me, and Aeroplan had me on hold for 25 minutes as they brought it up a level. Aeroplan came back with "Too bad, so sad", there is nothing they can do. Due to Covid all the partners including AC are making routing adjustments and unfortunately the inventory I booked is no longer available? They advised me to "Check everyday" and see if seats open up???????? WHAT??????? Why has this now become my burden for confirmed flights?? Previously They contacted a liaison for ANA and they released a seat for me and all was well and good, apologies. Just two days ago I had similar with American airlines and CX and the liaison did indeed re arrange my flights putting me back into First class which I had booked. Am I missing something here? Just looking for some feedback.

Safe travels wished to all.

LondonElite

This is an unfortunate situation. Aeroplan is simply a travel agent and if there are no ANA seats available they cannot force the airline to release them. Unless an alternative comes up, their obligation is limited to refund you your miles.

canadiancow

But there are seats available...

LondonElite

Apparently no award inventory, which ANA is not forced to open.

canadiancow

Not only is Aeroplan not a travel agent (they're an airline now), but they have a documented history of purchasing full Y/J/F for people in this exact situation.

I'll complain about AC until the cows come home about so many issues that are documented in multiple front-page threads.

But well-in-advance schedule changes are one thing that Aeroplan has a history of handling significantly better than pretty much every other FF program.

garykung

Yes.

Even before COVID-19, award rebooking is tricky. Remember - while wording varies, the essence is at the airline's discretion. The only thing that you are guaranteed entitled is a full refund. So if AE told you that you are SOL, you are pretty much SOL.

With COVID-19, things are become more difficult.

While I am sympathetic to your situation, the reality remains unchanged that you are SOL.

LondonElite

Aeroplan is the travel agent in this situation. It is not the operating carrier and has no obligation to do anything other than a refund. ANA also has no obligation here other than to refund Aeroplan. That Aeroplan can do something beyond this, and in the past may have bought a full fare ticket, is not being disputed, but it is a bit like telling the policeman that you drove 5 miles above the speed limit yesterday and didn’t get stopped so you assumed that was policy.

IluvSQ

When is your travel scheduled for?
Are you in BKK now?
If not, how and when do you intend to get there?
Are you aware that there are very few flights in or out of BKK at present?
When you booked this ( August 2020 ?) were you not aware that there was a world-wide pandemic throwing all airlines schedules
into chaos, with the likelihood that things would not change for a long. long time?

rankourabu

Aeroplan used to buy F/J on other carriers if AC metal was unavailable as a substitute (albeit an inferior one)

Does AC still do the same?

I would imagine their actual obligation would end at refund, and anything else is a bonus?

Often1

Before calling back, you need to do the research yourself. Look at all routings BKK-NYC (do not confine yourself to JFK because UA operates at EWR and there may be domestic US connections into LGA and you may wish to consider PHL & BOS as Amtrak connections to NYC are possible. AP can rebook onto any *A carrier. If there is award space, this is easily accomplished. If there is not, it is a liaison function which can take 3-5 days. Bear in mind that other carriers are not required to force space but may be willing to do so.

The key is to have the specific routings available for the agent, including the dates, carriers & flight numbers. Bear in mind local entry and transit requriements if you are considering connections other than via TYO.

Finally, if your travel is more than a few weeks out, don't be surprised if you have to go through this again. With stricter entry and travel restrictions, frequencies & scheduling are seeing havoc and that means constant adjusting.

SFO777

Which flight was cancelled and what does your (presumably) return itinerary looking like? Was it BKK-HND or was it HND-JFK that was cancelled or retimed? If BKK-HND was cancelled/retimed and HND-JFK remains on your itinerary, forget about BKK-HND on NH and change this to an open jaw return. Use 30K AA miles to book JL Business to HND to connect to your current HND-JFK NH flight. If BKK-HND remains and it was HND-JFK that was cancelled/retimed, check other HND-US routes you can connect to. There are usually plenty of ANA First Class award seats to other US gateways. Try ORD, IAH or SFO. BTW, what month are you traveling?

24left

@SFO777
Great suggestions. As you know, I posted the Jan 26 press release latest ANA route changes on the ANA forum.

I learned early on, not just to check the sectors on my Aeroplan tickets but to check for news, press releases etc from each airline on my trip. We all know it may not matter what Aeroplan used to do in the past as we are no longer there. Further, as noted on ANA's press release, Covid has caused them to reduce routes and frequencies on other routes, so even though the HND-BKK route is still listed, it had been reduced. I assume that is the issue OP now faces.

ANA also issued a very detailed press release which may or may not help OP looking for alternate routes, but I like your suggestion of AA miles and JL.

This may help others who have Aeroplan tickets that include international ANA sectors.

ANA to Temporarily Change Service on Select International Routes Due to the Coronavirus as of Jan. 25, 2021
https://www.anahd.co.jp/group/en/pr/.../20210125.html
.

canadiancow

This is potentially the most important point in this thread.

Don't waste your time until you're within ~30 days of departure. Things will change again, and you'll need to do it again.

dr_torch

I agree with cow. At one point I had weekly calls to AC with schedule changes, just for them to change again. I just started waiting until a few weeks out and then calling. Also fun to see just how screwed up one booking can get before calling