AA award travel question
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SoCal
Programs: IHG, Choice Hotels, Hyatt -Plat, Hilton, Carlson - Gold, BWR - Diamond, Marriott - Silver
Posts: 74
AA award travel question
Hello all fellow travelers. I have a question concerning award travel on AA. It will be my first time using miles and was wondering has anyone had trouble getting the routes the want when the seats are released at 330 days out. Also, I am wondering should I use the one-way option as my return is 45 days from my outbound flight. In the past I used UA awards and waited till the 330 day to book the return and outbound at once, never had a problem, but I don't know how AA is. My route is ONT to ATH. on 3-24-12 departure and 4-13-12 return. Just curious if anyone has just waited to book both at once or did one-way to ensure you get your flights. Thanks if anyone can shed some light on this.
#2
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Programs: AA 1.5 MM Exec Plat, WN A-List, DL Silver, UA nonrev
Posts: 2,593
Hello all fellow travelers. I have a question concerning award travel on AA. It will be my first time using miles and was wondering has anyone had trouble getting the routes the want when the seats are released at 330 days out. Also, I am wondering should I use the one-way option as my return is 45 days from my outbound flight. In the past I used UA awards and waited till the 330 day to book the return and outbound at once, never had a problem, but I don't know how AA is. My route is ONT to ATH. on 3-24-12 departure and 4-13-12 return. Just curious if anyone has just waited to book both at once or did one-way to ensure you get your flights. Thanks if anyone can shed some light on this.
Good luck and safe travels!
Last edited by miamigrad; Apr 5, 2011 at 1:35 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SoCal
Programs: IHG, Choice Hotels, Hyatt -Plat, Hilton, Carlson - Gold, BWR - Diamond, Marriott - Silver
Posts: 74
Thanks miamigrad for the info, so they don't always release them at that point? I guess I will then just keep trying every week or so if I can't get the seats.
#4
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA PLT
Posts: 666
if tix not available when you check at 330 days, paying $10 for a month of expertflyer is well worth it.
#5
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Programs: AA 1.5 MM Exec Plat, WN A-List, DL Silver, UA nonrev
Posts: 2,593
Since your itinerary will include travel on partner airlines (AA doesn't serve ATH), fishee's advice to monitor via ExpertFlyer is good advice. You may also want to search via a service like KVS or AwardNexus.
FYI: For these partner awards, you'll have to call AA to make the reservation. It cannot be done online via aa.com.
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
As noted in #2, awards are one way. The problem is what do you do if you take ticket the outbound, and there are no milesaver awards for the return. It most cases, AFAIK, one way TATL fares are a bit more expensive than 1/2 of the roundtrip fares. Unfortunately, AA doesn't give you the 1/2 of the roundtrip fare, if 1/2 of the trip is on an award. That would be great.
#7
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Dallas, TX
Programs: AA EXP, Avis PC
Posts: 125
As noted in #2, awards are one way. The problem is what do you do if you take ticket the outbound, and there are no milesaver awards for the return. It most cases, AFAIK, one way TATL fares are a bit more expensive than 1/2 of the roundtrip fares. Unfortunately, AA doesn't give you the 1/2 of the roundtrip fare, if 1/2 of the trip is on an award. That would be great.
#8
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Everywhere
Programs: AA EXP - 3.7MM, Bonv LIFETIME Titan, HH Dmd, Hyatt Glob., Priority Clb Dmd, Ntnl Exec El., Sixt PLT
Posts: 1,677
Hello all fellow travelers. I have a question concerning award travel on AA. It will be my first time using miles and was wondering has anyone had trouble getting the routes the want when the seats are released at 330 days out. Also, I am wondering should I use the one-way option as my return is 45 days from my outbound flight. In the past I used UA awards and waited till the 330 day to book the return and outbound at once, never had a problem, but I don't know how AA is. My route is ONT to ATH. on 3-24-12 departure and 4-13-12 return. Just curious if anyone has just waited to book both at once or did one-way to ensure you get your flights. Thanks if anyone can shed some light on this.
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,861
In the past, I would simply book a roundtrip far in advance with a desired departure date and then change the date for the return leg when the tickets are released. ... The gamble here that some carriers could drop some destinations and/or schedule would become very inconvenient. Then one-way awards win.
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SoCal
Programs: IHG, Choice Hotels, Hyatt -Plat, Hilton, Carlson - Gold, BWR - Diamond, Marriott - Silver
Posts: 74
Yes, my friend Alex_1, the other carrier is Iberia Airlines. British Air was also a choice but they are charging an enormous fee now for gas tax as the CSR told me at American. I guess the one way option here is the better way to go as stated by others only having to pay the $25 fee twice. Thanks for the info though.