danorum

That was me. I also checked Dynamic Air Awards and can coach tickets for 40K each (instead of 50K). I think it probably makes sense to spend the 10K extra for first. Too bad I can't use my SWU's for award tickets.

Dan

iahphx

Do you happen to have any "competing" UA miles? Unlike AA, UA is making coach saver seats available for domestic Holiday travel. If you booked when the window opens, you might even be able to snag some nonstops (there are plenty of connecting flights available on UA).

Frankly, if I lived in Chicago, this nonsense would be enough to make me switch. I can't really think of a reason why AA would be preferable to UA these days. Some people say the Star Alliance is very difficult to redeem biz/first int'l awards. Other than possibly that, it seems superior.

iahphx

I am happy to report that AA has loaded a few domestic coach saver seats on some of the days that were previously completely "blacked out" for Thanksgiving travel. Don't get your hopes up too high -- they certainly haven't dumped A LOT of inventory, and most markets seem to have received no new inventory at all -- but I can no longer say it's completely IMPOSSIBLE to get award seats on those days (improbable yes; impossible no). So look again if there are some specific city pairs you were interested in.

I honestly can't detect a pattern of which Thanksgiving dates are back, it seems to vary somewhat from market-to-market. And they are not necessarily the most off-peak days.

For the moment, the Xmas embargo seems "intact," as no coach saver awards appear to be loaded after Dec.12. Again, it's now worth checking back periodically to see if they change their minds on this one, too.

Frankly, I think this is a very smart move on AA's part because even if they don't load any "meaningful" domestic Holiday inventory, they have eliminated the stigma of having unofficial embargo days. I'd like to think my "publicizing" this very heavy-handed policy caused them to revisit it, but I have no idea whether that's true or not.

EDIT: One particularly valuable market where there is now a little inventory loaded is NYC-LAX on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Indeed, I would say Nov. 14 to 18 are no longer being "embargoed."

Science Goy

I thought you said these seats would never be loaded. You didn't maybe jump the gun just a little bit with this thread, did you?

tom911

100% bonus miles at the midtier level, versus 50% bonus miles at UA, would be one very big reason. In fact, it's the main reason I walked away from UA as a million miler flyer there. You're going to build up your account miles a lot slower at UA.

Austinrunner

Yeah, that must be the reason.

iahphx

Wow -- you guys are even faster than I thought to go on the offensive.

Of course, I never said the embargo would never be changed. Last year, after many months, they curtailed it by a couple of days. And then they took a few "unusual" routes (like to ski destinations) and added some counter-cyclical inventory. We've also heard a couple of post-Holiday reports of folks "finding" seats a few months before the Holidays, so it's possible the revisions were even more extensive.

But they certainly didn't do anything "as good" as what they did this time. Restoring the weekend before Thanksgiving to domestic saver award travel is a big deal. I know not everyone will now find the award seats they want, but there are definitely now some out there.

And, by the way, why would you think "keeping quiet" when all the seats are blacked-out would be a BETTER idea? Does that really make sense to you? Isn't it better to publicize the problem? That seems to increase the odds that the corporation will do the right thing.

Austinrunner

I already said that your efforts were the sole reason that this "problem" was solved. What else do you want? Oh, OK. Here's your :-:

garygleck

This looks like the Europe summer 2012 embargo in coach where almost all if not all coach awards disappeared or were never loaded for all routes from the third week in June through the end of July.

garygleck

Re: summer 2012 Europe

Science Goy

Maybe you didn't say those words, but you sure implied them:




(bolding mine)

Austinrunner

Like JFK -> LHR on June 15, 18-21, 24 and July 2-25?

Or JFK -> CDG on July 6-8, 10-11, 15-18, and 30?

Or JFK -> MAD on July 2, 10, 18-19, and 25?

Or JFK -> ZRH on July 1-4, 8-12, 15-19, and 23?

Or JFK -> BCN on July 11, 16-17, and 23-24?

Or JFK -> FCO on July 17 and 18?

Or JFK -> MXP on July 3, 5-6, 8-9, 17, and 31?

Or JFK -> MAN on July 1-4, 12, 15-17, and 22?

Or JFK -> BRU on June 15, July 3-8, 11, and 16-17?

Or ORD -> LHR on June 29-30, July 1-3, and 5-20?

Or ORD -> CDG on July 17-19?

Or ORD -> MAN on July 4 and 10?

Or ORD -> HEL on July 20?

Or DFW -> MAD on July 17?

Or DFW -> LHR on July 9, 12, and 17?

Or DFW -> CDG on July 12?

Or MIA -> MAD on July 16?

Or MIA -> CDG on July 6-11 and 15-19?

Or RDU -> LHR on June 18-21, 23-24 and July 1-5, 7-25, 28, and 30?

Or BOS -> LHR on June 15-21, 24-27, 29-30 and July 1-20, 22-24, and 29-31?

Or BOS -> CDG on July 3, 5-19, 22, and 29?

EsquireFlyer

Oh, he did more than imply them. In your second quote of iahphx (re: the "time-honored tradition"), you can also bold "no seats are ever loaded."

iahphx

Instead of shooting the messenger, did you ever think it might be a better idea to praise the person who shined much needed light on a massive effort by AA to restrict award availability -- which is still very much on-going today?

Or, like me, to try to help the folks who are trying to navigate this complicated and frustrating policy?

Nope, only a continued defense of AA. While I study the fare data, you guys analyze my quotes. It's weird.

Austinrunner

More like skimming than studying.