frebay

Is it true that if you are booked in biz, and want to down convert to econ you have to pay a fee?

Austinrunner

You cannot convert a business class oneworld award to an economy class oneworld award. You would have to cancel the first award, redeposit the miles (and pay the redeposit fee if you are not EXP), and then book the second award from scratch.

HoKo

Is this true even if my only BA flights are intra-europe (LHR-ATH-LHR to be specific) and have only $80 in YQ?

Austinrunner

Well, if your itinerary doesn't touch the USA, you will not be paying USA taxes, fees, etc.

If your itinerary touches the USA, you will pay USA taxes, fees, etc. as if you had purchased a revenue ticket, regardless of whether any of your BA flights involve the USA.

HoKo

I have US segments, here's my itinerary: DCA-DFW-SFO-LAX-HNL-KIX-NRT-MNL-HKG-HAN-HKG-JFK-LHR-ATH-LHR-JFK-DCA

The trans-atlantic flights are on AA, so my only BA metal is the LHR-ATH-LHR.

So I was wondering if those 2 small BA segments will trigger XF, ZP, and US on the AA US segments

ETA: Just saw the portion of your response that you added, that answers my question. Thanks!

Austinrunner

I already answered that question. The answer is "yes."

HoKo

In the process of booking my ticket I have learned a couple things that contradict your sticky:

1. The co-terminals you have listed are NOT the only ones that can be used when booking this ticket. For example I was told KIX, ITM & UKB are co-terminals for Osaka.
2. The maximum permitted hold time when booking an award with a departure less than 14 days out is till 11:59PM of the following day. For example I just put my award on hold today Saturday 2.25 and my hold expires tomorrow Sunday 2.26 at 11:59PM

I realize that there is a possibility I was dealing with agent(s) that were providing me with incorrect information but I heard the 2 points listed above from multiple people (one of which was a pretty knowledgeable supervisor) so it may behoove you to look into them further and update the sticky if necessary

UncleDude

From my recent observation of AsiaMiles Award system following a system change, they appear to have taken an leaf out of JL's Book and severely restrict F and J awards between HKG and Europe until 7 days out.

There is now an ability for CX members only to wait-list for any future date but this facility is not available for other OW Members. Assuming they are following the same procedure as JL, they appear to confirm their own Members off wait-list very quickly if there is inventory.

This of course means other OW FF wanting to fly F or J have to book coach/economy and hope for Good Fortune 7 days out.

This is leading to more awards on BA who are not being so prohibitive ex HKG.

So far I cannot see it has evolved onto TransPac Services so hopefully it is just a Test Run.

Austinrunner

Which oneworld airlines currently serve UKB, if any?

Austinrunner

Shouldn't this be in the CX award availability thread?

HoKo

Austin, I don't understand why you are so aggressive on this thread? I provided 2 data points that will help people book future OW tickets.

Instead of thanking me and adding them to the sticky you have chosen to nit-pick one aspect of my data point that in the grand scheme of things is largely irrelevant.

If you want to play the game of who is right and who is wrong how about this:

You have said 5 day hold is guaranteed: WRONG, this is only the case if booking a ticket more than 14 days out

You have said KIX, ITM, and UKB are not considered co-terminals for this award: WRONG, They are indeed considered co-terminals according to multiple agents and a supervisor that I checked with. UKB may not be serviced by any OW airlines but KIX and ITM certainly are, therefore this information is relevant for people booking tickets through Osaka

I can very easily prove you wrong and denigrate the information you have provided, but I don't think that is constructive so I would appreciate it if you would lighten up

We are all on the same team, the point of this thread is to help people learn about and ultimately book OW tickets, therefore wouldn't it make sense for you, the creator of this thread, to welcome additional info that increases the accuracy of the information you are providing?

You told me that a 5 day hold is guaranteed, no matter the circumstances. This information was not correct. That's fine, I realize you are trying your hardest to provide accurate info. But don't attack me when I provide information that proves you wrong. Welcome the correction and move on amicably.

Austinrunner

I don't "guarantee" anything to anyone here. There are several reasons for that. The most obvious is that I am not an AA representative. Another example is that AA can change the rules at anytime, without advance notice. A third example is that many of the rules are not published. The agents you talked with might be right about the hold period. I didn't tell you those agents are wrong. I said the sticky is up-to-date, which fact is based on the experiences we flyertalk members have had. I rarely change the sticky based on one member's experience, for several reasons that have proven to be advisable over the last 7 years. And just FYI, I constantly change the sticky as circumstances dictate. So, there's really no profit in being angry or frustrated with me.

Regardless of what an AA agent told you, UKB is irrelevant for this particular thread unless a oneworld airline serves UKB. When you first brought up the issue, I researched it and could not find any evidence of current oneworld service to UKB. But I thought you might know of one, which is why I asked you the question. There are co-terminals for some purposes and not for others. The published AA oneworld award rules (linked in the sticky) apparently recognize the fact of no-oneworld-service by not listing UKB as an Osaka co-terminal.

Hope that explains things better. Best.

UncleDude

Why?. The new restrictions have little effect on CX Members it's aimed at preventing the much coveted F and J awards for other OW redeemers.

Austinrunner

As in AA all-partner and oneworld awards? I presume this is why we have a general thread (more than 1, actually) in this American AAdvantage forum about using AA miles to redeem awards on CX flights.

pogonation

I noticed this too and it has really put a spanner in the works for my plans