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oneworld / AA Explorer award with AA Miles (discuss, questions) [ENDED 8 APR 2014]

Old Jan 28, 2014, 12:14 am
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Last edit by: JDiver
oneworld / AA Explorer award with AA Miles (discuss, questions) [ENDED 8 APR 2014]

N.B. new oneworld/AA Explorer awards are no longer available as of the end of the day on April 7th, 2014.

Existing awards will be honored.


This thread is ONLY to inquire or add about existing oneworld Explorer awards;
to comment on the loss of this booking option, please follow the discussion on:
Oneworld Explorer Awards Eliminated -- Effective Immediately [8 Apr 2014]


See the first post, below, for the rules that prevailed through 7 April 2014 and apply to those who booked Explorer awards prior to the end of these useful award tickets.
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oneworld / AA Explorer award with AA Miles (discuss, questions) [ENDED 8 APR 2014]

 
Old Oct 26, 2012, 9:51 pm
  #796  
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: ORD (formerly SAN)
Programs: Hilton Diamond; IHG Platinum; Bonvoy Gold; AA Platinum Pro and United Premier Silver (DH = AA EXP)
Posts: 1,927
I have a tax question... So I was not able to get on IB or AY on the dates that I need to return to the U.S. So we looking to fly to LHR on BA (which I was trying to avoid). Can someone (Austinrunner?) help figure out what "extra" charges we incurred if we booked this in J? I've tried using ITA, but I can't figure which ones are charged and which ones aren't in award bookings. Thanks!

ORD-HKG on CX (stop)
HKG-MXP on CX (stop)
(land segment / open jaw)
NCE-LHR on BA (connection/overnight but less than 24 hrs)
LHR-MIA on AA (connection)
MIA-ORD on AA (finish)

Last edited by TravelLawyer; Oct 27, 2012 at 7:50 pm Reason: Corrected to reflect connections.
TravelLawyer is offline  
Old Oct 28, 2012, 11:16 am
  #797  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: DFW
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold
Posts: 2,863
JAL

Hey folks,

is there any particular time when it's better to look for a JAL F award flight to the USA? Close in or further out?
oneworld82 is offline  
Old Oct 28, 2012, 12:40 pm
  #798  
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: ORD, LAX, LHR
Programs: AA EXP/2MM, Hertz 5*, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 974
Originally Posted by AtomicLush
I have a tax question... So I was not able to get on IB or AY on the dates that I need to return to the U.S. So we looking to fly to LHR on BA (which I was trying to avoid). Can someone (Austinrunner?) help figure out what "extra" charges we incurred if we booked this in J? I've tried using ITA, but I can't figure which ones are charged and which ones aren't in award bookings. Thanks!

ORD-HKG on CX (stop)
HKG-MXP on CX (stop)
(land segment / open jaw)
NCE-LHR on BA (connection/overnight but less than 24 hrs)
LHR-MIA on AA (connection)
MIA-ORD on AA (finish)
I am nowhere the expert that Austinrunner is, but can report my own experience recently with booking a (somewhat) similar routing. I originally had BCN-LHR-ORD as my return, but was able to change it to BCN-MIA-ORD. The fare was $12 more, but the taxes were ~$100 less.

Any way you can get from NCE to BCN, and then back to ORD from there?
2millionquest is offline  
Old Oct 28, 2012, 6:53 pm
  #799  
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: ORD (formerly SAN)
Programs: Hilton Diamond; IHG Platinum; Bonvoy Gold; AA Platinum Pro and United Premier Silver (DH = AA EXP)
Posts: 1,927
Originally Posted by 2millionquest
Any way you can get from NCE to BCN, and then back to ORD from there?
No, there are no oneworld awards from BCN to ORD or BCN to MIA on the dates that I'm looking. Tried BCN, MAD, CDG, etc.
TravelLawyer is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2012, 10:47 am
  #800  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 695
Big Thank You!

I just wanted to thank everyone on this board whose posts I have read that have allowed me to a) get a bunch of AA miles through Citi Cards and other methods, and b) book a RTW Explorer ticket for my mum & stepdad!

I booked:

PMI-MAD-VIE (stop)
VIE-AMM-TLV (stop)
TLV-AMM (stop)
AMM-DEL (stop)
DEL-HKG (stop)
HKG-TPE (stop)
TPE-NRT (stop)
NRT-ORD (stop)
ORD-MSY (stop)
MSY-MIA (stop)
MIA-NYC (stop)
NYC-TXL-PMI (end)

Total cost: 150,000 miles + $772.73 per person in Business Class, and a couple of cups of tea whilst I did the research

The trip will last for about two months (it's good to be retired I guess!), starting in January of 2013.

For people who want to know what the experience was like, and how I went about it, here's what I did & what I used:

I started looking into booking tickets last week, and I used the oneWorld interactive network map, a shortlist of places I knew my parents wanted to go visit, and KVSTools (for which I had purchased a Diamond membership last year).

It took about five hours of seeing which cities could be gotten to via OneWorld at each stop, and searching KVSTools assiduously, making a note of dates, airlines, flight numbers and times.

Once it was all written down, I called the AAdvantage Award Number (1.800.822.8880) on Saturday, and got an agent who had never booked this kind of award before. So I explained she should look for OneWorld Explorer award, which she did, and after reading the rules for booking she asked me to give her all the flight segments (dates, airlines, airport codes, etc...) and she was able to book it in less than 90 minutes.

I have to say the experience was as painless as it could have been. Whilst having KVSTool is not necessary (you can perform manual searches on AA, Qantas and BA's websites for example), it does make the process a lot less arduous and as such I would recommend using it (or for that matter ExpertFlyer, but I have no experience with the site).

So to AA, FT, and everyone on here, a big ^^^
ukinny2000 is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2012, 12:47 pm
  #801  
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: ORD (formerly SAN)
Programs: Hilton Diamond; IHG Platinum; Bonvoy Gold; AA Platinum Pro and United Premier Silver (DH = AA EXP)
Posts: 1,927
Originally Posted by ukinny2000
I just wanted to thank everyone on this board whose posts I have read that have allowed me to a) get a bunch of AA miles through Citi Cards and other methods, and b) book a RTW Explorer ticket for my mum & stepdad!

Once it was all written down, I called the AAdvantage Award Number (1.800.822.8880) on Saturday, and got an agent who had never booked this kind of award before. So I explained she should look for OneWorld Explorer award, which she did, and after reading the rules for booking she asked me to give her all the flight segments (dates, airlines, airport codes, etc...) and she was able to book it in less than 90 minutes.
Congrats! That's quite a trip! Hope your parents have a fabulous time (and they are lucky to have such a generous offspring!)

Although I have to say your <90 minute convo with AA would have been more than I could bear. Once I found an agent that had done these before, the process took 15 minutes tops.
TravelLawyer is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2012, 12:55 pm
  #802  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 695
Originally Posted by AtomicLush
Congrats! That's quite a trip! Hope your parents have a fabulous time (and they are lucky to have such a generous offspring!)

Although I have to say your <90 minute convo with AA would have been more than I could bear. Once I found an agent that had done these before, the process took 15 minutes tops.
Thanks Having a speakerphone helps tremendously: I couldn't imagine cradling a phone for that long otherwise!
ukinny2000 is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2012, 8:13 am
  #803  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: CLT
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,551
Would IGU and IGR be purposes of the AA Explorer award. Could I do as part of the trip, without breaking it: AEP - IGR // IGU - GIG
beofotch is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2012, 9:58 am
  #804  
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 6
Cancel single segment?

Hi.

First, I want to thank the members of this board/thread for all the information. I'm currently in the middle of a OneWorld Explorer award trip that I wouldn't have been able to plan without all the valuable information here.

My ticket goes like this:
SEA-JFK-LHR/LGW-MRU-JNB-HKG-YVR
Then a month break (with a side trip back to SEA), which I'm on now. Then:
YVR-HKG-BKK-SIN-CMB/MLE-LGW/LHR-SEA

I'm finalizing plans for the second half of the trip now, and it turns out that it would be easier for me if I made my own way from BKK-SIN instead of using the flight I have booked on my award ticket. Is it possible to cancel a single segment like that without cancelling the rest of my reservation? I've called AA already and been told no, but the agent didn't speak very good English and didn't sound too sure of herself, so I thought I'd ask here before spending more time calling back.
ChickenHead is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2012, 10:51 am
  #805  
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: ORD (formerly SAN)
Programs: Hilton Diamond; IHG Platinum; Bonvoy Gold; AA Platinum Pro and United Premier Silver (DH = AA EXP)
Posts: 1,927
Originally Posted by ChickenHead
Is it possible to cancel a single segment like that without cancelling the rest of my reservation? I've called AA already and been told no, but the agent didn't speak very good English and didn't sound too sure of herself, so I thought I'd ask here before spending more time calling back.
Did you read the first post? You want to change a routing. It's not possible. Per OP:

SECTION 9: TICKET VALIDITY AND CHANGES

(3) Once the ticket is issued, a person is not allowed to change the name of the passenger, the routing (including stopovers or connections) of a segment, or the airline for a segment. (But at least one member of flyertalk has been allowed to convert a stopover at a particular airport to a connection at the same airport, or vice versa, after ticketing.)
TravelLawyer is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2012, 11:12 am
  #806  
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 6
Yep, I saw that. Doesn't exactly address my question, though. It says I can't change the routing of a segment, not of the ticket. I'm talking about eliminating that segment entirely, leaving the two surrounding segments intact.

I also saw this post in this thread, which refers to cancelling a segment in the event someone can't make a flight.

Common sense would dictate that this is nothing but a win for the airline, so it should be allowed, but of course I realize the rules have little to do with common sense sometimes. I was hoping someone here had some direct knowledge or experience on the matter.
ChickenHead is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2012, 12:18 pm
  #807  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,731
Originally Posted by ChickenHead
Yep, I saw that. Doesn't exactly address my question, though. It says I can't change the routing of a segment, not of the ticket. I'm talking about eliminating that segment entirely, leaving the two surrounding segments intact.

I also saw this post in this thread, which refers to cancelling a segment in the event someone can't make a flight.

Common sense would dictate that this is nothing but a win for the airline, so it should be allowed, but of course I realize the rules have little to do with common sense sometimes. I was hoping someone here had some direct knowledge or experience on the matter.
If your reservation is still on-hold and not yet ticketed, I believe that you can drop a segment without issue.

However, it sounds like you already ticketed the explorer award, in which case unfortunately all routings and carriers are fixed for the distance-based explorer award. You cannot add, remove, or change any of them.

Your only alternative, if you haven't flown any of the segments, is to do a complete cancel-and-rebook of the trip.

The post you linked talked about canceling a segment before departure to avoid voiding the entire reservations, but you would still have to take the flights in sequence - it's not just a matter of canceling one segment and picking up your trip on the next one.

As far as a comment on whether this is a "win" for the airline: if they allow these kinds of rule waivers, they may also find that lots more people book unnecessary segments, since that would allow them to drop segments at will.
ckpeter is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2012, 12:47 pm
  #808  
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 6
Thanks, ckpeter. Not the answer I was hoping for, but a much more sensible explanation than the agent I spoke to was able to give.

Fortunately, there's still plenty of availability on other dates for my flights, so I should be able to work something out.
ChickenHead is offline  
Old Nov 5, 2012, 11:55 am
  #809  
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 16
Tickets can only be reissued in originating country?

Hi. I have a successfully ticketed oneworld Explorer award, in large part due to the fantastic information in this thread -- thanks! The trip starts and ends in the UK; the taxes and fees were paid in sterling.

I'm trying to change the date of two segments (not changing carrier or route). Speaking to an AAgent (on US number using skype) the seats were free, she called the fees department who confirmed it was an "even exchange", but then the ticket could not be re-issued.

She stated this was because the trip starts in the UK, and they can only reissue tickets originating in the US. I was told I would need to go to an AA ticketing desk at a UK airport to make the changes. I've called again to be told the same (although I wonder whether this is because the previous "resolution" was noted against the PNR).

Has anyone else experienced this? Does it ring true?

It'll actually be bit of a pain to go to Heathrow to sort this, let alone holding my nerve about the seats staying free in the meanwhile (and my next few trips through LHR are from terminal 5 and out of the AA desk opening hours).
Haltwhistle is offline  
Old Nov 5, 2012, 5:48 pm
  #810  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,461
Originally Posted by Haltwhistle
Hi. I have a successfully ticketed oneworld Explorer award, in large part due to the fantastic information in this thread -- thanks! The trip starts and ends in the UK; the taxes and fees were paid in sterling.

I'm trying to change the date of two segments (not changing carrier or route). Speaking to an AAgent (on US number using skype) the seats were free, she called the fees department who confirmed it was an "even exchange", but then the ticket could not be re-issued.

She stated this was because the trip starts in the UK, and they can only reissue tickets originating in the US. I was told I would need to go to an AA ticketing desk at a UK airport to make the changes. I've called again to be told the same (although I wonder whether this is because the previous "resolution" was noted against the PNR).

Has anyone else experienced this? Does it ring true?

It'll actually be bit of a pain to go to Heathrow to sort this, let alone holding my nerve about the seats staying free in the meanwhile (and my next few trips through LHR are from terminal 5 and out of the AA desk opening hours).
Doesn't sound right to me

Earlier this year I changed an Explorer AAward for my sister (I had bought it using my miles). The country of origin was Holland; I am in Australia and I phoned the AA PLT line in the U.S. to make the change.
All done without any dramas.
pandaperth is offline  

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