Jan 28, 2014, 12:14 am
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.
oneworld / AA Explorer award with AA Miles (discuss, questions) [ENDED 8 APR 2014]
Aug 13, 2013, 9:24 am
#1411
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,586
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
"For any legs of an Explorer award that are on AA flights, must there be Saaver availability with AA or can you book those AA legs as long as a standard award seat is available?"
All legs on an Explorer award -- including those on AA metal -- must come from SAAver award inventory.
"For any legs of an Explorer award that are on AA flights, must there be Saaver availability with AA or can you book those AA legs as long as a standard award seat is available?"
All legs on an Explorer award -- including those on AA metal -- must come from SAAver award inventory.
Aug 13, 2013, 9:52 am
#1412
Join Date: May 2004
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,204
Hi all,
Planning a RTW trip for my honeymoon next July/Aug. Looking for thoughts/advice from the experts here.
First question: For any legs of an Explorer award that are on AA flights, must there be Saaver availability with AA or can you book those AA legs as long as a standard award seat is available?
Here's my notional itinerary, in business class. Any thoughts are welcome!
BWI-LAX (might use Southwest points for this)
LAX-HNL [Stop] (American Airlines)
HNL-NRT [Stop] (Japan Airlines)
NRT-MNL [Stop] (Japan Airlines)
MNL-HKG (Cathay Pacific)
HKG-JNB [Stop] (Cathay Pacific)
JNB-CPT [Stop] (British Airways)
CPT-JNB (British Airways)
JNB-JFK (South African....not part of Explorer award)
Planning a RTW trip for my honeymoon next July/Aug. Looking for thoughts/advice from the experts here.
First question: For any legs of an Explorer award that are on AA flights, must there be Saaver availability with AA or can you book those AA legs as long as a standard award seat is available?
Here's my notional itinerary, in business class. Any thoughts are welcome!
BWI-LAX (might use Southwest points for this)
LAX-HNL [Stop] (American Airlines)
HNL-NRT [Stop] (Japan Airlines)
NRT-MNL [Stop] (Japan Airlines)
MNL-HKG (Cathay Pacific)
HKG-JNB [Stop] (Cathay Pacific)
JNB-CPT [Stop] (British Airways)
CPT-JNB (British Airways)
JNB-JFK (South African....not part of Explorer award)
Aug 13, 2013, 10:23 am
#1413
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,586
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
"HKG-JNB (Cathay Pacific)
JNB-CPT (British Airways)
CPT-JNB (British Airways)"
If the Explorer award itinerary is going to end in JNB, then you will not be able to pass through JNB earlier in the itinerary. (No connections or stopovers are permitted at the first or last city on an Explorer award.)
Try pricing the trip home on South African from CPT, rather than JNB.
"HKG-JNB (Cathay Pacific)
JNB-CPT (British Airways)
CPT-JNB (British Airways)"
If the Explorer award itinerary is going to end in JNB, then you will not be able to pass through JNB earlier in the itinerary. (No connections or stopovers are permitted at the first or last city on an Explorer award.)
Try pricing the trip home on South African from CPT, rather than JNB.
Aug 13, 2013, 10:29 am
#1414
Join Date: Feb 2004
Programs: IHG Spire Elite; Hyatt Platinum; SPG Preferred+; Club Carlson Gold; SW CP
Posts: 674
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
"For any legs of an Explorer award that are on AA flights, must there be Saaver availability with AA or can you book those AA legs as long as a standard award seat is available?"
All legs on an Explorer award -- including those on AA metal -- must come from SAAver award inventory.
"For any legs of an Explorer award that are on AA flights, must there be Saaver availability with AA or can you book those AA legs as long as a standard award seat is available?"
All legs on an Explorer award -- including those on AA metal -- must come from SAAver award inventory.
Aug 13, 2013, 10:31 am
#1415
Join Date: Feb 2004
Programs: IHG Spire Elite; Hyatt Platinum; SPG Preferred+; Club Carlson Gold; SW CP
Posts: 674
OK, thanks, I'll check it out. Since this Explorer award is going to be in business class I thought it might be worth paying the BA fees for the intra South Africa flights.
Aug 13, 2013, 10:32 am
#1416
Join Date: Feb 2004
Programs: IHG Spire Elite; Hyatt Platinum; SPG Preferred+; Club Carlson Gold; SW CP
Posts: 674
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
"HKG-JNB (Cathay Pacific)
JNB-CPT (British Airways)
CPT-JNB (British Airways)"
If the Explorer award itinerary is going to end in JNB, then you will not be able to pass through JNB earlier in the itinerary. (No connections or stopovers are permitted at the first or last city on an Explorer award.)
Try pricing the trip home on South African from CPT, rather than JNB.
"HKG-JNB (Cathay Pacific)
JNB-CPT (British Airways)
CPT-JNB (British Airways)"
If the Explorer award itinerary is going to end in JNB, then you will not be able to pass through JNB earlier in the itinerary. (No connections or stopovers are permitted at the first or last city on an Explorer award.)
Try pricing the trip home on South African from CPT, rather than JNB.
Aug 13, 2013, 12:52 pm
#1417
Join Date: May 2004
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,204
You are welcome. I am pretty sure that intra SA flight on BA business class is nothing to write home about.
Aug 14, 2013, 10:07 am
#1418
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 262
AA changed my Explorer award from LHR-DFW-LAS-LAX to LHR-DFW-XNA-LAX.
3hrs on the CRJ7 (in first)? I hope they are able to change this without mucking it all up. I'm wondering if it's even worth it at this point.
3hrs on the CRJ7 (in first)? I hope they are able to change this without mucking it all up. I'm wondering if it's even worth it at this point.
Aug 14, 2013, 8:56 pm
#1419
Join Date: Feb 2004
Programs: IHG Spire Elite; Hyatt Platinum; SPG Preferred+; Club Carlson Gold; SW CP
Posts: 674
The latest version of my plan is 18,844 air miles:
BWI-DFW (American Airlines)
DFW-HNL [Stop] (American Airlines)
HNL-NRT [Stop] (Japan Airlines)
NRT-MNL [Stop] (Japan Airlines)
MNL-HKG (Cathay Pacific)
HKG-JNB [Stop] (Cathay Pacific)
JNB-CPT (British Airways)
I don't actually want to go to HNL (Oahu) though. Want to go to Maui and Kauai.
Am I stuck flying into/out of HNL if I want to use an Explorer award in that there are no reasonable OneWorld flights from either OGG (Maui) or LIH (Kauai) on to NRT (Tokyo)?
In other words, I could fly on American Airlines to OGG or LIH from the continental US but flying out would require an open jaw because my flight would have to depart from HNL. And that's a no go because I already have an open jaw because trip start and end are different. Is that correct?
BWI-DFW (American Airlines)
DFW-HNL [Stop] (American Airlines)
HNL-NRT [Stop] (Japan Airlines)
NRT-MNL [Stop] (Japan Airlines)
MNL-HKG (Cathay Pacific)
HKG-JNB [Stop] (Cathay Pacific)
JNB-CPT (British Airways)
I don't actually want to go to HNL (Oahu) though. Want to go to Maui and Kauai.
Am I stuck flying into/out of HNL if I want to use an Explorer award in that there are no reasonable OneWorld flights from either OGG (Maui) or LIH (Kauai) on to NRT (Tokyo)?
In other words, I could fly on American Airlines to OGG or LIH from the continental US but flying out would require an open jaw because my flight would have to depart from HNL. And that's a no go because I already have an open jaw because trip start and end are different. Is that correct?
Aug 14, 2013, 9:38 pm
#1421
Join Date: Feb 2004
Programs: IHG Spire Elite; Hyatt Platinum; SPG Preferred+; Club Carlson Gold; SW CP
Posts: 674
Aug 14, 2013, 10:17 pm
#1422
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 262
To follow up on this they allowed me to book into DFW-LAX direct despite being ticketed due to the schedule change that forced them to change routes. I lucked into it but it's a far better option than what was available when I initially ticketed the award to begin with!
Aug 14, 2013, 11:21 pm
#1423
Join Date: May 2007
Location: ORD, DEL
Programs: AA (Plt Pro; 1.5 MM)
Posts: 6,185
Aug 15, 2013, 3:31 am
#1424
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: AA EXP (1MM), QF GOLD
Posts: 39
Around the world
Is it possible to do a one world around the world award with 160,000AA miles?
Aug 15, 2013, 3:45 am
#1425
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,467
Yes
Easy if you're thinking of flying Economy
The chart for Partner Awards is here
http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/a...rtnerChart.jsp
You could stitch together a RTW trip out of individual 1-way awards
Or you could use your miles to get an Explorer Award - chart here
http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/oneworld_awards.jsp
There are individual threads on each in the AA forum
Easy if you're thinking of flying Economy
The chart for Partner Awards is here
http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/a...rtnerChart.jsp
You could stitch together a RTW trip out of individual 1-way awards
Or you could use your miles to get an Explorer Award - chart here
http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/oneworld_awards.jsp
There are individual threads on each in the AA forum
