JDiver

So, will AA send us in discounted seats to HEL next summer?

3Cforme

I am humbled. (My regrets to the OP.) I didn't check May 19th to the end of bookable schedule for one coach saver award, but I did check all AA-Europe routes (28, if I identified them properly) for May 23 +/-3 days on ExpertFlyer and found not a single seat. I guess the snark about Delta's award calendar and SkyPesos can end now; with those same city pairs Delta.com went 20 for 28.

garygleck

I was really surprised as well since I had been able to secure some tix earlier in the month and had helped a friend do so on Monday. I was incredulous when a friend said she saw no availability by Wednesday...

UncleDude

Business Class Saver SFO-YVR-LHR-FCO available 27/28/29 and 30 May

Also via MIA/JFK/BOS varies depending on date SFO/XXX/MAD/FCO with IB 27 to 30 May

GUWonder

The above seems to speak more to BA and IB's revenue management decisions impacting TATL award space availability on BA and/or IB metal.

Carolinian

Well, if AA starts trying to play DL on us, then that makes the decision to stay with UA after their takeover of CO a whole lot easier. I hope that this is just some temporary glitch.

GUWonder

No "if" about it, as AA already has started down the DL course -- that's part of the "fruits" of the government-enabled collusion allowances granted to the industry's largest firms connecting the US with Europe.

Expect the DL disease to spread and get worse.

aceflyer2

Several weeks ago I got 4 F tix(going) and 4 J tix(return) MSY-MIA-LHR-VZE, and VZE-MAD-BOS-MIA-MSY on BA and Iberia for mid-late May 2012, with the exception of the U.S. portion. Even back then I noticed that it was almost impossible to get the 4 tickets I needed all on AA (and difficult to find on partners). It had been a couple of years since I had booked award tickets-there is no doubt in my mind that AA has significantly tightened award availability in the last 2 years. I have been a loyal AAdvantage member almost since the beginning, but this is making me question my allegiance. However I don't know that it would be any better with any other airline, but I sure plan to do do some research. Luckily, in this case, I was able to secure 4 tickets on partner airlines. The key, for me, was that I was able to be flexible on dates, routes, and airlines. Also, it's important to get an agent who is willing to work with you to find what you're looking for. In my case, I would say that at least 50% of the agents, (sadly, even at the EXP desk) would say they would check, but they were not willing to 'think outside the box' regarding the routing. So I had to specifically suggest airlines and routings. I think AA would be well served to rethink award availability, especially for FF's.

mgraban

I was looking at the 50k biz class tickets coming back from CDG in May. There was plenty of availability until yesterday. I'm kicking myself for not holding a ticket earlier (I need 2).

You can't even BUY a restricted fare coach ticket coming back. Something is screwed up in their revenue management / ticketing system.

tuscanyx

I've been looking for flights to Europe for next year the whole last week. A couple of times a day every day. There was all kinds of availabilities with different connections. But all savver award for any class got wiped out either Fri or Sat. starting sometime in May. I personally think the IT guy who loads the award availability file totally messed up. I've called AA for them to escalate to their IT department and hopefully they'll resolve this problem soon. I think the more people complain the faster it will get resolved.

mvoight

The Olympics start on July 25, so I don't think this would affect tickets on May 20 or so.

tjbrooks

I doubt it's IT, it seems to be Revenue Management they way it was totally wiped out.
Although, a couple F SAAver seats came available, in June to LHR, so it looks like some tickets booked prior to the wipeout are able to go back into the system.

clacko

there are a lot of cc mi's chasing intl awards....perhaps this is a factor, but wouldn't account for a sudden booking of all the awards...

onetess

There are a ton of British Airways World Traveler (their Coach) NYC-LON flights that were just loaded for June 22nd/June 23rd. Not sure how bad the taxes will be compared to booking flights on AA, but it's worth checking out.

gq_dq

I believe Maya Leibman, President – AAdvantage Loyalty Program, is on FT (member name: AmericanAirlines) as a Company Representative. Maybe she can shed some light?

Could this be similar to the Saver block of South America before Christmas through mid-Jan every year? But it is the first time I am seeing each and every European destinations blocked. Simply incredible.

Wonder if this has something to do with the roll-out of the new Dynamic Awards (elites only) or the Citibank 75K and 100K offers.

Or the London Olympics? This however is likely not the case considering that BA has wide open availability into Heathrow for next summer.