guv1976

Just to add a data point to this discussion, earlier this year I held a ticketed oneworld award which included an evening flight on MA from ZRH to BUD. A few weeks before I left for Europe, I was notified by AA of a schedule change which eliminated the evening MA flight, and left only an early morning MA flight from ZRH to BUD. I called AA and advised that since I was only planning to spend a couple of days in ZRH, this would really not work. The agent agreed that this constituted a major schedule change, and seemed amenable to trying to rebook me on BA from ZRH to London to BUD. In the end, however, I decided to forgo the ZRH trip, and the AA agent agreed to replace the ZRH-BUD segment with a CDG-BUD segment.

While YMMV, in my case a significant schedule change did result in a no-fee routing change to an already-ticketed oneworld itinerary.

(I should also note that I had already flown a portion of the oneworld award in question before I was notified of the MA schedule change.)

martin33

refund *is* the contract of carriage remedy, if one doesn't care for the re-accommodation proffered. whether or not it seems "fair", an airline changing schedule is not obligated to buy someone a seat on another carrier unless it writes a contract taking on that obligation-- domestic, international, paid, award, doesn't matter. caveat emptor...

hindukid

But how can you get a refund if travel has already begun. It seems like airline is now saying deal with the schedule change and you have no other option. If they wanted to grant a full refund then I see no problem but I am sure that is not going to happen.

Happy

They can do it pro-rata base. According to data points posted in the past, that is a possible alternative.

Life is never fair unfortunately. In case you dont read the fine prints in the AA program (and almost all loyalty programs), the airlines "own" your miles in a nutshell.

magic111

How are you sure?

The aa one-world awards may be one of the best options available for those who have the option to use them but there are no guarantees that everything will work out as planned.

Some have posted that is the case. Others have posted that they have managed to get the airline(s) to cooperate. (Emphasis on the s.) AA will work with you on their metal. As for the oneworld partners they will have to make a request for cooperation.

If you are planning to redeem a OW reward and are booking nonrefundable hotels and sightseeing you might want to consider buying trip insurance to cover the possibility that something could go wrong on a multi-segment, multi-airline itinerary.

If these options are not to your liking than perhaps the minimal risk involved in an aadvantage oneworld award is an undertaking that you should avoid.

Happy

It was very lucky for you on both counts - first you caught the notification of schedule change, second AA was very accommodating.

There were soooo many invol changes in our 2009 OW150C I was very worried about schedule changes while we were on the road. It was a big surprise that all 11 segments flew in a 6 weeks period were on schedule, not even a delay...

martin33

and yet that is exactly what happens. read the fine print in the contract of carriage it usually says words like "refund for unused portion" of ticket....

suppose AA (or any carrier) changes schedule and drops a route you've booked, for instance. they might have coverage agreements in place to put you on a replacement flight with another carrier, or they might not. In the latter case all you get is a refund, even if your travel has already begun. Still want to fly? you'd have to buy a ticket on the competition, at whatever fare applied...

exactly. Disruptions happen, and they are not always fair or cheap. If one is not prepared to handle them, then quality trip insurance is a must.

PedroNY

Dear Flyertalkers,

As always, I turn to you to see if some can tell me if this is possible. I been thinking of going to Sydney, Australia and Denpasar (Bali), Indonesia on the OneWorld Award in J. I know that my itenary will be under 25,000 total miles so that should be 150,000 AA miles to redeem it in J class.

I was thinking of flying JFK-SYD(Stop)-DPS(Stop)-HKG-JFK. That will fulfill the requirements of 2 OneWorld Airlines (not including American), keep me under 25,000 miles and allow me to visid Sydney and Bali.

I was looking on OneWorld Map (Where We Fly), for some reason SYD-DPS is not shown as a route. However, when checking Qantas website, they have a non-stop flight operated by Jetstar. Would my itenary would with this restriction?

I completely understand that getting J tickets will not be easy, but I am incredible flexible and this is in 2011, so I am hoping that I will find right dates.

jeelele

I see a few problems with your plans. First, Jetstar is not a valid carrier for OneWorld award. Second, you may have some real hard time finding availability on LAX-SYD quote on QF in J and then on HKG-JFK on CX.

Your best bet would be to use all-partner award instead which can built as three one-ways, JFK-SYD, SYD-DPS, DPS-JFK. Jetstar is a valid carrier on all-partner award.

I am sure others here will chime in their opinion.

Nugget_Oz

Also depending on what kind of business class you are expecting JetStar may not be what you want.

miamigrad

DELETED

(I gave recommendation to post in the consolidated thread, and alerted MODs for merge. The post has been merged and my response no longer relevant)

kebosabi

If you're adventurous like me, I'd give this itinerary a shot instead using the one open-jaw allowed rule for OW awards

JFK-SYD-SIN, KUL-HKG-JFK

SYD-SIN gives you the opportunity to fly on QF's A380 ^

Upon arriving at SIN, take an overnight train to Kuala Lumpur and then take the cheap roundtrip KUL-DPS flight on AirAsia.

Madison Guy

Things may have changed in three (or so) years, but I was on a ...LAX-SYD-CNS-SYD-.... P/Z award (with a downgrade to J on the CNS segments) and there was a schedule change on the CNS-SYD return. Initially rebooked on JetStar, and the route was declared INVALID as JetStar was not a "partner." (They are certainly NOT OneWorld.) Anyway, I was very happy - the QF flight better suited my schedule AND was better service, from what I hear....

francophile

JFK-LAX (AA)
LAX-SYD (QF)
SYD-CGK (QF)
CGK-HKG/NRT (CX or JL)
HKG/NRT-JFK (CX or JL)

buy a separate ticket on Garuda for CGK-DPS

or do an open jaw and fly DPS-HKG/NRT on CX/JL if that's permitted in the OW award

PedroNY

Thank you very much for the feedback!

I needed to read my rules better, for some reason I thought I could take JetStar if it was Qantas flight code and operated by Jetstar, it sounds like it must be Qantas metal for me to use the OneWorld ticket. I didn't want to use partner award, as it will end up being more miles, and this itinerary was right over 23,000 miles, so I was hoping to use it... oh well.

Also, I been trying to spot awards on CX, is Qantas free award search the best way to look them up? Or do I need to pay and use KVS Tool to really see all of CX inventory?

Thank you for your help.

Best,

PedroNY