peter1962

Thanks for the advice, I'll go back to the planning with fresh eyes. Yes I did mean Cathay Pacific by CP - told you that I was the amateur here! ;-)

peter1962

I called AAdvantage who tells me that I can include YVR-YYZ, which makes it YYZ-NRT-LHR-YVR-YYZ, the total mileage is 21k and it still qualifies at Zone 6 - 130,000 miles - do you think I need a second opinion

Happy

Does CX fly YYZ-YVR? That would be the only way I can think of that you can fly this segment in OneWorld flight.

21K requires 150K

See chart.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/oneworld_awards.jsp

Distance Zone 6
Total Trip Miles = 14,001 - 20,000 Miles Required
Economy Class 100,000
Business Class 130,000
First Class 180,000

Distance Zone 7
Total Trip Miles = 20,001 - 25,000 Miles Required
Economy Class 120,000
Business Class 150,000
First Class 230,000

JJeffrey

According to the oneworld award chart:

Zone 6: 14,001 - 20,000 flight miles, 130k AA miles req'd (J)
Zone 7: 20,001 - 25,000 flight miles, 150k AA miles req'd (J)

Per the GCM, your most direct route would be something like YYZ-ORD-NRT-LHR-YVR-DFW-YYZ, which comes in at 20,360 flight miles, or Zone 7.

So, either the AAgent was just incorrect or being lenient since you'd just be 360 miles over. However, with oneworld awards the AAgents are not the final say, once you book it the itinerary still goes to a review desk before it's actually ticketed.

I've never heard of any kind of 'grace mileage' or buffer, so I'm guessing this would be kicked back and you'd be asked to pony up the 150k each. But if you find availability for the flights you want, and the first AAgent is willing to send it through at 130k, then give it shot.

Worst case, they will give you a call back a few days later saying the ticket will be 150k instead of 130k. At that point, you could either take it as it is or drop the YVR-YYZ segment and keep it under 20k flight miles.

Happy

It is impossible for the AAgent being lenient - the system would NOT let it be ticketed with only 130K.

Either OP makes it below 20K or add more places to fully utilize 25K. Nothing in between.

aktchi

As JJeffrey and Happy have pointed out, officially 130K AAdvantage miles only buy 20K flown miles in Business. I have always remained under such limits, so don't know if AAgents or Supervisors have any meaningful discretion to allow a little extra. It is also true that, OW award having complicated rules involving many different airlines, what AAgents tell you is not final and there is a review desk.

Back to your trip, are you able to change the order between NRT and LHR, which opens up a few possibilities? For starters, the following appears to be a valid OW itinerary totaling only 17,019 miles:

YYZ-LHR-NRT-YVR-JFK-YYZ

With almost 3K miles left to spend, there is room for other stops if you'd be interested:

YYZ-LHR-HEL-HKG-NRT-YVR-JFK-YYZ (18,897 miles)
YYZ-LHR-BKK-HKG-NRT-YVR-JFK-YYZ (19,894 miles)
YYZ-LHR-HEL-BKK-HKG-NRT-YVR-JFK-YYZ (20,003 miles, check with AA!)

The last 20,003 miles is per GCM, but AA's distance table may differ, and is the only one that matters, so do check with them if the itinerary interests you.

JJeffrey

I agree, but the poster said he was quoted 130k AA miles for his itinerary of 21k flight miles, so something's not right. Most likely the AAgent was just incorrect and it'd be kicked out at ticketing, as I mentioned.

peter1962

I DID ask him twice and he seemed puzzled that his system said 130k miles for 21k trip miles, but confirmed that his system did quote 130k for the trip. Nonetheless it's not critical for us to squabble over this if we can use one of your suggested routes that are clearly within the 20k trip range. I hadn't really considered doing the reverse route, but that isn't a bad idea and within 20k trip range too.

magic111

Nobody's "squabbling" as far as I can see.

But for those of us who use oneworld awards often we would like to get to the bottom of the discrepancy for future plans. In the past I have never received an exception to the zone maximums. If somehow there is now a variance we would all like to know and have it placed in post #1. If it is only a YMMV issue than that is just as important.

peter1962

My reference to squabbling was between me and AA if I had to argue the case...it was not intended to refer to anyone here.

nonetheless, short of calling them back and getting a second agent I guess I have no other way to confirm things, and since I won't be ticketing before January 2011 this may be a moot point. Remember I did say that I was looking for advice at this stage.

I've indeed got some very good advice and have at least saved myself the cost of the YVR-YYZ leg as I assumed that this would not be allowed on the routing.

pdog02

I wouldn't be to sure about the YVR-YYZ routing getting approved either. From the first page of this thread.

SECTION 6: ROUTING AND EMBARGOED FLIGHTS

(7) Travel between two cities in the United States via a city in Canada is not permitted. Travel between two cities in Canada via a city in the United States is not permitted.

Happy

I remember last Winter someone tried to re-emptively avoid the inevitable NYC airports shut down by snow storm to request an earlier departure on his OneWorld award ticket which would make him go to a different airport in London - the co-terminal change was not an issue, but because his original miles had very little room to spare distance-wise, the reroute would put him like less than 20 miles above the zone distance. AA said NO.

In my own experience, a BA permanent cancellation of the 3rd flight from YYZ to LHR caused us a very tight connection at YYZ - but for moving up to an earlier AA flight, it would make that a stopover at YYZ instead of connection. The OW awards were booked under the old rule. AA said NO, the mileage would be calculated under new rules and that would mean an additional 40K miles we had to fork over. We took the option of fee-waived redeposit while lost the $20 x 2 phone booking fee.

I can understand AA's stance on our case due to the new rules despite it was invol and tickets booked under old rules when connection miles did not count.

But in the case of the poster whose possible reroute would only put him a tiny tad over the zone distance, and AA still said NO to him - this leads me to really want to know how the Agent sees 130K for 21K miles flown.

Happy

That is why I asks, Does CX fly YYZ-YVR direct? I thought it only flies JFK-YVR and then onto HKG. YYZ is a direct flight to HKG afaik.

aktchi

This could be outdated. I have not attempted to do such travel and therefore have no experience to report. However, the OW award rules as currently posted at AA.com make no mention of such a restriction: https://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/oneworld_rules.jsp

No.

Austinrunner

Have a look at this: http://www.jal.co.jp/en/jalmile/use/..._air/oneworld/