Mar 6, 2013, 10:37 am
Last edit by: JDiver
[B]Through / direct with same flight number on multiple segments credit as single non-stop
Through or direct flights are those that use one flight number but may not be nonstop. Takeaway: all nonstop flights are direct; direct flights might not be non-stop. When speaking to agents and you want a nonstop flight, specify nonstop.
AAdvantage Terms and Conditions (link):
If one takes a through / direct flight consisting of two or more segments operated as one flight number, the miles earned are as if the flight was a nonstop. E.g. AA111 FCO-ORD (772) and AA111 ORD-LAX (738) would render miles and segment credits as if you had flown nonstop FCO-LAX, even if you had a change of aircraft, terminals and gates in ORD.
It's not uncommon to have different aircraft carry out different segments, even different "gauges" (narrow and wide bodied) and different terminals. Normally, passengers flying both segments must disembark with cabin / hand baggage at the intermediate stops.
The exception is for round trips using same flight numbers, e.g. a mileage run using AA 123 SMF-DFW-SMF would credit separately and properly.
Seat selection will normally be for seats offered on all segments (as opposed to being able to select different seats on different segments.
Upgrades must normally clear on all segments to clear.
There are other peculiarities (affecting upgrade requests, Five Star Services, etc.) discussed in this thread. Booking through / direct flights can cause challenges one doesn’t experience on connections ting flights with different flight numbers or nonstop flights.
Through or direct flights are those that use one flight number but may not be nonstop. Takeaway: all nonstop flights are direct; direct flights might not be non-stop. When speaking to agents and you want a nonstop flight, specify nonstop.
A direct (or through) flight in the aviation industry is any flight between two points by an airline with no change in flight numbers, which includes one or more stops at an intermediate point(s).
For any flights that earn mileage credit based on a percentage of distance flown, the distance is determined on the basis of nonstop distances between the airports where your flight originates and terminates. On connecting flights with different flight numbers, the distance of each segment will be used. On single-plane, through, or change of gauge flights, the nonstop origin-destination distance will be used and credit for a single elite qualifying segment will be given.
[*]AAdvantage flight mileage credit is determined on the basis of nonstop distances between the airports where your flight originates and terminates. On connecting flights with different flight numbers, you'll receive mileage credit for each segment of your trip; on single-plane, through, or change of gauge flights, you'll receive the nonstop origin-destination mileage credit and credit for a single elite qualifying segment. On American Airlines and other AAdvantage airline participants, you'll receive AAdvantage mileage credit only for the class of service on which your fare is based when you are ticketed. American Airlines is the final authority on the methodology used to calculate mileage and the amount of flight credit for a particular flight or routing. American Airlines is the final authority on qualification for mileage credit and reserves the right to deny or revoke mileage credit at any time if American Airlines determines that mileage credit was improperly given.
[*]AAdvantage flight mileage credit is determined on the basis of nonstop distances between the airports where your flight originates and terminates. On connecting flights with different flight numbers, you'll receive mileage credit for each segment of your trip; on single-plane, through, or change of gauge flights, you'll receive the nonstop origin-destination mileage credit and credit for a single elite qualifying segment. On American Airlines and other AAdvantage airline participants, you'll receive AAdvantage mileage credit only for the class of service on which your fare is based when you are ticketed. American Airlines is the final authority on the methodology used to calculate mileage and the amount of flight credit for a particular flight or routing. American Airlines is the final authority on qualification for mileage credit and reserves the right to deny or revoke mileage credit at any time if American Airlines determines that mileage credit was improperly given.
It's not uncommon to have different aircraft carry out different segments, even different "gauges" (narrow and wide bodied) and different terminals. Normally, passengers flying both segments must disembark with cabin / hand baggage at the intermediate stops.
The exception is for round trips using same flight numbers, e.g. a mileage run using AA 123 SMF-DFW-SMF would credit separately and properly.
Seat selection will normally be for seats offered on all segments (as opposed to being able to select different seats on different segments.
Upgrades must normally clear on all segments to clear.
There are other peculiarities (affecting upgrade requests, Five Star Services, etc.) discussed in this thread. Booking through / direct flights can cause challenges one doesn’t experience on connections ting flights with different flight numbers or nonstop flights.
One or multi-stop, single flight numbers: through / direct flights (master thd)
Jan 25, 2016, 12:22 pm
#166
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: AA (PPro/3MM/Admirals Club), AS, UA, Marriott (Gold), HHonors (Gold), Accor (Plat)
Posts: 2,602
Something strange happened recently, and I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience. The TL;DR is watch out when flying multiple connecting segments that use the same AA521 flight identifier. Has anyone had trouble collecting miles on multi-city itineraries that reuse the same flight number?
I recently took AA521 from DEN->PHX->SEA. I thought it was a bit odd that the same flight number was used for multiple segments (there are actually a few more segments you can take with AA521!) Twas a mostly enjoyable flight in F, although we did have one of our bags offloaded in PHX, which was a bit annoying.
A few days later I went to review my account history and was surprised to see miles posting for DEN->SEA, with about 33% less miles than expected from the longer 2-leg itinerary. To complicate matters, I'm crediting the miles to my BA account, in hopes of achieving BA Silver.
Getting the missing miles, and tier points, has proven to be a challenge. Initially I called BA customer service, but that turned into a ping-pong match of being referred to AA, who then referred me to call over to BA.
I gave up on the phone route and am now waiting on a reply to a packet I mailed in containing the original flight itinerary. Fingers crossed that someone sees reason and reinstates the missing mileage credit.
I recently took AA521 from DEN->PHX->SEA. I thought it was a bit odd that the same flight number was used for multiple segments (there are actually a few more segments you can take with AA521!) Twas a mostly enjoyable flight in F, although we did have one of our bags offloaded in PHX, which was a bit annoying.
A few days later I went to review my account history and was surprised to see miles posting for DEN->SEA, with about 33% less miles than expected from the longer 2-leg itinerary. To complicate matters, I'm crediting the miles to my BA account, in hopes of achieving BA Silver.
Getting the missing miles, and tier points, has proven to be a challenge. Initially I called BA customer service, but that turned into a ping-pong match of being referred to AA, who then referred me to call over to BA.
I gave up on the phone route and am now waiting on a reply to a packet I mailed in containing the original flight itinerary. Fingers crossed that someone sees reason and reinstates the missing mileage credit.
My experience is that pmAA decided to save space in its flight number by having hub->outstation->hub use the same flight number in each direction. They do have some shared flight numbers, but not a huge number.
By contrast, pmUS very frequently has multiple hop flights that share flight numbers. You just have to be aware and watch out to avoid ending up with far fewer miles than you expect.
Jan 25, 2016, 12:27 pm
#167
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: AA (PPro/3MM/Admirals Club), AS, UA, Marriott (Gold), HHonors (Gold), Accor (Plat)
Posts: 2,602
Jan 25, 2016, 12:32 pm
#168
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Bringing the pmUS flights under the AA umbrella has substantially increased the number of such flights, so more people are likely to get tripped up by this "feature." pmUS has all sorts of routes sharing a flight number. When they flew the last trip, didn't the same plane fly PHL->CLT->PHX->SFO->PHL under the US1939 fight number? How did that get credited?
It's definitely something to be aware of; this policy can bite us in a place already made sore by the new, less padded articulated seats.
Jan 26, 2016, 1:41 am
#169
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: AA (PPro/3MM/Admirals Club), AS, UA, Marriott (Gold), HHonors (Gold), Accor (Plat)
Posts: 2,602
I failed to notice one time that my ATL-CLT-SFO was the same flight number. Same plane, which was good, but different crew which ended up meaning a delay when the replacement crew at CLT was short one FA and we had to wait for a reserve to arrive.
Feb 24, 2016, 12:49 pm
#170
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: SNA
Posts: 18,240
Earning mileage on continuing flight
I know this is out there, but I've search 10 ways and can't find it.
Flying MUC-LAX on flight 717, the itinerary shows
Flight Munich, Bavaria (MUC) to Philadelphia, PA (PHL)
American Airlines 717
Departure: 12:15 PM
Duration: 9 hours, 5 minutes
Additional Details
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200 Distance: 4120 miles
Flight Philadelphia, PA (PHL) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
American Airlines 717
Departure: 08:30 PM
Duration: 5 hours, 53 minutes
1 stop
Additional Details
Aircraft: Airbus A321 Distance: 2397 miles
Does anyone how many base miles are actually earned? I don't believe it is 4120+2397, but they don't provide any other mileage numbers.
Flying MUC-LAX on flight 717, the itinerary shows
Flight Munich, Bavaria (MUC) to Philadelphia, PA (PHL)
American Airlines 717
Departure: 12:15 PM
Duration: 9 hours, 5 minutes
Additional Details
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200 Distance: 4120 miles
Flight Philadelphia, PA (PHL) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
American Airlines 717
Departure: 08:30 PM
Duration: 5 hours, 53 minutes
1 stop
Additional Details
Aircraft: Airbus A321 Distance: 2397 miles
Does anyone how many base miles are actually earned? I don't believe it is 4120+2397, but they don't provide any other mileage numbers.
Feb 24, 2016, 12:56 pm
#171
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
I know this is out there, but I've search 10 ways and can't find it.
Flying MUC-LAX on flight 717, the itinerary shows
Flight Munich, Bavaria (MUC) to Philadelphia, PA (PHL)
American Airlines 717
Departure: 12:15 PM
Duration: 9 hours, 5 minutes
Additional Details
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200 Distance: 4120 miles
Flight Philadelphia, PA (PHL) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
American Airlines 717
Departure: 08:30 PM
Duration: 5 hours, 53 minutes
1 stop
Additional Details
Aircraft: Airbus A321 Distance: 2397 miles
Does anyone how many base miles are actually earned? I don't believe it is 4120+2397, but they don't provide any other mileage numbers.
Flying MUC-LAX on flight 717, the itinerary shows
Flight Munich, Bavaria (MUC) to Philadelphia, PA (PHL)
American Airlines 717
Departure: 12:15 PM
Duration: 9 hours, 5 minutes
Additional Details
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200 Distance: 4120 miles
Flight Philadelphia, PA (PHL) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
American Airlines 717
Departure: 08:30 PM
Duration: 5 hours, 53 minutes
1 stop
Additional Details
Aircraft: Airbus A321 Distance: 2397 miles
Does anyone how many base miles are actually earned? I don't believe it is 4120+2397, but they don't provide any other mileage numbers.
Your flight will unfortunately only reflect ~5,989 flown base miles.
Feb 24, 2016, 1:04 pm
#172
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: SNA
Posts: 18,240
That's because they're known as through flights, which can be searched on FT by using the search term: "through" (quotation marks must be used for very common terms and those comprised of three or fewer characters).
Your flight will unfortunately only reflect ~5,989 flown base miles.
Your flight will unfortunately only reflect ~5,989 flown base miles.
Looks like I must call to get a seat on the second flight? Have 4A on the first flight and when I choose a seat for the second flight, and hit submit, there is still no seat assigned on the second flight.
Feb 29, 2016, 2:16 pm
#173
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: AMS
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, Asiana Club Silver, Flying Blue Ivory
Posts: 368
Hi guys,
I'm looking into booking an itinerary containing both segments of flight AA106 in May.
In the itinerary, the full route is PHX->LHR with a "technical stop" and "change of plane" (Well, I at least hope they won't try and take the 738 across the Pond!).
I'm having a hard time figuring out _where_ the technical stop is, but it'll somewhere on the east-coast surely. My guess for now is JFK, since the current schedule AA106 flies from there.
Most I'm interested in though, suppose I want to try and upgrade on this flight, is it going to be 1 upgrade North America-Europe, i.e. 25k miles and 350 USD. Or are they lame enough to charge you two upgrades, one domestic and one international? (Which I guess would be 40k miles and 425 USD).
If the latter, is it possible partially upgrade? Because I mostly want to have the TATL part upgraded.
I'm looking into booking an itinerary containing both segments of flight AA106 in May.
In the itinerary, the full route is PHX->LHR with a "technical stop" and "change of plane" (Well, I at least hope they won't try and take the 738 across the Pond!).
I'm having a hard time figuring out _where_ the technical stop is, but it'll somewhere on the east-coast surely. My guess for now is JFK, since the current schedule AA106 flies from there.
Most I'm interested in though, suppose I want to try and upgrade on this flight, is it going to be 1 upgrade North America-Europe, i.e. 25k miles and 350 USD. Or are they lame enough to charge you two upgrades, one domestic and one international? (Which I guess would be 40k miles and 425 USD).
If the latter, is it possible partially upgrade? Because I mostly want to have the TATL part upgraded.
Feb 29, 2016, 2:43 pm
#175
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: AMS
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, Asiana Club Silver, Flying Blue Ivory
Posts: 368
Well, I'd rather not, if I can upgrade both segments for the price of one...
I still did a multi-city search and if I use JFK as the routing city, I only get options about 200 eur more expensive.
I still did a multi-city search and if I use JFK as the routing city, I only get options about 200 eur more expensive.
Apr 8, 2016, 12:52 pm
#176
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: New York
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 228
AA Mileage Credit Issue
I recently flew LGA-ORD-PEK and then returned PEK-DFW-LGA. Per webflyer going to China was 7311 miles and returning was 8360. Since I am platinum, I should have received 31,342 miles. However, when I logged into my account I received 6828 miles each way (before the platinum bonus) and it posted as LGA-PEK and PEK-LGA. I am currently platinum and hope to be executive platinum in 2017. Was this a mistake? I thought the segments would post as LGA-ORD - 731 miles and then ORD-PEK - 6580. By my calculations for the round trip flight, I received 4030 miles less than I expected. Do I contact AA or did it post correctly? Is this the it always was or is this a new Doug Parker invention.
Apr 8, 2016, 12:57 pm
#177
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 5,270
I recently flew LGA-ORD-PEK and then returned PEK-DFW-LGA. Per webflyer going to China was 7311 miles and returning was 8360. Since I am platinum, I should have received 31,342 miles. However, when I logged into my account I received 6828 miles each way (before the platinum bonus) and it posted as LGA-PEK and PEK-LGA. I am currently platinum and hope to be executive platinum in 2017. Was this a mistake? I thought the segments would post as LGA-ORD - 731 miles and then ORD-PEK - 6580. By my calculations for the round trip flight, I received 4030 miles less than I expected. Do I contact AA or did it post correctly? Is this the it always was or is this a new Doug Parker invention.
Apr 8, 2016, 12:57 pm
#178
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 181
What were your flight numbers? if LGA-ORD and ORD-PEK were the same flight number, and PEK-DFW and DFW-LGA were the same flight number, you would only get roundtrip credit for LGA-PEK.
I'm assuming it was AA187 outbound and AA262 inbound, which means your miles did in fact post correctly, and this has been AA policy for a while. Sorry!
I'm assuming it was AA187 outbound and AA262 inbound, which means your miles did in fact post correctly, and this has been AA policy for a while. Sorry!
Apr 8, 2016, 12:58 pm
#179
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 181
Apr 8, 2016, 12:59 pm
#180
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 144
This happens when all the segments have the same flight number. Unfortunately it will only post as if you've flown LGA-PEK and back.
This thread discusses this very issue: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-question.html
This thread discusses this very issue: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-question.html