Jul 27, 2015, 9:19 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
Please feel free to add to or correct the information herein.
NOTE: For involuntary award changes (caused by the operating carriers), see Involuntary Award Changes / What To Do (merged threads).
Ordinarily, one must call to request or make changes to award tickets.
Award changes, ordinary
NOTE: More extensive listing of terms and conditions are listed in oneworld and other all partner awards rules, Information 2015 on
Award carrier, connection, date or routing changes: As long as origin and destination (but read on for exceptions such as first / last segment) remain the same, change / award redeposit fees are usually waived for awards under certain circumstances when date, connection, routing or carrier changes are made But:Airline / carrier changes incur no change or redeposit fees as long as you do not try to change between all AA oneworld airlines and non-oneworld airlines or vice versa.
E.g. an AA award such as SEA-HNL-SYD using AS can not be changed to use JL without requiring award redeposit. An award using AA LAX-HKG can be changed to JL via NRT or CX Without redeposit ing miles.
If Maximum Permitted Miles (usually 125% of the most direct available routing) for an award is exceeded, two awards may be charged
or
MSC fare requirements: The most significant or prevailing carrier, usually the one with the transoceanic sector, must offer an unconstructed fare between desired origin and destination; if a fare would require "married segments", two awards may be required.
Award validity: Awards must be used within one year of original booking. For travel beyond that, the award miles will have to be redeposited and new awards secured.
Award cancellations can be by phone or online, but online cancellation requires separate action to reinstate the miles. Canceling online does not request or result in miles redeposit.
Award miles reinstatement: Redeposit fees are waived for Executive Platinum members. See here for more information on award miles reinstatement.
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes and fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Co-terminals: For award purposes, there are no co-terminals; changing co-terminal airports (MIA and FLL, PBI; JFK, LGA, EWR etc.) will incur a $150 change fee. See this thread for detail on award miles redeposit.
An award using AS, FJ, HA or TN to South Pacific (e.g. AKL, SYD) can not be changed to AA or QF without requiring award redeposit (or vice versa).
Dropping segments: Awards made on AA or / and "all partner" carriers will allow changes mentioned above without requiring redeposit fees. Instances of dropping an origin segment can be allowed, or a final segment - as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards); changing the mileage (miles required) of the award claimed or the number of awards claimed.
Segments can be dropped as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards). If you are refused, refer agents to the in-house memo/advisory dated 02/03/11 entitled "Dropping OWFA segments." (guv1976)
As JonNYC posted:
This document was current as of December 2014:
For permitted changes and fees, see this post in the airline partner award thread.
If the award is AA and oneworld, changes may be made as long as the main / governing /Most Significant Carrier makes an unconstructed fare on the award routing and the governing fare's carrier is not changed to one not offering such a fare.
Close-in booking fee: Changes made to bring travel to under 21 days from award issue will incur close-in booking fees of $75.
Schedule changes: On international awards, schedule changes of two hours or longer, or those breaking connections by bringing them below MCT / minimum connection times, flight cancellations, generally may be cancelled and redeposited without fees, or engender greater flexibility in changes. With AA awards, it is possible award seating may be opened when there is none; with partners, AA can appeal to the Liaison to the partner to open seating in these cases (the partner airline may or may not grant the exception requested). Equipment change constitutes a schedule change and you will be able to get the fee waived pre this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
Partner changes: If the award includes non-oneworld partners such as AS, EY, FJ or TN, or a oneworld carrier award is changed to include a non-oneworld carrier, or vice versa, significant fees will be incurred ($150).
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes abd fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Changes that require different award type -
Changes to the itinerary which involve different AAdvantage award(s) than originally ticketed require a reinstatement of the original award ticket, payment of the applicable award reinstatement charge (see below), and a new award ticket issued (waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account). However, SAAver awards canceled for AAnytime awards, or changing to a higher class of service, will not incur redeposit fees.
Changes to your outbound travel date, resulting in a departure within 21 days -
Close-in booking fee: A $75 USD award processing charge will apply for a confirmed change to the date on an AAdvantage MileSAAver and AAnytime award ticket if the change results in a new outbound travel date that is within 21 days of the original booking date (waived for AAdvantage elite members using miles from their account).
Contact AAdvantage Reservations to change your itinerary, pay the applicable charge and have your ticket reissued prior to travel.
Canceling Awards / Reinstating Award Tickets
(Waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account)
AAdvantage® mileage will be reinstated for unused and unexpired awards upon payment of a processing fee. For tickets booked on or after November 1, 2018, AAdvantage®mileage will be reinstated upon payment of a processing fee for unused and unexpired awards canceled prior to departure. For each additional award reinstatement from the same account at the same time, an additional charge will be collected. These charges are payable by credit card.
Award class changes: MileSAAver to AAnytime changes generally incur no fees; conversely, AAnytime to MileSAAver awards generally will.
Award cabin class "upgrades" (e.g. Y to J): If the change made is an increase of miles to another cabin class, fees are not normally charged (but some government required fees such as UK Air Passenger Duty, airport passenger facility fees, etc. may change).
Redepositing awards incurs a fee of $150 other than for Executive Platinum members redepositing to their accounts. If two or more awards are being redeposited to the same account at the same time, the fees are $150 for the first award, $25 for every award thereafter. Note the awards do not have to share the same PNR, though some less knowledgeable agents will insist so.
Note: given a 120 hr / 5 day hold is offered, there is no right to “Free” cancellation (without redeposit) within 24 hours of securing the award. OTOH, mere date changes to a year from Booking are free of charge in most instances.
Please see: State of the award reinstatement fee (Nov 2015 - clarifying)
FAQ: Cancel award ticket / cancellation (time frame, taxes, etc.) (merged threads)
Link to ARCHIVE 2017: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
Link to ARCHIVE 2015-2016: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
Link to ARCHIVE 2012-14: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
NOTE: For involuntary award changes (caused by the operating carriers), see Involuntary Award Changes / What To Do (merged threads).
Ordinarily, one must call to request or make changes to award tickets.
Award changes, ordinary
NOTE: More extensive listing of terms and conditions are listed in oneworld and other all partner awards rules, Information 2015 on
Award carrier, connection, date or routing changes: As long as origin and destination (but read on for exceptions such as first / last segment) remain the same, change / award redeposit fees are usually waived for awards under certain circumstances when date, connection, routing or carrier changes are made But:Airline / carrier changes incur no change or redeposit fees as long as you do not try to change between all AA oneworld airlines and non-oneworld airlines or vice versa.
E.g. an AA award such as SEA-HNL-SYD using AS can not be changed to use JL without requiring award redeposit. An award using AA LAX-HKG can be changed to JL via NRT or CX Without redeposit ing miles.
If Maximum Permitted Miles (usually 125% of the most direct available routing) for an award is exceeded, two awards may be charged
or
MSC fare requirements: The most significant or prevailing carrier, usually the one with the transoceanic sector, must offer an unconstructed fare between desired origin and destination; if a fare would require "married segments", two awards may be required.
Award validity: Awards must be used within one year of original booking. For travel beyond that, the award miles will have to be redeposited and new awards secured.
Award cancellations can be by phone or online, but online cancellation requires separate action to reinstate the miles. Canceling online does not request or result in miles redeposit.
Award miles reinstatement: Redeposit fees are waived for Executive Platinum members. See here for more information on award miles reinstatement.
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes and fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Co-terminals: For award purposes, there are no co-terminals; changing co-terminal airports (MIA and FLL, PBI; JFK, LGA, EWR etc.) will incur a $150 change fee. See this thread for detail on award miles redeposit.
An award using AS, FJ, HA or TN to South Pacific (e.g. AKL, SYD) can not be changed to AA or QF without requiring award redeposit (or vice versa).
Dropping segments: Awards made on AA or / and "all partner" carriers will allow changes mentioned above without requiring redeposit fees. Instances of dropping an origin segment can be allowed, or a final segment - as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards); changing the mileage (miles required) of the award claimed or the number of awards claimed.
Segments can be dropped as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards). If you are refused, refer agents to the in-house memo/advisory dated 02/03/11 entitled "Dropping OWFA segments." (guv1976)
As JonNYC posted:
This document was current as of December 2014:
For permitted changes and fees, see this post in the airline partner award thread.
If the award is AA and oneworld, changes may be made as long as the main / governing /Most Significant Carrier makes an unconstructed fare on the award routing and the governing fare's carrier is not changed to one not offering such a fare.
Close-in booking fee: Changes made to bring travel to under 21 days from award issue will incur close-in booking fees of $75.
Schedule changes: On international awards, schedule changes of two hours or longer, or those breaking connections by bringing them below MCT / minimum connection times, flight cancellations, generally may be cancelled and redeposited without fees, or engender greater flexibility in changes. With AA awards, it is possible award seating may be opened when there is none; with partners, AA can appeal to the Liaison to the partner to open seating in these cases (the partner airline may or may not grant the exception requested). Equipment change constitutes a schedule change and you will be able to get the fee waived pre this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
Partner changes: If the award includes non-oneworld partners such as AS, EY, FJ or TN, or a oneworld carrier award is changed to include a non-oneworld carrier, or vice versa, significant fees will be incurred ($150).
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes abd fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Changes that require different award type -
Changes to the itinerary which involve different AAdvantage award(s) than originally ticketed require a reinstatement of the original award ticket, payment of the applicable award reinstatement charge (see below), and a new award ticket issued (waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account). However, SAAver awards canceled for AAnytime awards, or changing to a higher class of service, will not incur redeposit fees.
Changes to your outbound travel date, resulting in a departure within 21 days -
Close-in booking fee: A $75 USD award processing charge will apply for a confirmed change to the date on an AAdvantage MileSAAver and AAnytime award ticket if the change results in a new outbound travel date that is within 21 days of the original booking date (waived for AAdvantage elite members using miles from their account).
Contact AAdvantage Reservations to change your itinerary, pay the applicable charge and have your ticket reissued prior to travel.
Canceling Awards / Reinstating Award Tickets
(Waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account)
AAdvantage® mileage will be reinstated for unused and unexpired awards upon payment of a processing fee. For tickets booked on or after November 1, 2018, AAdvantage®mileage will be reinstated upon payment of a processing fee for unused and unexpired awards canceled prior to departure. For each additional award reinstatement from the same account at the same time, an additional charge will be collected. These charges are payable by credit card.
Award class changes: MileSAAver to AAnytime changes generally incur no fees; conversely, AAnytime to MileSAAver awards generally will.
Award cabin class "upgrades" (e.g. Y to J): If the change made is an increase of miles to another cabin class, fees are not normally charged (but some government required fees such as UK Air Passenger Duty, airport passenger facility fees, etc. may change).
Redepositing awards incurs a fee of $150 other than for Executive Platinum members redepositing to their accounts. If two or more awards are being redeposited to the same account at the same time, the fees are $150 for the first award, $25 for every award thereafter. Note the awards do not have to share the same PNR, though some less knowledgeable agents will insist so.
Note: given a 120 hr / 5 day hold is offered, there is no right to “Free” cancellation (without redeposit) within 24 hours of securing the award. OTOH, mere date changes to a year from Booking are free of charge in most instances.
Please see: State of the award reinstatement fee (Nov 2015 - clarifying)
FAQ: Cancel award ticket / cancellation (time frame, taxes, etc.) (merged threads)
Link to ARCHIVE 2017: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
Link to ARCHIVE 2015-2016: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
Link to ARCHIVE 2012-14: Award Change for date, time, routing, co-terminal, cost, all changes.
Voluntary Award Change / changes: date, time, routing, airline, co-terminal, etc.
Oct 6, 2019, 3:22 pm
#301
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Virginia, USA
Posts: 4,511
I have an international, single-carrier ticket made up of three 20K awards (A-B connection-C), (purchased ticket C back to B), (B-D), (D-A). . Can I drop "C"? I don't need to go to C anymore and would like to go from B to D after a stopover in B.
Oct 6, 2019, 7:02 pm
#302
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,606
Are B and C in the same AAdvantage zone (or subzone)? If so, then you should be able to have AA lop off the B-C segment without charge -- unless there is a married-segment availability issue.
Oct 6, 2019, 8:29 pm
#303
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Virginia, USA
Posts: 4,511
Oct 9, 2019, 4:07 pm
#304
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: HNL
Programs: AS MVPG, Global Entry
Posts: 771
No longer relevant -- I will say that the agent was great at making changes to individual pieces of the award ticket. AA's routing rules are much better than UA's ones for awards.
Last edited by Taoyuan; Oct 9, 2019 at 8:38 pm Reason: Original concern no longer relevant
Oct 12, 2019, 11:36 pm
#305
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: NYC
Posts: 73
Dtw - jfk - puj
If I have a DTW - LGA (AA 4435) overnight layover JFK - PUJ (AA 1677) award (one ticket), can I drop the DTW - LGA segment?
Based on my reading of the wiki, I think I can because the origin and destination zone do not change, right?
Asking because I'm seeing the above award available at a 25k Saaver vs. 90k to book JFK - PUJ direct.
Thanks.
Based on my reading of the wiki, I think I can because the origin and destination zone do not change, right?
Asking because I'm seeing the above award available at a 25k Saaver vs. 90k to book JFK - PUJ direct.
Thanks.
Last edited by Kylash; Oct 13, 2019 at 12:19 pm
Oct 13, 2019, 7:48 am
#306
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
If I have a DTW - LGA (AA 4435) overnight layover JFK - PUJ (AA 1677) award (one ticket), can I drop the DTW - JFK segment?
Based on my reading of the wiki, I think I can because the origin and destination zone do not change, right?
Asking because I'm seeing the above award available at a 25k Saaver vs. 90k to book JFK - PUJ direct.
Thanks.
Based on my reading of the wiki, I think I can because the origin and destination zone do not change, right?
Asking because I'm seeing the above award available at a 25k Saaver vs. 90k to book JFK - PUJ direct.
Thanks.
Oct 13, 2019, 9:58 am
#307
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
If I have a DTW - LGA (AA 4435) overnight layover JFK - PUJ (AA 1677) award (one ticket), can I drop the DTW - JFK segment?
Based on my reading of the wiki, I think I can because the origin and destination zone do not change, right?
Asking because I'm seeing the above award available at a 25k Saaver vs. 90k to book JFK - PUJ direct.
Thanks.
Based on my reading of the wiki, I think I can because the origin and destination zone do not change, right?
Asking because I'm seeing the above award available at a 25k Saaver vs. 90k to book JFK - PUJ direct.
Thanks.
Oct 13, 2019, 12:40 pm
#308
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: NYC
Posts: 73
Yeah, that’s what I figured. I doubt they’ll do it for me if I only have the award on hold though. Might need to just ticket it and plead ignorance later on. Guess I’ll have to eat the $300 redeposit fee if they won’t do it.
Oct 13, 2019, 12:49 pm
#309
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
I don't think having it ticketed or on hold matters. If you're calling in, I'd definitely try while you have it on hold.
Oct 13, 2019, 2:34 pm
#310
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
Note the language:
"must be a ticketed award PNR"
OF NOTE:
The drop-segment policy was updated a few months ago (simplified in it's description, change to "no change to Country of Origin" portion, etc)
BUT, I think it's fair to rely on the old one in this case.
And, I would definitely -not- encourage the poster to go ahead and ticket the award just to find out!
Oct 13, 2019, 2:48 pm
#311
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
It does matter, the policy is for ticketed awards.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/541310...in/dateposted/
Note the language:
"must be a ticketed award PNR"
OF NOTE:
The drop-segment policy was updated a few months ago (simplified in it's description, change to "no change to Country of Origin" portion, etc)
BUT, I think it's fair to rely on the old one in this case.
And, I would definitely -not- encourage the poster to go ahead and ticket the award just to find out!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/541310...in/dateposted/
Note the language:
"must be a ticketed award PNR"
OF NOTE:
The drop-segment policy was updated a few months ago (simplified in it's description, change to "no change to Country of Origin" portion, etc)
BUT, I think it's fair to rely on the old one in this case.
And, I would definitely -not- encourage the poster to go ahead and ticket the award just to find out!
I wonder, though, if the reason the policy applies to ticketed awards is because if the award hasn’t been ticketed, you should be able to drop segments without a fee anyways. Unless married segments logic doesn’t apply to the “drop first segment rule,” I don’t see why it matters that the award is ticketed or not.
Oct 13, 2019, 4:34 pm
#312
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
Oh, ok.
I wonder, though, if the reason the policy applies to ticketed awards is because if the award hasn’t been ticketed, you should be able to drop segments without a fee anyways. Unless married segments logic doesn’t apply to the “drop first segment rule,” I don’t see why it matters that the award is ticketed or not.
I wonder, though, if the reason the policy applies to ticketed awards is because if the award hasn’t been ticketed, you should be able to drop segments without a fee anyways. Unless married segments logic doesn’t apply to the “drop first segment rule,” I don’t see why it matters that the award is ticketed or not.
And when dealing with a loophole...
Oct 14, 2019, 8:39 am
#313
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,607
Mileage Award Flight Changes
I may have to change a Mileage award. The award was booked June 7, 2019 and we would be rebooking for March 2020 so I believe we are ok on time.
1. Do we have to call to change the dates or can it be done online ?
2. I know the origination and destination must stay the same but does the layover city have to stay the same ? We are booked MSP>MIA>EYW on the outgoing and EYW>CLT>MSP on the return flight, does that routing have to stay the same or can it be MSP/XXX/EYW ?
3. I believe the miles will be the 10K more per person , I'm guessing we can pay more miles to make up the difference ?
Thanks
1. Do we have to call to change the dates or can it be done online ?
2. I know the origination and destination must stay the same but does the layover city have to stay the same ? We are booked MSP>MIA>EYW on the outgoing and EYW>CLT>MSP on the return flight, does that routing have to stay the same or can it be MSP/XXX/EYW ?
3. I believe the miles will be the 10K more per person , I'm guessing we can pay more miles to make up the difference ?
Thanks
Oct 14, 2019, 8:44 am
#314
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,498
I may have to change a Mileage award. The award was booked June 7, 2019 and we would be rebooking for March 2020 so I believe we are ok on time.
1. Do we have to call to change the dates or can it be done online ?
2. I know the origination and destination must stay the same but does the layover city have to stay the same ? We are booked MSP>MIA>EYW on the outgoing and EYW>CLT>MSP on the return flight, does that routing have to stay the same or can it be MSP/XXX/EYW ?
3. I believe the miles will be the 10K more per person , I'm guessing we can pay more miles to make up the difference ?
Thanks
1. Do we have to call to change the dates or can it be done online ?
2. I know the origination and destination must stay the same but does the layover city have to stay the same ? We are booked MSP>MIA>EYW on the outgoing and EYW>CLT>MSP on the return flight, does that routing have to stay the same or can it be MSP/XXX/EYW ?
3. I believe the miles will be the 10K more per person , I'm guessing we can pay more miles to make up the difference ?
Thanks