Mar 2, 2021, 10:17 am
Last edit by: JDiver
NOTE: This archive thread contains all posts made in 2019 from the original thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/1511217-help-desk-milesaaver-saaver-award-questions-assistance.html
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability - Help, Assistance & Discussion
Some of you might have found your thread merged into this "consolidated" thread. If your desire is to become thoroughly familiar with the knowledge that has been accumulated about the process for acquiring MileSAAver awards feel free to read this entire thread. If you only want the assistance from those who have the knowledge your request has been merged at the end. Feel free to wait for a forthcoming answer.
If you have reached this thread by using the search process you have the same choices as above. Read the thread and become knowledgeable or post at the end and wait for a forthcoming answer.
thanks
~magic111
If you have reached this thread by using the search process you have the same choices as above. Read the thread and become knowledgeable or post at the end and wait for a forthcoming answer.
thanks
~magic111
NOTE: for more detailed fare rules, see AA oneworld & Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (master thd)
Two award search systems — TWA884
There are two search systems,
See:
New Award Booking / Search / Calendar on aa.com 2019 — link (FT thread)
The Insider Trick to Getting More American Airlines Saver Award Availability
***
If you want to make sure that you’re seeing results from both award searching systems, you’ll want to perform an award search starting on each of these:
If you want to make sure that you’re seeing results from both award searching systems, you’ll want to perform an award search starting on each of these:
NOTE: “Married segment” issues exist, wherein AA may make a IAH-DFW-XXX award available, but not DFW-XXX; or STL-PHL-LHR, but PHL-LHR May not be available in conjunction with ORD- and others. See
More award availability restricted by married segments / connections
Award hold period: Awards can generally be held for five days; five day extensions require continued availability of your flights and generating a new award booking and five day hold.
Though AA can start releasing awards 331 days from the desired flight date (even though some other airlines might make award seats available to their members 355 days out), it’s very likely award seats may be released a few days after that. If seats aren’t sold and Revenue Management algorithms signify slow sales, more seats might be released going forward.
Within 14 days the hold period changes from 5 days to 1 day. And AA has periodically played the game in the past whereby within certain timeframes, usually 7 or 14 days before, they eliminate all sAAver space. Completely route specific. — JJeffrey
="3"%Airlines that can be booked for award travel on aa.com
oneworld alliance airline partners
oneworld alliance airline partners
- AA - American Airlines
- BA - British Airways (awards incur significant YQ surcharge
- AY - Finnair
- IB - Iberia
- JL - Japan Airlines
- QF - Qantas
- QR - Qatar Airways
- RJ - Royal Jordanian Airlines (joining 31 Mar 2020)
- S7 - S7 Airlines
- UL - Sri Lankan Airlines
AS - Alaska Airlines*(ended 29 Feb 2020, to be restored upon joining oneworld in 2021 )- 9K - Cape Air (but only certain cities)
- TN - Air Tahiti Nui
- EY - Etihad
- HA - Hawaiian Airlines (only certain routes
* Mileage redemption on Alaska Airlines is ending effective February 29, 2020. All award travel must be booked and ticketed by February 29, 2020. Travel is valid for 1 year after ticketing date and must be flown no later than February 28, 2021. Ticket changes will not be allowed after February 29, 2020.
NOTE: To search for partner awards, go to advanced search from the awards search or home page and select all airlines.
="3"%Full list of oneworld airline partners (and their affiliates)
- AA - American Airlines
- BA - British Airways (Cityflyer, Comair, OpenSkies, Sun-Air of Scandinavia)
- CX - Cathay Pacific (Dragonair)
- AY - Finnair (Flybe)
- IB - Iberia (Air Nostrum, Iberia Express)
- JL - Japan Airlines (JAL Express, J-Air, Japan Transocean Air)
- LA- LAN Airlines (LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador, LAN Express, LAN Colombia, LAN Peru only, ending 1 Oct 2020)
- MH - Malaysia Airlines
- QF - Qantas Airways (QantasLink, Jetconnect)
- QR - Qatar Airways
- AT - Royal Air Maroc (as of 31 Mar 2020)
- RJ - Royal Jordanian Airlines
- S7 - S7 Airlines (Globus) (excludes Siberia / far eastern Russia awards)
- UL - SriLankan Airlines
- JJ - TAM Airlines (LATAM Airlines will no longer operate using the airline code JJ for flights on or after October 27, 2019.)
When you do call, you might want to search for award space on the flights you want and tell the agent about those flights; sometimes AA agents won't find award seats unless they search by segment.
When using other airline web sites or tools to search for award availability, it’s best to do so by segment rather than by trip. E. g. BA may show availability SAN-LHR and LHR-AMS, but not SAN-AMS. And in some instances (EY, FJ, etc.) AA US may not see availability that AA Australia or New Zealand might see.
="3"%Full list of additional airline partners offering award redemptions
- 9K - Cape Air
AS - Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air(end 29 Feb 2020, to begin upon joining oneworld in 2021)- CZ - China Southern Airlines
- EY - Etihad Airways
- FJ - Fiji Airways
- HA - Hawaiian Airlines
- TN - Air Tahiti Nui
="3"%NOTE: Ticketing charge
Effective February 16, 2015, a Reservations Ticketing Service Charge of $30.00 for domestic itineraries and $40.00 for international itineraries will be applied by AA Reservations when ticketing award reservations that can be booked on aa.com. The charge is waived for award reservations that cannot be booked on aa.com including reduced mileage awards, and for Executive Platinums. N.B. Executive Platinums booking award for non-EP will pay the service charges.
Code:
oneworld Partners Award Fare Codes First-Business-Economy -------------------------------------------------------- AA - American Airlines Z U T -------------------------------------------------------- AY – Finnair U X -------------------------------------------------------- BA – British Airways Z U X -------------------------------------------------------- CX – Cathay Pacific Z U T KA - DragonAir -------------------------------------------------------- IB – Iberia U X -------------------------------------------------------- JL – Japan Airlines (Intl) Z U T JL – Japan Airlines (Dom) Z D S -------------------------------------------------------- LATAM Group JJ - TAM Airlines O I X LA – LAN Chile Z U T XL - LAN Ecuador LP - LAN Peru 4M - LAN Argentina -------------------------------------------------------- MH - Malaysia Airlines P U X -------------------------------------------------------- QF - QANTAS Airways P U X -------------------------------------------------------- QR - Qatar Airways Z U X -------------------------------------------------------- RJ – Royal Jordanian U X -------------------------------------------------------- S7 – S7 Airlines U E -------------------------------------------------------- UL - SriLankan Airlines -------------------------------------------------------- Other Partners First Business Economy -------------------------------------------------------- CZ– China Southern Airways (unknown) -------------------------------------------------------- FJ – Fiji Airways U X -------------------------------------------------------- TN – Air Tahiti Nui F for Business U for Economy -------------------------------------------------------- AS – Alaska Airlines A W -------------------------------------------------------- LY – El Al Israel P X E -------------------------------------------------------- EY - Etihad O I N -------------------------------------------------------- HA – Hawaiian Airlines D T --------------------------------------------------------
="3"%Other rules that may affect your awards="3"%:
="3"%Award Rules
American Airlines Awards are valid for travel on flights that are marketed and operated by AA (no codeshares). These awards can be booked online at AA.com.
oneworld and Other Airline awards are valid for travel on AA and any of its partner airlines, and can include travel on multiple partners. Some of these awards must be booked over the phone, and will not incur a Ticketing Service Charge (waived for EXPs in any case) if they cannot be booked online.
Up to four one-way awards can be booked on a single PNR. Codeshares are not bookable as Awards.
MPM or Maximum Permitted Miles: A Fare or award may not exceed the most direct routing by more than 25% (unless the fare routing includes a ticketed point deduction (essentially a miles allowance that extends MPM). See MPM / Maximum Permitted Mileage & Ticketed Point Deductions (merged threads).
Stopovers and Connections
Stopovers are no longer allowed on AA awards. Stopovers will require multiple awards.
Connections are limited to two connections / three flight segments for domestic awards, and three connections / four flight segments for international awards as of Aug 2017. Link
Domestic Connections must be under 4 hours for domestic flights (except Hawaii), with some exceptions: "LIFO" (Last In - First Out connections are generally allowed.
Hawaii itinerary: Effective on 14 Jul 2014 on an all-AA-metal award itinerary, you now have up to 18 hours to connect when traveling to/from Hawaii. NOTE: Hawaii interisland connections must be separate awards and can not be included as part of a mainland-island award.
International Connections must generally not exceed 23:59 hours. Some leeway has occasionally been granted when connecting flights are not daily. If the itinerary includes an international flight, the rules for international connections apply. Link to these courtesy of JonNYC.
If there is a non-stop flight that departs after the 4h / 23h59m windows and arrives at the destination earlier than a connecting flight within the 4h / 23h59m window, the passenger may be booked on the non-stop flight. It may be difficult getting some agents to book this.
"Most Significant Carrier" rule: To price as a single award, AAdvantage requires the most significant carrier to publish a cash fare (non-constructed) between the origin and destination. Airline MSC (e.g. DFW-SFO-HKG-BKK, CX SFO-HKG is the prevailing or most significant carrier) would have to have a published fare from XXX to YYY that allows travel on all included airlines, and routing that you want. If the MSC only offers constructed fares between your desired origin and destination, AA will price this as two awards.
Constructed fares: Another rule disallows awards where the fare must be constructed (also referred to as "YY"): Using a partner, the trip will require two awards if the governing carrier (e,g. airline operating on the major route, such as transpacific carrier) doesn't publish a through fare that includes the award's proposed origin and destination that allows the carriers proposed.
See this thread about examples using TN.
Married Segment Logic - a prospective trip may be available when searching segment by segment, yet not be bookable through from origin to destination. When selling seats for through flights and the desired inventory is not available, you cannot opt to sell the flight point-to-point. If sold point-to-point, the error response MULTIPLE SEGMENTS FOR SAME FLIGHT - SELL AS ONE SEGMENT will be received, indicating this booking is not allowed. Overriding the error check by ending the PNR twice is not acceptable.
See Award with available segments not bookable? (Married Segment issues)
="3"%Award Rules
American Airlines Awards are valid for travel on flights that are marketed and operated by AA (no codeshares). These awards can be booked online at AA.com.
oneworld and Other Airline awards are valid for travel on AA and any of its partner airlines, and can include travel on multiple partners. Some of these awards must be booked over the phone, and will not incur a Ticketing Service Charge (waived for EXPs in any case) if they cannot be booked online.
Up to four one-way awards can be booked on a single PNR. Codeshares are not bookable as Awards.
MPM or Maximum Permitted Miles: A Fare or award may not exceed the most direct routing by more than 25% (unless the fare routing includes a ticketed point deduction (essentially a miles allowance that extends MPM). See MPM / Maximum Permitted Mileage & Ticketed Point Deductions (merged threads).
Stopovers and Connections
Stopovers are no longer allowed on AA awards. Stopovers will require multiple awards.
Connections are limited to two connections / three flight segments for domestic awards, and three connections / four flight segments for international awards as of Aug 2017. Link
Domestic Connections must be under 4 hours for domestic flights (except Hawaii), with some exceptions: "LIFO" (Last In - First Out connections are generally allowed.
Hawaii itinerary: Effective on 14 Jul 2014 on an all-AA-metal award itinerary, you now have up to 18 hours to connect when traveling to/from Hawaii. NOTE: Hawaii interisland connections must be separate awards and can not be included as part of a mainland-island award.
International Connections must generally not exceed 23:59 hours. Some leeway has occasionally been granted when connecting flights are not daily. If the itinerary includes an international flight, the rules for international connections apply. Link to these courtesy of JonNYC.
If there is a non-stop flight that departs after the 4h / 23h59m windows and arrives at the destination earlier than a connecting flight within the 4h / 23h59m window, the passenger may be booked on the non-stop flight. It may be difficult getting some agents to book this.
"Most Significant Carrier" rule: To price as a single award, AAdvantage requires the most significant carrier to publish a cash fare (non-constructed) between the origin and destination. Airline MSC (e.g. DFW-SFO-HKG-BKK, CX SFO-HKG is the prevailing or most significant carrier) would have to have a published fare from XXX to YYY that allows travel on all included airlines, and routing that you want. If the MSC only offers constructed fares between your desired origin and destination, AA will price this as two awards.
Constructed fares: Another rule disallows awards where the fare must be constructed (also referred to as "YY"): Using a partner, the trip will require two awards if the governing carrier (e,g. airline operating on the major route, such as transpacific carrier) doesn't publish a through fare that includes the award's proposed origin and destination that allows the carriers proposed.
See this thread about examples using TN.
Married Segment Logic - a prospective trip may be available when searching segment by segment, yet not be bookable through from origin to destination. When selling seats for through flights and the desired inventory is not available, you cannot opt to sell the flight point-to-point. If sold point-to-point, the error response MULTIPLE SEGMENTS FOR SAME FLIGHT - SELL AS ONE SEGMENT will be received, indicating this booking is not allowed. Overriding the error check by ending the PNR twice is not acceptable.
See Award with available segments not bookable? (Married Segment issues)
="3"%Resources
Some airlines or areas have different, extra or special characteristics for securing awards. See
aa.com Basic (front page) vs Advanced Award Search Results (abbreviated results for front page search vs. Advanced award search)
AAdvantage awards to / from Australia, New Zealand link
AAdvantage awards to the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador link
AAdvantage awards on Air Tahiti Nui link
AAdvantage awards using British Airways incurring (avoiding) high fees link
AAdvantage award on Cathay Pacific (and Cathay Dragon) link
AAdvantage awards using Etihad Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Fiji Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Japan Airlines link
AAdvantage awards using Qantas Airways link
AAdvantage awards on S7 (Siberian) Airlines link
aa.com Basic (front page) vs Advanced Award Search Results (abbreviated results for front page search vs. Advanced award search)
AAdvantage awards to / from Australia, New Zealand link
AAdvantage awards to the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador link
AAdvantage awards on Air Tahiti Nui link
AAdvantage awards using British Airways incurring (avoiding) high fees link
AAdvantage award on Cathay Pacific (and Cathay Dragon) link
AAdvantage awards using Etihad Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Fiji Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Japan Airlines link
AAdvantage awards using Qantas Airways link
AAdvantage awards on S7 (Siberian) Airlines link
Awards assistance tools: Use at your own risk; may not be up to date. These are not recommendations.
- Check this oneworld interactive map and timetable by Innosked to see potential routes.
- British Airways Executive Club: You can sign up for British Airways Executive Club, Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank or Qantas Frequent Flyer to use their sites to find awards (look for the lowest level awards) you can't see on aa.com. BA in particular is prone to show "phantom" availability.
- See this article by the Points Guy on BA and Qantas for award searching.
- See this article to new online tool from Japan Airlines by Australian Frequent Flyer
- Award booking services - list and reviews (FT thread)
- Award Nexus: It's easy to do your experiments for some free browsing (click "more signup options" under the green Purchase button to sign up with your FlyerTalk login info). You might want to run each segment rather than origin to destination. Or use this link to use with your FT login: https://awardnexus.com/user/login?url=%2F.
...Award Nexus is free (up to a point) for FlyerTalk users. Click "more signup options" under the green Purchase button to sign up for free as a FlyerTalk member.
“What I like about Award Nexus is it has a much nicer user interface than BA and lets you choose whether to search through BA and/or QF, and as you can see each of those may give somewhat different results.”
The "cost" to do all these searches once was a total of 12 points, and you get 200 points free when you signup, and then every 90 days you can reload 100 more points for free (once you're below 10 points). So that gives an idea of how many searches could do free...
- AwardAce: Compare Award Redemptions Across Airlines In Seconds
- AwardHacker: "a tool we build to tell you how to travel with the least miles"
- Award Nexus: which can search availability but can't determine cost, with FT member free limited use
- Economical Excursionist's Tools: compare Frequent Flyer Mile Redemptions
- ExpertFlyer is a common tool used on FT. There is a $99.99 annual fee, monthly fee and five day trial
- Great Circle Mapper is useful for calculating distance and MPM (Maximum Permitted Mileage)
- You can try PEX+ (currently in beta), which will even tell you how many miles you'll need, though it draws data from aa.com and S7 so it can't reveal awards that can not be seen on those sites.
- Travel Codex Award Maximiser commercial blog
Also see:
aa.com Basic (front page) vs Advanced Award Search Results
Phantom / false AA award availability with AA partners (consolidated)
oneworld and Other Airline (Partner) Awards info, rules 2014 on
Help with British Airways / BA surcharge / YQ (AA award on BA, consolidated) (Awards using BA incur significant "YQ" surcharges.)
UK APD / Air Passenger Duty charged for UK departures[/quote] (Flights originating in the UK other than INV or BFS - or connections 24:00 or over - incur UK Air Passenger Duty excise taxes.)
MileSAAver / SAAver award reduction / scarcity >= Aug 2011 onward (consolidated)
Older posts from 2018 have been archived to this archive thread.
Older posts from 2017 have been archived to: this archive thread
Older posts from 2016 have been archived to: this archive thread
Older posts through 2015 have been archived to: this archive thread
ARCHIVE: HELP DESK: 2019 MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
Jan 22, 2019, 1:35 am
#31
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Austin
Posts: 4,629
Is there any point to wait for new Mile SAAver awards to show up for an AMS to DEN? I was looking at several options, but they all disappeared on me last night. I have enough points for an AAnytime flight, but it’s 2x as many points. The perk is that the AAnytime is on AA metal vs the SAAver is BA. I’m looking at a specific date in August
Last edited by millionmiler; Feb 14, 2019 at 2:45 pm
Jan 22, 2019, 4:54 am
#32
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,453
Is there any point to wait for new Mile SAAver awards to show up for an AMS to DEN? I was looking at several options, but they all disappeared on me last night. I have enough points for an AAnytime flight, but it’s 2x as many points. The perk is that the AAnytime is on AA metal vs the SAAver is BA. I’m looking at a specific date in August
Jan 22, 2019, 6:31 am
#33
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Manchester, UK
Programs: IHG Spire Ambassador, HH Diamond
Posts: 945
AA newbie seeking award advice (to merge HELP DESK)
Hi,
Have never booked award travel with AA before so after some advice.
I need a flight on a specific route on a specific date in December.
From when this flight became available the award has been showing as greyed out at 80k - therefore not bookable via BA using Avios.
I have set up an ExpertFlyer award alert to track this, but how often do these change?
Because if it is never going to change, so restrictive are my travel plans then I need to pay cash for it, which is an eye watering Ł450 one way - but again I haven't seen the prices move.
Does availability change over time with AA or is it just a specific number of seats per plane and therefore they will never become available on the flight I need as they went already?
Thanks
Have never booked award travel with AA before so after some advice.
I need a flight on a specific route on a specific date in December.
From when this flight became available the award has been showing as greyed out at 80k - therefore not bookable via BA using Avios.
I have set up an ExpertFlyer award alert to track this, but how often do these change?
Because if it is never going to change, so restrictive are my travel plans then I need to pay cash for it, which is an eye watering Ł450 one way - but again I haven't seen the prices move.
Does availability change over time with AA or is it just a specific number of seats per plane and therefore they will never become available on the flight I need as they went already?
Thanks
Jan 22, 2019, 6:36 am
#34
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: AA PLT, IHG Spire
Posts: 550
Hi,
Have never booked award travel with AA before so after some advice.
I need a flight on a specific route on a specific date in December.
From when this flight became available the award has been showing as greyed out at 80k - therefore not bookable via BA using Avios.
I have set up an ExpertFlyer award alert to track this, but how often do these change?
Because if it is never going to change, so restrictive are my travel plans then I need to pay cash for it, which is an eye watering Ł450 one way - but again I haven't seen the prices move.
Does availability change over time with AA or is it just a specific number of seats per plane and therefore they will never become available on the flight I need as they went already?
Thanks
Have never booked award travel with AA before so after some advice.
I need a flight on a specific route on a specific date in December.
From when this flight became available the award has been showing as greyed out at 80k - therefore not bookable via BA using Avios.
I have set up an ExpertFlyer award alert to track this, but how often do these change?
Because if it is never going to change, so restrictive are my travel plans then I need to pay cash for it, which is an eye watering Ł450 one way - but again I haven't seen the prices move.
Does availability change over time with AA or is it just a specific number of seats per plane and therefore they will never become available on the flight I need as they went already?
Thanks
Jan 22, 2019, 6:39 am
#35
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Manchester, UK
Programs: IHG Spire Ambassador, HH Diamond
Posts: 945
It is a bit odd as the dates around mine are a sea of green - just not the 1st December.
I'll keep waiting.
Thanks
Jan 22, 2019, 7:12 am
#36
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,453
December 1st is the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is one of (if not the) single busiest domestic travel days of the year in the US. AA rarely releases any sAAver space on anything domestic on this date. What flight are you hoping for?
Jan 22, 2019, 7:16 am
#37
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Manchester, UK
Programs: IHG Spire Ambassador, HH Diamond
Posts: 945
Jan 22, 2019, 7:48 am
#38
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: AAdvantage Exec Platinum, Hertz #1 Club Gold Five Star, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, HHonors Silver
Posts: 2,037
For the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it just is not going to happen...or a 0.00001% chance of it happening. You're better off planning on that case now.
Jan 22, 2019, 7:56 am
#39
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,453
Agree that there is a slim chance anything at the sAAver level opens up.
However since you're still 11 months out I would be in zero hurry to book anything at the moment. This far out many airlines will only load very expensive fares (on all routes, all dates) for any suckers that feel the need to book this far in advance
. Just keep an eye on it over the coming months, you've got nothing to lose.
However since you're still 11 months out I would be in zero hurry to book anything at the moment. This far out many airlines will only load very expensive fares (on all routes, all dates) for any suckers that feel the need to book this far in advance
. Just keep an eye on it over the coming months, you've got nothing to lose.
Jan 22, 2019, 8:09 am
#40
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Manchester, UK
Programs: IHG Spire Ambassador, HH Diamond
Posts: 945
ok thanks for the advice all
cash it is and i will watch the price on google flights.
cash it is and i will watch the price on google flights.
Jan 22, 2019, 8:10 am
#41
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: HH Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Gold, Hyatt something
Posts: 33,537
Nov 29, and Dec 4 show a OW FC ticket for 25k on aa.com.
Alaska Airlines has 17.5k AA coach award on Nov 30, two different flights, with $50 something in fees.
Alaska Airlines has 17.5k AA coach award on Nov 30, two different flights, with $50 something in fees.
Jan 22, 2019, 8:14 am
#42
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Manchester, UK
Programs: IHG Spire Ambassador, HH Diamond
Posts: 945
thanks for looking. we are coming in from LHR the night before on an Avios 241 and have hotel reservations on ANU starting on the first, so it does have to be the AA flight on the first.
AA have seats on the 30th direct. Very irritating!
AA have seats on the 30th direct. Very irritating!
Last edited by Geoggy; Jan 22, 2019 at 8:23 am
Jan 22, 2019, 10:06 am
#43
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: Rapid Rewards, United, AA, HHonors, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 21
An AAnytime award will be available as long as there is a single seat for sale, so it makes zero sense to book an AAnytime award 8 months in advance (as long as the flight isn't close to totally selling out). You have nothing to lose by just waiting and keeping an eye on it, highly likely that better options that don't involve BA or AAnytime will open up between now and then.
Last edited by matt21484; Jan 22, 2019 at 10:06 am Reason: spelling
Jan 22, 2019, 10:35 am
#44
Join Date: May 2002
Location: St Louis, MO
Programs: AA L.T. PLT
Posts: 3,273
Even if it doesn't sell out booking now allows you to select the seat you want vs. what is left if any Anytme award pops up. If one does, you could always switch from Anytime to Saver. Of course there would be a cost involved to do that.
Jan 22, 2019, 10:50 am
#45
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,453
So the best action is no action at this point? Any idea as to how to find out if/when a flight is close to selling out? Obviously, I'd like to use 57.5K points on a Business MileSAAver on AA metal than on BA, but, I've got a CSP & AMEX Plat travel credit to use. I've already booked the flight out and have hotels reserved, so I'm pretty stuck on the date we need to fly home. This is also my first international flight, let alone an international award booking, so I'm trying to figure this out as I go. I've already tried looking at BA Avios flights and Quantas reward flights, but nothing showed up that gets be back to the US from AMS. I'm also stuck on AA since I've got about 350K miles to use between my wife and I
If you want to see how full a flight is, there are paid services like ExpertFlyer that will let you check the exact loads, otherwise you can always keep an eye on the seatmaps and do dummy bookings at aa.com to get an idea.