HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
May 24, 20, 1:50 am - Wikipost
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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 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: 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
* 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)
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
="3"%NOTE: Ticketing charge
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"%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
Awards assistance tools: Use at your own risk; may not be up to date. These are not recommendations.
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 
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Jan 1, 19, 10:18 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Princeton, NJ
Programs: AA Platinum, AA LT Gold
Posts: 135
Hello All. Happy new year : )
After looking at some flight options, I started to get frustrated with the change in logic for award availability. In short, I am looking for a connection GVA-LHR-PHL-MHT. The only option that comes up as Milesaaver is with 6 hrs in PHL.
However, if checking by segment, GVA-LHR-PHL and PHL-MHT are both available on a good itinerary with 2.5hr connection time in PHL. Earlier this week, this same more convenient option showed up as a connection as well on a direct GVA-MHT search.
Is there any tricks to help me get what I want? Would you advise that I just book them as a separate award tickets on the same PNR by paying the extra miles for PHL-MHT? I am aware I can do a stand by, but don't want to risk it
Thank you!
After looking at some flight options, I started to get frustrated with the change in logic for award availability. In short, I am looking for a connection GVA-LHR-PHL-MHT. The only option that comes up as Milesaaver is with 6 hrs in PHL.
However, if checking by segment, GVA-LHR-PHL and PHL-MHT are both available on a good itinerary with 2.5hr connection time in PHL. Earlier this week, this same more convenient option showed up as a connection as well on a direct GVA-MHT search.
Is there any tricks to help me get what I want? Would you advise that I just book them as a separate award tickets on the same PNR by paying the extra miles for PHL-MHT? I am aware I can do a stand by, but don't want to risk it
Thank you!
Jan 1, 19, 1:36 pm
#3
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: CLT
Posts: 64
Feels like a lot of the DFW/ORD -> NRT U rewards are requiring 13+ hour layovers that drag the outgoing next flight into the following day making the entire trip +24 hours. I'm trying to get a feel for what's out there from CLT and some of these U ticket routes are a complete joke. 3 stop minimum + 13-14 hour layovers. If I try and route myself out of DFW or ORD directly award availability basically disappears for U.
Wasn't like this last year
Wasn't like this last year
Jan 1, 19, 1:38 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 22,064
Originally Posted by yminev
Hello All. Happy new year : )
After looking at some flight options, I started to get frustrated with the change in logic for award availability. In short, I am looking for a connection GVA-LHR-PHL-MHT. The only option that comes up as Milesaaver is with 6 hrs in PHL.
However, if checking by segment, GVA-LHR-PHL and PHL-MHT are both available on a good itinerary with 2.5hr connection time in PHL. Earlier this week, this same more convenient option showed up as a connection as well on a direct GVA-MHT search.
Is there any tricks to help me get what I want? Would you advise that I just book them as a separate award tickets on the same PNR by paying the extra miles for PHL-MHT? I am aware I can do a stand by, but don't want to risk it
Thank you!
After looking at some flight options, I started to get frustrated with the change in logic for award availability. In short, I am looking for a connection GVA-LHR-PHL-MHT. The only option that comes up as Milesaaver is with 6 hrs in PHL.
However, if checking by segment, GVA-LHR-PHL and PHL-MHT are both available on a good itinerary with 2.5hr connection time in PHL. Earlier this week, this same more convenient option showed up as a connection as well on a direct GVA-MHT search.
Is there any tricks to help me get what I want? Would you advise that I just book them as a separate award tickets on the same PNR by paying the extra miles for PHL-MHT? I am aware I can do a stand by, but don't want to risk it
Thank you!
Of course, if you purchase GVA-PHL now with the long connection, and the earlier PHL-MHT flight becomes available for a married-segment award, you should be able to switch to the earlier flight at no charge.
Jan 1, 19, 11:07 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Princeton, NJ
Programs: AA Platinum, AA LT Gold
Posts: 135
Originally Posted by guv1976
Of course, if you purchase GVA-PHL now with the long connection, and the earlier PHL-MHT flight becomes available for a married-segment award, you should be able to switch to the earlier flight at no charge.
To follow-up on my prior message, the PHL-MHT flight with the good 2.5 hr connection in PHL was actually phantom availability, with an error message showing up before the final confirmation.
Jan 2, 19, 11:42 am
#7
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 5,519
I had seen the recent AA announcement that they are removing the ex-Canada subregion and returning to the world where all ex NA awards price the same. i thought it would be effective Jan 1, but it’s not effective until Jan 16. I am an EXP w 5 CX biz awards on hold YVR-HKG, I was waiting til Jan 1 to book but no love, the old ex-Canada rate applies now. Trying to figure out the beat approach... I cannot find AS award space for SEA-YVR (SEA is where we live) and so the awards will price slightly higher if I lock them now. As a result, I am wondering can I do this:
(1) Add DFW-YVR to get ex US pricing (plenty of space in U to do this)
(2) wait until Jan16 and then call in to drop DFW-YVR segment, this will be an even swap since ex-Canada will no longer be a sub region
(3) watch for AS availability for SEA-YVR and add it or just drive up to YVR
This should work without needing to lose the CX awards shouldnt it? Or should I try to book ex Canada now, pay the premium and then seek to rebook post Jan 16? I’d prefer to not pay the surplus as it would require using miles in a family member’s account who is only Gold and so i lose the ability to add HKG-SGN or HKG-REP for free.
(1) Add DFW-YVR to get ex US pricing (plenty of space in U to do this)
(2) wait until Jan16 and then call in to drop DFW-YVR segment, this will be an even swap since ex-Canada will no longer be a sub region
(3) watch for AS availability for SEA-YVR and add it or just drive up to YVR
This should work without needing to lose the CX awards shouldnt it? Or should I try to book ex Canada now, pay the premium and then seek to rebook post Jan 16? I’d prefer to not pay the surplus as it would require using miles in a family member’s account who is only Gold and so i lose the ability to add HKG-SGN or HKG-REP for free.
Jan 2, 19, 4:39 pm
#8
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 5,553
This question is not meant to be tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic, complaining, or anything like that. It's an honest question from someone who doesn't know.
Does sAAver first award availability on AA (not BA) actually exist to LHR? I checked literally every day from every gateway for 3 months in summer and found nothing.
I booked J. I'm happy with it but I'd be happier in F -- I'd gladly pay the extra miles at the sAAver rate. Is it worth it for me to keep checking or is there basically zero chance of it ever popping up?
Does sAAver first award availability on AA (not BA) actually exist to LHR? I checked literally every day from every gateway for 3 months in summer and found nothing.
I booked J. I'm happy with it but I'd be happier in F -- I'd gladly pay the extra miles at the sAAver rate. Is it worth it for me to keep checking or is there basically zero chance of it ever popping up?
Jan 2, 19, 7:36 pm
#9
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: USA
Programs: AA Exp
Posts: 495
Originally Posted by VegasGambler
This question is not meant to be tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic, complaining, or anything like that. It's an honest question from someone who doesn't know.
Does sAAver first award availability on AA (not BA) actually exist to LHR? I checked literally every day from every gateway for 3 months in summer and found nothing.
I booked J. I'm happy with it but I'd be happier in F -- I'd gladly pay the extra miles at the sAAver rate. Is it worth it for me to keep checking or is there basically zero chance of it ever popping up?
Does sAAver first award availability on AA (not BA) actually exist to LHR? I checked literally every day from every gateway for 3 months in summer and found nothing.
I booked J. I'm happy with it but I'd be happier in F -- I'd gladly pay the extra miles at the sAAver rate. Is it worth it for me to keep checking or is there basically zero chance of it ever popping up?
I asked upthraad if it was due to married logic but haven’t heard back yet.
Jan 2, 19, 7:52 pm
#10
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 5,553
Originally Posted by SJWarrior
seriously you found AA biz saver award to LHR. I have been searching only one month but to any city in Europe on AA but all I find is BA.
I asked upthraad if it was due to married logic but haven’t heard back yet.
I don't think I did anything special here. I searched for SFO-LHR with the "AA only" option, looked at the full calendar, and kept moving it forward 2 weeks at a time, and wrote down all the days that had availability. Then I did the same in the reverse direction, and found 2 that were a little more than a week apart (which was how long I wanted my trip to be). Then I did a search for that date allowing "all partners" and using MLA as the destination instead of LHR (which is where I actually want to go), picked the option that routed on AA for TATL, held it, and booked it a few hours later.
For the outbound, there were a several scattered days of availability in July and August. For the return there was a lot more.
I'm flying SFO-LAX-LHR / LGW-MLA there, and MLA-LGW / LHR-JFK-SFO back, all in J. The stops in London are overnight but less than 24hr. BA for the LGW-MLA-LGW legs; AA on everything else.
Obviously I was extremely flexible with dates (this is a vacation to visit family -- I can go whenever I want) so I was willing to take anything in June, July, or August.
I'm not sure which month you are searching but I found nothing in June (I didn't check earlier)
Jan 2, 19, 8:21 pm
#11
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: USA
Programs: AA Exp
Posts: 495
Originally Posted by VegasGambler
Oh sorry. I think it was married logic (out of SFO). I didnt check to see if the individual segments had their own availability though.
I don't think I did anything special here. I searched for SFO-LHR with the "AA only" option, looked at the full calendar, and kept moving it forward 2 weeks at a time, and wrote down all the days that had availability. Then I did the same in the reverse direction, and found 2 that were a little more than a week apart (which was how long I wanted my trip to be). Then I did a search for that date allowing "all partners" and using MLA as the destination instead of LHR (which is where I actually want to go), picked the option that routed on AA for TATL, held it, and booked it a few hours later.
For the outbound, there were a several scattered days of availability in July and August. For the return there was a lot more.
I'm flying SFO-LAX-LHR / LGW-MLA there, and MLA-LGW / LHR-JFK-SFO back, all in J. The stops in London are overnight but less than 24hr. BA for the LGW-MLA-LGW legs; AA on everything else.
Obviously I was extremely flexible with dates (this is a vacation to visit family -- I can go whenever I want) so I was willing to take anything in June, July, or August.
I'm not sure which month you are searching but I found nothing in June (I didn't check earlier)
I don't think I did anything special here. I searched for SFO-LHR with the "AA only" option, looked at the full calendar, and kept moving it forward 2 weeks at a time, and wrote down all the days that had availability. Then I did the same in the reverse direction, and found 2 that were a little more than a week apart (which was how long I wanted my trip to be). Then I did a search for that date allowing "all partners" and using MLA as the destination instead of LHR (which is where I actually want to go), picked the option that routed on AA for TATL, held it, and booked it a few hours later.
For the outbound, there were a several scattered days of availability in July and August. For the return there was a lot more.
I'm flying SFO-LAX-LHR / LGW-MLA there, and MLA-LGW / LHR-JFK-SFO back, all in J. The stops in London are overnight but less than 24hr. BA for the LGW-MLA-LGW legs; AA on everything else.
Obviously I was extremely flexible with dates (this is a vacation to visit family -- I can go whenever I want) so I was willing to take anything in June, July, or August.
I'm not sure which month you are searching but I found nothing in June (I didn't check earlier)
I’ve used the AA site numerous times as well. Only find BA J availability with the killer fees. I sit in front of a computer at work so I spend a decent amount of time looking. I’m willing to land almost anywhere in Europe via AA or non BA, and move around from there. I’ve literally looked at every option I can find on EF but maybe I’m going about it all wrong ?
Jan 2, 19, 8:46 pm
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
Programs: DL 1 million, AA 1 mil, HH lapsed Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 28,192
The utility of EF award alerts is certainly lessened in a world of married segment availability awards. That's not unique to AA - DL and UA practice it, too.
That there isn't award space today doesn't mean there won't be award space some time later. If you're willing to go 'anywhere' in Europe, prioritize destinations served by AA metal, then AY and IB.
That there isn't award space today doesn't mean there won't be award space some time later. If you're willing to go 'anywhere' in Europe, prioritize destinations served by AA metal, then AY and IB.
Jan 2, 19, 8:54 pm
#13
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 5,553
Originally Posted by SJWarrior
thank you for the detailed response. I’m looking in 2nd week of September. But I am using expert flyer. And it only shows segments unless I’m doing something wrong.
I’ve used the AA site numerous times as well. Only find BA J availability with the killer fees. I sit in front of a computer at work so I spend a decent amount of time looking. I’m willing to land almost anywhere in Europe via AA or non BA, and move around from there. I’ve literally looked at every option I can find on EF but maybe I’m going about it all wrong ?
Do an end-to-end search and it will show entire routings, with either all segments showing a seat or not.
I find it easier to search on AA rather than EF (due to the calendar view). Be sure to go to the advanced search and search "American only" to exclude the BA results.
Jan 2, 19, 9:02 pm
#14
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 5,553
Originally Posted by SJWarrior
thank you for the detailed response. I’m looking in 2nd week of September.
The search on AA.com is actually quite good. At first I found the calendar a bit clunky to use but once I got used to it I found it to be MUCH easier than EF (where you can only search one week at a time and you have to constantly filter for routes where there's availability)
Edit: I see 17 days of availability for SFO-LHR in J in the range of July 5 - Aug 27. This really isn't that rare (at least for those months)
Outside of that date range, though, it's a lot more scarce.
Jan 4, 19, 9:05 pm
#15
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: USA
Programs: AA Exp
Posts: 495
Originally Posted by VegasGambler
By the way, I don't see anything in the 2nd week of September either. I do see SFO-JFK-LHR (all AA J) on Aug 27th though.
The search on AA.com is actually quite good. At first I found the calendar a bit clunky to use but once I got used to it I found it to be MUCH easier than EF (where you can only search one week at a time and you have to constantly filter for routes where there's availability)
Edit: I see 17 days of availability for SFO-LHR in J in the range of July 5 - Aug 27. This really isn't that rare (at least for those months)
Outside of that date range, though, it's a lot more scarce.
The search on AA.com is actually quite good. At first I found the calendar a bit clunky to use but once I got used to it I found it to be MUCH easier than EF (where you can only search one week at a time and you have to constantly filter for routes where there's availability)
Edit: I see 17 days of availability for SFO-LHR in J in the range of July 5 - Aug 27. This really isn't that rare (at least for those months)
Outside of that date range, though, it's a lot more scarce.
tjanks for all the help everybody. Hopefully she can get the says off, otherwise it’s back to the drawing board.
