Jan 1, 2015, 8:43 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
MODERATOR GUIDEPOST
This is the ARCHIVE through 2015 for older posts from the MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability - Help, Assistance & Discussion (consolidated) thread.
This wikipost can be edited by members with 90 days' tenure and 90 posts; wiki contents may be printed by using the
(lower right wiki corner).
Other useful resources include:
MileSAAver / SAAver award reduction / scarcity >= Aug 2011 onward (consolidated)
oneworld and Other Airline (Partner) Awards info, rules 2014 on
Help with British Airways / BA surcharge / YQ (AA award on BA, consolidated)
UK APD / Air Passenger Duty charged for UK departures
This is the ARCHIVE through 2015 for older posts from the MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability - Help, Assistance & Discussion (consolidated) thread.
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
This wikipost can be edited by members with 90 days' tenure and 90 posts; wiki contents may be printed by using the
(lower right wiki corner).Other useful resources include:
MileSAAver / SAAver award reduction / scarcity >= Aug 2011 onward (consolidated)
oneworld and Other Airline (Partner) Awards info, rules 2014 on
Help with British Airways / BA surcharge / YQ (AA award on BA, consolidated)
UK APD / Air Passenger Duty charged for UK departures
ARCHIVE: 2009-2015 MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability Help etc.
Dec 30, 2015, 1:05 pm
#7651
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 166
Minimal AA Award to Germany on Airberlin
I am trying to book a flight to FRA from ORD in late August and the only Saver fares I see are with British Airways. What happened to all the Air Berlin availability??
I'm not paying ~$750 fees for a flight that would cost $1200. Worse case, I will use my United miles, but I have a ton of AA to burn
I'm not paying ~$750 fees for a flight that would cost $1200. Worse case, I will use my United miles, but I have a ton of AA to burn
Dec 30, 2015, 3:14 pm
#7652
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Austin
Posts: 4,629
Air Berlin awards used to be plentiful and now as you have seen they have all but disappeared. We both can guess that Air Berlin no longer wants to make them available to AA.
As for the BA fees, that appears to be exactly what AA/BA wants - make the awards too expensive so you won't use your miles. Seems like in your case its working perfectly for them. Welcome to the new AA.
As for the BA fees, that appears to be exactly what AA/BA wants - make the awards too expensive so you won't use your miles. Seems like in your case its working perfectly for them. Welcome to the new AA.
Dec 30, 2015, 3:16 pm
#7653
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 166
Air Berlin awards used to be plentiful and now as you have seen they have all but disappeared. We both can guess that Air Berlin no longer wants to make them available to AA.
As for the BA fees, that appears to be exactly what AA/BA wants - make the awards too expensive so you won't use your miles. Seems like in your case its working perfectly for them. Welcome to the new AA.
As for the BA fees, that appears to be exactly what AA/BA wants - make the awards too expensive so you won't use your miles. Seems like in your case its working perfectly for them. Welcome to the new AA.
Pretty disappointing really. Hello United!
Dec 30, 2015, 3:25 pm
#7654
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
Dec 30, 2015, 5:38 pm
#7655
Formerly known as jlars77
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: ORD
Posts: 361
Plenty of sAAver on AA metal in Y for the TATL portion (I assumed Y based on the $1,400 ticket price), the fees should be nominal LHR-FRA on BA. If you want to fly J I would consult the IB thread or just search your preferred dates on ba.com.
Dec 30, 2015, 6:02 pm
#7656
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,767
I don't believe that it should make much difference since in either case you are switching governing carriers. If it were me and I absolutely wanted CX on the overwater segment without being willing to pay the new prices, I would lock it in before 3/22 (even if dates are not ideal). I would not count on being able to make major routing changes without a reprice after 3/22.
Not all reissued tickets require redeposit of miles though - legal routing changes even with carrier changes is one of those re-issues that I have never seen a redeposit of miles.
Dec 30, 2015, 7:29 pm
#7657
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
I agree that routing changes where the origin and destination remain the same generally do not require a redeposit. However, if my understanding is correct, some--particularly those where the governing/overwater carrier changes--do require a Reinstate/Reclaim. It is not clear to me that this would trigger a reprice post-3/22 or not (hence, my comment that it is a gray area). I would hope that such changes don't require a repricing, but I wouldn't count on it. That being said, after the April 2014 changes, I remember making routing changes, including a change of destination, on an award with stopovers without much issue. But that was after explaining to the agent that the elimination of stopovers was announced without any warning, and even then I think I got lucky rather than being in the "right" with respect to any particular policy.
Dec 30, 2015, 8:26 pm
#7658
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,767
Questions on LAN availability
Has anyone ever been able to book LAN's domestic Chile flights?
BA does not show any LAN domestic Chile flights that are flown by LAN Express.
Also MIA-SCL I never am able to find any LAN availability. AA not only has very few J availability in Nov 2016 but it also flies the crappy old 777 with its ancient angled seats.
BA does not show any LAN domestic Chile flights that are flown by LAN Express.
Also MIA-SCL I never am able to find any LAN availability. AA not only has very few J availability in Nov 2016 but it also flies the crappy old 777 with its ancient angled seats.
Dec 30, 2015, 9:25 pm
#7659
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
Has anyone ever been able to book LAN's domestic Chile flights?
BA does not show any LAN domestic Chile flights that are flown by LAN Express.
Also MIA-SCL I never am able to find any LAN availability. AA not only has very few J availability in Nov 2016 but it also flies the crappy old 777 with its ancient angled seats.
BA does not show any LAN domestic Chile flights that are flown by LAN Express.
Also MIA-SCL I never am able to find any LAN availability. AA not only has very few J availability in Nov 2016 but it also flies the crappy old 777 with its ancient angled seats.
Dec 30, 2015, 9:39 pm
#7660
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,767
BA does not show any SCL-PMC thru the months of Sept, Oct and Nov. I also do not see any availability for the near months such as Jan, Feb and Mar, and that is getting into the Winter in South America.
The pay ticket inside Chile costs 3 times more for foreigners than locals.
Also there is no MIA-SCL on LAN. AA has 1 J seat and 1 F seat on only one flight. It is silly enough to pay 50K on the crappy old 777, no way I would pay 62.5K on the F. Goal is to visit the Lake District in Chile and later fly SCL-AKL, lSYD-AUH and DXB-DOH-BKK or DXB-DOH-CDG, preferrably BKK but BA while showing availability it is not bookable. This is to fly home via either Asia or Europe. Really dont have desire to go to Western Europe in the middle of the winter.
The pay ticket inside Chile costs 3 times more for foreigners than locals.
Also there is no MIA-SCL on LAN. AA has 1 J seat and 1 F seat on only one flight. It is silly enough to pay 50K on the crappy old 777, no way I would pay 62.5K on the F. Goal is to visit the Lake District in Chile and later fly SCL-AKL, lSYD-AUH and DXB-DOH-BKK or DXB-DOH-CDG, preferrably BKK but BA while showing availability it is not bookable. This is to fly home via either Asia or Europe. Really dont have desire to go to Western Europe in the middle of the winter.
Last edited by Happy; Dec 30, 2015 at 9:50 pm
Dec 30, 2015, 9:55 pm
#7661
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
BA does not show any SCL-PMC thru the months of Sept, Oct and Nov. I also do not see any availability for the near months such as Jan, Feb and Mar, and that is getting into the Winter in South America.
The pay ticket inside Chile costs 3 times more for foreigners than locals.
Also there is no MIA-SCL on LAN. AA has 1 J seat and 1 F seat on only one flight. It is silly enough to pay 50K on the crappy old 777, no way I would pay 62.5K on the F. Goal is to visit the Lake District in Chile and later fly SCL-AKL, lSYD-AUH and DXB-DOH-BKK or DXB-DOH-CDG, preferrably BKK but BA while showing availability it is not bookable. This is to fly home via either Asia or Europe. Really dont have desire to go to Western Europe in the middle of the winter.
The pay ticket inside Chile costs 3 times more for foreigners than locals.
Also there is no MIA-SCL on LAN. AA has 1 J seat and 1 F seat on only one flight. It is silly enough to pay 50K on the crappy old 777, no way I would pay 62.5K on the F. Goal is to visit the Lake District in Chile and later fly SCL-AKL, lSYD-AUH and DXB-DOH-BKK or DXB-DOH-CDG, preferrably BKK but BA while showing availability it is not bookable. This is to fly home via either Asia or Europe. Really dont have desire to go to Western Europe in the middle of the winter.
You could also see if you can find availability to SCL from JFK or LAX (the direct service that stops in LIM).
Dec 30, 2015, 10:13 pm
#7662
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,767
I see SCL-PMC on 9/24 and 10/1, just from a cursory look. You can also easily access the Lake District from ZCO--eg, Pucon is closer to ZCO than PMC. There is more availability to ZCO it appears.
You could also see if you can find availability to SCL from JFK or LAX (the direct service that stops in LIM).
You could also see if you can find availability to SCL from JFK or LAX (the direct service that stops in LIM).
Did not realize ZCO also works for the lake district. Thanks for the suggestion.
Pucon's airport is ZPC which BA does not recognize it, claiming no oneworld partner serves that airport...
Dont want to use JFK in winter months. Next year it might be a stormy winter given this year it is so unseasonably warm. We are based in South Florida so it makes no sense to fly to LAX first. LAN fare rule may not even allow it.
EDIT
Wow, LAN has exactly 1 Y seat on LAX-SCL... it has 0 availability JFK-SCL.
And ZCO has a lot more availability than PMC! even though it has 10 hours layover.
Also there are 2 days in Nov AA has more than 2 J seats...
Also BA shows married segments MIA-SCL-ZCO have availabilities.
Do we still need to ticket LAN award seats at booking?
Last edited by Happy; Dec 30, 2015 at 10:48 pm
Dec 30, 2015, 11:03 pm
#7663
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
The time frame is really late Nov or early Dec. I checked the Sept Oct Nov primarily to see the availability situation.
Did not realize ZCO also works for the lake district. Thanks for the suggestion.
Pucon's airport is ZPC which BA does not recognize it, claiming no oneworld partner serves that airport...
Dont want to use JFK in winter months. Next year it might be a stormy winter given this year it is so unseasonably warm. We are based in South Florida so it makes no sense to fly to LAX first. LAN fare rule may not even allow it.
EDIT
Wow, LAN has exactly 1 Y seat on LAX-SCL... it has 0 availability JFK-SCL.
And ZCO has a lot more availability than PMC! even though it has 10 hours layover.
Also there are 2 days in Nov AA has more than 2 J seats...
Also BA shows married segments MIA-SCL-ZCO have availabilities.
Do we still need to ticket LAN award seats at booking?
Did not realize ZCO also works for the lake district. Thanks for the suggestion.
Pucon's airport is ZPC which BA does not recognize it, claiming no oneworld partner serves that airport...
Dont want to use JFK in winter months. Next year it might be a stormy winter given this year it is so unseasonably warm. We are based in South Florida so it makes no sense to fly to LAX first. LAN fare rule may not even allow it.
EDIT
Wow, LAN has exactly 1 Y seat on LAX-SCL... it has 0 availability JFK-SCL.
And ZCO has a lot more availability than PMC! even though it has 10 hours layover.
Also there are 2 days in Nov AA has more than 2 J seats...
Also BA shows married segments MIA-SCL-ZCO have availabilities.
Do we still need to ticket LAN award seats at booking?
Dec 31, 2015, 7:23 am
#7664
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: IND
Programs: Avianca Brazil Diamond, Etihad Gold, Southwest CC Pass, HH Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 315
Air Berlin awards used to be plentiful and now as you have seen they have all but disappeared. We both can guess that Air Berlin no longer wants to make them available to AA.
As for the BA fees, that appears to be exactly what AA/BA wants - make the awards too expensive so you won't use your miles. Seems like in your case its working perfectly for them. Welcome to the new AA.
As for the BA fees, that appears to be exactly what AA/BA wants - make the awards too expensive so you won't use your miles. Seems like in your case its working perfectly for them. Welcome to the new AA.
From what I read there was an IT upgrade by AB recently. Since then my current AB award flight booked through AA was messed up. Basically AA couldn't see my res but ABs website could pull it. Called to fix and tried to see if AA can see award space on AB but they couldn't find any. I would like to book more AB awards now if anyone has any more updates.
Dec 31, 2015, 7:40 am
#7665
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: USA
Programs: IHG/Spire Amb., Hilton/Diamond, SPG/Gold, Marriott/Gold, AA/Plat, Southwest/CP
Posts: 270
Ya I am having problems finding any AB flights for next summer. Just a month ago I found tons. Not many AB awards flights are showing up on the BA or AA website. But when I search on the AB website I see plenty of space...
From what I read there was an IT upgrade by AB recently. Since then my current AB award flight booked through AA was messed up. Basically AA couldn't see my res but ABs website could pull it. Called to fix and tried to see if AA can see award space on AB but they couldn't find any. I would like to book more AB awards now if anyone has any more updates.
From what I read there was an IT upgrade by AB recently. Since then my current AB award flight booked through AA was messed up. Basically AA couldn't see my res but ABs website could pull it. Called to fix and tried to see if AA can see award space on AB but they couldn't find any. I would like to book more AB awards now if anyone has any more updates.