TripleABC

Hi there, I am a novice here. I am trying to book couple tickets from CLE to PVG leaving sometime in June or July, using 70000 miles per ticket. But has no luck so far.

Can any AA veteran here help me check and see if tickets are actually available but somehow I did the searching wrong?

ckpeter

The current June/July coach saver availability of the CLE-PVG outbound leg seems quite good. Have you tried using the calendar view? I see a few dates available, such as June 29, June 30, or half of July for that matter (assuming one passenger).

Also, how many do you mean by "couple tickets?" Some flights may only have one or two award seats available.

If the currently available dates don't work for you, you can wait and see if more seats open up later. You can also try routing on partner airlines. For example, you may try CLE-ORD-NRT-PVG (the last NRT-PVG will be on JL).

For partner awards, you will need to call AA to check availability.

TripleABC

Thanks so much CK for your quick response. So did you mean that the award tickets may show up in AA's system from time to time? If so, then I will just have to keep an eye on it on a daily basis.

Again thank you for your help!!

UncleDude

30 June to Available CLE-ORD-PVG

For return 6/7/12/13/14 July are available PVG-NRT-ORD-CLE 8 and 9 available PVG-NRT-DFW-CLE

Go to aa.com

Click on Redeem Miles

Request 2 Seats

Click Dates Flexible

Select 30 June

Hold CLE-ORD-PVG Reservation

Phone AA and request One of the Return Dates I have indicated via NRT, has to be booked by phone as the PVG-NRT is a JAL: Sector Ask for Partner AAward.

No Booking Telephone Fee as initial Reservation was booked online.

There is a risk in waiting for additional AAward seats to open it may never happen. If you want to be sure book what I have suggested. If not hold Out and maybe miss Out.

TripleABC

Hey UncleDude, , you're awesome ^. Thank you so much for the detailed info.

ckpeter

Yes, award availability can vary over time. If you don't find the availability that you are looking for, check back regularly (daily or weekly, depending on how far in advance you are from the departure of the trip). You may also consider subscribing to a service such as ExpertFlyer, which includes an automated availability monitor for AA.

TripleABC

Nice to learn that kind of service. Thanks again, CK ^

zdcatc12

I wish you would have been the one replying to me when I asked about award availability!! (see post 90).

ckpeter

Notice that the repliers to your questions reply to questions far more frequently than I do. While their responses may be terser than mine, they actually contribute a lot more than me, in terms of answering questions or pointing to existing threads with information.

zdcatc12

I actually did a search for MileSAAver and only looked where MileSAAver was highlighted, so missed the part about "awards" opening up later. As for my one on EP availability being available on EF, it was 3 words in a post where the topic had a hundred posts. I wonder how I missed it.

Actually both of those should probably on the FAQ.

bzcat

I booked an award ticket LAX-NRT 2 months ago for travel on March 19. At the time of booking, the LAX-NRT leg was available for economy award only (the NRT-LAX leg was able to book for J class). I suppose it is now too late to call AA and see if I can get the outbound flight change to J class award?

Grail

For the LAX-NRT leg in J, you would spend 50,000 miles on the MileSAAver award. For another 12,500 miles, you could fly in F on a MileSAAVer award. You might want to consider this option, as it is available on 19 March.

Lyndihop53

I've always been able to obtain a "f" award to/from HNL. But, I've usually done Nov-Dec. I want Milesaver which is 37.5 each way.
I did secure a one way "f", with a nice connect: xna/dfw/hnl. Which is preferred over having to take a smaller aircraft and routing via lax.

But the return is awful. I've looked 2-1,and forward. But only coach is available that has decent connections. Otherwise it looks like "f" is mainly blocked out Mon-Thurs. Found a flight on 2-4, but it routes via lax and with only 25 min to change flights. I want the HNL-DFW-XNA. But just cannot find any. I also searched the seat maps and the only seats that are reserved is 2H&J, which I believe is for the pilots.

So, my question is: Will some of the better connections open later for Milesavers?

any suggestions??

brp

No way to say if more availability will become available for the better routings. As well, whatever may have happened in the past will have little bearing on what happens for your specific dates.

Advice: Subscribe to expertflyer and set alerts.

Cheers.

HNL

You can book the connection via LAX now and make a change when/if award inventory for the HNL-DFW flights is loaded. Set an alert with ExpertFlyer.com so you don't have to check regularly.

You should also look at departing OGG or the ORD non-stop too.