ScubaAddict

I have the following already booked:

DEN-PHX(Z) US Air
PHX-SFO(Z) US Air
SFO-HKG(U) CX
HKG-CGK(U) CX

I just put a new leg on hold that would replace SFO-HKG with:

SFO-HND(Z) JAL
HND-HKG(Z) CX

Do all I need to do is call AA booking and ask them to merge my hold with my current reservation?

Also, I assume there should be no fee (at all?), and the miles charged would only be the difference in miles between BUS and FIRST (12,500).

Thanks!

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

You are changing the routing so it would be an entirely new award. If you are EXP you will not have to pay the redeposit fee.

JonNYC

No, that's not a rule.

ScubaAddict

I'm confused I thought I read that if the origin and destination weren't changed, they would allow you to upgrade for only the miles difference. So I guess I misunderstood origin and destination to be, in my case, DEN...CGK. But I guess it is origin - destination of each leg can't change?

JonNYC

The statement:

Is categorically false, which is why I posted what I did. As far as if your, particular change can be made without fee there are/could be other factors as the rules make referee to "no change in governing carrier" for the award, and this might be that.

You can see some of the rules here:
http://www.travelingbetter.com/showthread.php?t=5847

As well as a big thread here on FT-- but many incorrect posts in that thread here as well.

jridge

It seems to me the bigger problem is with the statement

You essentially have two PNRs, and as far as I'm aware there is no real way to "merge" the two.

If you call, essentially what they will first do is check the availability without regard to what you have on hold. If there is availability, your hold can be disregarded and (assuming valid routing etc. as Jon wrote) it would be a simple case of the extra miles.

Assuming there's no availability, I think (and I'm willing to be educated otherwise) there's three possibilities. Either they cancel what is on hold and HOPE that it goes back into inventory immediately and can be grabbed - far from guaranteed (and maybe if you've got high enough status it can be coordinated better?); or your two PNRs must remain separate and be processed as such; or you cancel the ticketed reservations and add the domestic segments to the one you've got on hold (in which case I'd assume a reinstatement fee applies).

ScubaAddict

Crap! This is my first award booking, and I'm a bit dense when it comes to understanding all the in-and-outs. I actually thought this was the way to change a leg. Oops

So now I guess avoiding a fee isn't my problem. The booking system has no way to merge the new leg, so I have to let my hold expire and hope and pray my 2 first class seats on 2 different airlines come back into award inventory - which I am assuming is unlikely (I've made the entire itinerary for both my wife and I).

If I am very lucky and this happens, I will have to get on the phone and try and snag them to replace the leg in my original itinerary, and I may or may not incur some sort of fees.

JonNYC - I tried reading/understanding your link, but as I stated I am dense. I found a few rules in there that seem to say I would be charged a fee in the event I am able to update my itinerary - but the language used is something I just don't know if it applies to me or not. Thank you for your input though!

hiima

So if the entire trip was on one pnr, would the change be allowed? Say lax-hkg cx changed to lax-hnd-hkg jl cx?

jridge

You don't have to let the hold expire naturally. The PNR can be cancelled by the same agent who tries to then grab the seats immediately.

If I were you, I'd call in and see what the agent can do. Maybe they can call JL and get space opened temporarily (might be simpler if this was AA itself, not a partner), or maybe they'd waive the fee to shift flights onto the new PNR.

I wouldn't say that it is 'unlikely' that the award space will be returned to inventory; often it eventually is, but the question is more how long does it take and will you be the first in line to grab it. For example, if it's an hour or so, you can't really chat with the agent while continuously checking.

The first section in the rules is what constitutes a date/time change. I think (again, willing to be corrected) Jon is pointing out that a change to the governing carrier (and I'm guessing yours would change from CX to JL) makes this not allowed as a date/time change.

That's OK; I wouldn't expect it to be processed as such. I think the second section ("ticket change") is what is relevant to you, which is that you're replacing oneWorld with oneWorld.

JonNYC

Agreed on each and every count-- thanks for taking the time for such an excellent and accurate answer!

jridge

The change is certainly allowed; the question is whether it would incur a fee or become two awards.

Basic sanity checks:

1) Do the origin/destination stay the same? Yes

2) Do the oneWorld operated segments stay oneWorld? Yes

3) Is the routing still connecting in allowed regions? This change adds a connection in Asia 1; that's an allowed connection for North America-Asia 2 awards so OK.

4) Does the new routing fit an allowed routing for a published fare? In this case, JL publishes a MPM fare allowing travel on CX from HND-CGK, and while I didn't add up the mileage, DEN-PHX-SFO-HND-HKG-CGK seems to follow a reasonably normal path so should be OK.

Without digging into more obscure rules, this seems to pass the basic sanity check and would be an OK change so the answer to your first question is "yes" (in my humblest of opinions).

The answer to your second question also happens to be "yes" because there is a MPM fare from LAX-HKG allowing LAX-HND-HKG, but you cannot generalize the example; it would always require a sanity check of published fares between origin and destination.

hiima

I guess my question should have been, would it incur a change fee out redeposit fee?

jridge

The answer assumed that is what you meant. Since you have inverted the question, the answer to the quoted question is "no".

ScubaAddict

Ok - I just wanted to close out this discussion with the result.

1. I did have 2 Bookings at the same time - one ticketed and one hold - which is bad. I was told by the agent that had they both been entirely on American, the system would have cancelled 1 of them. Likely the hold, but possibly the ticketed portion oops! She was really surprised the system didn't cancel one of them.

2. Had to cancel the hold to see if it went back into inventory. The cathay portion showed up immediately. The JapanAir didn't come back in. Told to check back tomorrow to see if they put it back in.

3. Fees: I was told no fees except the difference in taxes which would be a few bucks. No re-issue fee or any other fees because the departure city (DEN) and arrival city (CGK) aren't changing. Only the difference in miles.

I will try later to see if the Japan leg gets repopulated.

Thank you everyone for helping with my questions!