Kate2015

Last month I booked a non-status family member an milesaaver award with my miles, was supposed to depart today, but we needed to change the date. I called the EXP desk and heard the long hold time , so I decided to just head to the airport and do it there. There were four agents working (small airport) and each one agreed they couldn't change an award ticket without the "normal $200 change fee", and if I wanted an "exception" to that, I'd have to contact AA on the phone. I asked if they could just cancel the ticket and rebook, but they said they couldn't do that either. One agent called a number and talked to another employee - not sure who - who said the same thing. I asked what happened if I was still on hold when the flight departed, and they actually looked at me and shrugged.

So, can airport agents not change award tickets? And if they can't, and the reservation hold times were running into the departure time, how should I have handed this? Is it true my only option is to sit on hold with reservations for 3+ hours? I did finally manage to get through to the EXP desk and they took care of it in less than 2 minutes, but overall it took much longer than just driving to the airport.

ThreeJulietTango

They can and they can't. They can't do it by themselves and have to call in to get the exchange set up. At a smaller station, the agents may not be familiar with the logistics of it all because they may not see it very often, if at all.