Jan 31, 2016, 10:58 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
FAQ: Award changes after 21 March 2016 - which incur redeposit, which not
Award prices in miles are changing effective 22 Mar 2016. Many members have been asking which changes can be made on pre-existing awards on or after 22 Mar 2016 without requiring miles redeposit and issuance of new awards at the new prices - and we finally have some answers as given by the AA spokesperson through a timely article by Gary Leff and a char set c/o Smiley90 from here
Mile changes in absolute numbers (k)
Mile changes in percentage
Mile changes in percentage
First award change chart as of 22 Mar c/o Gary Leff
NOTE: 22 March 2026, several agents are saying what Gary Leff's quoted Ms. Nedbal stated, or parts of it, are not being honored.
According to Gary Leff (View from the Wing, Boarding Area, 31 Jan 2016), Laura Nedbal, spokesperson for AA, said:
Gary: "I sought further clarification and learned:
- You can change date and time without repricing the award, while keeping airlines and routing constant.
- You can change routing without repricing the award, while keeping the airlines constant, with a few caveats. Basically you cannot break the fare. You cannot add a stopover. You’re going to have to stick with a legal routing for the primary carrier on the itinerary.
- You can not change Origin or Destination, even within the same region, without causing reissue at the current award rates.
- You cannot change award types, which means you can’t go from American only to flying partners. You can’t go from extra mileage award to saver award without a redeposit of miles and re-issue."
This will require re-issue at the new rates.
Q. What if I change routing, but use the same origin, destination and airlines?
No problem, even changing connection cities and number of segments. Laura Nedbal: "Origin/dest stays same and since all carriers are oneworld there would be no charge to change carriers. Provided again, the same inventory/award as ticketed is available for change."
Q. What if I want to change from a oneworld airline such as QR to a non-oneworld partner such as EY, but keep the same origin and destination?
You will be required to redeposit the miles and secure new awards at the new rates if after 22 March.
Q. What if I want to change the award type (AAnytime to MileSAAver, MileSAAver to reduced miles, etc.), but keep the same origin and destination?
You will be required to redeposit the miles and secure new awards at the new rates if after 22 March.
Q. What if I want to change class of service and keep everything else the same?
You will be required to redeposit the miles and secure new awards at the new rates if after 22 March.
Q. Is there a limit to the number of times I can change my pre-22 Mar award booking?
Many/most flyers have reported no issues with multiple changes for pre-22 Mar award bookings. Some AA EP agents and at least one supervisor have stated the rule is only ONE VOLUNTARY CHANGE will be allowed to keep the award at the pre-22 March level. A second or subsequent voluntary change will require conversion to the new chart and "paying" more miles.
Q. What would it cost me to redeposit an award? Two or more awards?
Redepositing an award costs $150 (plus $25 for each other award secured with miles from the same account). These redeposit fees are waived if the account is that of an Executive Platinum AAdvantage member. Link to FT thread: AA award reinstatement / miles redeposit fees, issues, questions (consolidated)
If they are separate awards on different PNRs they may require $150 each.
Q. If I purchase an award by 22 March, how far out can I change the award (within the parameters given)?
An award must be used within one year of issue.
NOTE: Region changes
- Bolivia and Manaus, Brasil: changing from South America 2 to South America 1
- Venezuela: changing from South America 1 to South America 2
- Guam: changing from Asia 2 to South Pacific
- Sri Lanka: changing from Asia 2 to Indian Subcontinent/Middle East
- Kiribati, Palau, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu: added to South Pacific region
FAQ: Award changes 22 Mar 2016 - incl. which incur new mile amt, redeposit, which not
Feb 5, 2016, 1:15 pm
#76
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Feb 5, 2016, 1:54 pm
#77
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: KSTP KSPG
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Posts: 974
Add: I believe after 3/22, it will all depends on who you be talk to on the phone, some rep/managers can/will override the system, and some will not.
Last edited by teddy25; Feb 5, 2016 at 2:02 pm
Feb 7, 2016, 12:00 pm
#78
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 42
Need advice on an award itinerary HKG-JFK:
- Have a HKG-JFK ticketed in F, but a week before my preferred date
- No F on any CX or JL flights +/- 2 days from my date
- There is a HKG(JL)-HND(JL)-SFO(AA)-JFK routing available in F in between my ticketed date and preferred date, so I'm tempted to change it since it gets me closer to my preferred date. But would this create problems after the Mar 22 date, if/when a CX routing becomes available?
Thanks for any insights.
- Have a HKG-JFK ticketed in F, but a week before my preferred date
- No F on any CX or JL flights +/- 2 days from my date
- There is a HKG(JL)-HND(JL)-SFO(AA)-JFK routing available in F in between my ticketed date and preferred date, so I'm tempted to change it since it gets me closer to my preferred date. But would this create problems after the Mar 22 date, if/when a CX routing becomes available?
Thanks for any insights.
Feb 7, 2016, 12:05 pm
#79
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
Need advice on an award itinerary HKG-JFK:
- Have a HKG-JFK ticketed in F, but a week before my preferred date
- No F on any CX or JL flights +/- 2 days from my date
- There is a HKG(JL)-HND(JL)-SFO(AA)-JFK routing available in F in between my ticketed date and preferred date, so I'm tempted to change it since it gets me closer to my preferred date. But would this create problems after the Mar 22 date, if/when a CX routing becomes available?
Thanks for any insights.
- Have a HKG-JFK ticketed in F, but a week before my preferred date
- No F on any CX or JL flights +/- 2 days from my date
- There is a HKG(JL)-HND(JL)-SFO(AA)-JFK routing available in F in between my ticketed date and preferred date, so I'm tempted to change it since it gets me closer to my preferred date. But would this create problems after the Mar 22 date, if/when a CX routing becomes available?
Thanks for any insights.
Feb 7, 2016, 12:38 pm
#80
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They won't.
Dustclee, I would, based on what we know today _not_ make plans based on being able to make that change at this juncture. It's certainly possible, but there is no reliable guidance available internally at this point to give any kind of guarantee-- or even good guess-- when "straddling" the award chart change.
Dustclee, I would, based on what we know today _not_ make plans based on being able to make that change at this juncture. It's certainly possible, but there is no reliable guidance available internally at this point to give any kind of guarantee-- or even good guess-- when "straddling" the award chart change.
Feb 7, 2016, 7:34 pm
#81
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Cathay and EWR/JFK
Do we know yet if changing from one NYC airport to the other to/from HKG post-3/22 will be a re-price? It was asked in the comments section of Gary's post, and Gary said he'd look into it, but never answered.
Feb 7, 2016, 8:02 pm
#82
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Feb 7, 2016, 8:35 pm
#83
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Feb 7, 2016, 10:21 pm
#84
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Since it is not a free change, I would not count on such change not trigger a reprice.
Feb 7, 2016, 10:25 pm
#85
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Change origin is not free, and the fee is waived for EXP. Change from EWR to JFK is a change of origin. My understanding is, co-terminal does not apply to award ticket when the co-terminal is either Origin or Destination. The only time AA allows co-terminal I believe is when it is a connection point.
Since it is not a free change, I would not count on such change not trigger a reprice.
Since it is not a free change, I would not count on such change not trigger a reprice.
Feb 7, 2016, 11:52 pm
#86
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AA MM PP, MR LT Plat, Globalist
Posts: 1,004
Pay F, downgrade to 100% J award later?
I'm planning to book 1 J and 1 F on the same itinerary to maximize my chances of finding future award seats.
Say I book a CX F award with only the short-haul segment in F. Later, I find a 100% J itinerary on JAL (shorter flight time). -> Can I change award w/o fees? - I'm willing to lose the 12.5k miles if need be.
Say I book a CX F award with only the short-haul segment in F. Later, I find a 100% J itinerary on JAL (shorter flight time). -> Can I change award w/o fees? - I'm willing to lose the 12.5k miles if need be.
Feb 8, 2016, 5:10 am
#87
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I want to make sure that I understand origin rules correctly. I am looking at DCA-JFK-HKG-probably BKK or SIN trip (ill grab a seat on random fall 2016 date). I know AA generally never release any early evening DCA-JFK award seat (they usually release seats for midday flights and I prefer to take early evening flight to take advantage of CX's 0130 AM JFK-HKG leg).
Bottom line, I should purchase AA ticket for early evening flight to JFK, and treat JFK as origin for award flight?
Bottom line, I should purchase AA ticket for early evening flight to JFK, and treat JFK as origin for award flight?
Feb 16, 2016, 8:05 am
#88
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 21
Need some help here and a little confused as to my options.
Currently I'm booked for Apr 2016 for
BKK-HKG-PVG-ORD in F (using AA for PVG-ORD, CX the rest)
I was hoping to change this flight to
BKK-HKG-ORD in CX F
or BKK-HKG-NRT-ORD in JAL F
when/if it comes available
Is what I'm trying to do possible? And will it price ok when i try to make the change in April?
Currently I'm booked for Apr 2016 for
BKK-HKG-PVG-ORD in F (using AA for PVG-ORD, CX the rest)
I was hoping to change this flight to
BKK-HKG-ORD in CX F
or BKK-HKG-NRT-ORD in JAL F
when/if it comes available
Is what I'm trying to do possible? And will it price ok when i try to make the change in April?
Feb 16, 2016, 10:28 am
#89
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Need some help here and a little confused as to my options.
Currently I'm booked for Apr 2016 for
BKK-HKG-PVG-ORD in F (using AA for PVG-ORD, CX the rest)
I was hoping to change this flight to
BKK-HKG-ORD in CX F
or BKK-HKG-NRT-ORD in JAL F
when/if it comes available
Is what I'm trying to do possible? And will it price ok when i try to make the change in April?
Currently I'm booked for Apr 2016 for
BKK-HKG-PVG-ORD in F (using AA for PVG-ORD, CX the rest)
I was hoping to change this flight to
BKK-HKG-ORD in CX F
or BKK-HKG-NRT-ORD in JAL F
when/if it comes available
Is what I'm trying to do possible? And will it price ok when i try to make the change in April?
OTOH, if you made changes normally requiring miles redeposit, such as changing between oneworld and non-oneworld airlines, exchanging awards for a higher class of service (which currently requires miles redeposit but allows waived redeposit fee), etc. I would expect the new award would require the miles shown on the 22 March chart.
Last edited by JDiver; Feb 16, 2016 at 10:34 am
Feb 18, 2016, 1:19 pm
#90
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Just asking to make sure I understand everything correctly too
I'm AA Plat for what it's worth
I'm planning to fly YVR-ZRH in December but there's 0 availability on any routing.. (except for BA-only YVR-LHR-ZRH which has atrocious fees) so if I can't get anything before March 22 I wanna book & change.
If
So to leave myself open to as many carriers as possible I should try and avoid AA-only flights (as the only AA-flights to ZRH are ex-JFK and ex-PHL, while there are MANY more flights if I try and route through LHR), via BA LHR-ZRH
So I could try and book e.g.
YVR-DFW-LHR-ZRH (AA-AA-AA-BA), then change the dates for that while either
a) keep the same routing
b) change the routing (e.g. YVR-LAX-LHR-ZRH or even YVR-LAX-JFK-ZRH?)
Correct, neither should lead to a redeposit? And there is no fee associated either, correct? Just making sure everything's in order before I waste 150.-
and the only flight I CANT change to without redeposit would be CX YVR-JFK, since I didn't book that carrier before the change, correct?
I'm AA Plat for what it's worth
I'm planning to fly YVR-ZRH in December but there's 0 availability on any routing.. (except for BA-only YVR-LHR-ZRH which has atrocious fees) so if I can't get anything before March 22 I wanna book & change.
If
What if I change routing, but use the same origin, destination and airlines?
No problem, even changing connection cities and number of segments. Laura Nedbal: "Origin/dest stays same and since all carriers are oneworld there would be no charge to change carriers. Provided again, the same inventory/award as ticketed is available for change."
No problem, even changing connection cities and number of segments. Laura Nedbal: "Origin/dest stays same and since all carriers are oneworld there would be no charge to change carriers. Provided again, the same inventory/award as ticketed is available for change."
So I could try and book e.g.
YVR-DFW-LHR-ZRH (AA-AA-AA-BA), then change the dates for that while either
a) keep the same routing
b) change the routing (e.g. YVR-LAX-LHR-ZRH or even YVR-LAX-JFK-ZRH?)
Correct, neither should lead to a redeposit? And there is no fee associated either, correct? Just making sure everything's in order before I waste 150.-
and the only flight I CANT change to without redeposit would be CX YVR-JFK, since I didn't book that carrier before the change, correct?