That's the same experience I've had with overnight stops on CO via IAH and KL via AMS. I just wanted to make sure AA wasn't particularly more aggressive. If not, then I think we'll go ahead and do this rebook.

Keep up the whole "medical" marijuana thing, and tht may not be too far off :D.

(and ten bucks says that someon will turn this thread into a debate over medical marijuana, if you think I'm crazy just do a search for the word "ghetto" over in the SPG forum ;))

Is it OK to skip a segment in paid/award ticket?
 

I am planning a trip by air Europe to JFK, then NYC to San Francisco by car, then by air San Francisco back to Europe (via JFK).
Can I just buy/get an award ticket Europe-JFK-SFO-JFK-Europe, and skip the JFK-SFO segment? Or do I have to tell AA in advance? Can this be approved?
Any info will be appreciated. Thanks.

Skipping a segment is a sure-fire way to get the remainder of your itinerary cancelled. And I'm quite sure that they won't give you the okay to do it on a paid ticket without repricing the ticket.

On an award ticket, I figure they would require you to ticket it as an open-jaw in the first place. (In other words, I don't believe any answer is as simple as "ask, and they'll say yes.")

Mike

Why not just book an open jaw: Europe to JFK/SFO to Europe ? That seems to be the easiest to me.

The only safe bet for missing a flight is if it is the last leg of the trip with no more travel after that (and you are not checking luggage).

Don't do it. You're ticket will cancel out.

Book an open jaw.

Have a great trip!

Do not skip a segment - do book an "open jaw" ticket, which is generally no problem, as olimaspecto has suggested (similar to my going to Europe and taking SFO-ORD-LHR-ATH <open jaw> IST-LHR-ORD-SFO.) "Skipping" a segment will result in cancellation of your remaining itinerary, and you do not want to take the bus back to Europe; I hear it is a very long and crowded trip. ;)

Thanks to those who answered my original question. I called Platinum Desk today and was told: no problem to book Open jaw Awards!!

Of course no problem. Open Jaw is allowed on all award travels (except for reduced mileage awards), Platinum or not.

Unfortunately you can't have two open jaws on award tickets, which can be a real pain.

For example, say I want my award ticket to Europe or Asia or whatever to depart LAX but return SAN because there were no award seats available SAN-LAX for the outbound. (This happens to me all the time, because AA is obsessively tight on award seats SAN-LAX and LAX-SAN.) Now I've used up my open jaw, and can't do an open jaw at my destination (Europe/Asia/whatever).

You can skip any segment you want, as long as it's the last segment in the itinerary. ;)

correct me if i'm wrong but i've heard that repeated skipping of the last segment to obtain lower "hidden city" fares will eventually be followed up by AA

or is this just an "urban legend"

It's not an urban legend, but you really have to make a habit of it if you want AA to notice.

Some airlines are/were notorious for following up on this; e.g. DL with their "fare enforcement unit" who would call all occurences of such travel. And you'd better have a good reason (like being sick and unable to fly) for the missed segment. AA seems to be moderate in their enforcement (so if you do it often enough, it will become a problem, starting with freezing and/or forfeiture of your Aadvantage account; how many is often enough is a trade secret but widely believed to be a number between 5 and 10 over a reporting period). The same goes for any other systemic fare rule violations.

thanks
how long is the 'reporting period'?