ijgordon

Yeah, the last time I tried this, the agent was all like "I don't know what no DSR is". It on LGA-BOS, so I'm guessing an ex-US agent. Paid F on a summer T-storm day where there were lots of cancellations. Upgrade cleared anyway and there was even an empty F seat, which I was kicking myself for because I forgot to make sure my companion's upgrade request (from paid coach) carried over with the rebooking.

ashill

Not that long; 28 minutes wheels up to wheels down last time I did it. At off hours when congestion at SEA isn't an issue, AS schedules 30-35 minutes gate to gate (though they now pad that to an hour for most flights because SEA doesn't have the capacity to handle two hubs).

This is relevant if the flight is operated by AA, but I don't think it is for AS's waitlist at the gate. There may be different terminology that's relevant for AS.

hurnik

Hello.

Originally booked (2) First class tickets:
ALB -> DCA -> DFW -> OGG for travel on 2/1/18 (overnighting in DFW).
57.5k miles each ticket

I never got notice, but saw the posts about all the schedule changes. Sure enough.

They've changed the flights (2nd time already, but 1st time we still had first all the way through).

Now the flight leaves earlier (instead of at 5:50 p.m. it's now 5:05 p.m.) and is no longer first class from ALB to DCA.

Doesn't appear there are any First seats period on any night flights ALB to DCA any longer.

So my choices (as I see them):

1) Do nothing and "eat" the miles.
2) Try to see if I can piece together another itinerary and see if AA will let me change to that using the 57.5k miles (probably unlikely given how much trouble I have with AA and IRROPS)

3) Ask for mileage compensation? What would be "acceptable"? They'll probably say "tough", I'm sure.

Thanks!

AAExecPlatFlier

Simple. Call AA and ask if there are any other flights out of Albany that u can get F. This is involuntary so don’t let them say “but saver F is not avail”. If there is another flight/routing with F you should be accommodated on it.

I don’t know the Albany schedule, are there still any flights that Have F out of Albany?

Now, if there are no other options that have F. Or if the schedule doesn’t work, you are not due any miles back or compensation. My god it is a short flight. The rest of ur itinerary is in F! If u want to make a statement and kick and cry over not having F on alb dca then ask to be moved back to Y for the entire trip and have it repriced in points to Y

tylerc

Awesome - I love this thread is still kicking!

hurnik

Was there a more appropriate "award downgrade" thread to use?

hurnik

Yes, there's several other flights (ALB to ORD, ALB to CLT) with F.

Apparently you don't mind paying for F and getting Y. I don't.
(yes, it's an award ticket, but those are miles I flew and earned, so I don't much like purposely speccing out an itinerary for F and getting Y--even if it's partial/short).

AAExecPlatFlier

Good to hear there are still F options. Next step — call AA and re-route.

hurnik

So I had to do a HUCA. First agent said they couldn't redo the flight and keep the miles the same, so I said I'd think about it and called back.

Second rep was extremely helpful (her name was Caroline, I'll send in an email and let AA know she did a good job).

Not only did she understand what I was trying to do, but actually said that because I booked AAnytime (?) award, it was real easy to "swap".

She also noticed that my other flight (in January) had changed (again, no notification. I don't know why AA's IT team can't use the email/phone info I have on the reservations to call/text/whatever).

Their IT system had rebooked me so that I left my connection before I even arrived. Yeah.

So she fixed that for me (had to re-route completely).

On Delta, it seems that it's SOP that if you are downgraded on an Award ticket, and they can't adjust the schedule, that they will credit the difference in miles for the segment and usually throw in a voucher for goodwill.

dc9703

4 of us are traveling CUN-PHL-DFW on a Biz Award Saver ticket. Leg 1 is in Business on 332 . Leg 2 is currently in Economy . There appears to be only 3 Biz seats available on PHL-DFW flight. No other flights from PHL-DFW with 4 biz saver awards. SO do you think AA will allow me to keep 1 PNR, but place 3 people in biz and 1 in Econ? I'm trying to keep all 4 of us on one PNR in case of missed connections. I have status with american so in that case i would get to preference on replacement flights.

any other suggestions.

dc9703

Follow up:

Called AA and the only advice i got was split into two PNR. Now i have 3 people all in Biz, and 1 person in Biz/Coach. I'll keep watching to see if ione more biz award comes through in the next few months.

deeruck

That's rough. You've got someone in your party who has to fly PHL-DFW in coach, which is further than just flying CUN-DFW. Is a flat bed to PHL worth it?

AlreadyThere

I booked an international F saver award, with the last return leg going DFW-LGA. At the time I booked it, that last segment was not available in First Saver class, so I was confirmed in Economy Saver and waitlisted for First. The waitlist never cleared, so once I checked in for the flights, I was on standby for F for that last leg.

When I arrived at DFW and went to the gate, the agent told me there was one F seat available, and they would give it to me when they cleared standbys. I waited: nothing. Finally, I went back to the counter, where I was told, they had just noticed I was traveling on an award ticket, so I wasn't getting that seat. It went instead as a complimentary upgrade to someone's paid economy ticket.

Naturally, I wouldn't have minded missing out if someone had paid for that last F seat. But shouldn't I, with my F ticket (however I got it), have dibs on that unsold F seat over a coach ticket holder?

iadisgreat

I *think* you should have gotten that seat as you were ticketed in a lower cabin than for which you had paid. This same thing happened to me once and I showed as first on the standby list and got the last F seat despite a long list of upgraders. It all depends on how the agent coded you. If I recall, the code on my BP said Z (this was 2016 before the domestic fare code changes), so I don't know if the GA got Z opened and put me in the seat or if the system was smart enough to know.

Also, FYI, there is no waitlisting awards on AA, so you were never going to clear prior to flying without calling in when there was availability.

Centurion

You need to find the thread about this topic. AA devalued First Saver Awards a while back with this exact issue. There are plenty of AA First Class saver passengers who are flying domestic economy to connect to a First class over the water international flight now. It really stinks.