clark_addison

I just asked for the Saver Award at the ExecPlat desk and the agent came back with exactly what I was seeing online, two weeks out from the departure date on the head.

Dial back in?

mikelat

I'd try again, but within 2 weeks you may have less luck than booking farther in advance.

abk

If you are looking for expanded availability at peak times, my experience is if you don't see it at first you will not find it later. If it were me I would grab the cheap tickets.

JY1024

Forgot to report back to this thread earlier. I needed to book a one-way BOS-SFO award ticket last week. Didn't see any T or Z inventory available via ExpertFlyer, but I figured I'd call the EXP desk to check.

I don't remember the exact wording she used, but upon initial check, the AAgent said there was no inventory, but tapped a few more buttons and told me something along the lines of "well, I was able to get the system to oversell one first class MileSAAver seat, so I can grab that one for you, but it wouldn't let me oversell a coach MileSAAver seat." (Again - I'm not completely certain of her wording, but I think that was the terminology she used.) So without have to call revenue management, it did seem like she had the ability to open up an extra seat for me (potentially because I'm EXP?). ^

sts603

Today got one U/Z seat for return from CUN to NYC (via ORD) on a very full (in Y) flight that was not available online.

BlissWorld

I've been calling a few times over the weekend to ask for upgrade availability using SWUs.

One agent initially told me there was nothing available when she first checked, then she corrected herself that she forgot to enter "my name" as she was looking so she asked for my date again. Voila, she found additional upgrade inventory after she did that

I ended up not booking that ticket, but called again to ask for availability for different routes. The two agents I asked told me there was no availability and she would have to waitlist me. When I called, I didn't have a reservation on hold, I just told them to check to see if there were spaces.

Five minutes later, I put the reservation on hold expecting it to be waitlisted and called back to request SWUs to be applied. The agent told me all legs were confirmed So there were upgrade spaces to begin with, despite the previous 2 agents telling me otherwise. Did they forget to look with "my name" (prob the EXP inventory) Do I always have to put a reservation on hold and then call to check?

JY1024

Just to add one more potential datapoint. I have a EXP friend who had been looking for MileSaaver inventory (T or Z) on a route to no avail for the last week.

Flight was selling in the higher coach fare buckets until ~T-12 hours to departure, where EF suddenly showed 7s straight across all the coach buckets (down to O). About 4 hours before departure, I was talking to my friend and suggested that he call up the EXP desk and see if RM would be willing to open up a T seat for him. When he called, it didn't seem like there was "expanded EXP availability" that the AAgent could see, but a quick call to the rate desk did result in one T seat being released for him. ^

As always, it pays to monitor EF and be proactive (and, of course, be polite and reasonable with the AAgents).

Microwave

Does anyone have recent experience with expanded availability TATL for this summer? My projected flying will put me over the EXP requalification hurdle already, and I have plenty of miles sitting around, but I can't find Z on hardly any flights (LHR is my destination), and was wondering if it'd be worth calling to see if there's any "hidden" space, or if I'd be wasting my time. Thanks!

aamilesslave

You should call, but there's a good chance you'll be wasting your time.

JY1024

A recent tangential conversation in this thread was moved over to the consolidated MileSAAver availability thread, as the discussion wasn't really about expanded award/upgrade availability for EXP customers.

Please help us keep our forum tidy by not going off-topic on tangential topics. (Your volunteer housekeepers thank you in advance! ) Thanks for everybody's help and cooperation! /Moderator

zphelj

Any recommended approach or language to use when requesting this? I've never had any luck and wonder if people who are succeeding approach the transaction differently than I do. For instance, do you call and give them a held PNR or have the agent look within a given time frame at multiple routings?

869

I have the best luck when I explicitly state that I have unsuccessfully looked for availability online but would like to see if there is anything that can be done under the stated benefit of expanded availability for EXP.

I do not know what they see on screen so I just try to be clear that there is nothing showing on aa.com and please look for whatever is needed under this benefit.

Xero

On this page: http://www.aa.com/pubcontent/en_US/d...ePlatinum3.jsp, which was sent out to explain our AA elite benefits, it talks about the Additional MileSAAver Availability.

The site mentions that this expanded availability is only available to the elite member and one companion. Is this a policy change? I thought it was available to anyone as long as the miles come from the EXP account.

What is the current policy? Thank you.

sukn

The EXP needs to be on the itinerary to qualify for the expanded availability. However, agents have been known to make an exception to the rule.

Xero

Perhaps AA is clamping down on. What's to stop from booking 2 tickets and canceling one later on?