Last edit by: JDiver
The 2019 Newbie Lounge thread can be found here.
Q. How can I find information more easily than reading through all the threads? Now that I'm here, what do I do next?
Check out the following resources:
Searching can be key to finding important information and answers without waiting for someone to drop by and answer, and it helps prevent that information fragmentation. FlyerTalk Advanced Search can seem quirky to the infrequent user, but it's fairly powerful if one knows how to use it. There are several ways to search:
Forum basics: Now that the new AA has become by some measures "the world's largest airline", this new, combined has become a "mega-forum", very large, very active - and theoretically very difficult to find information and easy to lose one's place. Having to search for and sort through dozens - or more - of threads on baggage, airports, minimum connect times or the like could soon become unproductive and discouraging.
To prevent this from occurring, please note we try to:
Keep a few "sticky" threads: such as GUIDE posts, OSO / IROPS, etc. for urgent and quick reference, such as basic "where do I find" reasons
Keep threads to specific topics: Prevent information fragmentation and loss by consolidating questions, answers and discussion of one topic contained in one thread. (This also honors those members who have already shared valuable information and experiences.)
"Popular" threads are likely to have a Wikipost at the head that will summarize important information and have resource links. These are "community property", and as any wiki are established, maintained and updated by the members (with 90 days of tenure and 90 posts on FlyerTalk).
You may find your question or post merged into one of those threads. Be sure that we will leave a link behind from your original thread, and to look up to see if there's a wiki with information. We apologize for any possible inconvenience or difference between this forum and others, but we think you'll like some of the resources and tools here to enable more convenient, comfortable travel on AA and greater knowledge sharing.
Keep it welcoming: We're proud the members of both FFPs have kept the brickbats to a minimum; we want this forum to be welcoming, civil and information rich, so name calling (including calling a member one disagrees with "AApologist") and snark are not tolerated. Posts with such are likely to be summarily deleted in their entirety; repeated such behavior may result in suspension of one's membership privileges or being banned from this forum. Let's keep it friendly and in accordance with the FT Rules.
FlyerTalk Rules (We all agree to abide by these, and are held accountable.) NOTE: The 2016 AA NEWBIE LOUNGE post thread is here
NOTE: The 2017 AA NEWBIE LOUNGE post thread is here
Thanks for reading!
Welcome to the 2018 "NEWBIE LOUNGE"
Ask Your Consolidated / Combined AA Questions Here (flame free)
MODERATOR GUIDEPOST:
MODERATOR GUIDEPOST:
(This post can only be edited by moderators.)
Welcome to the Newbie Lounge!
Welcome to the Newbie Lounge!
Welcome to Flyertalk!
The Newbie Lounge is a place for newer and less experienced members to ask their questions about American Airlines and the AAdvantage program and have answered by our more experienced and knowledgeable members. Feel free to ask any question related to American Airlines and AAdvantage here.
NOTE: This is a "flame free" thread; flaming, personal criticism for "failing to search" etc. is not allowed (if posted, the post will be summarily deleted, the poster subject to sanctions).
Advanced questions posed by veteran FT users may be moved and / or merged into existing master or GUIDE threads, most of which have Wikiposts at the top of the page that contain summaries of important information.
We volunteer Moderators monitor this "lounge" thread to assist you as well. When browsing the fora, look at the page tops of the various forums. There will be a menu, and often "sticky" threads, and threads with header "wiki posts" (created and maintained by the FlyerTalk community) with important information relating to that forum / topic.
Don't hesitate to contact a moderator or another member if you have any additional questions. You can PM the Moderators by clicking on , which pops up a message box; the message goes to all this forum's Moderators. Note that unlike some sites with paid staff moderators, FlyerTalk Moderators are volunteers, and most work, travel, go on holiday, etc. You can Private Message us using the PM system (My Flyertalk) and our handles.
We're glad you've chosen to join the Flyertalk frequent flyer community!
Your American Airlines | AAdvantage Forum Moderation Team,
AZ Travels the World, aztimm, dstan, JDiver, JY1024, Microwave
(Our thanks to thread founder / "plank owner" HNL.)
The Newbie Lounge is a place for newer and less experienced members to ask their questions about American Airlines and the AAdvantage program and have answered by our more experienced and knowledgeable members. Feel free to ask any question related to American Airlines and AAdvantage here.
NOTE: This is a "flame free" thread; flaming, personal criticism for "failing to search" etc. is not allowed (if posted, the post will be summarily deleted, the poster subject to sanctions).
Advanced questions posed by veteran FT users may be moved and / or merged into existing master or GUIDE threads, most of which have Wikiposts at the top of the page that contain summaries of important information.
We volunteer Moderators monitor this "lounge" thread to assist you as well. When browsing the fora, look at the page tops of the various forums. There will be a menu, and often "sticky" threads, and threads with header "wiki posts" (created and maintained by the FlyerTalk community) with important information relating to that forum / topic.
Don't hesitate to contact a moderator or another member if you have any additional questions. You can PM the Moderators by clicking on , which pops up a message box; the message goes to all this forum's Moderators. Note that unlike some sites with paid staff moderators, FlyerTalk Moderators are volunteers, and most work, travel, go on holiday, etc. You can Private Message us using the PM system (My Flyertalk) and our handles.
We're glad you've chosen to join the Flyertalk frequent flyer community!
Your American Airlines | AAdvantage Forum Moderation Team,
AZ Travels the World, aztimm, dstan, JDiver, JY1024, Microwave
(Our thanks to thread founder / "plank owner" HNL.)
Check out the following resources:
- GUIDE: FT - AA Forum, LOUNGE DASHBOARD and OSO / IRROPS (Links to most important threads, "Help Desk" assistance threads, the thread with resources for off-schedule operations / irregular operations (including links to AA weather policy and tools), hub airport threads, AA lounge Dashboard for all lounges and lounge related issues.)
- FAQ: American Airlines and AAdvantage - Please check here first! (Our FAQ were originally written for the pre-merger AA forum, but there's still a lot of useful information there.)
- New and uncertain where to start here, and it's about American Airlines? Start in our "NEWBIE LOUNGE" thread, here: link.
- Do you have questions about other travel related issues that do not pertain to AA and are unsure where to start? Visit our Information Desk Forum here: U]link. [/U]
- Especially useful to new members: FAQs (How to post like a pro and more)
- The NEW FlyerTalk: Helpful Hints, Tips and Suggestions to Enhance Your Experience (Information Desk Forum)
- FlyerTalk Glossary (What is all this jargon?)
- Airport Code Guide (How do I decode an airport code / find one for a city?)
Searching can be key to finding important information and answers without waiting for someone to drop by and answer, and it helps prevent that information fragmentation. FlyerTalk Advanced Search can seem quirky to the infrequent user, but it's fairly powerful if one knows how to use it. There are several ways to search:
- Canarsie's Using the Search Feature on FlyerTalk: The Definitive Thread has relocated to the Information Desk Forum; it can be found there.
- One can search FlyerTalk with Google with this web form.
- Or, if you are used to Google search, use Google Advanced Search and insert www.flyertalk.com in the "site or domain" box.
Forum basics: Now that the new AA has become by some measures "the world's largest airline", this new, combined has become a "mega-forum", very large, very active - and theoretically very difficult to find information and easy to lose one's place. Having to search for and sort through dozens - or more - of threads on baggage, airports, minimum connect times or the like could soon become unproductive and discouraging.
To prevent this from occurring, please note we try to:
Keep a few "sticky" threads: such as GUIDE posts, OSO / IROPS, etc. for urgent and quick reference, such as basic "where do I find" reasons
Keep threads to specific topics: Prevent information fragmentation and loss by consolidating questions, answers and discussion of one topic contained in one thread. (This also honors those members who have already shared valuable information and experiences.)
"Popular" threads are likely to have a Wikipost at the head that will summarize important information and have resource links. These are "community property", and as any wiki are established, maintained and updated by the members (with 90 days of tenure and 90 posts on FlyerTalk).
You may find your question or post merged into one of those threads. Be sure that we will leave a link behind from your original thread, and to look up to see if there's a wiki with information. We apologize for any possible inconvenience or difference between this forum and others, but we think you'll like some of the resources and tools here to enable more convenient, comfortable travel on AA and greater knowledge sharing.
Keep it welcoming: We're proud the members of both FFPs have kept the brickbats to a minimum; we want this forum to be welcoming, civil and information rich, so name calling (including calling a member one disagrees with "AApologist") and snark are not tolerated. Posts with such are likely to be summarily deleted in their entirety; repeated such behavior may result in suspension of one's membership privileges or being banned from this forum. Let's keep it friendly and in accordance with the FT Rules.
FlyerTalk Rules (We all agree to abide by these, and are held accountable.)
NOTE: The 2017 AA NEWBIE LOUNGE post thread is here
Thanks for reading!
ARCHIVE: 2018 NEWBIE LOUNGE Ask Your "Newbie" AA Questions Here (flame free)
#1366
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 789
16 a and c recline and have lots of legroom. Only flight I have trouble with bathroom lines are LAX-LHR. For some reason these folks seem to use the bathroom about 4 or 5 times more than other places and they seem to use the bathroom at same time. Still 16 window and aisle seats are good for tall pax.
#1367
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: UK
Posts: 400
I have an award trip booked in October and the AA site is now allowing me to select MCE for free. They've previously shown as being available, but for a fee. Is this correct?
#1371
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: UK
Posts: 400
Thanks MADPhil. It's a 'T' economy award, so I thought it was a bit odd. I've selected them and I'll hope for the best - I was planning to pay for MCE anyway.
#1372
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: AMS
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK M&S Nobody
Posts: 2,481
Can I just check something on checked bags: I’m travelling with two non-status passengers in Y(N), was OWS when ticketed now OWE - does the three free bags apply to everyone on the reservation? Not that we’ll need that many, but want to be sure as we may need a good few.
#1373
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: MSN
Programs: AA, BAEC Gold
Posts: 3,933
As long as you are all on the same PNR you should all get the benefits.
#1374
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: NC
Programs: AA, Marriott/SPG, AMEX
Posts: 272
I'm new to this site but I booked 2 tix to Frankfurt, last week, using my account and my husband's (for each of our tix). I don't know if our status/flight class mattered. We do have different locator numbers (linked to each of our AA accounts) but they were able to link them internally for flight/seat/time changes. I confirmed that this had been added (after my initial request) when I called to have a missing flight (weather delay, no ticket#) added to my husbands account.
#1375
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: MSN
Programs: AA, BAEC Gold
Posts: 3,933
I'm new to this site but I booked 2 tix to Frankfurt, last week, using my account and my husband's (for each of our tix). I don't know if our status/flight class mattered. We do have different locator numbers (linked to each of our AA accounts) but they were able to link them internally for flight/seat/time changes. I confirmed that this had been added (after my initial request) when I called to have a missing flight (weather delay, no ticket#) added to my husbands account.
#1376
Join Date: Aug 2018
Programs: aadvantage
Posts: 1
Hi. First post! There is a promotion for Citi AAdvantage card. When I spend $7,500 in the first three months, I will earn 75,000 miles. Does that automatically make me a platinum pro AA member? I see there are a lot of dining and eshopping promos. If I only buy magazines (50/$) and some designer perfumes (6/$) from AA partners, will I be platinum executive within a few months without even flying??? Please advise.
#1377
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: MSN
Programs: AA, BAEC Gold
Posts: 3,933
Hi. First post! There is a promotion for Citi AAdvantage card. When I spend $7,500 in the first three months, I will earn 75,000 miles. Does that automatically make me a platinum pro AA member? I see there are a lot of dining and eshopping promos. If I only buy magazines (50/$) and some designer perfumes (6/$) from AA partners, will I be platinum executive within a few months without even flying??? Please advise.
ETA: welcome to Flyertalk. Stick around and you will learn more than you ever wanted to know
#1378
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: PHL
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, Owner of 2,000 TWA shares
Posts: 812
Hi. First post! There is a promotion for Citi AAdvantage card. When I spend $7,500 in the first three months, I will earn 75,000 miles. Does that automatically make me a platinum pro AA member? I see there are a lot of dining and eshopping promos. If I only buy magazines (50/$) and some designer perfumes (6/$) from AA partners, will I be platinum executive within a few months without even flying??? Please advise.
You'll receive 10,000 EQMs (status qualifying miles) if you have a spend of $40k. As stated above, the 75k miles you receive are only good for redeemables and not qualifying (tix,upgrades,Admirals Club, etc). In order to receive status you would need to hit a combination of 2 out of 3 qualifiers: EQMs,EQDs, or segments flown.
#1379
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 138
Just booked 5 milesaver tickets. Spouse is in the middle of a gold challenge and I was surprised to see his gold benefit of 50% off MCE applied to all of us on booking. Does it work the same way for checked bags? Will we all get one free bag or just him?
Thanks so much for all your your invaluable help!
Thanks so much for all your your invaluable help!
#1380
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: AA PLT, IHG Spire
Posts: 551
Just booked 5 milesaver tickets. Spouse is in the middle of a gold challenge and I was surprised to see his gold benefit of 50% off MCE applied to all of us on booking. Does it work the same way for checked bags? Will we all get one free bag or just him?
Thanks so much for all your your invaluable help!
Thanks so much for all your your invaluable help!
You get 1 free bag a person. I don't know if there is an upper limit on the number of people, I know one of the AA cards has a cap of 8 people for a free bag on the same itinerary. I would think you should get one each.