Apr 25, 2018, 6:21 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
What we know now:
Must be booked through ANEX PTS (Platinum Travel Service) or AMEX
AMEX Platinum members can contact AMEX PTS (Platinum Travel Service) and secure both cheaper fares than AA offers (when available) and fares with waived change fees for some routings, using AMEX “insider fares”, paying the $39 PTS booking fee (and $39 for ticket reissue if you change your original itinerary).
“If you book an "insider fare" on amextravel.com and pay with your points you will get free changes on AA ($39 phone fee applies per passenger)”
“If you want to pay in cash you have to call to get the insider/private fares... some agents know how to do it, others don't. You will have to pay $39 per passenger if you book this way...”
“Also, if you apply an SWU or upg with miles on one of these fares it makes it very difficult to change. It becomes an AMEX vs AA battle and can be very frustrating as AA takes "control" of the ticket when the upgrade is applied yet they still defer to AMEX for changes and AMEX defers to AA.”
“AMEX Platinum Travel telephone agent today shared with me the magic code to mention to invoke the AA change-fee-waiver: F80O
said it applies to AA bookings made via both AMEX Platinum Travel telephone agents (Phoenix address on statement) and AMEXTravel.com for Plats (Chicago address on statement) bookings.”
What we don’t know
If this applies to a subset of AMEX cards or if we can find these easily online. Let’s add what we learn and fill in the blanks; looks like a great payoff.
Thanks to Airstat, Colin, kar don.
Must be booked through ANEX PTS (Platinum Travel Service) or AMEX
AMEX Platinum members can contact AMEX PTS (Platinum Travel Service) and secure both cheaper fares than AA offers (when available) and fares with waived change fees for some routings, using AMEX “insider fares”, paying the $39 PTS booking fee (and $39 for ticket reissue if you change your original itinerary).
“If you book an "insider fare" on amextravel.com and pay with your points you will get free changes on AA ($39 phone fee applies per passenger)”
“If you want to pay in cash you have to call to get the insider/private fares... some agents know how to do it, others don't. You will have to pay $39 per passenger if you book this way...”
“Also, if you apply an SWU or upg with miles on one of these fares it makes it very difficult to change. It becomes an AMEX vs AA battle and can be very frustrating as AA takes "control" of the ticket when the upgrade is applied yet they still defer to AMEX for changes and AMEX defers to AA.”
Updated Experience: Obviously not every situation may work out so well but I just had an itinerary on insider fare (pay with points) which had an SWU applied. When I called AMEX, they said hands were tied. When I called AA Ex Plat desk, they said they had to call "contracts" to make any changes. The Ex Plat agent handled everything, made the change I wanted. I had to pay fare difference only (no change fee and no booking fees at all) and he applied the SWU to the new reservation. This is the 2nd time I've been able to make a change in this way, without incurring any additional booking fees (the prior one AA said they'd have to charge $50 to "takeover" the reservation but ended up waiving it because of my Ex Plat status). --cphurley
AMEX Centurion members may be able to do this as well, without paying the fee.“AMEX Platinum Travel telephone agent today shared with me the magic code to mention to invoke the AA change-fee-waiver: F80O
said it applies to AA bookings made via both AMEX Platinum Travel telephone agents (Phoenix address on statement) and AMEXTravel.com for Plats (Chicago address on statement) bookings.”
I used this a couple of weeks ago. I called the AMEX Platinum Travel and inquired about a ticket to BGI in business it was $200 cheaper than the AA website. She told me they normally had cheaper fares than what AA was offering. She also said it was changeable I just had to pay the $39 reissue fee.
If this applies to a subset of AMEX cards or if we can find these easily online. Let’s add what we learn and fill in the blanks; looks like a great payoff.
Thanks to Airstat, Colin, kar don.
Waived AA Change Fees for Amex Card members booking F80O fare via AMEX
Jul 11, 2018, 12:06 pm
#46
Join Date: Dec 2012
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott & SPG Platinum, Hertz Platinum, Avis PC, Sixt Diamond
Posts: 27
Sep 21, 2018, 8:27 am
#47
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: ORD
Programs: AA ExPlat (2MM), Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 291
Adding a few recent experiences
1. I'd never heard of F80O but I had taken advantage of an ORD-BCN ticket booked via phone call which resulted in changeable/cancelable ticket. I ended up having to cancel and re-booked to something less expensive and received a hard-copy Miscallaneous Change Order (MCO) from AMEX for the remainder. That MCO had to be booked through AmexTravel by snail-mailing the MCO out to Amex team in AZ and then calling in to book... quite an annoying process but I was thankful for no change fees and able to use the value.
2. Recently had to make a change to LAX-ORD flight that had been the remnant of the above canceled ORD-BCN (which was booked on phone with agent using the MCO). They said it was $200 change fee and I pushed back; they got on the phone with AA and agreed to no change fee but AA had to take it over and said $50 fee. I inquired about waiving the $50 since I'm Ex Plat on AA and they agreed (not sure if this was a one-time concession or a policy).
3. Called up yesterday to try to change 2 separate tickets booked on AmexTravel.com with "pay with points"; one was the special "insider fare" the other was normal published fare. Amex agent said $200 change fee for both; no difference. I inquired about F80O and she said she was not aware of that specific code but "waiver codes" are generally only used in cases of injury/sickness/etc. (i.e. one-time special waivers). She was not aware of any "normal use" where a waiver code would result in no change fee on EITHER the public/published fare or the private/insider fare.
1. I'd never heard of F80O but I had taken advantage of an ORD-BCN ticket booked via phone call which resulted in changeable/cancelable ticket. I ended up having to cancel and re-booked to something less expensive and received a hard-copy Miscallaneous Change Order (MCO) from AMEX for the remainder. That MCO had to be booked through AmexTravel by snail-mailing the MCO out to Amex team in AZ and then calling in to book... quite an annoying process but I was thankful for no change fees and able to use the value.
2. Recently had to make a change to LAX-ORD flight that had been the remnant of the above canceled ORD-BCN (which was booked on phone with agent using the MCO). They said it was $200 change fee and I pushed back; they got on the phone with AA and agreed to no change fee but AA had to take it over and said $50 fee. I inquired about waiving the $50 since I'm Ex Plat on AA and they agreed (not sure if this was a one-time concession or a policy).
3. Called up yesterday to try to change 2 separate tickets booked on AmexTravel.com with "pay with points"; one was the special "insider fare" the other was normal published fare. Amex agent said $200 change fee for both; no difference. I inquired about F80O and she said she was not aware of that specific code but "waiver codes" are generally only used in cases of injury/sickness/etc. (i.e. one-time special waivers). She was not aware of any "normal use" where a waiver code would result in no change fee on EITHER the public/published fare or the private/insider fare.
Oct 22, 2018, 9:00 pm
#48
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EP
Posts: 107
Stumbled across this blog post from May talking about this: https://milestomemories.boardingarea...lines-flights/
Jun 27, 2019, 3:43 pm
#52
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EP
Posts: 107
Still having lots of problems with this. Amex never seems to be aware of this, and then often states they can only be purchased with Membership Rewards points. To my understanding this is an entirely different program - as a test I bought an Insider Fare with MR points for an AA flight. I got AA to reveal the entire fare basis to me, and it ended with the ticket designator /F801. Close to F80O, but not quite the same.
As long as I had the fare to play with, I asked AA EP desk what the restrictions were on it. At first she said it was fully restricted and subject to $200 change fee, then called her help desk and said it would merely be a $50 fee (as someone else said earlier in the thread) for AA to make the change, but Amex could make the change as well. I didn't have very much confidence so I cancelled while still within the 24 hour period, but Amex did suggest these were changeable and refundable afterwards. As long as I was researching, I asked AA on Twitter if they could share extra details about F801 at least. They said, surprisingly, it was fully restrictive and had no flexibility at all. When I pushed back, they said they conclusively checked with Tariffs and it was subject to $200. Guess if any change needs to be made, it should be done with Amex and not AA.……...
But, buying with MR isn't that interesting or useful to me. The real value (for me) is buying these flexible fares with cash. Nearly every time Amex has told me they don't know how to do this or that it's impossible. When I tried yesterday, I spoke with an agent who said she had actually seen updated communication that was released to Amex that very same day, 6/26. She read me the message and it didn't seem to have any changes from what I had known the program to be, perhaps it was a refresher or reminder since so many hadn't been aware of it. Hopefully this allows more agents to sell these instead of playing the endless HUCA game. The ticket designator hasn't changed either, still F80O.
Anyone else had any recent luck (or non luck) on this topic?
As long as I had the fare to play with, I asked AA EP desk what the restrictions were on it. At first she said it was fully restricted and subject to $200 change fee, then called her help desk and said it would merely be a $50 fee (as someone else said earlier in the thread) for AA to make the change, but Amex could make the change as well. I didn't have very much confidence so I cancelled while still within the 24 hour period, but Amex did suggest these were changeable and refundable afterwards. As long as I was researching, I asked AA on Twitter if they could share extra details about F801 at least. They said, surprisingly, it was fully restrictive and had no flexibility at all. When I pushed back, they said they conclusively checked with Tariffs and it was subject to $200. Guess if any change needs to be made, it should be done with Amex and not AA.……...
But, buying with MR isn't that interesting or useful to me. The real value (for me) is buying these flexible fares with cash. Nearly every time Amex has told me they don't know how to do this or that it's impossible. When I tried yesterday, I spoke with an agent who said she had actually seen updated communication that was released to Amex that very same day, 6/26. She read me the message and it didn't seem to have any changes from what I had known the program to be, perhaps it was a refresher or reminder since so many hadn't been aware of it. Hopefully this allows more agents to sell these instead of playing the endless HUCA game. The ticket designator hasn't changed either, still F80O.
Anyone else had any recent luck (or non luck) on this topic?
Jun 27, 2019, 6:14 pm
#53
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: New York City + Vail, CO
Programs: American Airlines Executive Platinum, Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite
Posts: 3,224
Still having lots of problems with this. Amex never seems to be aware of this, and then often states they can only be purchased with Membership Rewards points. To my understanding this is an entirely different program - as a test I bought an Insider Fare with MR points for an AA flight. I got AA to reveal the entire fare basis to me, and it ended with the ticket designator /F801. Close to F80O, but not quite the same.
As long as I had the fare to play with, I asked AA EP desk what the restrictions were on it. At first she said it was fully restricted and subject to $200 change fee, then called her help desk and said it would merely be a $50 fee (as someone else said earlier in the thread) for AA to make the change, but Amex could make the change as well. I didn't have very much confidence so I cancelled while still within the 24 hour period, but Amex did suggest these were changeable and refundable afterwards. As long as I was researching, I asked AA on Twitter if they could share extra details about F801 at least. They said, surprisingly, it was fully restrictive and had no flexibility at all. When I pushed back, they said they conclusively checked with Tariffs and it was subject to $200. Guess if any change needs to be made, it should be done with Amex and not AA.……...
But, buying with MR isn't that interesting or useful to me. The real value (for me) is buying these flexible fares with cash. Nearly every time Amex has told me they don't know how to do this or that it's impossible. When I tried yesterday, I spoke with an agent who said she had actually seen updated communication that was released to Amex that very same day, 6/26. She read me the message and it didn't seem to have any changes from what I had known the program to be, perhaps it was a refresher or reminder since so many hadn't been aware of it. Hopefully this allows more agents to sell these instead of playing the endless HUCA game. The ticket designator hasn't changed either, still F80O.
Anyone else had any recent luck (or non luck) on this topic?
As long as I had the fare to play with, I asked AA EP desk what the restrictions were on it. At first she said it was fully restricted and subject to $200 change fee, then called her help desk and said it would merely be a $50 fee (as someone else said earlier in the thread) for AA to make the change, but Amex could make the change as well. I didn't have very much confidence so I cancelled while still within the 24 hour period, but Amex did suggest these were changeable and refundable afterwards. As long as I was researching, I asked AA on Twitter if they could share extra details about F801 at least. They said, surprisingly, it was fully restrictive and had no flexibility at all. When I pushed back, they said they conclusively checked with Tariffs and it was subject to $200. Guess if any change needs to be made, it should be done with Amex and not AA.……...
But, buying with MR isn't that interesting or useful to me. The real value (for me) is buying these flexible fares with cash. Nearly every time Amex has told me they don't know how to do this or that it's impossible. When I tried yesterday, I spoke with an agent who said she had actually seen updated communication that was released to Amex that very same day, 6/26. She read me the message and it didn't seem to have any changes from what I had known the program to be, perhaps it was a refresher or reminder since so many hadn't been aware of it. Hopefully this allows more agents to sell these instead of playing the endless HUCA game. The ticket designator hasn't changed either, still F80O.
Anyone else had any recent luck (or non luck) on this topic?
Sep 14, 2019, 11:07 am
#54
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: California
Programs: AA EXP, lowly UA 1K; Hyatt Diamond, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold; National EC, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,214
More disappointment from AMEX from me. I don't get why they even show the dollar cost of these tickets if you can't book with dollars. It is exceptionally misleading.
Sep 14, 2019, 11:18 am
#55
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 6,540
F80O fares can absolutely be booked via a PTS agent using cash (AMEX statement charge) rather than points. By limiting self-service F80O bookings at AMEXTravel.com to full points only, AMEX is able to negotiate with AA to offer customer-friendly F80O program terms like 10% off deep-discount "I" fares and the waiver of all change-fees. AA would never agree to these terms if it F80O bookings became widespread.
Oct 15, 2019, 10:21 pm
#56
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: SFO
Programs: AS MVPG 75k, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Plat, Kenya Airways Gold
Posts: 224
I feel like I can't find these fares anywhere on amex travel's website... is there a special banner they get or something? Or are they only on certain routes/times of year? Cause I'm trying lots of wildly different itineraries and I cannot seem to find any
Nov 14, 2019, 2:21 pm
#57
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: stuck with AA in PHL
Posts: 112
no personal experience looking for pay-with-points flights, but i'm batting 100% on being able to book F80O with cash. just call Amex Plat Travel (easiest way is through "Contact Us" on bottom of their mobile app" - your personal info is pre-loaded to the phone agent) and say that you want to book F80O tickets on AA which have no AA change fees. it's been available on about a dozen different itins, domestic and international. $39 fee per ticket, per person. it is tempting to book roundtrips in order to avoid double-paying the fee, but remember, as with any R/T ticket, if you change the outbound you are going to lose your original fare on the whole ticket (so may owe an increase in fare on your return even if you don't change the flight). feel free to reply with any questions. there's decent info in the wiki and this thread. i wrote a potentially useful post at #30 . recent anecdote - i had success upgrading with 500-mi. stickers on one of these tickets, so F80O tickets are compatible with that program.
Nov 14, 2019, 3:53 pm
#58
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat; Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime Elite;Hyatt Globalist; HHonors Diamond; United Silver
Posts: 8,302
no personal experience looking for pay-with-points flights, but i'm batting 100% on being able to book F80O with cash. just call Amex Plat Travel (easiest way is through "Contact Us" on bottom of their mobile app" - your personal info is pre-loaded to the phone agent) and say that you want to book F80O tickets on AA which have no AA change fees. it's been available on about a dozen different itins, domestic and international. $39 fee per ticket, per person. it is tempting to book roundtrips in order to avoid double-paying the fee, but remember, as with any R/T ticket, if you change the outbound you are going to lose your original fare on the whole ticket (so may owe an increase in fare on your return even if you don't change the flight). feel free to reply with any questions. there's decent info in the wiki and this thread. i wrote a potentially useful post at #30 . recent anecdote - i had success upgrading with 500-mi. stickers on one of these tickets, so F80O tickets are compatible with that program.
Nov 14, 2019, 4:16 pm
#59
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: stuck with AA in PHL
Posts: 112
in my experience they are available on any Main Cabin, Biz or First fare, regardless of price (and you usually get 5-10% off, to boot). they do not seem to be available on Basic Economy Fares, again regardless of price. given that it costs $39 min. to book a ticket with Amex and $39 to change it, you would not want to use this program for a ticket that is very very cheap - with such a ticket, you'd be better off just discarding it and starting over from scratch.
Nov 23, 2019, 6:05 pm
#60
Join Date: May 2013
Location: LHR
Programs: AA EXP, DL DM, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,032
Are these only available for itineraries originating in the US (I still have my US Amex Plat)? I frequently fly back and forth from London, but my itineraries are usually bought as round trips originating here...