acarney

Meeting a friend in LA for a week of theme parks and I'm thinking of flying her home American Airlines (AA 238 - LAX to JFK) first class for 50,000 AA miles. Can I make award redemptions for someone else on AA? I haven't flown AA in years and haven't ever made an award flight using my miles but for someone else as the passenger...

If so, is this a decent amount for the redemption and a worthwhile hard product? It's one of their airbus flights with 10 F seats (five rows with 2 seats in each row). She honestly doesn't care really what class she's in, just her largest priority is a direct flight if possible. Was originally going to put her in biz class for 25k miles (seems like a steal) but I don't see any direct flights offered on Sat Oct 27th.

JJeffrey

Yes, you can make an award booking for someone else. Just enter their name in the passenger details section at aa.com and voila!

As to whether 50k is a good redemption for LAX-JFK, that's entirely subjective. The 321T F class is about as comfortable of a way as you can get to cross the country this side of a private jet, fully flat seat in a very spacious 1-1 layout with access to nice Flagship Lounges and Flagship Dining on both ends. That said, for essentially a 4.5-5 hr flight I wouldn't blow 50k on it (prefer to save those for Europe and Asia in J and F for not much more). Others will disagree.

acarney

That's kind of my thinking too.... but I've been "saving these miles for international J/F" for years and have yet to pull the trigger on something like that...

I wish I could find a direct flight that was kinda middle ground of 25k miles or ~$500 to $600 that was biz class, or a "standard" F seat (think Alaska style). I feel bad putting her in economy for a flight like that since I usually book F (but my flights are just up and down the west coast and the cost is usually less then $300 one way, makes it seem like a no brainer). I can't seem to find any direct flight from any of the New York airports into LAX or SNA that lands 10pm or later on Sunday October 21st and departs LAX or SNA direct to any New York airport Saturday October 27th 9am to 11am. Everything seems to be $1000+ one way for Biz/F with Alaska being the cheapest at ~$900 for the old Virgin America style F seat.

I can't push my dates around because of work schedules and the times can't move much either. Needs to land pretty late Sun 21st since I'll be busy doing stuff in LA that day but can swing by the airport about 10pm onwards without it affecting my plans. Departing I don't want it to be toooo early because the night before we'll be out doing a Halloween event till about midnight or 1 am and staying in the BUR area. I figure a 9am flight out of LAX or SNA is about as early as I want to push it when you factor in drive time from BUR and getting to the air port ~90+ min early but also still wanting SOME sleep. I HAVE to fly out of SNA later that day (rental car return) so I don't want to be running on 2 hours of sleep or something...

wetrat0

Whether 50K for F is a good deal or not is an individual decision, but FWIW the points guy values AA miles at 1.4 cents each (https://thepointsguy.com/guide/monthly-valuations/), which means that a 50k redemption would be the equivalent of ~$700. I would very happily book LAX-JFK F on the A321T for $700. Especially if this friend is not used to flying F, she will be seriously impressed.

YMMV of course. Obviously you can find better valuations out there but it's getting harder and harder.

JDiver

1) Flagship Checkin at LAX LINK

2) Flagship Dining at LAX LINK

3) A321T Flagship First Solo Suite (Zodiac Cirrus as used by the 777-323ER / 77W in Business) LINK). TPG says this is the most comfortable seat on AA (of all).


For the best seat, see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html.

acarney

Wow, that does look pretty nice... probably worth the 50k points....

Now what about $1299 for the JFK to LAX leg? The miles aren't worth it (no saver fare for that route) There isn't any F seats sold yet on a 9:30PM Sunday departure (12:44 AM Monday arrival at LAX) on an A321/32B. This is for October 21st. Think the price might dip a little more then that, or just to jump on it now because it's only going to go up?

(Not a single F or Biz seat sold, only a couple main cabin extra, but all "normal" main cabin seats are sold so far...)

JDiver

I doubt the price will dip.

If we’re talking the three class A321-200 transcon, please refer to it as “A321T”. “32B” merely means a LAA A321-200 with Sharklets, which includes the two class A321H ETOPS, A321S and the A321T.

acarney

platbrownguy

For Sunday 10/21 JFK-LAX, you should get the $1299 price while it's still available (or $1109 in J, but the $190 extra seems like a nice splurge)... it may well go up to $2299 at some point before long, and it never (and I really mean never) drops below $1249 on a Sunday. You can get $859 F on Saturdays only, but other than that, $1249/1299 is the going advance-purchase rate.

Keep in mind that if business is an option, one avenue might be to buy coach and do a mileage upgrade for $75 + 15,000 miles. You'd need to find "C" availability, which only exists on the 6 a.m. flight right now on 10/21.

For Saturday 10/27 LAX-JFK, you can buy F on four of the flights (including one at 10:30 a.m.) for the mentioned $859. So 50k isn't a terrible redemption, it's just not an aspirational one. You can also buy J on the 12:45 p.m. flight for $559, which I think is a steal. If your friend is not likely to use the flagship dining feature specifically on either end of the flight, she might be just as happy with J as with F.

acarney

platbrownguy

No C availability.

Meal is still a meal on these transcons, even after 8 p.m. Recent 9:30 p.m. Sunday flight JFK-LAX had the following as options in both J and F:

Pan Seared Crab Cakes
With jícama slaw and tomatillo poblano cream sauce

Vegetarian Cremini Bolognese
spaghetti squash, basil oil, shaved Parmesan

Thai Beef Salad
coconut-marinated rice noodles, cucumber salad

Not sure whether the rest of the meal is compressed into fewer trays but that's not the sort of thing that would be too noticeable anyhow.

The food at the lounge will still be much better than whatever is served onboard, especially at JFK. Even if in J, you might clue your friend into the "bridge" at the JFK lounge for a nice table-service meal pre-flight.

acarney

One more question on this, if I book her into F and she uses the flagship check in at JFK and/or LAX, is there any expedited security screening for her if she does not have TSA PreCheck? If so, will they specifically direct/escort her to it, or will she need to know to ask for help?

guv1976

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1. Yes -- as long as you have not already maxed out the rebate, which is capped at 10K rebated miles per year.

2. No. You merely have to be a cardholder to get the rebate.

acarney

I've never used the rebate before, like I said, I haven't flown AA in a long time, lol

platbrownguy

When she exits from flagship checkin she'll be at the front of the line (and she should get an escort to front of precheck)... and if memory serves right (I once flew this with someone who didn't have precheck) she'll still get to use the precheck lane even if she doesn't have it on her boarding pass, but that might not be SOP. Also you can never really predict what any employee at JFK will do but the AA flagship folks tend to be the best ones around there.