Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > American Airlines | AAdvantage
Reload this Page >

"Economy Web Special" Award (dynamic price, fewer miles, more restrictions Oct 2018)

"Economy Web Special" Award (dynamic price, fewer miles, more restrictions Oct 2018)

Old Feb 12, 2019, 2:25 am
  #16  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA PLT
Posts: 666
Originally Posted by boboqui


Can an Economy Web Special award ticket be canceled within 24 hours of booking without penalty?
It can be canceled online within 24 hrs without penalty but I had to call in order to get the miles redeposited, didn't happen automatically.....
fishee is offline  
Old Feb 12, 2019, 4:36 am
  #17  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,361
Originally Posted by fishee
It can be canceled online within 24 hrs without penalty but I had to call in order to get the miles redeposited, didn't happen automatically.....
FYI this is the procedure with any award ticket, you must call to have the miles redeposited, it's not unique to these web special awards.
JJeffrey is offline  
Old Feb 20, 2019, 1:03 pm
  #18  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: BA
Posts: 953
Why are Economy Web Specials frequently more expensive than a regular MileSAAver award? I'm looking at GIG-JFK and I'm seeing Economy Web Specials for 42k... 64k... 81k... instead of the normal 30k.
wiivile is offline  
Old Mar 7, 2019, 7:26 pm
  #19  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: CLT
Programs: AA EXP; Avis PC; Hertz PC; Marriott LT Gold; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,122
Has anyone confirmed that EXPs can change/cancel a web special without penalty? Thanks!
HofstraJet is offline  
Old Mar 7, 2019, 8:46 pm
  #20  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Programs: UA Platinum MM; AA Gold; DL Silver; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Hilton Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 24,247
Originally Posted by HofstraJet
Has anyone confirmed that EXPs can change/cancel a web special without penalty? Thanks!
Yes, we can. I’ve cancelled and redeposited with no penalty.
HofstraJet likes this.
SAT Lawyer is offline  
Old Apr 3, 2019, 8:41 am
  #21  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: New York City + Vail, CO
Programs: American Airlines Executive Platinum, Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite
Posts: 3,215
Economy Web Special Miles Price Goes Up While on Hold

Not sure if anyone else experienced this, but I put an economy web special flight on hold for 5,000 miles, I just went in to ticket my reservation and it now says 10,000 miles. I did a double take. Went back and checked my hold confirmation e-mail and it did say 5,000 miles. Anyone else experience this?
donotblink is offline  
Old Apr 3, 2019, 9:27 am
  #22  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Roswell, GA
Programs: AA EXP 2.8m,Lifetime PLT, Hilton Diamond, IHG PlLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 3,191
Just call AA
let them know all the details
they should be able to sort it out
fotographer is offline  
Old Apr 3, 2019, 10:24 am
  #23  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: PWM/KBXM/BGR; Work: DCA/DFW/Everywhere; Play: LAS/MUC/MLE
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Ambassador/LTP, Nat'l Exec Elite, mlife Noir, LEYE Gold
Posts: 6,631
Originally Posted by fotographer
Just call AA
let them know all the details
they should be able to sort it out
or call AA web support or whatever it's called if the first AA call fails
platbrownguy is offline  
Old Apr 3, 2019, 8:58 pm
  #24  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHL
Programs: AA - Plat, HHonors - Diamond, IHG - Plat, Marriott - Gold, National - Exec, Amtrak - Select, NEXUS
Posts: 1,075
Yes, you are entitled to the price you put on hold, not the price today. Call AA. HUCA if the first agent doesn't/can't fix it.
pa3lsvt is offline  
Old Apr 4, 2019, 6:20 pm
  #25  
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 550
Probably too late to help the OP, but in case it comes up in a search:

This appears to be an AA IT bug. It seems to happen when the award is held into the next day (and perhaps only if there is no longer any award seats for sale at the same rate).

If you click through the first landing screen and go to pay for the flight, it then pulls up the correct mileage amount for the reservation and not the higher amount shown on the landing screen. That's what I have found anyway. I've never had to call in when this happens.
dc10forlife is offline  
Old Apr 5, 2019, 7:53 am
  #26  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: BA
Posts: 953
Are Economy Web Specials ("EWS") just a front for AA to experiment with variable award pricing and less permissive changes? AA currently has the most permissive change policy on awards and the least variable award pricing between the big 3 U.S. airlines. The EWS frequently cost more, sometimes much more, than SAAver space, and the prices fluctuate wildly. Not sure what is so "Special" about 68K-115K one-way in economy between GIG and JFK with no changes allowed.

wiivile is offline  
Old May 22, 2019, 11:24 am
  #27  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8
Is it possible to SDFC or standby with economy web special awards? "No changes" leads me to think that the answer is no, but it's not very clear.
ShadowRegent is offline  
Old May 24, 2019, 2:37 pm
  #28  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8
Originally Posted by ShadowRegent
Is it possible to SDFC or standby with economy web special awards? "No changes" leads me to think that the answer is no, but it's not very clear.
The answer is that standby is fine, but SDFC is not possible.
ShadowRegent is offline  
Old May 25, 2019, 12:37 am
  #29  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: TLV now - formerly LAS
Programs: King of Rental Cars, BA Gold, Virgin Gold, AA MM Gold, A3 Gold, SK Gold, Hotel SuperElite
Posts: 7,349
I had a Web Special schedule change whereby the arrival time was > 30 minutes than originally booked. Per schedule change policy, I was able to change my affected flight slightly while keeping the same routing.
Mrp Alert is offline  
Old May 29, 2019, 7:17 am
  #30  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 223
Economy Web Special: dynamic award pricing?


AA hasn't "officially" announced a move toward dynamic award pricing, but a quick search I did for a NYC-YYZ award makes it seem like this has already happened. The "economy Web specials" were originally marketed as a way to get cheap redemptions ("as low as 5k") but looks like we are seeing this shift to the inevitable... The "milesAAver" awards seem to be all but gone, only available on two dates (12.5k) in the below screenshot...

Have others seen this happen across more routes? Pretty disappointing if this is the direction this are headed.
asdf098 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.