nort

I'm planning to book tickets on BA CW for myself and my wife. I have a ton of AA miles that I want to redeem for my toddlers. Is it possible to book AA award tickets on BA metal for two toddlers (under 5 years) if the parents have paid BA tickets? Will AA book the award tickets for just the toddlers without an adult on the same reservation, if I give them the BA PNR that has the adult tickets? Will they need to link the two PNRs somehow? Will BA need to do something in this situation - so that they don't cancel the award tickets? Thanks!

fotographer

Best thing to do is first see if BA will give you a AA record locator. (they usually do)
Call AA , let them know your BA info along with the AA record locator,
should not be a problem, just be prepared for some heavy taxes and fees

Andriyko

There won't be any AA PNRs for BA flights, unless they are booked via AA.

fotographer

you so right oops, but I have this year booked flights on BA, which involved AA flights and was able to get a PNR,
I think if the Op is not doing a direct flight to LHR, which will include at least leg on AA, the PNR could be issued?

nort

I'm planning to book from ORD - LHR - C3 on BA marketed/operated flights for parents, and want to redeem AA miles for the same flights for the kids.

nort

Thanks for the heads up about taxes and fees. Wow, the taxes and fees are outrageous. $2350 for two passengers round trip for a J redemption. I thought redeeming AA miles will have less taxes than BA Avios for the same flights, but turns out that's not the case.

In contrast, QR charges $97 in taxes and fees for two for a J redemption. I might just go with Qsuites instead of the BA J. What are they thinking?!

fotographer

Just wondering, have you already booked your tickets, might be better to see what AA wants for that route.
The taxes booking award travel on AA metal will be a lot less. (remember BA will always have high taxes expect on a thru fare.)

nort

I can't fly only AA metal because AA doesn't fly to my final destination in Asia. So, I have to fly AA (either my home city in the US to an AA/OW airport in the US, or on to a foreign OW hub) and then a OW airline to my final destination. So, I booked the ticket already.

Here are the details if it helps others in a similar situation:

1. Booked BA C1B- LHR - C3X roundtrip tickets in J for myself and spouse. Selected seats for free

2. Immediately called and redeemed AA miles for C1A (home) - C1B (AA Hub) - LHR - C3X for kids roundtrip in J. C1A - C1B is AA metal, and C1B - LHR - C3X is BA on the same flights as parents. Since parents' BA flight doesn't have a AA PNR, the AA agent had to use Sabre to link the kids redemption ticket to the parents BA paid ticket PNR. Took more than 72 hours for the redemption to be ticketed. It kept saying "On request" on AA until then.

3. Redeemed AA miles for C1A - C1B ticket for parents on AA metal.

4. Called BA as soon I I made the AA redemption to get seats for kids. BA said they can only do this after the redemption is ticketed. But I got verbal assurance from BAEC that the kids seat assignment will also be free of charge since they are linked to the parents PNR, and the parent has OWE (AA ExPlat) status. If they said there will be a charge for assigned seating, I would have cancelled the BA ticket since we were within the cool off period. I don't want to pay $95 x 2 kids x 4 BA segments = almost USD 800 for seating on top of the USD 2300 in taxes/fees I paid for the kids' award redemption.

5. After about 3 days, after the kids' redemption was ticketed, I called BAEC. The agent can see that the kids' BA PNR (from their AA award reservation) is linked to the parents' PNR. But they also need to link the parents' PNR to the kids' PNR so that they can assign seats for free using my OWE status. They went ahead and linked them in the 'other direction' and then I requested the vacant seats next to the parents to be assigned to the kids. BAEC agent said they can't assign the seat themselves for free, and had to submit a request to their backoffice team and said it will take 24-48 hours. I the kids' booking on line, and it wouldn't recognize the linked PNR's OWE status, so it still asked for extra money, so I didn't do it myself. About 48 hours after BAEC submitted the request, I found on MMB that the kids have been assigned seats next to parents (for free of course, since I have OWE status).

The idea is that as an AA Ex Plat, I can change/cancel parents (C1A - C1B) and kids award reservations for free if I find a better flight on a different OW carrier (with either better seats or low redemption fees). It's atrocious that BA charges $1350 fees per award ticket on top of the miles whereas their competitors charge $50 fees. It adds insult to the injury of inferior seats and food on BA club world. If I cancel the parents paid BA ticket, I'll lose about $500 for cancellation fees, but if I find a good deal on CX, QR or JL in J, that's a small price to pay. I might even try AY but they hardly ever have J award seats.I'll look at IB too.

Question - are the outragious BA fees on awards due to BA or the UK govt/LHR airport?

Mwenenzi

Both
Departures for adults from most UK airports have the APD based on class & distance. IIRC children do not pay the APD. Transits do not have the APD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty
AA award flights on BA have high carrier surcharges

mvoight

Yes, BOTH, but the carrier fees are outrageous.......... not because they are AA awards, but because of the BA surcharges.
They should make carrier charges on awards Illegal.

nort

In my case, the award flights are for children transiting in LHR. So the APD shouldn't apply. I guess it's just outrageous surcharges from BA.