Hi

I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post. I recently transferred 4x60k Marriott points to AA for the recently expired 25% bonus promo. The points have posted but 2 of the 4 transactions do not have the 25% bonus. I called CS to which they said it's a known issue and to wait a week which sounded unconvincing. I couldn't discuss it with them in any detail as it has been done on my wife's account and she is away. What's best way to go about getting the lost miles? Anyone else had same problem?

I'm looking at some good J redemptions next summer to Europe from PHL on either a 767 or A330. The A330 requires an extra 2-3 hours of layover time. Is the A330 worth the extra couple hours in layover?

A330 has better seat. But any flight from PHL to Europe is kinda short anyway. I would pick a flight based on better schedule

The price dropped to $43 yesterday.

Using AA miles to book AS flights in the US
 

I understand that the partnership is ending in 2020, but in the meantime, when I search AA for award availability, selecting all airlines, I do not see any flight options for Alaska, which has the best routes where i am trying to fly (NYC to PSC) Dec 20/21/22. Is this something I would have to call about?

Don’t waste your money to buy McE for such a short flight. Price is dynamic tho and can go up or down based on demand.

If I book AAnytime award J tickets for 180K miles, and then sAAver award space later opens up (57.5K miles)...I'm trying to verify what fees I'm liable for if I change to sAAVer. I think it's $150 re-deposit fee, but no charge for the change itself (Assuming same exact itinerary)?

I originally had flexible dates for a trip to Europe next summer, but now my dates are inflexible. I think it's safer if I lock in an expensive award now and hope to swap it for the sAAver later.

The $150 covers cancellation and redeposit so there are no other fees as you are buying a fresh ticket. If you are lucky there will be a schedule change and you will get a waiver of the fee. You are then buying a new ticket at the sAAver rate. It will be safer if you have enough miles to lock in the new ticket first.

JAL flights would typically show up at 6PM Pacific time (10AM next day in Japan). The issue now is that JAL now release their schedule 360 days out, but AA won’t allow you to book until 331 days out, so FF from JAL, BA, Cathay can snag those reward seats before they eve show up on AA.

This year I wanted to fly to Singapore. I looked 360 days out on BA and QANTAS and saw 2 seats in F and 6 in J on Cathay for my desired dates, but was unable to use my AA miles. I saw those seats dwindle over the next few weeks and eventually all disappear before the AA booking window opened up.

Luckily, I knew I could route through NRT on JAL, so I was online at 6PM 331 days out for my outbound and inbound dates and snagged 2 seats in J for our trip. It’s going to be a lot harder to redeem on JAL these days unless they release more seats, which may not happen until just a few days out.

So I just became Gold and now can pre-book preferred seats (in blue). I also understand that at T-24 I can book MCE seats (green). However, I also see Blue seats with a little star on them that say "for elites". I am unable to pre-book these seats. Who are Elites? Apparently Gold is not considered that level... what level is it for?

How long for checkin?

Travelling to BZE from MIA on a UK passport in January in I, what is the opinion about how long to check in in advance of a 12.05 flight and leave time to sample the Admirals Club?

I am trying to work out whether to drive down from the Orlando area the night before or just do an early start! ( not a problem to do)

I will need to drop a hire car off at the airport first of course

Thanks

You should be able to book preferred seat with a star as a gold (otherwise you would not even see it as available). Any MCE seat will be bookable 24 hours before departure. Since you mentioned you just became gold I would wait 24-48 hours to ensure AA systems are updated with your new status.

Will you have bags and/or PreCheck? Flying in coach or business, and any status? And really depends how much time you want to spend in the AC, which is nothing special and certainly not worth arriving hours before you normally would just to hang out.

Without knowing the answers to the above, I'd probably shoot for a 10am arrival to MIA.

Also, from Orlando, personally I would never rent a car and drive down to MIA to catch a flight, just book a separate one-way MCO-MIA ticket, easily had for $50-$100. Either fly in the night before or first thing that morning. Much much easier than a 4 hr drive at 5am and having to deal with Miami traffic at rush hour and dropping off the rental car, etc.

yes, that did the trick. Within minutes after de-boarding the plane I was "gold" on my app and could book green seats. Weirdly, I couldn't book the blue seats with stars (for elite members). But I just went back and checked and now I can pre-book both.

What is the difference between preferred seats (green) and blue seats with stars? Why the delineation by AA?