I booked a flight SFO to LHR through AA with AA flight # but on BA aircraft. When I can check in online do I do that through my A.A app or BA app? I keep seats have been changed because they can’t check in online. Now I paid and already picked my seats in advance. Do I still need to check in online?

You need to be booked in full-fare premium economy to be able to upgrade your BA flights using AA miles. That means you need to be booked in W.

You'll check in with BA (either at the the airport or via the app). You might need to get the BA record locater, which you can do by calling AA.

Ah gotcha, makes sense.

Weird points discrepancy
 

Hi. I've been on a bunch of similar AA flights this year, and I've gotten wildly different amount of points/dollars, is there a reason for this, and is there a way to get the flight with the most points? so far it's been like this:

- in March, round trip from Buenos Aires (EZE) to SFO, 3.8k award miles, 13k EQMs, 1k EQDs
- in Apr, 1-way trip from EZE to SFO, 3.9k award miles, 6,6k EQMs, 880 EQDs
- In May, round trip from EZE to SFO, 15.8k award miles, 13.8 EQMs, 2.6k EQDs (on the last leg of this trip I was "Gold", so I got 2k bonus award miles)

Now, I'm about to buy tickets for end of Jun, same trip (round trip EZE to SFO), and the website tells me I'm getting around 1k EQDs, and I think 7k miles (I don't remember the exact numbers). Obviously I'd like to reproduce the numbers of the May trip, is there a reliable way to do that? I was always going EZE to SFO, but the connections were different, always 1 stop, either in LAX, MIA or DFW. Is that a factor? Or is it based on luck, or how busy it is, or what? I don't really care about the award miles (I still don't understand what I can spend them on exactly), but it'd be nice to get the next level after Gold quickly

Thanks!

Assuming these were all AA marketed flights, then the amount of award miles you receive is directly tied to how much you spend for the ticket. So for the May ticket, you received more award miles because your ticket was much more expensive ($2600) compared to your March ticket ($1000). You will also receive more award miles as your status increases. A GLD earns 7 award miles per dollar, once you hit PLT that goes to 8, and so on.

For EQM, this is directly tied to the amount of miles you fly and booking class. Most all economy flights earn 1x EQM per mile flown. So depending on the connection you take MIA, DFW, etc you will earn different amounts of EQM. If you take a longer route, you will earn more EQM. And certain higher fares like Prem Econ, Business, and First have EQM multipliers of 1.5x-3x depending on booking code.

It would be helpful to know your exact routings and how you booked the flights—that is, how were your flights marketed?

AA-marketed flights will earn EQDs and award miles based on how much your ticket costs. If your flights are marketed by partner airlines (like LATAM), then you will earn award miles and EQDs based on miles flown. EQMs are based on miles flown regardless of marketing carrier, but generally AA-marketed flights will earn more EQMs. Where it gets tricky is when your itinerary includes both AA-marketed and partner-marketed flights, at least in terms of calculating EQDs and award miles.

wow thats crazy. spirit is at the same terminal and has the same flight numbers all the time. definitely something to get used to. she had to have the 6 am flight to get to PHL.

Eh, that's 100% impossible to say unless you can provide more details or guidance on what flights (generally speaking) you would be looking to redeem miles for.

You don't need an AA credit card or even an AAdvantage account to search for award availability at aa.com. Why not try doing some dummy award searches now for the routes and times of year that might interest you? Note that award searches for certain AAdvantage partners -- such as Cathay Pacific and Japan Air Lines -- cannot be done at aa.com; use of some third-party site or a call to AA is required.

Using Miles
 

We are relative AA newbies: About 18 months ago, my wife and I collected enough award miles on a long J itinerary (our first flights on AA) to now use those miles to acquire international J award tickets booked through AA on HA.

When I called into HA to select our seats, I inquired about whether they had our correct full names on the tickets. The HA agent said they only had our first and last names, and could not add our middle names. They said to call AA.

I then called back to AA, and the agent said that all AA tickets only have first and last names, but that the identifying information given to TSA has our middle names. I thought about our previous AA itinerary, and we had no problem with those tickets, but heck, I can't recall if they had our middle names visible or not.

My questions to experienced AA travelers: Is this lack of a middle name on AA tickets routine, and are there any problems that we might rightfully anticipate using AA award tickets booked on HA without the middle names? Any advice?

Many thanks!

Middle names are not generally required on tickets. Full names are transmitted to carriers in separate, standardized Secure Flight (full name and DOB) or APIS (passport details) formats in the reservation record (PNR). There have been anecdotal reports of some Asian carriers having indigestion if the the ticketed name does not match your travel documents (CX is the only one I can seem to recall) , but if the APIS details are accurate and match your travel documents, you should not have an issue boarding your flight.

In the event first and last names ever differ from ticket to passport, however, definitely ensure the discrepancy is addressed well before your travel date.

Many thanks for your insights!

Only need 400 miles - easiest/cheapest way to get
 

I canceled my AA Citi card but need 400 points for a one way ticket. What is the easiest/cheapest way to get 400 more miles?

I think I can have someone/family transfer me points but the fee is quite high for that if I'm remembering correctly.

Thanks for your help.