Jan 5, 2019, 6:11 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
Voluntary Award Changes Questionsfor carrier, co-terminal, date, destination, add / drop a segment, origin, routing, cancellation AAnytime <-> MileSAAver and other changes
See the current thread here, please.
NOTE: For involuntary award changes (caused by the operating carriers), see Involuntary Award Changes / What To Do (merged threads).
Ordinarily, one must call to request or make changes to award tickets.
Award changes, ordinary
NOTE: More extensive listing of terms and conditions are listed in oneworld and other all partner awards rules, Information 2015 on
Award carrier, connection, date or routing changes: As long as origin and destination (but read on for exceptions such as first / last segment) remain the same, change / award redeposit fees are usually waived for awards under certain circumstances when date, connection, routing or carrier changes are made But:
Award cancellations can be by phone or online, but online cancellation requires separate action to reinstate the miles. Canceling online does not request or result in miles redeposit.
Award miles reinstatement: Redeposit fees are waived for Executive Platinum members. See here for more information on award miles reinstatement.
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes and fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Co-terminals: For award purposes, there are no co-terminals; changing co-terminal airports (MIA and FLL, PBI; JFK, LGA, EWR etc.) will incur a $150 change fee. See this thread for detail on award miles redeposit.
An award using AS, FJ, HA or TN to South Pacific (e.g. AKL, SYD) can not be changed to AA or QF without requiring award redeposit (or vice versa).
Dropping segments: Awards made on AA or / and "all partner" carriers will allow changes mentioned above without requiring redeposit fees. Instances of dropping an origin segment can be allowed, or a final segment - as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards); changing the mileage (miles required) of the award claimed or the number of awards claimed.
Segments can be dropped as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards). If you are refused, refer agents to the in-house memo/advisory dated 02/03/11 entitled "Dropping OWFA segments." (guv1976)
As JonNYC posted:
This document was current as of December 2014:
For permitted changes and fees, see this post in the airline partner award thread.
See TravelingBetter.com here and illustrations here.
If the award is AA and oneworld, changes may be made as long as the main / governing /Most Significant Carrier makes an unconstructed fare on the award routing and the governing fare's carrier is not changed to one not offering such a fare.
Close-in booking fee: Changes made to bring travel to under 21 days from award issue will incur close-in booking fees of $75.
Schedule changes: On international awards, schedule changes of two hours or longer, or those breaking connections by bringing them below MCT / minimum connection times, flight cancellations, generally may be cancelled and redeposited without fees, or engender greater flexibility in changes. With AA awards, it is possible award seating may be opened when there is none; with partners, AA can appeal to the Liaison to the partner to open seating in these cases (the partner airline may or may not grant the exception requested). Equipment change constitutes a schedule change and you will be able to get the fee waived pre this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
Partner changes: If the award includes non-oneworld partners such as AS, EY, FJ or TN, or a oneworld carrier award is changed to include a non-oneworld carrier, or vice versa, significant fees will be incurred ($150).
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes abd fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Changes that require different award type -
Changes to the itinerary which involve different AAdvantage award(s) than originally ticketed require a reinstatement of the original award ticket, payment of the applicable award reinstatement charge (see below), and a new award ticket issued (waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account). However, SAAver awards canceled for AAnytime awards, or changing to a higher class of service, will not incur redeposit fees.
Changes to your outbound travel date, resulting in a departure within 21 days -
Close-in booking fee: A $75 USD award processing charge will apply for a confirmed change to the date on an AAdvantage MileSAAver and AAnytime award ticket if the change results in a new outbound travel date that is within 21 days of the original booking date (waived for AAdvantage elite members using miles from their account).
Contact AAdvantage Reservations to change your itinerary, pay the applicable charge and have your ticket reissued prior to travel.
Canceling Awards / Reinstating Award Tickets
(Waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account)
Award class changes: MileSAAver to AAnytime changes generally incur no fees; conversely, AAnytime to MileSAAver awards generally will.
Award cabin class "upgrades" (e.g. Y to J): If the change made is an increase of miles to another cabin class, fees are not normally charged (but some government required fees such as UK Air Passenger Duty, airport passenger facility fees, etc. may change).
Redepositing awards incurs a fee of $150 other than for Executive Platinum members redepositing to their accounts. If two or more awards are being redeposited to the same account at the same time, the fees are $150 for the first award, $25 for every award thereafter. Note the awards do not have to share the same PNR, though some less knowledgeable agents will insist so.
Note: given a 120 hr / 5 day hold is offered, there is no right to “Free” cancellation (without redeposit) within 24 hours of securing the award. OTOH, mere date changes to a year from Booking are free of charge in most instances.
Please see: State of the award reinstatement fee (Nov 2015 - clarifying)
FAQ: Cancel award ticket / cancellation (time frame, taxes, etc.) (merged threads)
Link to 2012-2014 archive of older posts on this topic
See the current thread here, please.
NOTE: For involuntary award changes (caused by the operating carriers), see Involuntary Award Changes / What To Do (merged threads).
Ordinarily, one must call to request or make changes to award tickets.
Award changes, ordinary
NOTE: More extensive listing of terms and conditions are listed in oneworld and other all partner awards rules, Information 2015 on
Award carrier, connection, date or routing changes: As long as origin and destination (but read on for exceptions such as first / last segment) remain the same, change / award redeposit fees are usually waived for awards under certain circumstances when date, connection, routing or carrier changes are made But:
Airline / carrier changes incur no change or redeposit fees as long as you do not try to change between all AA oneworld airlines and non-oneworld airlines or vice versa.
E.g. an AA award such as SEA-HNL-SYD using AS can not be changed to use JL without requiring award redeposit. An award using AA LAX-HKG can be changed to JL via NRT or CX Without redeposit ing miles.
If Maximum Permitted Miles (usually 125% of the most direct available routing) for an award is exceeded, two awards may be charged
or
MSC fare requirements: The most significant or prevailing carrier, usually the one with the transoceanic sector, must offer an unconstructed fare between desired origin and destination; if a fare would require "married segments", two awards may be required.
Award validity: Awards must be used within one year of original booking. For travel beyond that, the award miles will have to be redeposited and new awards secured.E.g. an AA award such as SEA-HNL-SYD using AS can not be changed to use JL without requiring award redeposit. An award using AA LAX-HKG can be changed to JL via NRT or CX Without redeposit ing miles.
If Maximum Permitted Miles (usually 125% of the most direct available routing) for an award is exceeded, two awards may be charged
or
MSC fare requirements: The most significant or prevailing carrier, usually the one with the transoceanic sector, must offer an unconstructed fare between desired origin and destination; if a fare would require "married segments", two awards may be required.
Award cancellations can be by phone or online, but online cancellation requires separate action to reinstate the miles. Canceling online does not request or result in miles redeposit.
Award miles reinstatement: Redeposit fees are waived for Executive Platinum members. See here for more information on award miles reinstatement.
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes and fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Co-terminals: For award purposes, there are no co-terminals; changing co-terminal airports (MIA and FLL, PBI; JFK, LGA, EWR etc.) will incur a $150 change fee. See this thread for detail on award miles redeposit.
An award using AS, FJ, HA or TN to South Pacific (e.g. AKL, SYD) can not be changed to AA or QF without requiring award redeposit (or vice versa).
Dropping segments: Awards made on AA or / and "all partner" carriers will allow changes mentioned above without requiring redeposit fees. Instances of dropping an origin segment can be allowed, or a final segment - as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards); changing the mileage (miles required) of the award claimed or the number of awards claimed.
Segments can be dropped as long as doing so does not change the destination zone (or sub-zone, in the case of intra-North America awards). If you are refused, refer agents to the in-house memo/advisory dated 02/03/11 entitled "Dropping OWFA segments." (guv1976)
As JonNYC posted:
This document was current as of December 2014:
For permitted changes and fees, see this post in the airline partner award thread.
See TravelingBetter.com here and illustrations here.
If the award is AA and oneworld, changes may be made as long as the main / governing /Most Significant Carrier makes an unconstructed fare on the award routing and the governing fare's carrier is not changed to one not offering such a fare.
Close-in booking fee: Changes made to bring travel to under 21 days from award issue will incur close-in booking fees of $75.
Schedule changes: On international awards, schedule changes of two hours or longer, or those breaking connections by bringing them below MCT / minimum connection times, flight cancellations, generally may be cancelled and redeposited without fees, or engender greater flexibility in changes. With AA awards, it is possible award seating may be opened when there is none; with partners, AA can appeal to the Liaison to the partner to open seating in these cases (the partner airline may or may not grant the exception requested). Equipment change constitutes a schedule change and you will be able to get the fee waived pre this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
Partner changes: If the award includes non-oneworld partners such as AS, EY, FJ or TN, or a oneworld carrier award is changed to include a non-oneworld carrier, or vice versa, significant fees will be incurred ($150).
"Upgrading" class of service by using miles requires redepositing the original award and issuing a new one for the higher class if service. AA will waive the deposit fee on the redeposited award, and will not charge for this. (However, taxes may differ, such as going from the discounted U.K. Air Passenger Duty to the full APD if upgrading from Y / PE to J; if there are higher taxes abd fees imposed by the new fare, the passenger is charged for those.)
Changes that require different award type -
Changes to the itinerary which involve different AAdvantage award(s) than originally ticketed require a reinstatement of the original award ticket, payment of the applicable award reinstatement charge (see below), and a new award ticket issued (waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account). However, SAAver awards canceled for AAnytime awards, or changing to a higher class of service, will not incur redeposit fees.
Changes to your outbound travel date, resulting in a departure within 21 days -
Close-in booking fee: A $75 USD award processing charge will apply for a confirmed change to the date on an AAdvantage MileSAAver and AAnytime award ticket if the change results in a new outbound travel date that is within 21 days of the original booking date (waived for AAdvantage elite members using miles from their account).
Contact AAdvantage Reservations to change your itinerary, pay the applicable charge and have your ticket reissued prior to travel.
Canceling Awards / Reinstating Award Tickets
(Waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account)
Award class changes: MileSAAver to AAnytime changes generally incur no fees; conversely, AAnytime to MileSAAver awards generally will.
Award cabin class "upgrades" (e.g. Y to J): If the change made is an increase of miles to another cabin class, fees are not normally charged (but some government required fees such as UK Air Passenger Duty, airport passenger facility fees, etc. may change).
Redepositing awards incurs a fee of $150 other than for Executive Platinum members redepositing to their accounts. If two or more awards are being redeposited to the same account at the same time, the fees are $150 for the first award, $25 for every award thereafter. Note the awards do not have to share the same PNR, though some less knowledgeable agents will insist so.
Note: given a 120 hr / 5 day hold is offered, there is no right to “Free” cancellation (without redeposit) within 24 hours of securing the award. OTOH, mere date changes to a year from Booking are free of charge in most instances.
Please see: State of the award reinstatement fee (Nov 2015 - clarifying)
FAQ: Cancel award ticket / cancellation (time frame, taxes, etc.) (merged threads)
Link to 2012-2014 archive of older posts on this topic
ARCHIVE: 2015-16 Award change date change route all changes
Aug 10, 2016, 10:13 pm
#1186
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 394
There are saver awards available for CUR to DFW on 3/10 which is what the agents will likely see. However, upon investigating further there's only 1 available saver award without the overnight layover. In looking even further it seems the segment in issue is the MIA-DFW flight, as there's only 1 saver award for the evening on 3/10 on AA 1299 leaving MIA at 9:33pm. When searching for 2, 3 or 4 people that flight goes away and the only option is the 7:15am flight which is not an option
Aug 11, 2016, 6:12 am
#1187
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Gold, HH Diamond
Posts: 193
You shouldn't need to see availability on a segment you already have confirmed, only on segments you want to change to. If that's your concern, you must have had a bad AAgent. Option B is the best course of action, but there's no need to beg or hope anything reappears. You're just changing the itinerary, not canceling the award and rebooking. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding you.
That leaves me worried about doing it again for my return.
Aug 11, 2016, 6:14 am
#1188
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Gold, HH Diamond
Posts: 193
There are saver awards available for CUR to DFW on 3/10 which is what the agents will likely see. However, upon investigating further there's only 1 available saver award without the overnight layover. In looking even further it seems the segment in issue is the MIA-DFW flight, as there's only 1 saver award for the evening on 3/10 on AA 1299 leaving MIA at 9:33pm. When searching for 2, 3 or 4 people that flight goes away and the only option is the 7:15am flight which is not an option
Aug 11, 2016, 7:23 am
#1189
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,483
They were telling me leg 3 and leg4 were considered one segment. And they needed 4 seats on both legs to update my pnr. Seemed wierd to me, but they said if they "cancelled" my original segment it was not guaranteed that the 4 seats would come up on both legs of the segment. In the end they went for it said "oh you were lucky the other 4 seats came up".
That leaves me worried about doing it again for my return.
That leaves me worried about doing it again for my return.
Aug 11, 2016, 7:46 am
#1190
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: NYC,MIA,XFL
Programs: AA EXP, B6 Mosaic, DL PM
Posts: 863
Don't worry about that...you got a very poorly trained AAgent. It should be no problem to change one segment on an award itinerary without needing additional availability on the flight(s) you don't want to change. I've done similar changes oodles of times over the years. If it were to happen again, just HUACA.
Aug 11, 2016, 11:58 am
#1191
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Gold, HH Diamond
Posts: 193
thanks. the last few responses helped a lot. now i can just be on the look out for MIA-DFW, instead of all the legs.
Aug 15, 2016, 6:55 pm
#1192
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: ATL
Posts: 406
Issues adding QF segments to ticketed award?
Late last year, I snatched up an award SYD-DFW on QF. Now as we get closer to the travel date I thought I'd add domestic AU segments connecting to that flight (knowing I'd have to pay the change fee).
Twice now I've seen award inventory on LRE-BNE-SYD on both aa.com and qantas.com for base award purchase but when I call they aren't able to see this inventory. Are the websites wrong or the phone agents? Is there a special issue with adding these to existing segments?
Thanks for any help for this AAdvantage rookie!
Tim
Twice now I've seen award inventory on LRE-BNE-SYD on both aa.com and qantas.com for base award purchase but when I call they aren't able to see this inventory. Are the websites wrong or the phone agents? Is there a special issue with adding these to existing segments?
Thanks for any help for this AAdvantage rookie!
Tim
Aug 15, 2016, 8:21 pm
#1193
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,605
Since QF does not offer a LRE-DFW fare, evem if you manage to add the flights, I think you will be paying for 2 awards
It seems odd that agents are unable to see the availability though.
It seems odd that agents are unable to see the availability though.
Aug 17, 2016, 12:43 pm
#1194
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Largo, FL
Posts: 1,270
Can You Change Ticketed Award to Flights of an Award Reservation On Hold?
Can an award ticket be changed by an agent to the flights of an award reservation on a 5 day hold (itinerary origin/destination and award type are the same on both) without risking losing the seats on the held reservation?
Aug 17, 2016, 2:03 pm
#1195
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,605
No, you cannot merge them, though I suspect it may be possible to cancel the existing booking and use the issued award to pay for the new booking without having to pay the $150 mileage deposit fee
Aug 17, 2016, 7:40 pm
#1196
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,237
Aug 17, 2016, 9:28 pm
#1197
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: NYC,MIA,XFL
Programs: AA EXP, B6 Mosaic, DL PM
Posts: 863
I imagine one might have to beg. If they won't waive it, OP can decide if it's worth paying the $150 or risking cancelling the hold and hoping the seats go back into award inventory so the original ticket can be changed. If it's a CX F award, I'd pay the $150. If it's LGA-BOS in Y, I'd risk it...
Aug 18, 2016, 11:23 am
#1198
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,237
You may be right, but I'm pretty sure I've heard about instances when they have NOT put the seats back. Or they put them back, but only into their own inventory, not for AA/partners.
Aug 19, 2016, 5:06 am
#1199
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, SPG Plat, Marriott Silver, HH Gold
Posts: 797
Want to confirm with folks here--
Pre-deval CX award connecting through HKG, ticketed in March. I know there's the new HKD$180 airport tax that went into effect this summer... if we change the dates on an existing award ticket (no changes to class, routing, origin/destination), does this new airport tax get collected? Is it supposed to?
I'm asking because recently made a few changes to an award like this, and it was even exchange miles and no change in taxes/fees. Then on my last (and final change) agent insisted on $23.20 (which is ~HKD$180) add/collect. Tried HUCA, this time the agent came back with $17.30 or something. Decided to just f* it and pay the difference, not a lot of money but annoying nonetheless. What's the official word on this?
Pre-deval CX award connecting through HKG, ticketed in March. I know there's the new HKD$180 airport tax that went into effect this summer... if we change the dates on an existing award ticket (no changes to class, routing, origin/destination), does this new airport tax get collected? Is it supposed to?
I'm asking because recently made a few changes to an award like this, and it was even exchange miles and no change in taxes/fees. Then on my last (and final change) agent insisted on $23.20 (which is ~HKD$180) add/collect. Tried HUCA, this time the agent came back with $17.30 or something. Decided to just f* it and pay the difference, not a lot of money but annoying nonetheless. What's the official word on this?
Aug 19, 2016, 8:48 am
#1200
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
Want to confirm with folks here--
Pre-deval CX award connecting through HKG, ticketed in March. I know there's the new HKD$180 airport tax that went into effect this summer... if we change the dates on an existing award ticket (no changes to class, routing, origin/destination), does this new airport tax get collected? Is it supposed to?
I'm asking because recently made a few changes to an award like this, and it was even exchange miles and no change in taxes/fees. Then on my last (and final change) agent insisted on $23.20 (which is ~HKD$180) add/collect. Tried HUCA, this time the agent came back with $17.30 or something. Decided to just f* it and pay the difference, not a lot of money but annoying nonetheless. What's the official word on this?
Pre-deval CX award connecting through HKG, ticketed in March. I know there's the new HKD$180 airport tax that went into effect this summer... if we change the dates on an existing award ticket (no changes to class, routing, origin/destination), does this new airport tax get collected? Is it supposed to?
I'm asking because recently made a few changes to an award like this, and it was even exchange miles and no change in taxes/fees. Then on my last (and final change) agent insisted on $23.20 (which is ~HKD$180) add/collect. Tried HUCA, this time the agent came back with $17.30 or something. Decided to just f* it and pay the difference, not a lot of money but annoying nonetheless. What's the official word on this?