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
Dec 13, 2016, 5:43 pm
#1321
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
My parents booked an award flight for January 2017 from LAX-NRT-TPE in AA F and JL J. At the time of booking early 2016, the AA flight was a 3-cabin plane. A few months ago, the plane was changed to 2 cabin so they were involuntarily downgraded to J. After a lengthy phone call, the miles refunded and they were charged the pre-devaluation cost.
At this point they're interested in just doing LAX-TPE in EVA J, but only if they can get the AA flights cancelled without fees. Normally it would be $175 + $25, but since this was an involuntary downgrade in class, would you expect AA to allow free cancellation? They have no status with AA.
At this point they're interested in just doing LAX-TPE in EVA J, but only if they can get the AA flights cancelled without fees. Normally it would be $175 + $25, but since this was an involuntary downgrade in class, would you expect AA to allow free cancellation? They have no status with AA.
Dec 13, 2016, 5:53 pm
#1322
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Oakland
Programs: AA Explat, UA former 1K + PremExec, DL
Posts: 1,151
My parents booked an award flight for January 2017 from LAX-NRT-TPE in AA F and JL J. At the time of booking early 2016, the AA flight was a 3-cabin plane. A few months ago, the plane was changed to 2 cabin so they were involuntarily downgraded to J. After a lengthy phone call, the miles refunded and they were charged the pre-devaluation cost.
At this point they're interested in just doing LAX-TPE in EVA J, but only if they can get the AA flights cancelled without fees. Normally it would be $175 + $25, but since this was an involuntary downgrade in class, would you expect AA to allow free cancellation? They have no status with AA.
DaveInLA is online now Alert a moderator to this post
At this point they're interested in just doing LAX-TPE in EVA J, but only if they can get the AA flights cancelled without fees. Normally it would be $175 + $25, but since this was an involuntary downgrade in class, would you expect AA to allow free cancellation? They have no status with AA.
DaveInLA is online now Alert a moderator to this post
Dec 14, 2016, 8:37 am
#1323
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 3,208
Just wanted to ask the same question as #1303, since I was also dinged with new taxes on a recent date change.
I had several award tickets, a few issued by AA and one by AS, with a segment originating in HKG.
I had to change the dates on all of the tickets. AS didn't charge me the new runway tax ex HKG while AA did.
The original reply to this query suggested that new taxes were appropriate since there was a reticketing.
However, as with the case of changes in fuel surcharges after the initial ticketing date, I thought your taxes and fees were usually locked in and wouldn't be repriced if you only made a simple date and/or time change (same carriers).
I should mention that before I was told new taxes would be added, I was told the ticket had to be repriced as well! Fortunately, a supervisor corrected the initial agent.
Any final word on this would be greatly appreciated.
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?
I had to change the dates on all of the tickets. AS didn't charge me the new runway tax ex HKG while AA did.
The original reply to this query suggested that new taxes were appropriate since there was a reticketing.
However, as with the case of changes in fuel surcharges after the initial ticketing date, I thought your taxes and fees were usually locked in and wouldn't be repriced if you only made a simple date and/or time change (same carriers).
I should mention that before I was told new taxes would be added, I was told the ticket had to be repriced as well! Fortunately, a supervisor corrected the initial agent.
Any final word on this would be greatly appreciated.
Dec 14, 2016, 9:18 am
#1324
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
Programs: DL 1 million, AA 1 mil, HH lapsed Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 28,190
U.S. DOT Passenger Protections of 2012 prohibit post-ticketing price increases but do allow for collection of increased government taxes and fees. Maybe AS is more charitable than AA. Maybe AS' system didn't catch it. Maybe an AS agent thought it was easier to override than to collect.
http://airconsumer.dot.gov/rules/EAPP_2_FAQ.pdf
Dec 16, 2016, 12:20 pm
#1325
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 181
My pre devaluation F award from jfk-hkg-mnl flight in J/F was downgraded to J/J when the hkg-mnl flight went 2 cabin from 3. The tpac flight is not likely to open another F seat, but how likely is it that I can convince a csr to refund the predeval F-J difference in miles? Sounds like it's been done before here, but is it harder with non AA metal? Good ways to phrase it? TIA
Dec 19, 2016, 9:21 pm
#1326
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 742
How do you know its not likely? Last 3 cx F trips i took seats opened t-3 (ord 2x jfk 1x). I would wait until it happens then later request a refund. if you get J/J, after the fact they would still likely refund the difference, as you didn't get F at F price. Total bait & switch if they wouldn't refund.
Dec 28, 2016, 6:45 pm
#1327
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: IAD
Posts: 735
If I accept voluntary downgrade a on a segment of my award and the higher cabin opens up later. Will this be a fee free change?
Dec 28, 2016, 11:40 pm
#1328
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K, Marriott Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,598
[COLOR="Navy"]See the current thread here, please.
Last edited by JDiver; Jan 5, 2019 at 6:41 pm Reason: Insert moderator note