Jan 6, 2019, 2:14 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
ARCHIVE: 2017 HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability - Help, Assistance & Discussion
The current thread can be read here.
The current thread can be read here.
Some of you might have found your thread merged into this "consolidated" thread. If your desire is to become thoroughly familiar with the knowledge that has been accumulated about the process for acquiring MileSAAver awards feel free to read this entire thread. If you only want the assistance from those who have the knowledge your request has been merged at the end. Feel free to wait for a forthcoming answer.
If you have reached this thread by using the search process you have the same choices as above. Read the thread and become knowledgeable or post at the end and wait for a forthcoming answer.
thanks
~magic111
If you have reached this thread by using the search process you have the same choices as above. Read the thread and become knowledgeable or post at the end and wait for a forthcoming answer.
thanks
~magic111
NOTE: for more detailed fare rules, see AA oneworld & Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (master thd)
Awards can generally be held for five days; five day extensions require continued availability of your flights and generating a new award booking and five day hold.
Though AA can start releasing awards 331 days from the desired flight date (even though some other airlines might make award seats available to their members 355 days out), it’s very likely award seats may be released a few days after that. If seats aren’t sold and Revenue Management algorithms signify slow sales, more seats might be released going forward.
Airlines that can be booked for award travel on aa.com
oneworld alliance airline partners other airline partners
oneworld alliance airline partners
- AA - American Airlines
- BA - British Airways (awards incur significant YQ surcharge)
- AY - Finnair
- IB - Iberia
- QF - Qantas
- QR - Qatar Airways
- RJ - Royal Jordanian Airlines
- S7 - S7 Airlines
- UL - Sri Lankan Airlines
- 9K - Cape Air (but only certain cities)
- TN - Air Tahiti Nui
- AS - Alaska Airlines
- EY - Etihad
- HA - Hawaiian Airlines
All others must be requested by telephone; see Note below.
NOTE: To search for partner awards, go to advanced search from the awards search or home page and select all airlines.
Full list of oneworld airline partners (and their affiliates)
- AA - American Airlines
- BA - British Airways (Cityflyer, Comair, OpenSkies, Sun-Air of Scandinavia)
- CX - Cathay Pacific (Dragonair)
- AY -Finnair (Flybe)
- IB - Iberia (Air Nostrum, Iberia Express)
- JL - Japan Airlines (JAL Express, J-Air, Japan Transocean Air)
- LA- LAN Airlines (LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador, LAN Express, LAN Colombia, LAN Peru only, merging with JJ to LATAM)
- MH - Malaysia Airlines
- QF - Qantas Airways (QantasLink, Jetconnect)
- QR - Qatar Airways
- RJ - Royal Jordanian Airlines
- S7 - S7 Airlines (Globus) (excludes Siberia / far eastern Russia awards)
- UL - SriLankan Airlines
- JJ - TAM Airlines (merging with LA to LATAM)
When you do call, you might want to search for award space on the flights you want and tell the agent about those flights; sometimes AA agents won't find award seats unless they search by segment.
When using other airline web sites or tools to search for award availability, it’s best to do so by segment rather than by trip. E. g. BA May show availability SAN-LHR and LHR-AMS, but not SAN-AMS. And in some instances (EY, FJ, etc.) AA US may not see availability that AA Australia or New Zealand might see.
Full list of additional airline partners offering award redemptions
- TN - Air Tahiti Nui
- AS - Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air
- 9K - Cape Air
- EY - Etihad Airways
- FJ - Fiji Airways
- GF - Gulf Air
- HA - Hawaiian Airlines
NOTE: Ticketing charge
Effective February 16, 2015, a Reservations Ticketing Service Charge of $30.00 for domestic itineraries and $40.00 for international itineraries will be applied by AA Reservations when ticketing award reservations that can be booked on aa.com. The charge is waived for award reservations that cannot be booked on aa.com including reduced mileage awards, and for Executive Platinums. N.B. Executive Platinums booking award for non-EP will pay the service charges.
Code:
oneworld Partners Award Fare Codes First-Business-Economy -------------------------------------------------------- AA - American Airlines Z U T -------------------------------------------------------- AY – Finnair U X -------------------------------------------------------- BA – British Airways Z U X -------------------------------------------------------- CX – Cathay Pacific Z U T KA - DragonAir -------------------------------------------------------- IB – Iberia U X -------------------------------------------------------- JL – Japan Airlines (Intl) Z U T JL – Japan Airlines (Dom) Z D S -------------------------------------------------------- LATAM Group JJ - TAM Airlines O I X LA – LAN Chile Z U T XL - LAN Ecuador LP - LAN Peru 4M - LAN Argentina -------------------------------------------------------- MH - Malaysia Airlines P U X -------------------------------------------------------- QF - QANTAS Airways P U X -------------------------------------------------------- QR - Qatar Airways Z U X -------------------------------------------------------- RJ – Royal Jordanian U X -------------------------------------------------------- S7 – S7 Airlines U E -------------------------------------------------------- UL - SriLankan Airlines -------------------------------------------------------- Other Partners First Business Economy -------------------------------------------------------- FJ – Fiji Airways U X -------------------------------------------------------- TN – Air Tahiti Nui F for Business U for Economy -------------------------------------------------------- AS – Alaska Airlines A W -------------------------------------------------------- LY – El Al Israel P X E -------------------------------------------------------- EY - Etihad O I N -------------------------------------------------------- HA – Hawaiian Airlines D T --------------------------------------------------------
Other rules that may affect your awards:
Award Rules
American Airlines Awards are valid for travel on flights that are marketed and operated by AA (no codeshares). These awards can be booked online at AA.com.
oneworld and Other Airline awards are valid for travel on AA and any of its partner airlines, and can include travel on multiple partners. Many of these awards must be booked over the phone, and will not incur a Ticketing Service Charge (waived for EXPs in any case) if they cannot be booked online.
Up to four one-way awards can be booked on a single PNR. Codeshares are not bookable as Awards.
MPM or Maximum Permitted Miles: A Fare or award may not exceed the most direct routing by more than 25% (unless the fare routing includes a ticketed point deduction (essentially a miles allowance that extends MPM). See MPM / Maximum Permitted Mileage & Ticketed Point Deductions (merged threads).
Stopovers and Connections
Stopovers are no longer allowed on AA awards. Stopovers will require multiple awards.
Connections are limited to two connections / three flight segments for domestic awards, and three connections / four flight segments for international awards as of Aug 2017. Link
Domestic Connections must be under 4 hours for domestic flights, with some exceptions: "LIFO" (Last In - First Out connections are generally allowed.
Hawaii itinerary: Effective on 14 Jul 2014 on an all-AA-metal award itinerary, you now have up to 18 hours to connect when traveling to/from Hawaii. NOTE: Hawaii interisland connections must be separate awards and can not be included as part of a mainland-island award.
International Connections must generally not exceed 23:59 hours. Some leeway has occasionally been granted when connecting flights are not daily. If the itinerary includes an international flight, the rules for international connections apply. Link to these courtesy of JonNYC.
If there is a non-stop flight that departs after the 4h / 23h59m windows and arrives at the destination earlier than a connecting flight within the 4h / 23h59m window, the passenger may be booked on the non-stop flight. It may be difficult getting some agents to book this.
"Most Significant Carrier" rule: To price as a single award, AAdvantage requires the most significant carrier to publish a cash fare (non-constructed) between the origin and destination. Airline MSC (e.g. DFW-SFO-HKG-BKK, CX SFO-HKG is the prevailing or most significant carrier) would have to have a published fare from XXX to YYY that allows travel on all included airlines, and routing that you want. If the MSC only offers constructed fares between your desired origin and destination, AA will price this as two awards.
Constructed fares: Another rule disallows awards where the fare must be constructed (also referred to as "YY"): Using a partner, the trip will require two awards if the governing carrier (e,g. airline operating on the major route, such as transpacific carrier) doesn't publish a through fare that includes the award's proposed origin and destination that allows the carriers proposed.
See this thread about examples using TN.
Married Segment Logic - a prospective trip may be available when searching segment by segment, yet not be bookable through from origin to destination. When selling seats for through flights and the desired inventory is not available, you cannot opt to sell the flight point-to-point. If sold point-to-point, the error response MULTIPLE SEGMENTS FOR SAME FLIGHT - SELL AS ONE SEGMENT will be received, indicating this booking is not allowed. Overriding the error check by ending the PNR twice is not acceptable.
See Award with available segments not bookable? (Married Segment issues)
Award Rules
American Airlines Awards are valid for travel on flights that are marketed and operated by AA (no codeshares). These awards can be booked online at AA.com.
oneworld and Other Airline awards are valid for travel on AA and any of its partner airlines, and can include travel on multiple partners. Many of these awards must be booked over the phone, and will not incur a Ticketing Service Charge (waived for EXPs in any case) if they cannot be booked online.
Up to four one-way awards can be booked on a single PNR. Codeshares are not bookable as Awards.
MPM or Maximum Permitted Miles: A Fare or award may not exceed the most direct routing by more than 25% (unless the fare routing includes a ticketed point deduction (essentially a miles allowance that extends MPM). See MPM / Maximum Permitted Mileage & Ticketed Point Deductions (merged threads).
Stopovers and Connections
Stopovers are no longer allowed on AA awards. Stopovers will require multiple awards.
Connections are limited to two connections / three flight segments for domestic awards, and three connections / four flight segments for international awards as of Aug 2017. Link
Domestic Connections must be under 4 hours for domestic flights, with some exceptions: "LIFO" (Last In - First Out connections are generally allowed.
Hawaii itinerary: Effective on 14 Jul 2014 on an all-AA-metal award itinerary, you now have up to 18 hours to connect when traveling to/from Hawaii. NOTE: Hawaii interisland connections must be separate awards and can not be included as part of a mainland-island award.
International Connections must generally not exceed 23:59 hours. Some leeway has occasionally been granted when connecting flights are not daily. If the itinerary includes an international flight, the rules for international connections apply. Link to these courtesy of JonNYC.
If there is a non-stop flight that departs after the 4h / 23h59m windows and arrives at the destination earlier than a connecting flight within the 4h / 23h59m window, the passenger may be booked on the non-stop flight. It may be difficult getting some agents to book this.
"Most Significant Carrier" rule: To price as a single award, AAdvantage requires the most significant carrier to publish a cash fare (non-constructed) between the origin and destination. Airline MSC (e.g. DFW-SFO-HKG-BKK, CX SFO-HKG is the prevailing or most significant carrier) would have to have a published fare from XXX to YYY that allows travel on all included airlines, and routing that you want. If the MSC only offers constructed fares between your desired origin and destination, AA will price this as two awards.
Constructed fares: Another rule disallows awards where the fare must be constructed (also referred to as "YY"): Using a partner, the trip will require two awards if the governing carrier (e,g. airline operating on the major route, such as transpacific carrier) doesn't publish a through fare that includes the award's proposed origin and destination that allows the carriers proposed.
See this thread about examples using TN.
Married Segment Logic - a prospective trip may be available when searching segment by segment, yet not be bookable through from origin to destination. When selling seats for through flights and the desired inventory is not available, you cannot opt to sell the flight point-to-point. If sold point-to-point, the error response MULTIPLE SEGMENTS FOR SAME FLIGHT - SELL AS ONE SEGMENT will be received, indicating this booking is not allowed. Overriding the error check by ending the PNR twice is not acceptable.
See Award with available segments not bookable? (Married Segment issues)
Resources
Some airlines or areas have different, extra or special characteristics for securing awards. See
aa.com Basic (front page) vs Advanced Award Search Results (abbreviated results for front page search vs. Advanced award search)
AAdvantage awards to / from Australia, New Zealand link
AAdvantage awards to the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador link
AAdvantage awards on Air Tahiti Nui link
AAdvantage awards using British Airways incurring (avoiding) high fees link
AAdvantage award on Cathay Pacific (and Cathay Dragon) link
AAdvantage awards using Etihad Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Fiji Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Japan Airlines link
AAdvantage awards using Qantas Airways link
AAdvantage awards on S7 (Siberian) Airlines link
aa.com Basic (front page) vs Advanced Award Search Results (abbreviated results for front page search vs. Advanced award search)
AAdvantage awards to / from Australia, New Zealand link
AAdvantage awards to the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador link
AAdvantage awards on Air Tahiti Nui link
AAdvantage awards using British Airways incurring (avoiding) high fees link
AAdvantage award on Cathay Pacific (and Cathay Dragon) link
AAdvantage awards using Etihad Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Fiji Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Japan Airlines link
AAdvantage awards using Qantas Airways link
AAdvantage awards on S7 (Siberian) Airlines link
Awards assistance tools: Use at your own risk; may not be up to date. These are not recommendations.
- Check this oneworld interactive map and timetable by Innosked to see potential routes.
- British Airways Executive Club: You can sign up for British Airways Executive Club, Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank or Qantas Frequent Flyer to use their sites to find awards (look for the lowest level awards) you can't see on aa.com. BA in particular is prone to show "phantom" availability.
- Award booking services - list and reviews (FT thread)
- Award Nexus: It's easy to do your experiments for some free browsing (click "more signup options" under the green Purchase button to sign up with your FlyerTalk login info). You might want to run each segment rather than origin to destination.
...Award Nexus is free (up to a point) for FlyerTalk users. Click "more signup options" under the green Purchase button to sign up for free as a FlyerTalk member.
What I like about Award Nexus is it has a much nicer user interface than BA and lets you choose whether to search through BA and/or QF, and as you can see each of those may give somewhat different results.
The "cost" to do all these searches once was a total of 12 points, and you get 200 points free when you signup, and then every 90 days you can reload 100 more points for free (once you're below 10 points). So that gives an idea of how many searches could do free...
- AwardAce: Compare Award Redemptions Across Airlines In Seconds
- AwardHacker: "a tool we build to tell you how to travel with the least miles"
- Award Nexus: which can search availability but can't determine cost, with FT member free limited use
- Economical Excursionist's Tools: compare Frequent Flyer Mile Redemptions
- ExpertFlyer is a common tool used on FT. There is a $99.99 annual fee, monthly fee and five day trial
- Great Circle Mapper is useful for calculating distance and MPM (Maximum Permitted Mileage)
- You can try PEX+ (currently in beta), which will even tell you how many miles you'll need, though it draws data from aa.com and S7 so it can't reveal awards that can not be seen on those sites.
- Travel Codex Award Maximiser commercial blog
Also see:
aa.com Basic (front page) vs Advanced Award Search Results
Phantom / false AA award availability with AA partners (consolidated)
oneworld and Other Airline (Partner) Awards info, rules 2014 on
Help with British Airways / BA surcharge / YQ (AA award on BA, consolidated) (Awards using BA incur significant "YQ" surcharges.)
UK APD / Air Passenger Duty charged for UK departures[/quote] (Flights originating in the UK other than INV or BFS - or connections 24:00 or over - incur UK Air Passenger Duty excise taxes.)
MileSAAver / SAAver award reduction / scarcity >= Aug 2011 onward (consolidated)
Older posts from 2017 have been archived to: this archive thread
Older posts from 2016 have been archived to: this archive thread
Older posts through 2015 have been archived to: this archive thread
ARCHIVE: 2017 HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
Jan 24, 2017, 6:26 pm
#151
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA, UA, GE
Posts: 5,125
Have you considered doing co-terminal connection into either LGA or EWR? A moderate PITA as you have to collect your bags and make it from LGA or EWR to JFK and then check in at JFK. But I have done it on other airlines and it worked out (LGA-JFK). Just make sure you allow plenty of time (and allowing for flight delays).
You will then have a single AA ticket and can change to a more direct connection if space opens up.
You will then have a single AA ticket and can change to a more direct connection if space opens up.
Jan 24, 2017, 8:00 pm
#152
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Southern California
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 88
Okay, plan B. I have 134,000 Thank You Points. Would I be crazy to transfer them to Virgin Atlantic with the 25% transfer bonus and book award travel with VA on maybe Delta to avoid such high surcharges? Or I will pay surcharges in that range no matter what? It seems more valuable to book Travel through Thank You.Com using TYPs, but am I missing something?
Thank you very much for the collaboration.^
Jan 24, 2017, 8:03 pm
#153
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AA EXP, IHG Diamond, IC Amb
Posts: 5,515
Have you considered doing co-terminal connection into either LGA or EWR? A moderate PITA as you have to collect your bags and make it from LGA or EWR to JFK and then check in at JFK. But I have done it on other airlines and it worked out (LGA-JFK). Just make sure you allow plenty of time (and allowing for flight delays).
You will then have a single AA ticket and can change to a more direct connection if space opens up.
You will then have a single AA ticket and can change to a more direct connection if space opens up.
The Delta option gives me a 7hour layover and a backup nonstop that would give us a 2hr layover @ JFK. I am not worried about missing my JFK-MAD-IBZ flight and not being protected.
I like to live dangerously. lolThe question I am having is "is there any real chance AA will release TWO Saver Seats on a very specific nonstop PHX-JFK 8am SUnday morning flight in July....
All of my years of experience of flying OTHER carriers says "No." And I am not counting on AA releasing any of their own metal saver awards to EUrope in the summer. So, I am happy with this Iberia metal flight.
Jan 24, 2017, 8:15 pm
#154
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Arizona
Posts: 5,690
You are victim to the most recent AAdvantage devaluation that is not openly disclosed. I highly doubt you will get two F saver awards on AA and you will be luck if you get two economy saver awards. So plan on either one of your alternatives either buying or using miles on Delta I have done very similar actions for partner awards on AA. Yes in the old LUS days you could have inventory opened up for you but those days are gone with the new AA. Very frustrating. You fail to disclose that AA will reprice your entire trip to a AAnytime award for a crazy high mile price but they will.
Jan 24, 2017, 8:15 pm
#155
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,606
No, you are right. I went back to my AA account and it was only 60,000 miles required and $755.00 USD surcharges. I was hoping that I could absorb the surcharges by using AA miles for them. I was ignorantly under the impression, that was even possible and was not aware that surcharges was an "out-of-pocket" expense
Okay, plan B. I have 134,000 Thank You Points. Would I be crazy to transfer them to Virgin Atlantic with the 25% transfer bonus and book award travel with VA on maybe Delta to avoid such high surcharges? Or I will pay surcharges in that range no matter what? It seems more valuable to book Travel through Thank You.Com using TYPs, but am I missing something?
Thank you very much for the collaboration.^
Okay, plan B. I have 134,000 Thank You Points. Would I be crazy to transfer them to Virgin Atlantic with the 25% transfer bonus and book award travel with VA on maybe Delta to avoid such high surcharges? Or I will pay surcharges in that range no matter what? It seems more valuable to book Travel through Thank You.Com using TYPs, but am I missing something?
Thank you very much for the collaboration.^
Booking a cash ticket with TYPs might be your most economical option.
Jan 24, 2017, 8:22 pm
#156
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: USA
Programs: Chase Sapphire Reserve, WFBF
Posts: 1,573
No, you are right. I went back to my AA account and it was only 60,000 miles required and $755.00 USD surcharges. I was hoping that I could absorb the surcharges by using AA miles for them. I was ignorantly under the impression, that was even possible and was not aware that surcharges was an "out-of-pocket" expense
Okay, plan B. I have 134,000 Thank You Points. Would I be crazy to transfer them to Virgin Atlantic with the 25% transfer bonus and book award travel with VA on maybe Delta to avoid such high surcharges? Or I will pay surcharges in that range no matter what? It seems more valuable to book Travel through Thank You.Com using TYPs, but am I missing something?
Thank you very much for the collaboration.^
Okay, plan B. I have 134,000 Thank You Points. Would I be crazy to transfer them to Virgin Atlantic with the 25% transfer bonus and book award travel with VA on maybe Delta to avoid such high surcharges? Or I will pay surcharges in that range no matter what? It seems more valuable to book Travel through Thank You.Com using TYPs, but am I missing something?
Thank you very much for the collaboration.^
Jan 24, 2017, 9:00 pm
#157
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,240
But AA does seem to want to force people more and more into the AAnytime awards in premium class, even when the cabins have plenty of availability a day or two in advance, although I think those observations are mostly related to the high-profile ULH flights like DFW/LAX-HKG. Probably hard to say about JFK-PHX. I'd buy the DL flight as an insurance policy and keep an eye out for Saver first class opening on the AA flight (at which point you have to decide to hope for the DL upgrade, or write that ticket off and get the guaranteed J on AA.
Jan 24, 2017, 9:16 pm
#158
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AA EXP, IHG Diamond, IC Amb
Posts: 5,515
There is no AAnytime award on IB flights, so they can't reprice anything.
But AA does seem to want to force people more and more into the AAnytime awards in premium class, even when the cabins have plenty of availability a day or two in advance, although I think those observations are mostly related to the high-profile ULH flights like DFW/LAX-HKG. Probably hard to say about JFK-PHX. I'd buy the DL flight as an insurance policy and keep an eye out for Saver first class opening on the AA flight (at which point you have to decide to hope for the DL upgrade, or write that ticket off and get the guaranteed J on AA.
But AA does seem to want to force people more and more into the AAnytime awards in premium class, even when the cabins have plenty of availability a day or two in advance, although I think those observations are mostly related to the high-profile ULH flights like DFW/LAX-HKG. Probably hard to say about JFK-PHX. I'd buy the DL flight as an insurance policy and keep an eye out for Saver first class opening on the AA flight (at which point you have to decide to hope for the DL upgrade, or write that ticket off and get the guaranteed J on AA.
I went the safe route and booked the PHX-JFK Y Award with DL for their "low" amount. I have the EF alert set for the AA PHX-JFK flight in both Y and F Saver Awards....but I honestly don't count on them releasing 2 seats.
So I am not taking any real risk here....but I will also not be upgraded to FC on the DL PHX-JFK flight due to the award ticket for me and my girl.
Jan 25, 2017, 6:48 am
#159
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,475
OK, let me give this a shot. There is no way to get your friend to KBP on a purely OneWorld award ticket without incurring some fees from BA, particularly in a premium cabin.
That said, you can reduce them somewhat by flying AA across the water rather than BA. What dkc192 is saying (I believe, not having tried this myself_ is that if you book ORD-XXX (say CDG for instance) - LHR-KBP, you can minimize the BA fees, relative to ORD-LHR-KBP. Adding the CDG leg (in this instance) makes this a double connection.
The BA fees you pay even with a double connect may be greater than the cost of a nonstop FRA-KBP (on Lufthansa, paid economy) for instance, YMMV.
That said, you can reduce them somewhat by flying AA across the water rather than BA. What dkc192 is saying (I believe, not having tried this myself_ is that if you book ORD-XXX (say CDG for instance) - LHR-KBP, you can minimize the BA fees, relative to ORD-LHR-KBP. Adding the CDG leg (in this instance) makes this a double connection.
The BA fees you pay even with a double connect may be greater than the cost of a nonstop FRA-KBP (on Lufthansa, paid economy) for instance, YMMV.
Once you're in Europe, you can buy a separate revenue ticket for CDG or MXP (or whatever airport) to KBP, or, as I suggested, connect again through LHR on BA, for no extra miles but some amount of BA fees. The fees may well be more expensive than a revenue ticket, and you add an extra stop to your journey, but the upside is that everything is on one ticket (might be better in case of IRROPS) and you are eligible for BA "J" class on the short-haul legs, whatever that's worth to you.
Jan 25, 2017, 7:52 am
#160
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Southern California
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 88
Thank you again for your collaboration.
Jan 25, 2017, 7:55 am
#161
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Southern California
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 88
If your goal is to really to "get rid of" AA miles (as you said in the other post), and you are not flexible on dates, perhaps it's not a bad option book the 95,000 mile option I suggested (AAnytime outbound, sAAver inbound), where you would only pay $171. With pretty much any rewards currency, you will pay some taxes and charges. On Virgin Atlantic you will pay surcharges, though you may be able to book with Delta without a surcharge (although finding availability may be hard, since it is a partner award, and it may cost you a lot of miles).
Jan 25, 2017, 8:49 am
#162
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,606
Thank you for your replies. I really appreciate your detailed posts. Do I have to book the 95,000 mile option online? I never saw a 95,000 mile option departing LAX on American for June 2nd? And yes, I unchecked the BA (British Airways) box as you suggested. Your suggestion is definitely something I would leap on. ^
Jan 25, 2017, 1:56 pm
#163
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: USA
Programs: Chase Sapphire Reserve, WFBF
Posts: 1,573
Thank you for your replies. I really appreciate your detailed posts. Do I have to book the 95,000 mile option online? I never saw a 95,000 mile option departing LAX on American for June 2nd? And yes, I unchecked the BA (British Airways) box as you suggested. Your suggestion is definitely something I would leap on. ^
Click the green button marked "Economy AAnytime".
http://imgur.com/a/eXC8S
Then you will be able to select any of the AA flights on the outbound for 65,000 miles.
Once you have selected your outbound, go to the return. On the return, there are options on AA for 30,000 miles. Those options involve a connection in MIA-- which is not too bad, especially to get it for 30,000 instead of 65,000 miles.
http://imgur.com/a/9fMNJ
Once you have selected departure (at the AAnytime level) and return (at the milesAAver level), the total will be 65,000 + 30,000 = 95,000, plus taxes.
AAnytime awards are always available (unless the flight is completely sold out).
Jan 25, 2017, 4:06 pm
#164
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Southern California
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 88
Great, thank you for your assistance. I found what I was looking for.
Jan 25, 2017, 4:07 pm
#165
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Southern California
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 88
Search for roundtrip June 2nd to June 7th (these are the dates you gave us upthread). After you select the dates and move on to the screen with the flights, uncheck "British Airways". Now, it will say nothing is available (at the milesAAver level).
Click the green button marked "Economy AAnytime".
http://imgur.com/a/eXC8S
Then you will be able to select any of the AA flights on the outbound for 65,000 miles.
Once you have selected your outbound, go to the return. On the return, there are options on AA for 30,000 miles. Those options involve a connection in MIA-- which is not too bad, especially to get it for 30,000 instead of 65,000 miles.
http://imgur.com/a/9fMNJ
Once you have selected departure (at the AAnytime level) and return (at the milesAAver level), the total will be 65,000 + 30,000 = 95,000, plus taxes.
AAnytime awards are always available (unless the flight is completely sold out).
Click the green button marked "Economy AAnytime".
http://imgur.com/a/eXC8S
Then you will be able to select any of the AA flights on the outbound for 65,000 miles.
Once you have selected your outbound, go to the return. On the return, there are options on AA for 30,000 miles. Those options involve a connection in MIA-- which is not too bad, especially to get it for 30,000 instead of 65,000 miles.
http://imgur.com/a/9fMNJ
Once you have selected departure (at the AAnytime level) and return (at the milesAAver level), the total will be 65,000 + 30,000 = 95,000, plus taxes.
AAnytime awards are always available (unless the flight is completely sold out).