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 21, 2017, 10:05 am
#106
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: STL
Programs: AA PLT, *Wood PLT, HHonors Gold
Posts: 157
Used BA website
To search all availability, including JL and CX, use the British Airways site. Sign up for an account and then you can search awards very easily.
Just make sure to search by segment, say ORD-HKG or NRT.
Welcome to FT btw.
Just make sure to search by segment, say ORD-HKG or NRT.
Welcome to FT btw.
Jan 21, 2017, 10:17 am
#107
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
Programs: Marriott Ambassador; AA EXP 3MM; AS MVP, Hilton Gold, CH-47/UH-60/C-23/C-130 VET
Posts: 5,234
OP ... you'll have to be creative and look at different options, and certainly more than one stop considering you're at BDL. Flying out of NYC could be a little easier but will still require creativity. As suggested above, looking through the BA site may help you identify something that is available and then call AA to book.
And noting that you want to fly on December 23, I suspect there may not be any award availability.
And noting that you want to fly on December 23, I suspect there may not be any award availability.
Jan 21, 2017, 10:37 am
#108
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 5,913
Start with checking CX/JL availability at U.S. gateway airports (JFK/BOS/LAX/ORD/LAX/SFO/SAN/DFW). Don't rule out possibility of NRT/HND connection (or vice versa). Don't worry yet about the BDL domestic segments (those will either open later or you can purchase a segment to the gateway airport). As other have mentioned, search using BA website not AA.com. Locking in the long haul segments once within the award booking window should be your top priority.
-FlyerBeek
-FlyerBeek
Jan 21, 2017, 10:52 am
#109
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: American United
Posts: 5
Start with checking CX/JL availability at U.S. gateway airports (JFK/BOS/LAX/ORD/LAX/SFO/SAN/DFW). Don't rule out possibility of NRT/HND connection (or vice versa). Don't worry yet about the BDL domestic segments (those will either open later or you can purchase a segment to the gateway airport). As other have mentioned, search using BA website not AA.com. Locking in the long haul segments once within the award booking window should be your top priority.
-FlyerBeek
-FlyerBeek
Thank you for being patient with me, so I sign up to be a BA member? Then I search for BA awards? I knew I had to get ready as awards will open up in a week or so. I don't mind purchasing a ticket to the other gateway that is not an issue I just hate having all these miles sitting here and having to pay out 6k per ticket.
Jan 21, 2017, 10:58 am
#110
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 5,913
Jan 21, 2017, 1:28 pm
#111
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
I have over 230k AA miles and need to fly business or first (2 people) to Bangkok from Hartford on Dec 23, 2017. I will be returning from Yangon in January and will either buy my ticket or use United miles for that later on.
When I started my research today in advance of purchasing next week when seats will open up I could not find any availability at all in November on AA.
United has plenty. Am I doing something wrong? I have never had a problem finding biz class to Europe.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
When I started my research today in advance of purchasing next week when seats will open up I could not find any availability at all in November on AA.
United has plenty. Am I doing something wrong? I have never had a problem finding biz class to Europe.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Please read the extensive Wikipost, which has a lot of useful tips shared by other members.
/Moderator
Jan 21, 2017, 5:58 pm
#112
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 19
Here's a decent link that sums up OneWorld hub cities and TATL routes. I didn't write it, and it's now slightly outdated, but I've still found it really useful: http://www.thepointsjetsetter.com/ho...d-redemptions/
The easiest way to know what plane a certain route is using is to search on aa.com or ExpertFlyer. On aa.com, you can click on 'flight details' of any flight that comes up and see the aircraft.
All of that being said, saaver availability in business class for 2 is really really sparse all year, but especially during the summer months. Looking on ExpertFlyer, there are just a handful of summer dates in which I'm seeing routes with 2 business class seats available. The TATL routes on which you'll find seats are JFK-LHR (763), JFK-MAN (763), ORD-MAN (763). The refurbished 763s are totally fine, though not as nice as 777-300ER or 789. Unfortunately, your odds of finding saaver availability on those planes is virtually nil. You can also find availability on some dates with Iberia, particularly on the JFK-MAD and ORD-MAD routes. You have to use ba.com, ExpertFlyer, or Qantas to find those seats, and then call in to AA to ticket. You're unlikely to find any availability from West Coast hubs on any OneWorld partners, and business/first domestic availability is basically nonexistent, but you may be able to find economy class availability on AA or Alaska, both of which can be included in your ticket.
Alternately, you could blow through 110k miles per person, one way, to fly anywhere in Europe in any AA business class product you want, with domestic positioning flight included. It's a steep price to pay, but that's about how things stand.
If I were you, I would book SAAver seats on available AA and/or Iberia flights (even if they aren't the exact plane/routing you'd like), plan a fun trip, buy a subscription to ExpertFlyer and set some alerts for the planes you'd really like to be on, and see what happens. If nothing opens up, you'll still have a great flight in lie-flat seats, and if something opens up at the last minute, you can change your itinerary.
The easiest way to know what plane a certain route is using is to search on aa.com or ExpertFlyer. On aa.com, you can click on 'flight details' of any flight that comes up and see the aircraft.
All of that being said, saaver availability in business class for 2 is really really sparse all year, but especially during the summer months. Looking on ExpertFlyer, there are just a handful of summer dates in which I'm seeing routes with 2 business class seats available. The TATL routes on which you'll find seats are JFK-LHR (763), JFK-MAN (763), ORD-MAN (763). The refurbished 763s are totally fine, though not as nice as 777-300ER or 789. Unfortunately, your odds of finding saaver availability on those planes is virtually nil. You can also find availability on some dates with Iberia, particularly on the JFK-MAD and ORD-MAD routes. You have to use ba.com, ExpertFlyer, or Qantas to find those seats, and then call in to AA to ticket. You're unlikely to find any availability from West Coast hubs on any OneWorld partners, and business/first domestic availability is basically nonexistent, but you may be able to find economy class availability on AA or Alaska, both of which can be included in your ticket.
Alternately, you could blow through 110k miles per person, one way, to fly anywhere in Europe in any AA business class product you want, with domestic positioning flight included. It's a steep price to pay, but that's about how things stand.
If I were you, I would book SAAver seats on available AA and/or Iberia flights (even if they aren't the exact plane/routing you'd like), plan a fun trip, buy a subscription to ExpertFlyer and set some alerts for the planes you'd really like to be on, and see what happens. If nothing opens up, you'll still have a great flight in lie-flat seats, and if something opens up at the last minute, you can change your itinerary.
Best-
Linda
Jan 21, 2017, 11:21 pm
#113
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: FNT, but DTW if I can't help it
Programs: AAdvantage Former EXP/Current PLT / Total Rewards - Diamond / Hilton HHonors - Gold
Posts: 757
I booked 2 awards to Italy in July for a couple of family members (I'm traveling too, but I did a revenue ticket for myself).
Their outbound is a Mile SAAver award. Their return is an AAnytime. Routing is DTW-CLT-FCO-PHL-DTW.
My question is... If U inventory opens up on the long haul segments (CLT-FCO and FCO-PHL) and I'd like to convert their tickets to Business SAAver awards, does availability also have to exist in U for the DTW-CLT and PHL-DTW segments in order to upgrade them, or will I be able to keep the short segments in coach if necessary?
My concern is that there is a very limited number of F seats on the short coach segments, so the odds of those segments opening up U availability seems extremely low.
Their outbound is a Mile SAAver award. Their return is an AAnytime. Routing is DTW-CLT-FCO-PHL-DTW.
My question is... If U inventory opens up on the long haul segments (CLT-FCO and FCO-PHL) and I'd like to convert their tickets to Business SAAver awards, does availability also have to exist in U for the DTW-CLT and PHL-DTW segments in order to upgrade them, or will I be able to keep the short segments in coach if necessary?
My concern is that there is a very limited number of F seats on the short coach segments, so the odds of those segments opening up U availability seems extremely low.
Jan 22, 2017, 11:12 am
#114
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,934
Thank you for being patient with me, so I sign up to be a BA member? Then I search for BA awards? I knew I had to get ready as awards will open up in a week or so. I don't mind purchasing a ticket to the other gateway that is not an issue I just hate having all these miles sitting here and having to pay out 6k per ticket.
Jan 22, 2017, 1:16 pm
#115
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 17
Thank you for your response- I must be doing my research accurately because I have found the exact flights you mentioned and a few on Iberia as well as you said. Can you say more about the 110K one way thing you mentioned- it's not really an option, but I didn't understand exactly what you meant. Also, are you saying that getting from west coast to JFK (or whatever departure location on east coast we end up with) in business class is going to be difficult to find? And finally- one more question- what about flights to a different city once we get across the atlantic? Those can generally be added to the flight as a separate segment (as long as it falls within AA rules), right? Say we end up flying JFK to madrid, but want to start our trip in Rome. Am I right that as long as there is a JFK - Rome route with the airline we fly, we can add that segment? Are business class seats hard to find for those trips? Thanks again for your response- it was really helpful!
Best-
Linda
Best-
Linda
In terms of adding legs, you can add any leg that you find available. Most people start by looking for the TATL leg and then try to find the connections on either side. If you find open seats in business from ORD-MAD, you can see if there are seats on Iberia from MAD-FCO (look on ba.com). Similarly, if you find availability from JFK-LHR, see if you can find any availability on British Airways from LHR-FCO. It's usually easier to search for the legs separately and then call in to AA to have them ticket it by feeding them the legs that you've found. You can make changes to an award for free if you aren't changing the origin or destination, so it can make sense to nail down any route to your destination (even if shorter legs are in economy), set alerts of ExpertFlyer, and then change the shorter legs to business class (or a more direct routing) if those become available. In general though, there's decent availability for intra-Europe routes on BA and Iberia.
Domestic business/first class availability is really tough to come by right now. It can even be hard to find economy availability from the West Coast to AA hubs.
Jan 22, 2017, 2:15 pm
#116
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: AA lt gold, HH Diamond, marriott pl
Posts: 329
I feel your pain, have been trying for over a month to get to Europe in mid April in biz avoiding BA, although I live in Dfw have tried leaving from a dozen different cities as well...no luck. Called and they found one not seen online, but insisted in $40 booking fee...
Jan 22, 2017, 3:21 pm
#117
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: New York, NY USA
Programs: AA 8MM Exec,Life Plat, Marriott Amb,Life Titanium, ,Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist.
Posts: 495
Trying to book two F class Asia tickets w/miles
Hello All:
I am trying to book two F class seats in mid December from HKG to JFK. I see much availability on British Airways with CX and JAL however when I call AA over the last 3 days they keep telling me there is only 1 seat available in F.....British airways is showing 2-4 seats bookable using Avios but I have more AA miles? Suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
NYC
I am trying to book two F class seats in mid December from HKG to JFK. I see much availability on British Airways with CX and JAL however when I call AA over the last 3 days they keep telling me there is only 1 seat available in F.....British airways is showing 2-4 seats bookable using Avios but I have more AA miles? Suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
NYC
Jan 22, 2017, 3:27 pm
#118
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,240
Probably phantom availability on BA. Unlikely to be 2F (at least on CX) that far in advance anymore.
What does the Asiamiles website show?
Your best bet will probably be to book two separate flights and hope an extra seat becomes available on one of them (or another flight) in the week or two before departure.
What does the Asiamiles website show?
Your best bet will probably be to book two separate flights and hope an extra seat becomes available on one of them (or another flight) in the week or two before departure.
Jan 22, 2017, 3:30 pm
#119
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Hello All:
I am trying to book two F class seats in mid December from HKG to JFK. I see much availability on British Airways with CX and JAL however when I call AA over the last 3 days they keep telling me there is only 1 seat available in F.....British airways is showing 2-4 seats bookable using Avios but I have more AA miles? Suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
NYC
I am trying to book two F class seats in mid December from HKG to JFK. I see much availability on British Airways with CX and JAL however when I call AA over the last 3 days they keep telling me there is only 1 seat available in F.....British airways is showing 2-4 seats bookable using Avios but I have more AA miles? Suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
NYC
Jan 22, 2017, 6:07 pm
#120
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Austin
Posts: 4,629
Hello All:
I am trying to book two F class seats in mid December from HKG to JFK. I see much availability on British Airways with CX and JAL however when I call AA over the last 3 days they keep telling me there is only 1 seat available in F.....British airways is showing 2-4 seats bookable using Avios but I have more AA miles? Suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
NYC
I am trying to book two F class seats in mid December from HKG to JFK. I see much availability on British Airways with CX and JAL however when I call AA over the last 3 days they keep telling me there is only 1 seat available in F.....British airways is showing 2-4 seats bookable using Avios but I have more AA miles? Suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
NYC