Booking AA award for someone else - problem
 

Never tried to do this particular thing before and am encountering a problem. I am trying to use my minor child's account (who has some level of status and sufficient miles) to book an award ticket for another family member. There seems to be a problem doing this. The booking page on AA's site doesn't let me change the DOB for the passenger, which is fixed to my child's DOB. Does this mean that it will only allow me to book an award for the account holder (and this is related to them being a minor)?

Based on inputs from another member, I added the potential passenger's name to my child's travel companions list on the account profile. Still can't change DOB on the passenger. If I try to book awards for 2 passengers, the system will pre-fill the 1st with my child's info and the 2nd from the travel companion list. While it lets me modify the info (DOB) for the 2nd passenger, it won't let me do that for the first, which is stuck (greyed-out) as my child's. I only want to book one award. Looks like some clunkiness on AA's part. Maybe the way forward is to call...

All that matters is what account you're logged into when you actually book the ticket. So just sign in with your account, then put the flights you want on hold with the correct name, DOB, etc. Then log in with the child's account, pull up the PNR, and book it. The miles will be pulled from the child's account.

Thanks JJeffrey for the interesting method. When you say sign in to my account and put it oh hold, do you mean as an award reservation or as a paid booking?

Award, the exact same award flights you were trying to book from your child's account. Just sign in to your account when you put the flights on hold, which should solve the quirky DOB issue. Then note the PNR, sign in with your child's account, pull up the PNR and book the ticket. The miles we be pulled from your child's account.

Fantastic, it does indeed work. A neat method. Would have been a problem if I hadn't had the miles in my account, but fortunately I did.

There's still a problem. Now it won't let me pay with my credit card and says the name must match account holder (for taxes/fees). I thought I had read online that booking from a minor's account was an exception to this rule.

Looks like I would have to call in. I had already requested call back from AA and kept losing that call as it wouldn't take my phone-key inputs. Anyway, considering the time spent on this and the poor redemption value I was getting, it's just not worth the trouble. It would have been an AS flight and I'll just gladly buy the tickets for cash from AS, who certainly doesn't make it this hard to get anything done. Thanks to all for the tips and tricks that you need to make these things work.

Have you tried using your child's first name in place of your's in the CC info, assuming same last name........? This worked for me in the past, but might be restricted for some cards.

Reviving this thread, I am still stuck. I am the person with miles, trying to book for someone else. I ran into the same problem that my information is locked in as the first passenger and can't be changed. I have successfully booked the tickets using the other person's account, but I can't figure out how to pull up the PNR and pay for it when I am signed in with my account.

I'm waiting for a call back from AA now -- 4 hour plus wait!