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AAdvantage MileSAAver: Through Award Fare Restriction Dec 2018

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AAdvantage MileSAAver: Through Award Fare Restriction Dec 2018

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Old Mar 20, 2019, 6:25 pm
  #16  
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But what about using some FF currency besides AAdvantage miles? BA charges Avios for each segment, so that might be a workaround.

Not sure if Iberia Plus Avios -- which can offer pretty good value on AA connecting-flight itineraries -- check for individual segment availability, or only for married-segment availability.
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Old Mar 20, 2019, 6:31 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by bruinfan90
It's not even physically possible to book both segments together under a multi-segment award, paying the mileSAAver rate for each segment separately. If we attempt this method, once both flight segments are selected, an error will appear indicating that "The flight you selected is no longer available. Please modify your request."
This is the sentence that surprised me.
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Old Mar 20, 2019, 7:07 pm
  #18  
 
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What you are describing has been in effect for long time in First Class. It is designed so you spend more miles and buy a Anytime award or just give up .
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Old Mar 20, 2019, 7:25 pm
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by guv1976
But what about using some FF currency besides AAdvantage miles? BA charges Avios for each segment, so that might be a workaround.
It's not really a workaround... you're still going to have to pay for both STL-CLT and CLT-CAE, regardless of whether it's on one BA ticket or two. Sure, that will likely cost fewer Avios than AA miles, but it's not a way to be able to book STL-CLT-CAE for 12,500 of either currency.
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 4:27 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by bruinfan90
Married Segment is different:

If A-B-C (married segment) is available, it is no longer possible to book A-B or B-C separately. They must be booked together as a group. A-B-C

Through Award Fare Restrictions means:

If A-B is available and if B-C is also available, it is no longer possible to book A-B-C unless a "through award fare" has been published by revenue mgmt.
That is also no change. In order to do an award booking, there has to be a fare offered by the governing carier that permits the routing

Originally Posted by iadisgreat
It is the same, but it's contrary to the "spirit" of the married segment availability for awards (at least as I recall from the bloggers). The purpose of starting the married segments was allegedly to increase availability on spoke routes for connections (which it is doing). I don't recall them also saying, "But that means we're going to enforce 'divorced' segments" and not allow you to take inventory that is clearly available by segment. Your tweets I believe are the only documentation of this "enhancement."

Does it matter that they never really announced it? No, but it is an annoying unannounced devaluation for those it impacts.
That is still just married segment availability ; A-B may be available or it may not be , B-C may be available or it may not be and A-C via B may be available or it may not be

If the availabiltyi allowed for for through awards has not been exhausted, that may be available even if the individual ones are not - this is not something to invent a pretend term for
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 5:04 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by SeeBuyFly
I vote to rename this as "divorced segment availability".
I'd vote "garbage segment availability"
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 5:52 am
  #22  
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I did not invent the term. Two separate agents at American referred to the term "Through Award Fare" when speaking to me ... Quote: "A Through Award Fare must exist to allow award seats on two separate nonstop flights to be combined into a single MileSAAver award ticket." While I have no idea when this rolled out (and agree it probably did at the same time as the Married Segment changes last year), I still believe that this restriction is different from Married Segments. Married Segments create award seat availability for flights that have no availability on their own (both flights must be booked together to book the award). Through Award Fares must be present for already-available nonstop award seats to be combined together into a single award ticket.

Some of you think this is some kind of restriction related to mixing American segments with partner airlines. While I would guess that those could also be affected by this change, my experiences with this new restriction solely related to 100% American Airlines travel.
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 8:26 am
  #23  
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Originally Posted by bruinfan90
...Some of you think this is some kind of restriction related to mixing American segments with partner airlines. While I would guess that those could also be affected by this change, my experiences with this new restriction solely related to 100% American Airlines travel.
No it's just that those examples (the first ones I had access to) happened to have had partners involved.

The way it works is a requested award for AAA-> CCC has to be queried by the agent AAA-> CCC
The agents are -not- allowed to query AAA-> BBB and then BBB-> CCC to create the award.
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 9:54 am
  #24  
 
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I played around with the website today looking at different award flights out of various locations in NC (RDU, CLT). Of course the calendar function is no longer working due to them adding Economy Comfort awards but from what I can tell it's darn near impossible to get anything with a connection with both flights in Business/FC. If I search LAS out of RDU the only milesAAver tickets that come up are connecting in Dallas or Phoenix with the second leg being in Coach. I really hope this is just a glitch with the new booking system and not the standard going forward. So long story short be careful booking milesAAVer tickets with connections.
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 10:01 am
  #25  
 
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I ran into this trash last night. As someone else suggested, I'll just book with BA and they can shove it and pay for a more expensive award in F on a partner.

This death by 1,000 cuts is quickly turning AA into home of the DisAAdvatange program.
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 10:12 am
  #26  
 
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Not clear to me how "Through Award Fare" availability restrictions is in actuality any different from unique award limitations on "Married Segments" but I was able to get my 2 one-ways combined and repriced recently, FWIW and YMMV

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...l#post30909612
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 10:32 am
  #27  
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Originally Posted by platbrownguy
It's not really a workaround... you're still going to have to pay for both STL-CLT and CLT-CAE, regardless of whether it's on one BA ticket or two. Sure, that will likely cost fewer Avios than AA miles, but it's not a way to be able to book STL-CLT-CAE for 12,500 of either currency.
No, not 12,500 BA Avios, but just 15,000 BA Avios (7,500+7,500) -- which is a lot better than 20,000 AA miles, especially if you can catch a 40% or 50% transfer bonus from Amex MR to BA.
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 10:47 am
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
That is still just married segment availability ; A-B may be available or it may not be , B-C may be available or it may not be and A-C via B may be available or it may not be

If the availabiltyi allowed for for through awards has not been exhausted, that may be available even if the individual ones are not - this is not something to invent a pretend term for
I'm aware. My point, which is abundantly clear, is that while this is an obvious result of the married segment implementation, it is NOT a necessary requirement of it.
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 11:07 am
  #29  
 
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The why is AAs philosophy of “ if we make passengers miserable, they will pay us more to avoid misery”.

They may pay more but often to Delta, Jet Blue, etc.
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 12:11 pm
  #30  
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Originally Posted by beachfan
The why is AAs philosophy of “ if we make passengers miserable, they will pay us more to avoid misery”.

They may pay more but often to Delta, Jet Blue, etc.
That has been what we are doing all along since the married segment craps, or that not a single nonstop available out of 7 or 8 MIA-LAX, 6 MIA-JFK that kind of BS. We pay B6 to fly FLL-JFK instead.

AA is NOT going to get any revenue booking from us by employing this dirty tactic.
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