Award on hold, schedule change, AA won't assist?
Apr 15, 2019, 11:03 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 240
Award on hold, schedule change, AA won't assist?
Hi:
I had an SAAVER award reservation on hold, all AA flights. Yesterday morning it got impacted by a schedule change and AA changed it to an itinerary with an overnight layover which is obviously not a good option as they're not paying for us to stay in a hotel overnight.
The agent refuses to budge and wont re-accomodate on flights that look similar to our original itinerary that would not have an overnight stay.
Am I expecting too much here? These schedule change was not something we caused.
My hold expires tomorrow and trying to get them on the phone for the past 2 days has been a nightmare.
I had an SAAVER award reservation on hold, all AA flights. Yesterday morning it got impacted by a schedule change and AA changed it to an itinerary with an overnight layover which is obviously not a good option as they're not paying for us to stay in a hotel overnight.
The agent refuses to budge and wont re-accomodate on flights that look similar to our original itinerary that would not have an overnight stay.
Am I expecting too much here? These schedule change was not something we caused.
My hold expires tomorrow and trying to get them on the phone for the past 2 days has been a nightmare.
Apr 15, 2019, 11:19 am
#4
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: FLL
Programs: AA PLT 2.7 MM, DL GLD, UA Prem, BW Diamond, PC PLT, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,285
Hi:
I had an SAAVER award reservation on hold, all AA flights. Yesterday morning it got impacted by a schedule change and AA changed it to an itinerary with an overnight layover which is obviously not a good option as they're not paying for us to stay in a hotel overnight.
The agent refuses to budge and wont re-accomodate on flights that look similar to our original itinerary that would not have an overnight stay.
Am I expecting too much here? These schedule change was not something we caused.
My hold expires tomorrow and trying to get them on the phone for the past 2 days has been a nightmare.
I had an SAAVER award reservation on hold, all AA flights. Yesterday morning it got impacted by a schedule change and AA changed it to an itinerary with an overnight layover which is obviously not a good option as they're not paying for us to stay in a hotel overnight.
The agent refuses to budge and wont re-accomodate on flights that look similar to our original itinerary that would not have an overnight stay.
Am I expecting too much here? These schedule change was not something we caused.
My hold expires tomorrow and trying to get them on the phone for the past 2 days has been a nightmare.
Apr 15, 2019, 3:17 pm
#5
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Roswell, GA
Programs: AA EXP 2.8m,Lifetime PLT, Hilton Diamond, IHG PlLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 3,191
I recently had an award ticket on hold where the agent also told me book purchase the award ticket and then call back for a better routing
it worked (Atl to BOM in J )
it worked (Atl to BOM in J )
Apr 15, 2019, 3:25 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,453
You could always go online, purchase the ticket with the new/bad routing, then call AA and play dumb, tell them you didn't realize there was a schedule change since you originally put it on hold, etc. etc. Worst they can do is say no. If you can't get anywhere, you can always cancel within 24 hrs. for no fee.
Apr 16, 2019, 1:51 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 240
You could always go online, purchase the ticket with the new/bad routing, then call AA and play dumb, tell them you didn't realize there was a schedule change since you originally put it on hold, etc. etc. Worst they can do is say no. If you can't get anywhere, you can always cancel within 24 hrs. for no fee.
Jan 30, 2022, 7:16 pm
#8
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: NYC
Programs: AA, Marriott
Posts: 210
Ran into something similar today. Had a ticket on 24-hour hold. A day later the prices had doubled and there was a schedule change, which made it so I couldn't pay/ticket online today. It was easy to call in and ticket; I was slightly panicked that that wouldn't be an option and I'd have to pay a lot more. Unlike islandguy84, my schedule change wasn't fatal. It wasn't in my favor but I could live with it and if I had had that option originally, I still might have chosen it given its relative price. But if I had ticketed yesterday, I do wonder if I could have used the schedule change to hop to a better time. 
The morale for me is there is a downside to waiting until the 11th hour to pay. It's not totally risk-free to wait.
The morale for me is there is a downside to waiting until the 11th hour to pay. It's not totally risk-free to wait.
Jan 30, 2022, 9:52 pm
#9
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
IMO, it's risky putting award tickets on hold these days with frequent schedule changes, flight cancellations, and occasional partner hold periods that aren't honored. If you've got the miles in your account, there's really no risk in ticketing the award outright and then cancelling/refunding it (with no penalty) if your plans change. YMMV.
-FlyerBeek
-FlyerBeek
Jan 31, 2022, 7:39 am
#11
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: AA EXP; 1W Emerald; HHonors Diamond; Marriott Gold; UA dirt
Posts: 7,816
IMO, it's risky putting award tickets on hold these days with frequent schedule changes, flight cancellations, and occasional partner hold periods that aren't honored. If you've got the miles in your account, there's really no risk in ticketing the award outright and then cancelling/refunding it (with no penalty) if your plans change. YMMV.
-FlyerBeek
-FlyerBeek
