gradboozer

I just booked 2 awards for May 2019 (one is actually on hold, just need to pay the taxes). Getting over there was the problem for us, though we aren't DC based. Total of 4 flights on the outbound (leaving 2 days earlier than necessary) to be there on the day we wanted. Now I just need to sit back and wait for all the schedule changes to happen.

Getting back isn't a problem as sAAver availability was wide open on AA. Snagged some seats on FCO-DFW nonstop at the sAAver level.

theshortfinal

Easiest is to take Amtrak or some other method to re-position to Philly. PHL has flights to Rome and Venice (seasonal). The cheaper cash fares are out of JFK, though.

srana

I am trying to book two Business First MileSAAver award flights using AA miles. The most readily available option is BA (57.5K) which of course has a layover at LHR (crazy taxes). When I try to avoid BA, the next business AA availability is Business AAnytime (135K per person) for which I don't have enough miles for two pax. Wondering if anyone has a better idea to use AA miles on partner and book. Or should I fly economy? Suggestions needed.

mvoight

Not all partner awards show up on AA.com. DId you call?

srana

I didn't call, guess it won't no harm in calling them. Was hoping to check availability on partner airlines before I call them. So far have looked up on AA, BA and Qantas. They all show up the same results.

JDiver

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

I’d suggest a start by reading the thread HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance, particularly the Wikipost at the top of the page.

It’s not taxes with BA on a Awards, it’s “YQ” carrier imposed fees (greed). See https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html.

Good luck.

Last but not least, please refrain from editing your posts until you have a few posts under your belt. Doing so will send your post - this thread, as yours is the first post, into the moderation queue for approval.

Moderator

JJeffrey

1) What dates? Are they set in stone or flexible?

2) Connecting in LHR does not have crazy taxes, but using BA for the longhaul segment (especially in F or J) comes with ripoff fuel surcharges which is what is causing your taxes and fees to be ridiculous. For example, if you fly AA to LHR and connect to BA to AMS, the taxes and fees drop to around $60 each.

teemuflyer

Premium seats are hard to grab from AUS to anywhere on the domestic segments. I would first look for partner airline availability for business awards from all the main OW hubs in the US to AMS. I personally have created a BA Exec account for free, which I then use to the BA.com site to do the lookup the partner availability. PM me for specific instructions if you want. Once you have found one of those that works for you, look for an economy SAAver award to the hub from AUS and then call AA to book both awards as one. If premium cabin awards become available closer to your flight, you can have AA rebook it to the premium cabin (for free if you are EXP, not sure otherwise).

Also, remember that awards are one way tickets, so your return can be through another hub and partner airline.

thoward8111

Hi Forum,
I am new to the forum as well as new to using points for International travel. I am trying to use AA points to get to BCN. We are not traveling until next September and am looking for 2 Business seats on IB or AA, so I have been practicing with the tips from this forum on lots of dates and departure gates. I also only have AA miles.

My question is when I look for flights on BA for IB flights, they sometimes say that 2 Business seats left but AA will only let me see 1 Business seat. Is this a function of the website or are there really 2 seats available. Thanks in advance for your help!

Provocateur Travel

Dear Experts at Flyertalk, I have a question regarding Y Saver Availability:
I want to travel from IAD-MIA-LIR. I see Saver Availability, when I check IAD-MIA as well as MIA-LIR.
However, the agents at AA will not book those seats for me, although they see it segment by segment. (Called twice).
They say, I can book it for 27,500 and not for 12,500

Can I just book MIA-LIR online and then add a segment via the callcenter?

mak101

Is BOM-HKG-ORD is a valid route on CX? If so what is the best way to find award availability?

JJeffrey

It should be, since North America to Indian Subcontinent awards allow a connection in HKG when using CX and/or AA. Sign up for an account at ba.com and search availability there, then call AA to book.

hyperzulu

You should check out my posts just a few up from yours. It seems likely that if you want the two seats on IB, you're going to need to use IB or BA miles. AA is consistently only seeing a single J seat where two show available, unfortunately.

Just as an added bonus, I tried holding one seat for several days to see if the second would nudge. It didn't.

thoward8111

Thank you for your reply hyperzulu. I have placed tickets on a 5 day hold as well, but am now a bit discouraged.Unfortunately I do not have awards miles on IB or BA, on AA, so it sounds as though I will have to figure out an alternative.

alphaeagle

I just called and placed an AA+BA award on hold. The reason I called was the exact combination of flights wasn't available online. Is that a good enough reason to have the phone fee waived, since while AA and BA could be booked online the flights I wanted couldn't be?

The agent suggested I use multi-city to force the option, but I had tried that. It never said the correct price on the initial screen (after selecting the flights, where you fill in your name). And after that screen I'd get an error message saying the page can not be found.

Thought I could just ticket it online after being placed on hold, but I guess they closed that loophole since it requires me to call in.