Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > American Airlines | AAdvantage
Reload this Page >

NEWBIE LOUNGE 2021: Ask AA newbie questions here - flame-free thread

Old Jan 18, 2021, 1:06 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: JDiver
Welcome to the archived 2021 "NEWBIE LOUNGE"Ask Your Consolidated / Combined AA Questions Here (flame free)
MODERATOR GUIDEPOST:
(This post can only be edited by moderators.)



FOR THE 2022 THREAD, SEE HERE: link

Welcome to the Newbie Lounge!
Welcome to Flyertalk!

The Newbie Lounge is a place for newer and less experienced members to ask their questions about American Airlines and the AAdvantage program and have answered by our more experienced and knowledgeable members. Feel free to ask any question related to American Airlines and AAdvantage here.

NOTE: This is a "flame free" thread; flaming, personal criticism for "failing to search" etc. is not allowed (if posted, the post will be summarily deleted, the poster subject to sanctions).

Advanced questions posed by veteran FT users may be moved and / or merged into existing master or GUIDE threads, most of which have Wikiposts at the top of the page that contain summaries of important information.

We volunteer Moderators monitor this "lounge" thread to assist you as well. When browsing the fora, look at the page tops of the various forums. There will be a menu, and often "sticky" threads, and threads with header "wiki posts" (created and maintained by the FlyerTalk community) with important information relating to that forum / topic.
Don't hesitate to contact a moderator or another member if you have any additional questions. You can PM the Moderators by clicking on , which pops up a message box; the message goes to all this forum's Moderators. Note that unlike some sites with paid staff moderators, FlyerTalk Moderators are volunteers, and most work, travel, go on holiday, etc. You can Private Message us using the PM system (My Flyertalk) and our handles.

We're glad you've chosen to join the Flyertalk frequent flyer community!

Your American Airlines | AAdvantage Forum Moderation Team,

AZ Travels the World, aztimm, dstan, JDiver, JY1024, Microwave

(Our thanks to thread founder / "plank owner" HNL.)
Important links:

Link to American Airlines Conditions of Carriage

Link to AAdvantage Terms and Conditions


NOTE: See below for links to the archived older threads.

Q. How can I find information more easily than reading through all the threads? Now that I'm here, what do I do next?

Check out the following resources:

Searching can be key to finding important information and answers without waiting for someone to drop by and answer, and it helps prevent that information fragmentation. FlyerTalk Advanced Search can seem quirky to the infrequent user, but it's fairly powerful if one knows how to use it. There are several ways to search:
Forum basics: Now that the new AA has become by some measures "the world's largest airline", this new, combined has become a "mega-forum", very large, very active - and theoretically very difficult to find information and easy to lose one's place. Having to search for and sort through dozens - or more - of threads on baggage, airports, minimum connect times or the like could soon become unproductive and discouraging.

To prevent this from occurring, please note we try to:

Keep a few "sticky" threads: such as GUIDE posts, OSO / IROPS, etc. for urgent and quick reference, such as basic "where do I find" reasons

Keep threads to specific topics: Prevent information fragmentation and loss by consolidating questions, answers and discussion of one topic contained in one thread. (This also honors those members who have already shared valuable information and experiences.)

"Popular" threads are likely to have a Wikipost at the head that will summarize important information and have resource links. These are "community property", and as any wiki are established, maintained and updated by the members (with 90 days of tenure and 90 posts on FlyerTalk).

You may find your question or post merged into one of those threads. Be sure that we will leave a link behind from your original thread, and to look up to see if there's a wiki with information. We apologize for any possible inconvenience or difference between this forum and others, but we think you'll like some of the resources and tools here to enable more convenient, comfortable travel on AA and greater knowledge sharing.

Keep it welcoming: We're proud the members of both FFPs have kept the brickbats to a minimum; we want this forum to be welcoming, civil and information rich, so name calling (including calling a member one disagrees with "AApologist") and snark are not tolerated. Posts with such are likely to be summarily deleted in their entirety; repeated such behavior may result in suspension of one's membership privileges or being banned from this forum. Let's keep it friendly and in accordance with the FT Rules.

FlyerTalk Rules (We all agree to abide by these, and are held accountable.)


NOTE: 2020 NEWBIE LOUNGE posts are here.

2019 NEWBIE LOUNGE older posts are here.

The 2018 AA NEWBIE LOUNGE post thread is here

The 2017 AA NEWBIE LOUNGE post thread is here

The 2016 AA NEWBIE LOUNGE post thread is here

Thanks for reading!







Print Wikipost

NEWBIE LOUNGE 2021: Ask AA newbie questions here - flame-free thread

Old Sep 23, 2021, 10:05 pm
  #796  
 
Join Date: Sep 2021
Posts: 2
So it's been a few years since I've used expert flyer. Planning a trip to Europe for late Aug 2022. I was planning on placing a bunch of award notifications to try and grab biz saver. I've been messing around just to make sure I remember how to search and I keep having issues. I know AA uses married logic, so I've been searching for the whole trip vs segment by segment.


So just trying to test expert flyer. If you search on AAs website for BER-SEA on 4/1/22 you'll find BER-LHR,LHR-SEA with a Biz Saver rate. But if I do that exact search in expert flyer is says the AA portion from LHR-SEA has 0 U class seats. Does this have to do with the fact that the BER-LHR segment is on BA? If so is it not possible to use expert flyer like I described above if there's a codeshare involved?

Should I be searching segment by segment and putting award notifications? How does one snag an AA biz saver award on expertflyer or is it impossible? What other options do I have?

Thanks in advance.
Rockycore is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 6:08 am
  #797  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,361
Originally Posted by opus2002
AWARD TICKET CANCELLATION

I have cancelled an award ticket before online and the miles when into my account automatically after a few minutes. Other times, when I cancel the award ticket, I have to call in to get the miles back. Both flights were using AA miles on AA flights. Why is that sometimes I have to call to get miles back, sometimes not?
Because it's AA, where the only thing consistent is inconsistency.
opus2002, wrp96 and GrumpyYoungMan like this.
JJeffrey is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 6:13 am
  #798  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,361
Originally Posted by Rockycore
So it's been a few years since I've used expert flyer. Planning a trip to Europe for late Aug 2022. I was planning on placing a bunch of award notifications to try and grab biz saver. I've been messing around just to make sure I remember how to search and I keep having issues. I know AA uses married logic, so I've been searching for the whole trip vs segment by segment.

So just trying to test expert flyer. If you search on AAs website for BER-SEA on 4/1/22 you'll find BER-LHR,LHR-SEA with a Biz Saver rate. But if I do that exact search in expert flyer is says the AA portion from LHR-SEA has 0 U class seats. Does this have to do with the fact that the BER-LHR segment is on BA? If so is it not possible to use expert flyer like I described above if there's a codeshare involved?

Should I be searching segment by segment and putting award notifications? How does one snag an AA biz saver award on expertflyer or is it impossible? What other options do I have?
Looking at BER-SEA on 4/1/22 I do not see any business sAAver space at aa.com, so it appears that EF does indeed match what aa.com is showing.

Awards that involve partners require sAAver space, so you still should be able to set an alert for LHR-SEA at EF and use that accordingly.
JJeffrey is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 7:50 am
  #799  
 
Join Date: Sep 2021
Posts: 2
Originally Posted by JJeffrey
Looking at BER-SEA on 4/1/22 I do not see any business sAAver space at aa.com, so it appears that EF does indeed match what aa.com is showing.

Awards that involve partners require sAAver space, so you still should be able to set an alert for LHR-SEA at EF and use that accordingly.
Sorry it was a few days ago when I saw it. My point is AA uses married segments for award travel. So I can set award alerts for my segments but that doesn't necessarily mean if the long haul segment has business saver space that the short haul segment will. I know (atleast in the past) I could say book SEA-LHR, LHR-BER with only one segment in J and one in Y and set an alert if the second segment had J open up and call back to upgrade for the same savers cost. Assuming I can still do that?
Rockycore is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 12:50 pm
  #800  
Hoc
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: San Juan Capistrano, CA
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium, Hilton Diamond, AA 2.5 MM, United Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,460
I have a basic economy fare to Europe, and just realized that I would rather fly in business. What is AA's policy regarding paying to upgrade a basic economy fare to business? Also, if I were just to cancel, it looks like the actual fare is $1, and the taxes are $298. If I just cancelled and then rebooked later, would I get a refund of the taxes and fees, even though the fare itself is nonrefundable?
Hoc is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 7:02 pm
  #801  
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Programs: AA EP
Posts: 2,203
You should call AA. Most/all? BE fares cant be up fared. But this is international and that potentially brings in a whole new set of rules. Also for tickets purchased on/after 4/1 BE fares arent changeable/refundable, so a lot will depend on when u purchased ur tickets. Call AA.


Originally Posted by Hoc
I have a basic economy fare to Europe, and just realized that I would rather fly in business. What is AA's policy regarding paying to upgrade a basic economy fare to business? Also, if I were just to cancel, it looks like the actual fare is $1, and the taxes are $298. If I just cancelled and then rebooked later, would I get a refund of the taxes and fees, even though the fare itself is nonrefundable?
AAExecPlatFlier is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 7:17 pm
  #802  
Hoc
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: San Juan Capistrano, CA
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium, Hilton Diamond, AA 2.5 MM, United Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,460
Originally Posted by AAExecPlatFlier
You should call AA. Most/all? BE fares cant be up fared. But this is international and that potentially brings in a whole new set of rules. Also for tickets purchased on/after 4/1 BE fares arent changeable/refundable, so a lot will depend on when u purchased ur tickets. Call AA.
That was going to be my next step. But I wanted to find out policy and practice before I called, since you get different responses on the phone depending on whom you speak with. As an example, I looked into upgrading the domestic parts of the itinerary with 500-mile certs, and was told on the phone that I could not do so. Three days later, the webpage gave me the option to upgrade the domestic legs with certs.
Hoc is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 7:22 pm
  #803  
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: PHX
Programs: AAexp, AC75k, HertzPC, NationalEE, Accor/MariottP, Hilton/HyattG
Posts: 3,606
Originally Posted by Hoc
That was going to be my next step. But I wanted to find out policy and practice before I called, since you get different responses on the phone depending on whom you speak with. As an example, I looked into upgrading the domestic parts of the itinerary with 500-mile certs, and was told on the phone that I could not do so. Three days later, the webpage gave me the option to upgrade the domestic legs with certs.
GL, report back if you can what happens. There has been exceptions on crazy things due to the current travel climate.
SKYEG is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 7:50 pm
  #804  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: PHL, EWR
Programs: UA Gold; AA; Amtrak Select Plus;HH Diamond;Hyatt Disc;Hertz PC; Total Wine Grand Reserve!
Posts: 2,398
Where can I see what EQDs and EQMs I will earn for an existing reservation? I don't see that information when I view my reservation (I'm not super familiar with the AA web site). I want to keep track for a status challenge.
Thanks for any help!
rittenhousesq is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 8:11 pm
  #805  
S80
 
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: ORD/LHR
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K, 1MM, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,172
Originally Posted by rittenhousesq
Where can I see what EQDs and EQMs I will earn for an existing reservation? I don't see that information when I view my reservation (I'm not super familiar with the AA web site). I want to keep track for a status challenge.
Thanks for any help!
There is no way to find out from the website after booking, but for EQDs, it will be Trip cost (the total cost minus the taxes and fees) rounded up (and possibly plus one or two, since each leg is rounded up afaik). For EQMs, put in the routing in something like gcmap to get the distance and multiply by 2 if in paid business (AA doesn't use this exact calculation, so it will be off by a few, hopefully less than 10).
rittenhousesq likes this.
S80 is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 9:02 pm
  #806  
FT
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 385
Originally Posted by rittenhousesq
Where can I see what EQDs and EQMs I will earn for an existing reservation? I don't see that information when I view my reservation (I'm not super familiar with the AA web site). I want to keep track for a status challenge.
Thanks for any help!
I use this tool https://cwsi.net/calc/aa/
It doesn't do partner flights except JetBlue. You can get the EQD from the AA website or confirmation email
rittenhousesq and S80 like this.
FT is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2021, 9:29 pm
  #807  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: PHL, EWR
Programs: UA Gold; AA; Amtrak Select Plus;HH Diamond;Hyatt Disc;Hertz PC; Total Wine Grand Reserve!
Posts: 2,398
Thank you s80 and FT! I'm taking advantage of a pretty easy to satisfy Hyatt Platinum challenge
rittenhousesq is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2021, 9:59 am
  #808  
S80
 
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: ORD/LHR
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K, 1MM, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,172
Originally Posted by FT
I use this tool https://cwsi.net/calc/aa/
It doesn't do partner flights except JetBlue. You can get the EQD from the AA website or confirmation email
Also a good tool, I use it mostly for calculating redeemable miles given status and co-branded cc.

Originally Posted by rittenhousesq
Thank you s80 and FT! I'm taking advantage of a pretty easy to satisfy Hyatt Platinum challenge
You're welcome, and good luck!
S80 is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2021, 10:02 am
  #809  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,888
Originally Posted by opus2002
AWARD TICKET CANCELLATION

I have cancelled an award ticket before online and the miles when into my account automatically after a few minutes. Other times, when I cancel the award ticket, I have to call in to get the miles back. Both flights were using AA miles on AA flights. Why is that sometimes I have to call to get miles back, sometimes not?
With the new system it's supposed to be an automatic refund of miles for AA flights ticketed on the US website. If your other cancellations were early in the year then you probably had to call. Also, I think if you changed the ticket in some way, you might have to call to get miles back.
opus2002 likes this.
rrgg is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2021, 11:06 am
  #810  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NYC suburbs
Programs: UA LT Gold (BIS), AA LT Plat (CC SUBs & BD), Hilton Dia (CC), Hyatt Glob (BIB), et. al.
Posts: 3,228
Americans mileage upgrade chart is a little confusing. Regarding JFK-MIA 772 or 77W flights: If booked in paid discount economy, is an upgrade to first (lie flat) possible using miles and $$? If so, how many miles and $$? Thank you.
Dr Jabadski is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.