Mar 2, 2021, 10:17 am
Last edit by: JDiver
NOTE: This archive thread contains all posts made in 2019 from the original thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/1511217-help-desk-milesaaver-saaver-award-questions-assistance.html
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver Award Availability - Help, Assistance & Discussion
Some of you might have found your thread merged into this "consolidated" thread. If your desire is to become thoroughly familiar with the knowledge that has been accumulated about the process for acquiring MileSAAver awards feel free to read this entire thread. If you only want the assistance from those who have the knowledge your request has been merged at the end. Feel free to wait for a forthcoming answer.
If you have reached this thread by using the search process you have the same choices as above. Read the thread and become knowledgeable or post at the end and wait for a forthcoming answer.
thanks
~magic111
If you have reached this thread by using the search process you have the same choices as above. Read the thread and become knowledgeable or post at the end and wait for a forthcoming answer.
thanks
~magic111
NOTE: for more detailed fare rules, see AA oneworld & Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (master thd)
Two award search systems — TWA884
There are two search systems,
See:
New Award Booking / Search / Calendar on aa.com 2019 — link (FT thread)
The Insider Trick to Getting More American Airlines Saver Award Availability
***
If you want to make sure that you’re seeing results from both award searching systems, you’ll want to perform an award search starting on each of these:
If you want to make sure that you’re seeing results from both award searching systems, you’ll want to perform an award search starting on each of these:
NOTE: “Married segment” issues exist, wherein AA may make a IAH-DFW-XXX award available, but not DFW-XXX; or STL-PHL-LHR, but PHL-LHR May not be available in conjunction with ORD- and others. See
More award availability restricted by married segments / connections
Award hold period: Awards can generally be held for five days; five day extensions require continued availability of your flights and generating a new award booking and five day hold.
Though AA can start releasing awards 331 days from the desired flight date (even though some other airlines might make award seats available to their members 355 days out), it’s very likely award seats may be released a few days after that. If seats aren’t sold and Revenue Management algorithms signify slow sales, more seats might be released going forward.
Within 14 days the hold period changes from 5 days to 1 day. And AA has periodically played the game in the past whereby within certain timeframes, usually 7 or 14 days before, they eliminate all sAAver space. Completely route specific. — JJeffrey
="3"%Airlines that can be booked for award travel on aa.com
oneworld alliance airline partners
oneworld alliance airline partners
- AA - American Airlines
- BA - British Airways (awards incur significant YQ surcharge
- AY - Finnair
- IB - Iberia
- JL - Japan Airlines
- QF - Qantas
- QR - Qatar Airways
- RJ - Royal Jordanian Airlines (joining 31 Mar 2020)
- S7 - S7 Airlines
- UL - Sri Lankan Airlines
AS - Alaska Airlines*(ended 29 Feb 2020, to be restored upon joining oneworld in 2021 )- 9K - Cape Air (but only certain cities)
- TN - Air Tahiti Nui
- EY - Etihad
- HA - Hawaiian Airlines (only certain routes
* Mileage redemption on Alaska Airlines is ending effective February 29, 2020. All award travel must be booked and ticketed by February 29, 2020. Travel is valid for 1 year after ticketing date and must be flown no later than February 28, 2021. Ticket changes will not be allowed after February 29, 2020.
NOTE: To search for partner awards, go to advanced search from the awards search or home page and select all airlines.
="3"%Full list of oneworld airline partners (and their affiliates)
- AA - American Airlines
- BA - British Airways (Cityflyer, Comair, OpenSkies, Sun-Air of Scandinavia)
- CX - Cathay Pacific (Dragonair)
- AY - Finnair (Flybe)
- IB - Iberia (Air Nostrum, Iberia Express)
- JL - Japan Airlines (JAL Express, J-Air, Japan Transocean Air)
- LA- LAN Airlines (LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador, LAN Express, LAN Colombia, LAN Peru only, ending 1 Oct 2020)
- MH - Malaysia Airlines
- QF - Qantas Airways (QantasLink, Jetconnect)
- QR - Qatar Airways
- AT - Royal Air Maroc (as of 31 Mar 2020)
- RJ - Royal Jordanian Airlines
- S7 - S7 Airlines (Globus) (excludes Siberia / far eastern Russia awards)
- UL - SriLankan Airlines
- JJ - TAM Airlines (LATAM Airlines will no longer operate using the airline code JJ for flights on or after October 27, 2019.)
When you do call, you might want to search for award space on the flights you want and tell the agent about those flights; sometimes AA agents won't find award seats unless they search by segment.
When using other airline web sites or tools to search for award availability, it’s best to do so by segment rather than by trip. E. g. BA may show availability SAN-LHR and LHR-AMS, but not SAN-AMS. And in some instances (EY, FJ, etc.) AA US may not see availability that AA Australia or New Zealand might see.
="3"%Full list of additional airline partners offering award redemptions
- 9K - Cape Air
AS - Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air(end 29 Feb 2020, to begin upon joining oneworld in 2021)- CZ - China Southern Airlines
- EY - Etihad Airways
- FJ - Fiji Airways
- HA - Hawaiian Airlines
- TN - Air Tahiti Nui
="3"%NOTE: Ticketing charge
Effective February 16, 2015, a Reservations Ticketing Service Charge of $30.00 for domestic itineraries and $40.00 for international itineraries will be applied by AA Reservations when ticketing award reservations that can be booked on aa.com. The charge is waived for award reservations that cannot be booked on aa.com including reduced mileage awards, and for Executive Platinums. N.B. Executive Platinums booking award for non-EP will pay the service charges.
Code:
oneworld Partners Award Fare Codes First-Business-Economy -------------------------------------------------------- AA - American Airlines Z U T -------------------------------------------------------- AY – Finnair U X -------------------------------------------------------- BA – British Airways Z U X -------------------------------------------------------- CX – Cathay Pacific Z U T KA - DragonAir -------------------------------------------------------- IB – Iberia U X -------------------------------------------------------- JL – Japan Airlines (Intl) Z U T JL – Japan Airlines (Dom) Z D S -------------------------------------------------------- LATAM Group JJ - TAM Airlines O I X LA – LAN Chile Z U T XL - LAN Ecuador LP - LAN Peru 4M - LAN Argentina -------------------------------------------------------- MH - Malaysia Airlines P U X -------------------------------------------------------- QF - QANTAS Airways P U X -------------------------------------------------------- QR - Qatar Airways Z U X -------------------------------------------------------- RJ – Royal Jordanian U X -------------------------------------------------------- S7 – S7 Airlines U E -------------------------------------------------------- UL - SriLankan Airlines -------------------------------------------------------- Other Partners First Business Economy -------------------------------------------------------- CZ– China Southern Airways (unknown) -------------------------------------------------------- FJ – Fiji Airways U X -------------------------------------------------------- TN – Air Tahiti Nui F for Business U for Economy -------------------------------------------------------- AS – Alaska Airlines A W -------------------------------------------------------- LY – El Al Israel P X E -------------------------------------------------------- EY - Etihad O I N -------------------------------------------------------- HA – Hawaiian Airlines D T --------------------------------------------------------
="3"%Other rules that may affect your awards="3"%:
="3"%Award Rules
American Airlines Awards are valid for travel on flights that are marketed and operated by AA (no codeshares). These awards can be booked online at AA.com.
oneworld and Other Airline awards are valid for travel on AA and any of its partner airlines, and can include travel on multiple partners. Some of these awards must be booked over the phone, and will not incur a Ticketing Service Charge (waived for EXPs in any case) if they cannot be booked online.
Up to four one-way awards can be booked on a single PNR. Codeshares are not bookable as Awards.
MPM or Maximum Permitted Miles: A Fare or award may not exceed the most direct routing by more than 25% (unless the fare routing includes a ticketed point deduction (essentially a miles allowance that extends MPM). See MPM / Maximum Permitted Mileage & Ticketed Point Deductions (merged threads).
Stopovers and Connections
Stopovers are no longer allowed on AA awards. Stopovers will require multiple awards.
Connections are limited to two connections / three flight segments for domestic awards, and three connections / four flight segments for international awards as of Aug 2017. Link
Domestic Connections must be under 4 hours for domestic flights (except Hawaii), with some exceptions: "LIFO" (Last In - First Out connections are generally allowed.
Hawaii itinerary: Effective on 14 Jul 2014 on an all-AA-metal award itinerary, you now have up to 18 hours to connect when traveling to/from Hawaii. NOTE: Hawaii interisland connections must be separate awards and can not be included as part of a mainland-island award.
International Connections must generally not exceed 23:59 hours. Some leeway has occasionally been granted when connecting flights are not daily. If the itinerary includes an international flight, the rules for international connections apply. Link to these courtesy of JonNYC.
If there is a non-stop flight that departs after the 4h / 23h59m windows and arrives at the destination earlier than a connecting flight within the 4h / 23h59m window, the passenger may be booked on the non-stop flight. It may be difficult getting some agents to book this.
"Most Significant Carrier" rule: To price as a single award, AAdvantage requires the most significant carrier to publish a cash fare (non-constructed) between the origin and destination. Airline MSC (e.g. DFW-SFO-HKG-BKK, CX SFO-HKG is the prevailing or most significant carrier) would have to have a published fare from XXX to YYY that allows travel on all included airlines, and routing that you want. If the MSC only offers constructed fares between your desired origin and destination, AA will price this as two awards.
Constructed fares: Another rule disallows awards where the fare must be constructed (also referred to as "YY"): Using a partner, the trip will require two awards if the governing carrier (e,g. airline operating on the major route, such as transpacific carrier) doesn't publish a through fare that includes the award's proposed origin and destination that allows the carriers proposed.
See this thread about examples using TN.
Married Segment Logic - a prospective trip may be available when searching segment by segment, yet not be bookable through from origin to destination. When selling seats for through flights and the desired inventory is not available, you cannot opt to sell the flight point-to-point. If sold point-to-point, the error response MULTIPLE SEGMENTS FOR SAME FLIGHT - SELL AS ONE SEGMENT will be received, indicating this booking is not allowed. Overriding the error check by ending the PNR twice is not acceptable.
See Award with available segments not bookable? (Married Segment issues)
="3"%Award Rules
American Airlines Awards are valid for travel on flights that are marketed and operated by AA (no codeshares). These awards can be booked online at AA.com.
oneworld and Other Airline awards are valid for travel on AA and any of its partner airlines, and can include travel on multiple partners. Some of these awards must be booked over the phone, and will not incur a Ticketing Service Charge (waived for EXPs in any case) if they cannot be booked online.
Up to four one-way awards can be booked on a single PNR. Codeshares are not bookable as Awards.
MPM or Maximum Permitted Miles: A Fare or award may not exceed the most direct routing by more than 25% (unless the fare routing includes a ticketed point deduction (essentially a miles allowance that extends MPM). See MPM / Maximum Permitted Mileage & Ticketed Point Deductions (merged threads).
Stopovers and Connections
Stopovers are no longer allowed on AA awards. Stopovers will require multiple awards.
Connections are limited to two connections / three flight segments for domestic awards, and three connections / four flight segments for international awards as of Aug 2017. Link
Domestic Connections must be under 4 hours for domestic flights (except Hawaii), with some exceptions: "LIFO" (Last In - First Out connections are generally allowed.
Hawaii itinerary: Effective on 14 Jul 2014 on an all-AA-metal award itinerary, you now have up to 18 hours to connect when traveling to/from Hawaii. NOTE: Hawaii interisland connections must be separate awards and can not be included as part of a mainland-island award.
International Connections must generally not exceed 23:59 hours. Some leeway has occasionally been granted when connecting flights are not daily. If the itinerary includes an international flight, the rules for international connections apply. Link to these courtesy of JonNYC.
If there is a non-stop flight that departs after the 4h / 23h59m windows and arrives at the destination earlier than a connecting flight within the 4h / 23h59m window, the passenger may be booked on the non-stop flight. It may be difficult getting some agents to book this.
"Most Significant Carrier" rule: To price as a single award, AAdvantage requires the most significant carrier to publish a cash fare (non-constructed) between the origin and destination. Airline MSC (e.g. DFW-SFO-HKG-BKK, CX SFO-HKG is the prevailing or most significant carrier) would have to have a published fare from XXX to YYY that allows travel on all included airlines, and routing that you want. If the MSC only offers constructed fares between your desired origin and destination, AA will price this as two awards.
Constructed fares: Another rule disallows awards where the fare must be constructed (also referred to as "YY"): Using a partner, the trip will require two awards if the governing carrier (e,g. airline operating on the major route, such as transpacific carrier) doesn't publish a through fare that includes the award's proposed origin and destination that allows the carriers proposed.
See this thread about examples using TN.
Married Segment Logic - a prospective trip may be available when searching segment by segment, yet not be bookable through from origin to destination. When selling seats for through flights and the desired inventory is not available, you cannot opt to sell the flight point-to-point. If sold point-to-point, the error response MULTIPLE SEGMENTS FOR SAME FLIGHT - SELL AS ONE SEGMENT will be received, indicating this booking is not allowed. Overriding the error check by ending the PNR twice is not acceptable.
See Award with available segments not bookable? (Married Segment issues)
="3"%Resources
Some airlines or areas have different, extra or special characteristics for securing awards. See
aa.com Basic (front page) vs Advanced Award Search Results (abbreviated results for front page search vs. Advanced award search)
AAdvantage awards to / from Australia, New Zealand link
AAdvantage awards to the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador link
AAdvantage awards on Air Tahiti Nui link
AAdvantage awards using British Airways incurring (avoiding) high fees link
AAdvantage award on Cathay Pacific (and Cathay Dragon) link
AAdvantage awards using Etihad Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Fiji Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Japan Airlines link
AAdvantage awards using Qantas Airways link
AAdvantage awards on S7 (Siberian) Airlines link
aa.com Basic (front page) vs Advanced Award Search Results (abbreviated results for front page search vs. Advanced award search)
AAdvantage awards to / from Australia, New Zealand link
AAdvantage awards to the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador link
AAdvantage awards on Air Tahiti Nui link
AAdvantage awards using British Airways incurring (avoiding) high fees link
AAdvantage award on Cathay Pacific (and Cathay Dragon) link
AAdvantage awards using Etihad Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Fiji Airways link
AAdvantage awards using Japan Airlines link
AAdvantage awards using Qantas Airways link
AAdvantage awards on S7 (Siberian) Airlines link
Awards assistance tools: Use at your own risk; may not be up to date. These are not recommendations.
- Check this oneworld interactive map and timetable by Innosked to see potential routes.
- British Airways Executive Club: You can sign up for British Airways Executive Club, Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank or Qantas Frequent Flyer to use their sites to find awards (look for the lowest level awards) you can't see on aa.com. BA in particular is prone to show "phantom" availability.
- See this article by the Points Guy on BA and Qantas for award searching.
- See this article to new online tool from Japan Airlines by Australian Frequent Flyer
- Award booking services - list and reviews (FT thread)
- Award Nexus: It's easy to do your experiments for some free browsing (click "more signup options" under the green Purchase button to sign up with your FlyerTalk login info). You might want to run each segment rather than origin to destination. Or use this link to use with your FT login: https://awardnexus.com/user/login?url=%2F.
...Award Nexus is free (up to a point) for FlyerTalk users. Click "more signup options" under the green Purchase button to sign up for free as a FlyerTalk member.
“What I like about Award Nexus is it has a much nicer user interface than BA and lets you choose whether to search through BA and/or QF, and as you can see each of those may give somewhat different results.”
The "cost" to do all these searches once was a total of 12 points, and you get 200 points free when you signup, and then every 90 days you can reload 100 more points for free (once you're below 10 points). So that gives an idea of how many searches could do free...
- AwardAce: Compare Award Redemptions Across Airlines In Seconds
- AwardHacker: "a tool we build to tell you how to travel with the least miles"
- Award Nexus: which can search availability but can't determine cost, with FT member free limited use
- Economical Excursionist's Tools: compare Frequent Flyer Mile Redemptions
- ExpertFlyer is a common tool used on FT. There is a $99.99 annual fee, monthly fee and five day trial
- Great Circle Mapper is useful for calculating distance and MPM (Maximum Permitted Mileage)
- You can try PEX+ (currently in beta), which will even tell you how many miles you'll need, though it draws data from aa.com and S7 so it can't reveal awards that can not be seen on those sites.
- Travel Codex Award Maximiser commercial blog
Also see:
aa.com Basic (front page) vs Advanced Award Search Results
Phantom / false AA award availability with AA partners (consolidated)
oneworld and Other Airline (Partner) Awards info, rules 2014 on
Help with British Airways / BA surcharge / YQ (AA award on BA, consolidated) (Awards using BA incur significant "YQ" surcharges.)
UK APD / Air Passenger Duty charged for UK departures[/quote] (Flights originating in the UK other than INV or BFS - or connections 24:00 or over - incur UK Air Passenger Duty excise taxes.)
MileSAAver / SAAver award reduction / scarcity >= Aug 2011 onward (consolidated)
Older posts from 2018 have been archived to this archive thread.
Older posts from 2017 have been archived to: this archive thread
Older posts from 2016 have been archived to: this archive thread
Older posts through 2015 have been archived to: this archive thread
ARCHIVE: HELP DESK: 2019 MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
Jul 25, 2019, 4:47 pm
#196
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
It sounds like you've already done a lot of the work and have a relatively good grasp on what needs to be done. Flexibility helps a lot. With EF, you can set alerts for award space.
AY from SFO and LAX through HEL is another potential option. You probably know that BA will incur hefty fees if you use them for the transatlantic segment.
IB has some transatlantic routes that might not be on everyone's radar (e.g., MEX-MAD, SJU-MAD, PTY-MAD). MEX is pretty easy to position to from SAN/TIJ, and it's a destination in and of itself.
Finally, with the increasing prevalence of married segments, it's hard to say which routes tend to have more availability. For example, SAN-LAX-LHR could have more availability than LAX-LHR by itself. Definitely consider secondary airports, though, if you're willing to position. You might find that that opens up availability on a transatlantic flight that wasn't available by simply searching for the nonstop from the hub/gateway.
The other thing to be aware of is that AA agents are much less willing now to search segment by segment; rather, they will search by origin and destination, so it might be harder to book awards by piecing together segments. You can, however, place an itinerary on hold and call back and see if a different agent can add a segment to the itinerary.
AY from SFO and LAX through HEL is another potential option. You probably know that BA will incur hefty fees if you use them for the transatlantic segment.
IB has some transatlantic routes that might not be on everyone's radar (e.g., MEX-MAD, SJU-MAD, PTY-MAD). MEX is pretty easy to position to from SAN/TIJ, and it's a destination in and of itself.
Finally, with the increasing prevalence of married segments, it's hard to say which routes tend to have more availability. For example, SAN-LAX-LHR could have more availability than LAX-LHR by itself. Definitely consider secondary airports, though, if you're willing to position. You might find that that opens up availability on a transatlantic flight that wasn't available by simply searching for the nonstop from the hub/gateway.
The other thing to be aware of is that AA agents are much less willing now to search segment by segment; rather, they will search by origin and destination, so it might be harder to book awards by piecing together segments. You can, however, place an itinerary on hold and call back and see if a different agent can add a segment to the itinerary.
Jul 25, 2019, 4:47 pm
#197
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,745
Goal: Italy in the Fall 2020
We two hope to take a two-or-three week honeymoon vacation flying First/Business class in the Fall 2020. We want to see Italy, but are flexible in arrival/departure cities. Being based out of San Diego, we can get to LAX easily, or to other hubs if need be, to support amazing awards. I'll have around 400k AAdvantage miles to spend on two people's travel, a premium EF subscription, and minimum PlatPro status in 2020 (possibly EXP, but mostly domestic work travel, so that bump to $15k might get me).
We two hope to take a two-or-three week honeymoon vacation flying First/Business class in the Fall 2020. We want to see Italy, but are flexible in arrival/departure cities. Being based out of San Diego, we can get to LAX easily, or to other hubs if need be, to support amazing awards. I'll have around 400k AAdvantage miles to spend on two people's travel, a premium EF subscription, and minimum PlatPro status in 2020 (possibly EXP, but mostly domestic work travel, so that bump to $15k might get me).
If I were you, I'd poke around now on AA.com to see what combos you find. I'd look at SAN and LAX, then familiarize myself with the major cities in Italy. Rome/Milan/Venice are ones that come to mind. It will be best if you can find awards from the west coast nonstop into a European city. I rarely find AA biz on domestic flights. So for example, should you spot biz from ORD-FCO, you'd likely be in coach to get to ORD. Start a scratch pad on your computer and make notes about what you find and how far out you book. Then you'll be ready to pounce when dates open up for your honeymoon period.
I like awardnexus and use it quite a lot - though with your only currency AA miles, you likely will find what you need on AA.com.
Jul 25, 2019, 5:02 pm
#198
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,435
Execution: Woof, that's a lot... where to begin?
Across months of time, carriers, locations, and routings, the possible combinations seem endless! Can you advise on suggested days/routes/carriers to spend my time (and 200 EF standing queries) on, based on common successes or tacit knowledge of the routes? Or even better, take a generalist approach and describe how you'd go about searching, given the above goal - I'm happy to do the leg work with a bit of guidance.
Appreciate your time and insights,
Mike
Across months of time, carriers, locations, and routings, the possible combinations seem endless! Can you advise on suggested days/routes/carriers to spend my time (and 200 EF standing queries) on, based on common successes or tacit knowledge of the routes? Or even better, take a generalist approach and describe how you'd go about searching, given the above goal - I'm happy to do the leg work with a bit of guidance.
Appreciate your time and insights,
Mike
The ideal AA flights for us are LAX-PHL-FCO or LAX-JFK-FCO or LAX-ORD_FCO.
Some of the AA routes are seasonal and probably available in September but not November. I've been looking at October 2019 just to get an idea of how perhaps Oct 2020 will look, and it's not promising, but you never know. One trip, we flew into Rome and flew home from LIN and loved it. Once time we flew into VCE and flew home from Rome. Sounds like you're flexible, and that will help to find award space. No flights home out of Rome? Jump on the train to Florence and try to fly from there.
The amount of miles you have to spend can be tricky. It's very possible that sAAver Biz space never opens. Then you have to pay extra miles for Biz Anytime for First Milesaver. That can be 130K or even 180K miles each, each way, and you wouldn't have enough. The flights that involve BA are often fewer miles, but again be careful of the fuel surcharge.
If you want to be certain, you can book at the higher mileage and IF sAAver awards become available, switch to that. Might be a change fee, but probably worth it to saver hundreds of thousands of miles. Hope some of this helps. The bottom bottom line is to keep looking for those Savers and set your EF alerts!
Jul 25, 2019, 5:44 pm
#199
Join Date: Aug 2016
Programs: Avios
Posts: 438
Hey folks!
This is more of a teach-me-to-fish (search) strategy question... I've read the Wiki, several of its child pages, and most of the 54 pages to date here, and am looking for your recommendations for prioritizing my searching time. Flexibility in travel plans is creating MANY combinations and making it challenging for this new user to plan award travel!
Goal: Italy in the Fall 2020
We two hope to take a two-or-three week honeymoon vacation flying First/Business class in the Fall 2020. We want to see Italy, but are flexible in arrival/departure cities. Being based out of San Diego, we can get to LAX easily, or to other hubs if need be, to support amazing awards. I'll have around 400k AAdvantage miles to spend on two people's travel, a premium EF subscription, and minimum PlatPro status in 2020 (possibly EXP, but mostly domestic work travel, so that bump to $15k might get me).
Planning: Identify best potential options
From reading the Wiki, since it's more than ~330 days out yet from a Sept-Nov 2020 time-frame departure... I can't check for awards in the time window yet, but I would like to get my ducks in a row for which Hubs/Routes are typically best for award travel.
Here are the routes I was planning to search:
Departure Locations (SAN, LAX, SFO, DFW, IAH, JFK, PHL, ORD, MIA, ?)
Arrival Locations (FCO, MXP, VCE, BGY, ?)
Carriers (AA, BA, IB, ?)
Execution: Woof, that's a lot... where to begin?
Across months of time, carriers, locations, and routings, the possible combinations seem endless! Can you advise on suggested days/routes/carriers to spend my time (and 200 EF standing queries) on, based on common successes or tacit knowledge of the routes? Or even better, take a generalist approach and describe how you'd go about searching, given the above goal - I'm happy to do the leg work with a bit of guidance.
Appreciate your time and insights,
Mike
This is more of a teach-me-to-fish (search) strategy question... I've read the Wiki, several of its child pages, and most of the 54 pages to date here, and am looking for your recommendations for prioritizing my searching time. Flexibility in travel plans is creating MANY combinations and making it challenging for this new user to plan award travel!
Goal: Italy in the Fall 2020
We two hope to take a two-or-three week honeymoon vacation flying First/Business class in the Fall 2020. We want to see Italy, but are flexible in arrival/departure cities. Being based out of San Diego, we can get to LAX easily, or to other hubs if need be, to support amazing awards. I'll have around 400k AAdvantage miles to spend on two people's travel, a premium EF subscription, and minimum PlatPro status in 2020 (possibly EXP, but mostly domestic work travel, so that bump to $15k might get me).
Planning: Identify best potential options
From reading the Wiki, since it's more than ~330 days out yet from a Sept-Nov 2020 time-frame departure... I can't check for awards in the time window yet, but I would like to get my ducks in a row for which Hubs/Routes are typically best for award travel.
Here are the routes I was planning to search:
Departure Locations (SAN, LAX, SFO, DFW, IAH, JFK, PHL, ORD, MIA, ?)
Arrival Locations (FCO, MXP, VCE, BGY, ?)
Carriers (AA, BA, IB, ?)
Execution: Woof, that's a lot... where to begin?
Across months of time, carriers, locations, and routings, the possible combinations seem endless! Can you advise on suggested days/routes/carriers to spend my time (and 200 EF standing queries) on, based on common successes or tacit knowledge of the routes? Or even better, take a generalist approach and describe how you'd go about searching, given the above goal - I'm happy to do the leg work with a bit of guidance.
Appreciate your time and insights,
Mike
Good Luck
Jul 25, 2019, 5:51 pm
#200
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: San Diego
Programs: Plat Pro AAdvantage, but defected to BAEC
Posts: 1,222
I’d bet a penny to a dollar that the SAN-PHL connection award would book into Y, or you have to take a route such as SAN-ORD-PHL also in Y.
Jul 25, 2019, 7:23 pm
#201
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: On strike
Posts: 8,135
One further suggestion: don’t feel that you have to fly into Italy. European train travel is generally easy, affordable, and even enjoyable. AA flies to ZRH and MUC, both of which are close enough to Italy to be worth considering. Heck, if you’re desperate, try CDG as well.
This approach can work wonders. The DW and I wanted to go back to Budapest and see Slovenia for the first time. In May, we flew AA to Prague in J; took a train to Budapest; did a side trip to Croatia; and then spent several days in Slovenia before flying back out of VCE. (We had a blast.)
Jul 25, 2019, 7:51 pm
#202
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 191
Hey folks!
This is more of a teach-me-to-fish (search) strategy question... I've read the Wiki, several of its child pages, and most of the 54 pages to date here, and am looking for your recommendations for prioritizing my searching time. Flexibility in travel plans is creating MANY combinations and making it challenging for this new user to plan award travel!
Goal: Italy in the Fall 2020
We two hope to take a two-or-three week honeymoon vacation flying First/Business class in the Fall 2020. We want to see Italy, but are flexible in arrival/departure cities. Being based out of San Diego, we can get to LAX easily, or to other hubs if need be, to support amazing awards. I'll have around 400k AAdvantage miles to spend on two people's travel, a premium EF subscription, and minimum PlatPro status in 2020 (possibly EXP, but mostly domestic work travel, so that bump to $15k might get me).
Planning: Identify best potential options
From reading the Wiki, since it's more than ~330 days out yet from a Sept-Nov 2020 time-frame departure... I can't check for awards in the time window yet, but I would like to get my ducks in a row for which Hubs/Routes are typically best for award travel.
Here are the routes I was planning to search:
Departure Locations (SAN, LAX, SFO, DFW, IAH, JFK, PHL, ORD, MIA, ?)
Arrival Locations (FCO, MXP, VCE, BGY, ?)
Carriers (AA, BA, IB, ?)
Execution: Woof, that's a lot... where to begin?
Across months of time, carriers, locations, and routings, the possible combinations seem endless! Can you advise on suggested days/routes/carriers to spend my time (and 200 EF standing queries) on, based on common successes or tacit knowledge of the routes? Or even better, take a generalist approach and describe how you'd go about searching, given the above goal - I'm happy to do the leg work with a bit of guidance.
Appreciate your time and insights,
Mike
This is more of a teach-me-to-fish (search) strategy question... I've read the Wiki, several of its child pages, and most of the 54 pages to date here, and am looking for your recommendations for prioritizing my searching time. Flexibility in travel plans is creating MANY combinations and making it challenging for this new user to plan award travel!
Goal: Italy in the Fall 2020
We two hope to take a two-or-three week honeymoon vacation flying First/Business class in the Fall 2020. We want to see Italy, but are flexible in arrival/departure cities. Being based out of San Diego, we can get to LAX easily, or to other hubs if need be, to support amazing awards. I'll have around 400k AAdvantage miles to spend on two people's travel, a premium EF subscription, and minimum PlatPro status in 2020 (possibly EXP, but mostly domestic work travel, so that bump to $15k might get me).
Planning: Identify best potential options
From reading the Wiki, since it's more than ~330 days out yet from a Sept-Nov 2020 time-frame departure... I can't check for awards in the time window yet, but I would like to get my ducks in a row for which Hubs/Routes are typically best for award travel.
Here are the routes I was planning to search:
Departure Locations (SAN, LAX, SFO, DFW, IAH, JFK, PHL, ORD, MIA, ?)
Arrival Locations (FCO, MXP, VCE, BGY, ?)
Carriers (AA, BA, IB, ?)
Execution: Woof, that's a lot... where to begin?
Across months of time, carriers, locations, and routings, the possible combinations seem endless! Can you advise on suggested days/routes/carriers to spend my time (and 200 EF standing queries) on, based on common successes or tacit knowledge of the routes? Or even better, take a generalist approach and describe how you'd go about searching, given the above goal - I'm happy to do the leg work with a bit of guidance.
Appreciate your time and insights,
Mike
Given that it's your honeymoon (and likely date sensitive), I'd probably look into SAN/LAX/SJC/SFO on BA connecting in LHR to your desired city in Italy ($700pp for First Class at the minimum level of miles to go directly from the west coast is really not that bad IMO) . Like others have said, play around on aa.com as married segment logic is sometimes interesting.
There is also the Iberia LAX-MAD which I've never found space on. Finnair just started LAX/SFO-HEL. I don't know if it's seasonal. Even if they just have space to HEL and you purchase an onward ticket you are flying directly from the West Coast.
I've started collecting miles to be used on Star Alliance airlines for my Europe trips. Many more options from the West Coast.
Jul 25, 2019, 8:14 pm
#203
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
The CDG comment above reminded me that TN, an AA partner, has an LAX-CDG flight. You'll have to call and ask for availability, but that's another option. I believe TN has started using a 787 on that route, and the J seats are lie-flat.
Jul 28, 2019, 9:05 am
#204
Moderator: Travel Buzz
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Sunny San Diego
Posts: 3,099
I'll be a Debbie Downer also. We fly AA to Europe very frequently. We generally drive to LAX from San Diego, because from our North County location, it takes about the same amount of time as a SAN/LAX connection flight. We are willing to connect as needed, preferably in Europe-- LAX/LHR/Destination, usually. Saver Business class has become almost non-existent. If it shows up on the screen, a quick glance at the flights will show something like LAX to SFO in business or First, SFO to MAD in economy. The long haul segments are hard to come by for a reasonable redemption rate. I had set dates for one trip to Marseille and paid 250K AA miles for ONE person r/t. You must be very diligent to get a good reward seat, and all of the suggestions above are gleaned from lots of hours spent trying to make it all work. I'll echo the idea of hiring a booking service. It's money well spent when you're planning your wedding and honeymoon. I'm also thinking of using BA out of SAN and just paying the fuel surcharges, simply because it's easy and often available.
Jul 30, 2019, 12:06 pm
#205
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 557
I'm two days out from AA's 331 day release for our flight next year, and have a few questions. First off, the details: PHL/LAX/OGG. I'm very inflexible, and there's really only a single itinerary that I'm interested in, one that I always book.
I've read that inventory generally isn't even available until 4-5am EST, so how urgent is it that I book these tickets for the departure on Friday in that 4-5am window? I don't want to wait until the return is available to book a round trip, since I wouldn't be saving anything, so booking two one-ways, each at 331 days out, would be fine with me. If I look right now, one week prior to my departure, I actually see a web only special for 38.5k miles/person in Y. In J, the only thing available is AAnytime @ 125k/person, which is insane.
So, in my instance, is it worth booking the departure immediately upon release, or should I hold off and simply track the awards? This will be the first time I've ever tried booking this far out.
I've read that inventory generally isn't even available until 4-5am EST, so how urgent is it that I book these tickets for the departure on Friday in that 4-5am window? I don't want to wait until the return is available to book a round trip, since I wouldn't be saving anything, so booking two one-ways, each at 331 days out, would be fine with me. If I look right now, one week prior to my departure, I actually see a web only special for 38.5k miles/person in Y. In J, the only thing available is AAnytime @ 125k/person, which is insane.
So, in my instance, is it worth booking the departure immediately upon release, or should I hold off and simply track the awards? This will be the first time I've ever tried booking this far out.
Jul 30, 2019, 2:16 pm
#206
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,470
I'm two days out from AA's 331 day release for our flight next year, and have a few questions. First off, the details: PHL/LAX/OGG. I'm very inflexible, and there's really only a single itinerary that I'm interested in, one that I always book.
I've read that inventory generally isn't even available until 4-5am EST, so how urgent is it that I book these tickets for the departure on Friday in that 4-5am window? I don't want to wait until the return is available to book a round trip, since I wouldn't be saving anything, so booking two one-ways, each at 331 days out, would be fine with me. If I look right now, one week prior to my departure, I actually see a web only special for 38.5k miles/person in Y. In J, the only thing available is AAnytime @ 125k/person, which is insane.
So, in my instance, is it worth booking the departure immediately upon release, or should I hold off and simply track the awards? This will be the first time I've ever tried booking this far out.
I've read that inventory generally isn't even available until 4-5am EST, so how urgent is it that I book these tickets for the departure on Friday in that 4-5am window? I don't want to wait until the return is available to book a round trip, since I wouldn't be saving anything, so booking two one-ways, each at 331 days out, would be fine with me. If I look right now, one week prior to my departure, I actually see a web only special for 38.5k miles/person in Y. In J, the only thing available is AAnytime @ 125k/person, which is insane.
So, in my instance, is it worth booking the departure immediately upon release, or should I hold off and simply track the awards? This will be the first time I've ever tried booking this far out.
And it's not clear if you're looking for Y or J. The web special thing is AA's rapidly evolving take on dynamic pricing, so at almost double the price of sAAver economy I wouldn't call that a good deal either.
Bottom line, unless you luck out and sAAver space is released at the 331 day window, I would be in no hurry to book.
Jul 30, 2019, 2:30 pm
#207
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 557
AA doesn't release all sAAver space right at the 331 day window, it can trickle in over the coming days and even months. So if there's no sAAver space released, then it doesn't make any sense to book AAnytime space that far out, as that will always be available (as long as there's a seat for sale).
And it's not clear if you're looking for Y or J. The web special thing is AA's rapidly evolving take on dynamic pricing, so at almost double the price of sAAver economy I wouldn't call that a good deal either.
Bottom line, unless you luck out and sAAver space is released at the 331 day window, I would be in no hurry to book.
And it's not clear if you're looking for Y or J. The web special thing is AA's rapidly evolving take on dynamic pricing, so at almost double the price of sAAver economy I wouldn't call that a good deal either.
Bottom line, unless you luck out and sAAver space is released at the 331 day window, I would be in no hurry to book.
Economy Web Special: Y, 38.5k miles
Economy MileSAAver: Unavailable (for my flight)
Economy AAnytime: Y, 90k miles
First MileSAAver: Unavailable (for my flight)
First AAnytime: J, 125k miles
I'm inflexible, so I can't complain, and also want to stretch my bank of AA miles as long as possible. To me, the only option acceptable from the above is the web special.
Jul 31, 2019, 6:55 pm
#208
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,453
Ideally, I'd book in J, but if the only thing available is AAnytime, I'm probably going with Y sAAver. What I'm seeing right now:
Economy Web Special: Y, 38.5k miles
Economy MileSAAver: Unavailable (for my flight)
Economy AAnytime: Y, 90k miles
First MileSAAver: Unavailable (for my flight)
First AAnytime: J, 125k miles
I'm inflexible, so I can't complain, and also want to stretch my bank of AA miles as long as possible. To me, the only option acceptable from the above is the web special.
Economy Web Special: Y, 38.5k miles
Economy MileSAAver: Unavailable (for my flight)
Economy AAnytime: Y, 90k miles
First MileSAAver: Unavailable (for my flight)
First AAnytime: J, 125k miles
I'm inflexible, so I can't complain, and also want to stretch my bank of AA miles as long as possible. To me, the only option acceptable from the above is the web special.
Aug 3, 2019, 6:09 pm
#209
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Posts: 175
looking to fly from Japan to SFO in November (now that JL is easily bookable) in business class - plenty of availability from Tokyo to SEA in biz, but then all possible options show AS/Alaska SEA/SFO in Y - not the end of the world for us to fly in the back for that last leg, but can we possibly request/waitlist for F on that sector? or not? have tried looking on aa.com for the answer to this question without luck - any input is welcome!
Aug 3, 2019, 8:07 pm
#210
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PHL
Programs: HH Lifetime Diamond, AA EXP, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 586
looking to fly from Japan to SFO in November (now that JL is easily bookable) in business class - plenty of availability from Tokyo to SEA in biz, but then all possible options show AS/Alaska SEA/SFO in Y - not the end of the world for us to fly in the back for that last leg, but can we possibly request/waitlist for F on that sector? or not? have tried looking on aa.com for the answer to this question without luck - any input is welcome!
I have set EF alerts for that leg; like you - I don't really care for my daughter and I to be in the best Y seats for like 500 miles, but it sure does seem silly.
I booked the returns NRT --> SEA and had to manually connect the SEA --> PHL (again in Y)..... but then a couple days ago NRT --> ORD (F) opened and suprisingly ORD -- XXX --> PHL opened up all in F with it....
Moral of my story - book the tough get, and keep your eyes open for EF / A new routing to open up.