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
Sep 3, 2019, 9:16 am
#271
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,593
Excuse please what is surely an easy question, but I am set to book my first Aadvantage award flight, and I want to make sure I understand this.
I have found 2 tickets available in sAAver business on a route I need to travel. However I do not have the required miles available in one account, my account has enough, and my wife's account has enough. However I have read stories of 2 tickets being available, but once one of the tickets is booked, the other one disappears, resulting in the inability to book the 2 tickets separately. As a result of this possibility it appears the AA website recommends putting the first award ticket on "Hold", then booking and confirming the second ticket on the second account, then lastly returning to confirm the first award that was on hold once the second ticket has been confirmed. Is that correct and is that the best way? If I call in on the phone with both AA account numbers could they just book both awards at the same time and on the same PNR?
In any case since we will be traveling together, once both tickets are issued, can AA tie them together in a single PNR for ease of travel purposes and so they keep us together should any kind of interruptions happen?
Thanks in advance.
I have found 2 tickets available in sAAver business on a route I need to travel. However I do not have the required miles available in one account, my account has enough, and my wife's account has enough. However I have read stories of 2 tickets being available, but once one of the tickets is booked, the other one disappears, resulting in the inability to book the 2 tickets separately. As a result of this possibility it appears the AA website recommends putting the first award ticket on "Hold", then booking and confirming the second ticket on the second account, then lastly returning to confirm the first award that was on hold once the second ticket has been confirmed. Is that correct and is that the best way? If I call in on the phone with both AA account numbers could they just book both awards at the same time and on the same PNR?
In any case since we will be traveling together, once both tickets are issued, can AA tie them together in a single PNR for ease of travel purposes and so they keep us together should any kind of interruptions happen?
Thanks in advance.
Sep 3, 2019, 11:50 am
#272
Join Date: Jun 2018
Programs: AA PPro
Posts: 632
With AA it doesn't matter what account you put the tickets on hold with, all that matters is that the miles will be pulled from whatever account you are logged in with when you book it. And when using miles from separate accounts it's not possible to call and have it booked under one PNR.
...
And it's not possible to combine PNR's once booked separately. You can call AA and get seated together, and if things were to go wrong you will not be separated, just speak to a human when rebooking and tell them you're traveling with a companion and must be accommodated together, etc.
...
And it's not possible to combine PNR's once booked separately. You can call AA and get seated together, and if things were to go wrong you will not be separated, just speak to a human when rebooking and tell them you're traveling with a companion and must be accommodated together, etc.
Sep 7, 2019, 1:37 pm
#273
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,138
QQ - Does the ticketed point deduction subtract from your routing or add to the MPM?
I have DCA-PHL-MAD-GVA booked, but know DCA-DFW-MAD-GVA is available even though AA.com won't show the whole itinerary. MPM*1.25 is just less than than the mileage for the DFW connection (-TPD), but (MPM+TPD)*1.25 would be fine (barely).
I'm guessing since it doesn't show online that it's the former (and it's a deduction not an addition), but figured I would check here to see if MPM is still actually driving any award logic. As to why, well, a 9 hour flight in J for 57.5k sounds better than 7.5. 😂
I have DCA-PHL-MAD-GVA booked, but know DCA-DFW-MAD-GVA is available even though AA.com won't show the whole itinerary. MPM*1.25 is just less than than the mileage for the DFW connection (-TPD), but (MPM+TPD)*1.25 would be fine (barely).
I'm guessing since it doesn't show online that it's the former (and it's a deduction not an addition), but figured I would check here to see if MPM is still actually driving any award logic. As to why, well, a 9 hour flight in J for 57.5k sounds better than 7.5. 😂
Sep 8, 2019, 9:34 am
#274
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,483
QQ - Does the ticketed point deduction subtract from your routing or add to the MPM?
I have DCA-PHL-MAD-GVA booked, but know DCA-DFW-MAD-GVA is available even though AA.com won't show the whole itinerary. MPM*1.25 is just less than than the mileage for the DFW connection (-TPD), but (MPM+TPD)*1.25 would be fine (barely).
I'm guessing since it doesn't show online that it's the former (and it's a deduction not an addition), but figured I would check here to see if MPM is still actually driving any award logic. As to why, well, a 9 hour flight in J for 57.5k sounds better than 7.5. 😂
I have DCA-PHL-MAD-GVA booked, but know DCA-DFW-MAD-GVA is available even though AA.com won't show the whole itinerary. MPM*1.25 is just less than than the mileage for the DFW connection (-TPD), but (MPM+TPD)*1.25 would be fine (barely).
I'm guessing since it doesn't show online that it's the former (and it's a deduction not an addition), but figured I would check here to see if MPM is still actually driving any award logic. As to why, well, a 9 hour flight in J for 57.5k sounds better than 7.5. 😂
Sep 8, 2019, 5:06 pm
#275
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,138
Just call AA and ask to be moved to the DFW connection. AA.com can be very quirky, just because a particular routing doesn't show up at aa.com definitely doesn't mean that it can't be booked in general, especially when it involves 2+ connections. We can speculate and guess but in the end AA's computers have the final say.
Sep 12, 2019, 5:44 pm
#276
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PHL
Programs: HH Lifetime Diamond, AA EXP, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 586
Just wanted to post. I booked RT a couple months ago PHL--> ORD --> NRT for April 2020. The PHL--> ORD leg was in Y milesaver and the ORD --> NRT is in F.
Today three EF alerts triggered for flights I had been watching (All in April 2020).
I called in, and they immediately switched mine and my daughters PHL--> ORD to F, no fuss at all.
Looks like at least for April a few routes opened up additional F Milesaver availability. When i checked EF, it was U7C3 prior to my booking, and post it was U6C3
Today three EF alerts triggered for flights I had been watching (All in April 2020).
I called in, and they immediately switched mine and my daughters PHL--> ORD to F, no fuss at all.
Looks like at least for April a few routes opened up additional F Milesaver availability. When i checked EF, it was U7C3 prior to my booking, and post it was U6C3
Sep 14, 2019, 1:50 am
#277
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Lake Tahoe (RNO)
Programs: Depends on the card offers :)
Posts: 127
Finding OW award availability to Japan Feb 2020
My goal is to find a first class OW award for 2 from RNO to either of the Tokyo airports, NRT or HND, early Feb to mid Feb 2020. I have 260,000 or so miles currently, and another 80,000 or so Bonvoy points I can convert.
Best award I’ve found is first class domestic, business class on the TP leg, AA metal, with a not awesome connection through DFW on the way out. Haven’t found ANY availability on Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific, which I’m assuming are the nicer first class products. Is this the best I can hope for? Is it impossible to find an award in true first class across the pacific?
Because RNO is small, I’ve considered getting myself a paid ticket to SFO or LAX to take better advantage of partner availability...but so far not much luck. Any help/ideas appreciated!
Best award I’ve found is first class domestic, business class on the TP leg, AA metal, with a not awesome connection through DFW on the way out. Haven’t found ANY availability on Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific, which I’m assuming are the nicer first class products. Is this the best I can hope for? Is it impossible to find an award in true first class across the pacific?
Because RNO is small, I’ve considered getting myself a paid ticket to SFO or LAX to take better advantage of partner availability...but so far not much luck. Any help/ideas appreciated!
Sep 14, 2019, 1:59 am
#278
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,029
My goal is to find a first class OW award for 2 from RNO to either of the Tokyo airports, NRT or HND, early Feb to mid Feb 2020. I have 260,000 or so miles currently, and another 80,000 or so Bonvoy points I can convert.
Best award I’ve found is first class domestic, business class on the TP leg, AA metal, with a not awesome connection through DFW on the way out. Haven’t found ANY availability on Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific, which I’m assuming are the nicer first class products. Is this the best I can hope for? Is it impossible to find an award in true first class across the pacific?
Because RNO is small, I’ve considered getting myself a paid ticket to SFO or LAX to take better advantage of partner availability...but so far not much luck. Any help/ideas appreciated!
Best award I’ve found is first class domestic, business class on the TP leg, AA metal, with a not awesome connection through DFW on the way out. Haven’t found ANY availability on Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific, which I’m assuming are the nicer first class products. Is this the best I can hope for? Is it impossible to find an award in true first class across the pacific?
Because RNO is small, I’ve considered getting myself a paid ticket to SFO or LAX to take better advantage of partner availability...but so far not much luck. Any help/ideas appreciated!
Airlines/aircraft/routes with long haul first class is decreasing. Have you checked if F is on those flights?
Have you flown long haul business class?
Award married sector logic is making awards harder
SEA/YVR are other gateways
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
AA oneworld & Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (master thd)
CX---> AA Award: Cathay Pacific / CX, KA availability, etc. (master thd)
JL---> AAdvantage Award using JL / JAL / Japan Airlines (master thd)
More award availability restricted by married segments / connections
AAdvantage MileSAAver: “Through Award Fares”, a New (March 2019)
Sep 14, 2019, 6:28 am
#279
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,483
My goal is to find a first class OW award for 2 from RNO to either of the Tokyo airports, NRT or HND, early Feb to mid Feb 2020. I have 260,000 or so miles currently, and another 80,000 or so Bonvoy points I can convert.
Best award I’ve found is first class domestic, business class on the TP leg, AA metal, with a not awesome connection through DFW on the way out. Haven’t found ANY availability on Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific, which I’m assuming are the nicer first class products. Is this the best I can hope for? Is it impossible to find an award in true first class across the pacific?
Because RNO is small, I’ve considered getting myself a paid ticket to SFO or LAX to take better advantage of partner availability...but so far not much luck. Any help/ideas appreciated!
Best award I’ve found is first class domestic, business class on the TP leg, AA metal, with a not awesome connection through DFW on the way out. Haven’t found ANY availability on Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific, which I’m assuming are the nicer first class products. Is this the best I can hope for? Is it impossible to find an award in true first class across the pacific?
Because RNO is small, I’ve considered getting myself a paid ticket to SFO or LAX to take better advantage of partner availability...but so far not much luck. Any help/ideas appreciated!
Also, going to Japan you can forget about using CX unless you just want to fly way out the way and spend a lot more miles. Awards from the US to Japan (Asia 1) cannot connect in HKG (Asia 2). So for example an award all in F on CX from LAX-HKG-NRT would cost 110k (LAX-HKG) + 40k (HKG-NRT), so 150k miles each one-way compared to 80k if you fly directly to Tokyo in F on AA or JL.
JL is still pretty good about releasing last minute space, so if you must have F then about your only option is to monitor space and hopefully book something close in. Again I would book the AA option now, then switch to JL F should you find something, you'll only pay the difference in miles.
Sep 14, 2019, 1:02 pm
#280
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Lake Tahoe (RNO)
Programs: Depends on the card offers :)
Posts: 127
Two premium award seats is much harder than 1. More than double as hard
Airlines/aircraft/routes with long haul first class is decreasing. Have you checked if F is on those flights?
Have you flown long haul business class?
Award married sector logic is making awards harder
SEA/YVR are other gateways
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
AA oneworld & Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (master thd)
CX---> AA Award: Cathay Pacific / CX, KA availability, etc. (master thd)
JL---> AAdvantage Award using JL / JAL / Japan Airlines (master thd)
More award availability restricted by married segments / connections
AAdvantage MileSAAver: “Through Award Fares”, a New (March 2019)
Airlines/aircraft/routes with long haul first class is decreasing. Have you checked if F is on those flights?
Have you flown long haul business class?
Award married sector logic is making awards harder
SEA/YVR are other gateways
HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
AA oneworld & Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (master thd)
CX---> AA Award: Cathay Pacific / CX, KA availability, etc. (master thd)
JL---> AAdvantage Award using JL / JAL / Japan Airlines (master thd)
More award availability restricted by married segments / connections
AAdvantage MileSAAver: “Through Award Fares”, a New (March 2019)
Have flown long haul business JFK-SCL. It wasn’t absolutely mind blowing, but it was definitely very nice! Hoping for mind blowing
Sep 15, 2019, 7:37 pm
#281
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: East or West
Posts: 388
Phantom and missing availability for both phone and website?
It's been a year or so since I booked an AA award... see they added a bunch of partners to the website, but am getting a lot of phantom availability and missing availability.
1. EY business ORD-AUH showing phantom space on AA.com but not on the Etihad site, and is not bookable online or by agents. On the other hand, I was able to see YYZ-AUH business on the Etihad site and agents were able to book it, but is not showing on AA.com.
2. JL business NRT-SEA, which shows available on AA.com, Alaska, and BA websites, but phone agents can't see it, so I had to hold it online and then call to add additional segments.
3. Then I tried to get from SEA to LAX, which the website showed would have to be on Alaska via PDX with no AA availability. However, this caused a fare break, so the agent then suggested the non-stop SEA-LAX which they had as available. Worked out much better for my schedule, but SEA-LAX was not on the AA website through either the regular or advanced searched either logged in or incognito... is there now married segment logic on international partner awards?
This about par for the course nowadays?
Also: Anyone successful in getting an override of the 4-segment limit recently?
1. EY business ORD-AUH showing phantom space on AA.com but not on the Etihad site, and is not bookable online or by agents. On the other hand, I was able to see YYZ-AUH business on the Etihad site and agents were able to book it, but is not showing on AA.com.
2. JL business NRT-SEA, which shows available on AA.com, Alaska, and BA websites, but phone agents can't see it, so I had to hold it online and then call to add additional segments.
3. Then I tried to get from SEA to LAX, which the website showed would have to be on Alaska via PDX with no AA availability. However, this caused a fare break, so the agent then suggested the non-stop SEA-LAX which they had as available. Worked out much better for my schedule, but SEA-LAX was not on the AA website through either the regular or advanced searched either logged in or incognito... is there now married segment logic on international partner awards?
This about par for the course nowadays?
Also: Anyone successful in getting an override of the 4-segment limit recently?
Last edited by MahiMahi524; Sep 15, 2019 at 7:55 pm
Sep 16, 2019, 1:53 am
#282
Join Date: Jul 2014
Programs: AA Exec Plat
Posts: 192
This is outside of the scope you’re asking about, but since you’re not getting flight credits, have you considered American Express points to ANA miles? Their redemption rates are off the charts good.
Sep 16, 2019, 2:18 pm
#283
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
Great info. I assume your implication is that there isn’t that big of a different between long haul first and long haul business? Not expecting an Etihad-style apartment-to-myself in the sky...but is there really nothing separating the two fare classes?
Have flown long haul business JFK-SCL. It wasn’t absolutely mind blowing, but it was definitely very nice! Hoping for mind blowing
Have flown long haul business JFK-SCL. It wasn’t absolutely mind blowing, but it was definitely very nice! Hoping for mind blowing
The only gateways with JL F are LAX and SFO (and ORD and JFK, if you are willing to backtrack). Finding two seats on the same flight might be difficult, though, so I do think it’s a good idea to take what you can find now and modify later as space potentially becomes available.
Sep 16, 2019, 2:58 pm
#284
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,029
Sep 16, 2019, 4:31 pm
#285
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846