VegasGambler

Interesting. I've been wanting to do this with AS awards (because of the stopovers, basically 2 one-ways for 12,500 miles if you can plan it properly)

If there's no FF number on the res when you book it, adding the AA number is no problem? (I know that changing it is a pain, and AS will only let you add an AS number at booking time, but I can leave it blank). Since the flight will have a native AA number I assume I'll still be eligible for my EXP benefits (checked bags, MCE, upgrades) if I do this? I know that upgrades can't be requested on codeshares (not until the gate, anyway) but I think that should not be an issue with an AA flight number?

If I also get qualifying segments that would be even better.

TranceXplant

What's being said and what's actually happening don't quite match up (or at least seem to vary from one itinerary to another).

Here's my April itinerary for a jaunt through Europe
(excluding non-OW flights):

AA ORD-ATH (AA marketed & operated)
​​​​​​AY BER-HEL (AA award)
AY HEL-ARN (AY marketed & operated)
BA ARN-LHR (BA marketed & operated)
BA LHR-ORD (AA marketed / BA operated)

​I obviously didn't receive LP for the award flight, but ALL of the flights counted towards the 30 segments. YMMV

VegasGambler

It would be great if partner awards counted towards the segments, because I have a few booked. I'm flying an AY award booked with AA miles in a couple of weeks, so I'll see if I get credit for that. My return is also AY, booked with AS miles, with my AA number attached so I'll be curious to see if those count.

taxicabnumber

This is probably the case, although I wonder if it wouldn't be fairer to have a segments or miles component? For example, for EXP-with-rewards, you'd need to (1) earn 200k LPs, and (2) fly 30 segments OR XYZ miles. I guess that's adding complexity, and one purported reason for switching to the LP system was to remove complexity (unclear if true in reality) though...

VegasGambler

I've said it before, but I think that a segment component makes it harder for people at hubs. Basically the worse-served your home airport is the easier the segment requirement is (due to more connecting flights). This is almost certainly intentional, as those people also have more choice of airlines so it makes sense for AA to treat them better (vs a "hub captive").

If all your flights are connecting, 30 segments is only 7-8 round trips, which is really not that much for a frequent flyer.

TranceXplant

Definitely. It's geared towards people like me who live in a competitor's hub (MSP). Unfortunately, my usual non-pandemic pattern consists mostly of trips to/from Asia - big miles and spend, but few flights. So I'm unlikely to hit the threshold in most years anyway.

TranceXplant

It would be a lot fairer for a certain subset of flyers, but we may be such outliers that the added complexity isn't worth the hassle from a business standpoint. I doubt it's very common for someone to spend roughly 200 hours in planes every year, as I usually do, but only tally ~25 segments (5 or 6 trips to HKG via DFW or ORD). If it weren't for things like ROCKETMILES counting towards LP, the new EXP points threshold would be harder to hit with that pattern too.

VegasGambler

I flew PHX-ORD-HEL-FCO on a single AAdvantage award almost 2 weeks ago. PHX-ORD (on AA) posted as soon as I landed. 0 miles & LP, but I got the segment.

However, the AY flights did not credit (no segments) My AA number was on the res all the way through.

I'm currently flying FCO-HEL, and I'll fly HEL-JFK in a few days. That was on a single AS award, but I changed my FF number to be my AAdvantage number at checkin (and it shows on the BP).

So there seems to be some inconsistency there. After almost 2 weeks I've pretty much given up on thinking I might get credit for my outbound AY segments. Maybe I should request credit using the web form and see what happens? 4 segments is a significant amount, and I have another 2 partner award segments coming up on a future trip.

ryanbriar

It is worth a shot to see what happens. What I’ve found in dealing with a few incorrect LP postings (distance vs. fare) is that the team will actually look into the postings, even if they originally deny the ask.

W/r/t the 30 segments, perhaps there’s some sort of middle ground for those who spend a decent amount flying yet fly minimal segments where AA can track LPs specific to tickets(I.e., legacy EQDs). It is yet another metric, but a way to at least delineate between those who gain a substantial amount of LPs via CC / other avenues and flying. Or, the miles aspect as was mentioned in a previous post.

kenk85

I'm currently having an issue sorting out 4 flights, which I believe to be segments. Can anyone clarify the following situations:
1+2) flights from PIA - DFW, then DFW to PHX, both on January 2. The issue may be that it is part of a record locator that started prior to the promotion period (?)
3) direct flight from PHX - CMH. The issue may be it was booked with travel credit from a canceled flight (early COVID time) and fell until the old record locator from 2020, I believe (?)
4) MRS - LHR through British airway. The issue may be due to it being only a few days ago, but the AA flight from LHR to ORD has been posted and counted as a segment. Perhaps, partners take longer to post?

Thanks for the clarification and if anyone has a phone number to contact to sort this out. I am currently on hold with the AAdvantage customer service number and the representative seems to be reading the details of the promotion for the first time as I'm on the phone.

Update: after a few phone calls and a few phone calls between customer service rep and IT, all flights were added to the promotion record.

davecraze

800k LPs already this year and only 7 segments. There is no way I hit 30 segments, so all the choice rewards will be wasted. In fact, have never had more than 20 segments in one year in all my flying with AA. Some years I only had 10, even while requalifying for CK. The 30 segments is a real thumb in the eye.

FlyingEgghead

Any chance of doing segment runs? Note that even award tickets (on AA flights) count toward the 30 segments. Or you can sometimes get cash fares (on short flights with connections) under $40 per segment. If this is your only obstacle, it would be a shame to throw away those rewards.

EXPLAT

I'll trade you my extra segments for your CK! Fixing to hit 200k this week. 800k, wow.

davecraze

i have considered it but being based at DFW (not many cheap quick turn and burn fares generally) and not having much free time to be flexible to get the deals will constrain me.

i may just have to do ten round trips to Austin and back for the two grand that will cost. That would not even even out the bonus miles from all the tiers so would have to take the 11 SWU in that case, assuming I could ever even use them.

FlyingEgghead

Looks like bonus miles from all Loyalty Choice levels add up to 210k RDM, which is generally considered worth more than $2k. (Not even counting the ~20k RDM you'd earn for the flights themselves.)

And choosing some SWUs instead, up to the amount you can use, makes it even better.

You can look at creatively nesting trips to lower the cost per segment -- e.g., inside a DFW-AUS RT, you could do a cheaper (because more competition) AUS-DFW-XXX RT.