dandarc

I'm having a hard time finding policy at aa.com or elsewhere about this. I have an award ticket booked with AAdvantage miles at aa.com on a Japan Airlines flight. The original scheduled flight was JL 003 - JFK -> HND on 4/16 at 1:30 AM. Today they informed me of a schedule change and now I'm on JL8005 - JFK -> NRT departing at 12:30 PM. So 11 hours later. I'd really prefer to not lose half a day in Japan, so I was hoping to switch to an earlier flight rather than a later one given the schedule change.

Does anyone know AA's policy (award ticket, partner airline, schedule change)? On paid tickets in the past I was given pretty wide latitude to change flights when a schedule change happened, but so far AA hasn't been able to do anything for me - agent said something like "there's no U availability". I'm on chat with another agent right now just to see if I ask the question differently / a different person I get a different answer, but I figure if anyone knows where American's policy on this is, they're on this forum.

JJeffrey

The "official policy" is that all AA is obligated to do is cancel the ticket and refund your miles and $$ if you're not happy with new routing.

Unofficially, if you want to switch to a different option you're going to have to HUCA until you get a good agent who knows how to reach out to the JL liason and can put in a request to move you to the flight that is a half day earlier, rather than the one a half day later.

This is a reasonable request given the cancellation, but it's going to take the right set of people at both AA and JL to make it happen. It is not something you're going to be able to accomplish through chat and many basic agents just say "sorry no award availability on that flight nothing we can do".

dandarc

Ok - so I just keep on trying. If I cannot get the right person on the phone, I might hold out and see if a reasonable flight from - anywhere closer to Florida than the west coast pops up in either first or business. I'm already doing a bit of a hack for this and can get to Dallas, Chicago, Boston, etc. a day or two before the big flight just as easily as I can New York. Or even flights originating from Tallahassee. If I was going in the next couple of weeks, there's a lot of options costing the same amount of miles available that start at our actual home airport and even some that don't have an overnight connection at all. I've got a 24 hour-plus connection built in right now because we're planning on getting to JFK separately from the big trip.

ijgordon

AA can�t force partners to open award availability on alternate flights, although as noted you can try to get the right person to request JL accommodate you. It�s one of the pitfalls of partner award travel that many people learned (and posted) about during the pandemic.

AA will generally be much more flexible about putting you on their own metal, not sure from where they fly to TYO these days (ORD? DFW?) but they may be willing to put you on a flight from a different origin if you find an itinerary that works for you.

BeeNYC

I'm in the same boat as dandarc for my return flight from Tokyo on March 27. I went from JL 004 HND/JFK to JL 8006 NRT/HND. In my case I will likely incur a $200+ taxi ride because of the change (for now it seems there aren't any Airport Express buses running from Omiya, where I'm staying, to NRT). When I call the AAdvantage line, I do not get connected directly to their International Partner Awards Specialists. After two agents telling me there is nothing they can do about switching me to JL 006 HND/JFK, I finally realized I should ask for someone experienced in International Partner Awards.

I did the above and found the right person can do something to help you, though the final resolution is up to JAL. Within 24 hours of being told I would be placed in the "queue" requesting the desired change, my JAL record still reflected Flight 8006, but also showed I was on the Waitlist for JL 006. I didn't know exactly what that meant in my specific situation so I called again. This time I requested immediately that the agent transfer me to someone who is experienced with international awards and she did. The international agent explained that when you are in the "queue" waiting for a response from JAL, you are placed in Waitlist status. She said I should hear something in 4-5 days. I don 't trust her answer 100% but she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. If my status doesn't change after 5 days, I will call AA and ask that they leave me on JL 8006. A seat in F is more important to me than shelling out an extra $200. I'll start a daily check for new HND availability, mostly hoping to see something when I get to two weeks out.

I went through the same situation on my outbound flight when JAL made their November schedule changes. What was different that time was my award ticket was with Alaska Airlines and they were much more efficient in effecting my desired flight change.


Here's an update on my situation. Tonight, after only a two day wait, I was confirmed on JAL 6. I was even assigned my preferred seat, 2A.

dandarc

That's awesome - I'm on hold with someone who is at least asking their support desk. Maybe I can ask to put on waitlist for JAL005 on Saturday 4/15. Heck if they'll do it for only 20,000 miles additional each, I'd even upgrade to First.

Update: first person the call disconnected / went to survey while I was still on hold. HUCA and new person is now "setting up request with the Japan Airlines Liason". Hopefully next update will be "success".

Update 2: Request forwarded to the Japan Airlines Liaison department with 2 flights in preference order (JL 5, then JL8005 on Saturday 4/15). Instructions to call back in 4 business days.

Update 3: Confirmed on JL 5 on the Saturday. Hurrah!

kodalip

On the same note, let�s say I book a partner ticket with British airways and there�s a schedule change. Would they rebook me onto American metal if I asked and in this case would they refund the extra taxes and fees?

USFlyerUS

This is a BA question better suited to the BA forum, where those more familiar with BA policies and procedures may give you better info.

kodalip

I meant more if I book a BA ticket through AA. My understanding is the ticketing carrier is responsible for changes

SpammersAreScum

If you buy a ticket from AA for a flight flown by a partner, and the partner makes a schedule change prior to day of travel, then, yes, you talk to AA. If the change qualifies you for rebooking, AA should have no problem with rebooking you on an AA flight, or on that or any other partner, depending on availability.

IADCAflyer

Had this happen to me. AT flight with a schedule change resulting in a missed connection in CMN. Called AT and had to call AA as the stock was issued by AA (i.e., "001").

Even though it was an award booking, AA was able to change the dates of the flight.

kodalip

Right, but let's say I switch from a BA operated flight to AA. Would they refund the difference in taxes and fees?

skviolet98

I did this, and yes, they refunded the money. Though the flight that changed was an AA positioning flight.

kodalip

Thank you. On the flip side, do you know if I use a free change to switch to a flight with more expensive fees, would they charge me the difference in fees or eat the cost?

ijgordon

I think if you request the change (voluntary) they will charge the difference but that will likely require the award availability to be there. If they make the change (because it�s the only viable option) then they won�t.