Well - I just called in myself to reinstate a flight award for which I'd not been finding availability, and the agent that answered informed me that an Executive Platinum member willbe charged the $150 redeposit fee for an unused certificate.

This is quite different from what I was expecting, and indeed, quite different from how I'd thought the program was supposed to work. Searching back in this thread, I see that there's some mixed experience with this, and the Wiki at the top of the page has stuck-through the text referring to this waiver, as though things have indeed changed. Is this change indeed definitive and authoritative? If so, can't seem to figure out when this change took place, however, so don't know whether my particular certificate might have been issued while the exemption was still in force.

Does anyone here have a clear idea of what the story is?

flytastic: I'm sorry if the information I gave you was incorrect. How did things work out for you anyway?

AFAIK the fee for re-depositing BE certs has never been waived for EXPs. No doubt there have been some scattered data points of this happening, mostly due to agent confusion, but its the exception not the rule.

Maybe the DPs were confused between fee waived for "changing the flight or canceling after booked using the certificate" (which is free if an EXP is on the itinerary, according to my experience) vs redeposit the points (which shouldn't be free because the cert will not be tied to any person, as it belongs to the small business)?

So if a certificate is used by an EXP and the ticketed reservation is subsequently cancelled, what hapens to the points?

In a typical case, if you use a certificate to book a trip and want to cancel or change date, there will be a change fee. If this certificate is used on an EXP, such change or cancellation fee will be waived.

If the trip is canceled, the certificate itself becomes available for booking (to a different itinerary or even a different individual), but it remains a certificate with expiration and rules associated with it.

If you want to redeposit the certificate back to the points (so that you can redeem for a different product), then there is a redeposit fee. The certificate itself belongs to the small business, not an individual, so the conversion of certificate back to points won't be associated with any AA status and thus no fee can be waived.

Yes, that's the policy. When I was an EXP I called to re-deposit a BE certificate and was told that there was a redeposit fee. When I expressed disappointment, it was waived as a one-time favor.

The award calendar on the Business Extra site is so frustrating. Does anyone have any secrets on how to make it work? It says lots of 7.2k awards are available, but every time you click on one of the dates, there is nothing. Is there a trick to get the calendar to work? Is there a way to search for that specific fare bucket on Expert Flyer, which is far more reliable.

Related question, could not find an answer:
I have 1,682 points scheduled to expire 12/31/2019, struggling to find a good use for them, came up with something in November 2020 that may be of interest (BXP1A). Based on recent experience, I fully expect at least one schedule change between now than then, possible itineraries include at least one connection in each direction. If/when that occurs, can I reject the change, ask for a refund? As points already expired, there would be little benefit to have them reinstated with the original expiration date. Would AA instead allow me to book another BXP1A award, within the same period of travel?

I booked a business extraa award as I had a certificate expiring last week. The agent told me that any date changes were subject to a $150 fee. I was under the impression that this was similar to a PlanAAhead award which IIRC one could change the dates (but not the routing?) without a fee. Can anyone please let me know the correct rules on this?
Thanks.

Anytime awards do not have a fee, other awards do
https://www.businessextra.com/redeem/flight-awards.htm

I have ~2800 points expiring today. I wanted to travel to Japan (using a Business Class PlanAAhead award) in September 2020, but don't have the exact dates. Can I book a ticket today using some hypothetical dates and then change them when plans firm up next year? If so, can I also change the routing later?

It sounds like the ticket is valid for one year after booking, I would just need the PlanAAhead "U" space available, but wanted to check with those here that are knowledgable.

Unlike Aadvantage Saaver awards, ANY changes to Business Extra awards incur a change fee (believe it is $150).

I believe the better course of action wold be to redeem the miles for a Business Extra award certificate, which is then good for 1 year. Business Class PlanAAhead award between North America and Japan requires 7200 points - much more than the expiring 2800.

I have around ~12,900 points, but have never redeemed any or had a material amount expiring. I didn't realize I could do a certificate. Perfect, I'll do that.

What about an award certificate that expires tonight? If I can find any itinerary with available U inventory to Europe, can I then change that once the December 2020 schedule opens up even if the dates, duration, and destination change? I don’t mind the $150 fee if I can end up using the award next December.

if you redeem for BA, are there fuel surcharges?