soitgoes

Generally speaking, yes.

SST

Yes, it's impossible, it seems. The value of your miles falls every SINGLE time they announce these "enhancements". Same with hotel points. There is absolutely no value in saving these points: spend them down for your desired award every chance you get, or they'll be yanked from your miserable hands and you'll be the sucker left when the music stops.

Understand, friends: Bernie Madoff did his thing, and these programs are about one small step removed from Bernie. Earn and burn, before they take the punchbowl away, and learn everything you can here to maximize the burn.

I wish I hadn't collected so many points, but the business travel for many years just prevented me from working down the balance. I've kind of given up hope on all these programs: it's simply a joy to spend the miles/points. What they buy today will be worth a whole lot more than what they buy tomorrow. And he who dies with the most points......... is dead.

Onward and let's travel!

brp

While this is a negative for me as well (I'm more likely to use a stopover than a one way award) there a number of people who have posted here about how this is a vast improvement and makes their miles worth considerably more because of the award selection flexibility this allows. So, your statement is far from universally true.

Take the change a few years back to free domestic upgrades for EXP. For some, tis had a negative that EXP no longer earned any stickers and they couldn't upgrade spouses, for example. Since mrs.brp is also EXP, we have no need for stickers, this was a pure positive with no drawback. Not so for all.

Cheers.

GUWonder

Apparently not. And it gets worse when they try to also do what DL does, which is push customers to stick to an award routing that matches routes sold under published fares of the carrier unless the customer is willing to pay up additional miles to use a routing other than one included as part of some regular paid fare's published fare rules for a trip between the desired trip's origin and destination.

hillrider

Hmmm...who says they didn't match DL?

GUWonder

Not I. As of still, DL's approach to this -- pushing customers to stick to an award routing that matches routes sold under published fares of the carrier unless the customer is willing to pay up additional miles to use a routing other than one included as part of some regular paid fare's published fare rules for a trip between the desired trip's origin and destination -- is worse in general practice already than is the case with AA so far. Intent to match DL in this regard isn't a good thing either.

LaFrequentFlyerViva

Does anyone here know where to find a complete list of every airport/country served by American AND it's mileage partner airlines? As I try to calculate different segments repriced (in miles) via the new Award scheme I've been frustrated to find that a number of the countries listed comprising AA.Com's list of Awards includes places that, upon calling the Paltinum Desk, I'm told NO partners service [Bhutan & Papua New Guinea, for example] whilse some countries that ARE served by partners ARE bookable.

I'd like to avoid having to look up or contact every single partner airline to find where I can and can't get to on American for international travel.

Thanks!

TheBeerHunter

Have you looked at the oneworld website? That would be your best bet I think.

bsyah

I just found this site after doing some frustrated searching. I just got the AA email about the new one way awards.

I have travelled to Maui from Rochester every 2 years for the past 8 years always on AA miles with my wife and daughter. I have never had a problem getting the flights on the dates we need (which are specific because of a time share condo). We travel end of Jan and I usually book in July/August.

I just used the new tool to search for our dates for this year and the only availability on our dates is the 45K one way award. So what we we previously doing for 105K (35K times 3) is now going to be 270K (90K times 3). I don't have those kind of miles and will have to completely rethink our approach to this bi-annual trip. We usually earn the necessary miles just in time to book.

Is this due completely to this change or is there some other force at work here?

honu

It sounds like the sAAver award seats (or whatever they're called these days) aren't available for your dates. This might change later on. And even if no sAAver awards become available in one direction, you might be able to find them in the other. Somehow I don't think HI flights will be too crowded in the upcoming months (my friends there are telling me that tourism has ground to a halt).

WingedWorldExplorer

For Papaua New Guinea try QUantas. I have been to PNG Port Moresby on an award in the past. I think Australia departing point is Cairns ( Great Barrier Reef).

WingedWorldExplorer

You may be right. I made a deduction based on hte following experience 2 days ago. I tried to book GRU - LPB SouthAmerica 2 to SouthAmerica 2 i.e 12.5 K. I wanted routing to stay within SA2 i.e GRU-SCL-IQQ-LPB, but was offered GRU(SA2)-LIM (SA1)-LPB(SA2) @ 20K. Explanation given was that when you conenct through other zone then milage will be the higher of the two. I protested and said that if that was so then LIMA should be considerd a gateway city with a stop-over allowed.

rrgg

I didn't mean to imply that members would no longer use or want to use distance-based oneworld awards. I certainly do!!! I meant that AA could decide to eliminate them since multiple stopovers can be now achieved without them. I'm guessing (hoping) it won't happen since Arpey already announced that an online oneworld award booking tool is coming.

reubencahn

Qantas has a codeshare with Air Niugini. When I've called AA, I've been told it cannot be booked as an award. Virgin Pacific now flies to POM from BNE, and its flights are much cheaper than Air Niugini's. Air Niugini's cheapest flights to POM are from CNS. Once you're in PNG, Air Niugini is your only choice.

badah

If you use Windows, you might try the application at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-released.html -- I use it a lot and find that it's pretty useful, if not perfect (e.g. its latest iteration included LAX-AKL among AA's routes).