Changing Award Ticket Return After the Fact
 

I had (have) an AA award ticket LHR-HEL-LHR, but I was unable to use the return portion of the ticket due to unexpected schedule change.

Is it possible to reschedule the return to a future date even if I didn't notify AA before the scheduled return?

To further complicate issues I actually don't know when exactly I would be able to use the ticket, but I do fly btw Helsinki and London few times a year typically.

Regards,
zeikka

<comment> As I posted this to wrong forum is there a way to move it to AA forum?


[This message has been edited by zeikka (edited Dec 29, 2003).]

Award tickets can be changed (a nice feature of AA awards). The specifics vary with the type of award, also the rules changed slightly on August 1, 2003 with the new award structure. Generally premium awards (F or J) can be changed for no fee, while economy awards have a change fee. Unlike paid discount tickets, there is no problem with missing the flight and making the change afterwards. You'll have to call AA to find out the rules for your specific award (the change fee may be up to USD 100).

When you call in, you'll have to have the ticket number, because they can no longer pull up the reservation by record locator for an expired passenger name record (post-48 hours, or so, after the last segment).

I think the change must be done within one year of original award ticket issuance, though the new date can be up to a year after reissuance. This may vary by carrier, so check.

In the future, if you remember, it is more polite to cancel the flight before departure, rather than to be a no show.

As mentioned, PNR's disappear into Never, Never Land after 48 hours and at that point, can no longer be retrieved.

However, often times when I travel on a premium award, I want to retain the PNR because there will be critical info in the record which allows me to make changes quickly, etc. Without this information readily available, it becomes very time consuming to make a change.

Therefore, I often ask a res agent to initially book the return flight WAY, WAY far into the future... then immediately change to a sooner date. Due to the distant initial return booking, the PNR will remain alive til 48 hours after that date.

This little trick to preserve a PNR has come in handy, many, many times in my flying career.

Furthermore, if I forget to cancel a reservation for whatever reason, ie, laziness, etc., the PNR lives on - even tho the reservation may have been cxld by the airline.

Food for thought, and nothing more!



[This message has been edited by tvl4free (edited Dec 30, 2003).]

That's more than just "food for thought."

As a former res agent, I highly recommend this practice.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

If you are platinum, at least on CO, you can change with no fee. I did that earlier this year and had no problem. There is a charge if you are a lower elite level.