squeeler

Hi there. Welcome to FT and thanks for asking the question. Sadly I do not know about managing the booking as your ask. Things work somewhat the other way. I current am due to take an AA flight on a BA booking; I can change my seat, as BA.com redirects me to aa.com, and keeps me logged in to BA (if that makes sense). I am very cautious as I also have an AAdvantage account, but I do not want my flights being credited there.

One thing to be very careful about. You have to do a certain number of flights per year on BA to maintain status (not just other OW carriers). There is a wealth of info in the stickies of the BA forum on FT, which will guide you on this point.

Happy travelling.

jubbing

I see that Etihad is a non oneworld 'partner' of MH, can I purchase tickets that way? MH's website is truly the pits

michael_ellenby

Hi there - travelling for 2 week vacation to Greece and Italy in late June 2015, trying to use AA points, travelling from PHX.

Which is the best European airport to fly into, using AA points? AA flies into lots of cities, but most with poor points seats availability. Anyone got suggestions? LHR, CDG and then hop south? Or is there a better way?

Thanks ... Michael

JohnAx

Alas, finding the ideal award trip is pretty much a DIY project. aa.com isn't too bad for date-checking a given route, but takes a few more clicks to change cities; expertflyer.com might be convenient enough to spend $9.95 (?) for a month of service.

You might find useful opportunities if you start your trip with a hop from PHX to e.g. LAX and look for long-hauls from there. If you have them, BA miles (avios) can be cheaper than AA's for short hops.

Within Europe, be sure you have a reasonably priced escape from the city you intend to be in. BA can be competitive but (afaik) requires travel via a UK stop. Easyjet is a fairly decent LCC (downside being 20kg max bag) with more hubs. Ryan has such a stinky rep for c/s I'd personally not fly them. EI is effectively an LCC with a single hub. ITA doesn't index Easyjet and similars; I use skyscanner.com for those searches.

Note that BA may surprise you with a competitive "no bag" fare (that OneWorld status may over-ride.)

JapanFlyerT

I have stocked up over 100,000 DM miles and would like to book a J class ticket from either ITM or KIX (OSA) to Athens, with a 2-4 night stopover either outbound or inbound somewhere to break up the flight.

The US Air chart has C Asia-Europe for 80,000 which sounds good to me.

The JAL booking engine showed some availability for my dates (outbound around 3/15, inbound 3/31), but the cost is 85,000 but also JPY50,000 (USD$400), which seemed quite steep.

JAL only shows 4 destination cities though, making it hard to understand how to go about this.

Any suggestions on how best to find availability and book and pay for an economy ticket at the same time?

I know US Air is still partners with Air China, but the online booking engine they have gave me a Y fare of $9,000 when I included a stopover.

Aegean is still a US Air partner and perhaps I should be looking at them to connect to the Oneworld ticket.

I also have UAL Star Alliance miles, but the cost for J on partners is just too high, plus no stopovers.

teriyaki

Completely new to the Oneworld explorer and circle pacific fares.

Trying to go YVR-NRT-TPE-HKG-XXX-XXX-SIN-SYD-YVR

Which one would be most beneficial. It seems the circle pacific fare would work, only issue is no backtracking I've identified. Is there a place to find the price of what this would cost so I'd know if its an avenue worth pursuing vs buying tickets individually? (Yes, I've have browsed through the Circle Pacific thread but the prices were not ex-NA).

Gardyloo

The most important question is what class of service - economy, business...?

With Circle Pacific fares you're only allowed two stopovers in each continent, so your Asia plan won't work.

For the moment, prices ex-Canada are quite competitive for Circle Pacific fares - a little more than trips originating in Asia (and a lot less than those originating in the US) but when you add access costs (i.e. the cost required to get to a cheaper origination point) ex-Canada is cheaper. (For example a 22,000 mile Circle Pacific fare bought and started in Canada is US$3045; if bought and started in Tokyo US$2954, so around $90 difference.) Those are base fares; additional taxes and fees would be on top of that.

Fares are hard to find; you need to use subscription services like KVS or Expert Flyer to find them. Fares used to be listed on the Oneworld site, but various countries' regulations regarding "all-in" pricing (i.e. inclusive of fees and taxes) resulted in them being pulled since it's impossible to cite all-in prices when one ticket can be so different from the next.

iruvmattree

This has probably been asked a billion times, but is it possible to redeem AA for USA to IST without having to fly on BA? I tried going through DUS, MAD and CDG instead of BA to LHR but I can't seem to do it. I even tried flying into SAW instead...

Gardyloo

Only BA and IB fly into IST from western Europe, so you'd need to focus on Iberia. IB doesn't show up in AA's online booking tools, so you'll either need to phone AA or else sign up for the BA program and use BA's search function for mileage flights into IST, then phone AA to book if you find something.

iruvmattree

TY SO MUCH. I found the space on BA and I'll be calling in to book on AA. I see why award bookers are a thing.

Hakluyt

I cannot find the right category for my 'problem'.
Through an oversight 2 US airways accts were established for my husband. When these were combined, US Air clawed back miles dating back to 2006, 2010, 2011.
We no longer have the receipts for these purchases. The 2010 claim was for 2 hotel rooms/2 prs. We went there as a family, but US Air sees it as duplicated. The same situation for 2011. How is it possible to claw back miles for 2006. Thought this was superannuated. US Airways seems firm. Any thoughts on that?

Mwenenzi

Your question is better in US forum, as its about USDM ffp,

What do you mean by "claw back". Trying to get miles credit for past flights and/or hotels?
The miles may have expired due to inactivity.
For 2 nights in a hotel hardly worth the bother.

SPYDER67

I don't have AA status so is the AA LHR Flagship lounge only available to holder of First Class AA tickets? Is it comparable to in class and style to the LHR BA Executive Lounge for Fist Class Ticket holders?

jubbing

Is it cheaper to buy a return economy ticket between point A to point B, and then upgrade one leg to business (by paying), or is it cheaper to buy Point A to B one way Business, one way economy.

No route in mind, just a *general question for now*

Hakluyt

I'll go to the US Air forum.
The account has been active dating back to the 90s. US Air 'discovered' that there were 'double' charges in 2010 and 2011, which are legitimate. We had the hotel charges for 4 prs put on our credit card. 2006 charge was for a returned item (do not remember this) and now in 2014 US Air rescinded these miles based on their uptake. We just think this is superannuated stuff and if in doubt, they should have acted sooner.
So far, they are unapproachable.