Help in finding AA award seats (U)
 

I posted this on AA forum - it got 141 views but only 2 posts. Neither of the 2 were particularly helpfull in addressing my question (they were of some help).
So I am trying here in hope of getting some good advice:

Clearly I am newbie to this forum, but not to travel in general. I fly for pleasure only (I am retired) and save up my miles through various means (CC, buy miles, promotions, etc) in order to upgrade to J for long haul flights. I have been very successful over the years but it’s always an adventure.
I have been recently exploring FT forum and have learned a lot (long ways to go yet, I am sure). I could not locate a thread that addresses this specific issue (or I just probably cannot find it). One of the pointers I did pick up in my search is to use ExpertFlyer to find award U seats.
I gave it a try but it was a total failure.
I was looking for U seats from SFO to SIN in a one week window 322 to 329 days out. I understand that Expertflyer cannot show CX, JL or other OW awards seats (it shows only AA U seats) but it did not show even seats that were available on code share with JL (as confirmed with an AA agent.) Nor did it show 9W flight via PVG, which I believe is also a code share, and was available.
What am I missing? Is there a better way or a better site to locate award U seats on OW partners before calling AA?
Please help.

I have the same problem with KVS tool,I cant wait to see what advise you get.Good luck

I wish I had waited for your answer - I just signed up for KVS this AM. It sounds like I just wasted $ 30.
Here is the advice I got from Kiwi Flyer on AA forum:

You need to have signed up for Qantas frequent flyer. Then log in and search for awards (no need for miles in your account) online - make sure you pick classic and partner awards. The search engine shows all OW award availability (although there are ongoing issues with CX awards not showing properly).
Similarly for BA executive club. Sign up, log in and search for awards.

I will try this approach and whatever other suggestions I will get.
Good luck to us newbies!

Unfortunately you do need to call AA. U is for the saver award and it depends on what AA has on the particular flight. Checking availabilities on other FF programmes can be a reference, but award availabilities vary very much.

What you are trying to do requires a bit of work before you call AA ( since you do not want to call them directly) and the advice you got on the aa board is really the most useful.

The easiest way is the join the frequent flyer programs of the respective airlines you hope to fly on and check to see if they show avaliblity. You need not have any miles in the programs and joining is free.

Once you have established the availiblity on the partners (and make sure you indentify some alternatives if your first choice in not available) and have used EF to see U on AA, then call AA.

Personally I believe although the disparity as to whats shown between some programs do exist, but not as great as some make it out to be.

All in all its really not that difficult.;)

mike

Paulchili,

The issue is that even though it's an AA marketed flight, since the operating airline is another airline, AA doesn't have full control over how many seats are available for awards and upgrades. It's more like the arrangement they have with alliance partners then AA's implicit control over its own flights.

ExpertFlyer can be used accurately to determine award & upgrade availability (both using miles and stickers) for all AA operated flights. If you have any other questions about using ExpertFlyer feel free to email us at [email protected]

-EFV

Thank you all for your advice. I will continue to experiment and learn along the way.
In early searches BA seemed to be the best in showing OW award seats. Whether AA will actually give them to me, is another matter - we'll see when the time comes.

MIKESILV - I joined QF,BA,JL programs for free - CX wanted $ 50 (not worth it to me at this point).

Paulchili has also posted a similar question in the AA forum

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...918&highlight=

I'd encourage others to continue their contribution there.

Swanhunter
Moderator in Training, OneWorld forum