Questions and Answers

Hello,

Is the best way to book AAdvantage Awards to Europe by reserving a 50k business class ticket on a day I don’t want to travel, but with the same route and origin and destination? Then as it gets closer, hope that award space opens up?

My wife and I are traveling to Paris on June 24th from GSP. We have 100k AAdvantage miles and we’ve booked our return already business class on AA for 100k.

I see plenty of room on a flight from GSP to PHL and PHL to CDG. But the Award class is business/anytime.

Should I book now or wait?

I don’t think AA charges for changing just the date. But I’m not sure if the $75 fee comes into play if I do it less than 21-days out.

Thanks for helping a newbie out!

The $75 fee should apply but I’ve had changes go through without it in the past. I think booking on a date other than your ideal is fine as long as you are willing to fly that date. Other than that you’re just making a hedge of $175 to potentially save 15,000 miles because of the devaluation which is also reasonable. If that wasn’t a factor I’d just wait to book when space opens up.

I’d be more inclined to look for a [I]routing[/I] you don’t prefer rather than a date you don’t prefer. Maybe you can find something that has three or four connections, but is on the correct date?

That way, if you [I]have[/I] to fly what you’ve ticketed, you’re not messing with your other travel plans.