Questions and Answers

Hi,

If I book an award ticket for tomorrow using AA miles to fly from NYC to HKG on CX or from NYC to TYO will AA have enough time to issue a ticket? I’m hoping to fly either in business or preferably in first.

Also, if I book an award last minute going to Asia but there is no availability for the return as of now would you hope that availability opens up on the day before you want to return? Has anyone done this? It sounds kind of risky to me…

I’m looking to go from NYC to HKG/TYO on the Dec 24th and return to NYC from HKG/TYO on January 3rd.

Thanks!

hi [USER=299]@Joe[/USER] yes, that is enough time for a ticket to be issued. AA can sometimes take a while to issue tickets but they will prioritize immediate travel.

Re: the return, it sounds risky because it is, especially around peak travel times like new years. Always good to have a backup plan in case your return is time sensitive or be willing to buy a cash ticket.

Is there return availability on the 2nd or 4th? If there is you could always book those as a backup just so you can get home in the worst case scenario and change the award once it gets closer to the 3rd when there is a very good likelihood more space will open up on CX, assuming that’s who you were planning on doing the return with.

EDIT: just noticed you were looking specifically for business or first. Is there any economy available now for the 3rd? You could always book that and upgrade if/when space opens closer to departure. Worst case scenario you fly home in Y which would be kind of miserable but at least you get home if leaving on the 3rd is really important. If space in J or F opens a day later or a day before (but not on the 3rd) you could always change those Y award seats booked on the 3rd to either of those dates.

Hi Gaurav,

Thanks for answering in regards to the quickness in which AA can issue and award ticket.

Hi Mike,

I haven’t checked availability in economy but I will. I did notice there was availability going from JFK-LHR-HKG on BA in 1st on the 24th & 25th but the fee would be around $700. Do you know if I can get the $700 back if something opens up for CX closer to departure and I change the booking? I don’t know if that is within the AA change rules.

Thanks!

[USER=299]@Joe[/USER] AA will not let you book JFK-LHR-HKG as one award since it’s transiting via a 3rd region. If you request that, it’ll price as 2 awards.

However, if you do book that as 2 awards and pay the fees, I’m not sure what AA’s practices are when changing 2 awards to 1 award. Ideally, they’d let you change it, refund the taxes and the additional miles and not charge a $150 change fee.

AA routing rules are here: [URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/04/12/how-to-redeem-american-aadvantage-miles/[/URL]

Hi David,

I wasn’t aware of that. Thanks for the information and sending the routing rules link.

Usually, as long as you don’t downgrade your class of travel there should be no change fees but that has been in flux recently with some people getting charged for things that were not an issue earlier. Either way the max fee should be 150 for one ticket.

Thanks.