Questions and Answers

Looking to book two AAdvantage awards for late 2016. The dates I’m interested in will only be bookable in 2016, so I’m wondering whether I could book for an earlier date in 2015, taking advantage of the 10% rebate on miles for using the Aviator, and then move the date forward to when I actually want it next year. Will the miles be re-deposited (and the rebate nullified) if I make the switch in 2016? Will there be fees? Thanks!

As long as the origin and destination stay the same, there should not be any fees for domestic changes. If foreign airports are involved I don’t know if the taxes & fees will be recalculated and therefore change the amount (in USD) required.

Do you have another big redemption scheduled for 2016, is that why you want to get this redemption in on the 2015 calendar?

Technically, it’s a sound plan. However there is a risk in practice of not finding award space on the award you actually want. As [USER=184]@MidSouth Skier[/USER] mentions, domestic isn’t much of a problem but AA seems to be varying the rules on international changes reducing flexibility to be able to find a routing that will work for you without having to pay the $150 change fee. Ultimately you’re trading off a max of 10,000 miles for $150. If you’re actively monitoring space and farily confident you’d be able to book I say go for it. Worst case scenario, you’re buying AA miles for 1.5cpm.

Thanks, guys! The plan is to book a couple one-way awards in business for my wife and me to Japan and back from Thailand. More of the bookings will be coming from my balance, so getting a 2015 & 2016 10% discount, would mean a few thousand miles saved. Not sure if that’s worth the aggravation/risk, though.