A couple of questions from an AAdvantage newbie

[Rallo]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Adelaide to London , AA website shows availability with QF to HK then BA onwards if we have to pay the taxes so be it it is still an inexpensive trip in business for us

 

[Princess Fiona]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Adelaide to London , AA website shows availability with QF to HK then BA onwards if we have to pay the taxes so be it it is still an inexpensive trip in business for us

I think the problem is likely related to getting 4 x J seats. It's near impossible to see more than 2 x J seats on the same flight on a premium route to LHR.
On Award Nexus try the "First and Business" option and see if 4 seats are available in different cabins.
Also split the search into two sectors eg ADL-SYD-KL/SIN/DXB/HKG and KL/SIN/DXB/HKG-LHR

 

[Rallo]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

I think the problem is likely related to getting 4 x J seats. It's near impossible to see more than 2 x J seats on the same flight on a premium route to LHR.
On Award Nexus try the "First and Business" option and see if 4 seats are available in different cabins.
Also split the search into two sectors eg ADL-SYD-KL/SIN/DXB/HKG and KL/SIN/DXB/HKG-LHR

That did the trick thankyou, shows availability in First and in Business on same flight .

 

[ChasingDaylight]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Potentially silly question, but what (generally) are the odds of getting 2x J seats next to each other on Award bookings?

I am looking at taking my aging father in J all the way from WLG to DUB in November or December. At this point we would be looking at WLG->SYD->MEL->DXB->LHR->DUB. I am Ruby OW at the moment, however ought to be Sapphire by that point. All bar the LHR->DUB flights would be on QF metal.

I would probably be booking the outbound flights at the end of this week after doing some point sharing across my AAdvantage accounts.

 

[Storyteller]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Potentially silly question, but what (generally) are the odds of getting 2x J seats next to each other on Award bookings?

I am looking at taking my aging father in J all the way from WLG to DUB in November or December. At this point we would be looking at WLG->SYD->MEL->DXB->LHR->DUB. I am Ruby OW at the moment, however ought to be Sapphire by that point. All bar the LHR->DUB flights would be on QF metal.

I would probably be booking the outbound flights at the end of this week after doing some point sharing across my AAdvantage accounts.

Not silly
Could be wrong, however I would think your chances are pretty good. Be sure to contact AA (& QF) to ask them to put it in your booking that you're escorting said aging father. If you can't select seats yourself, ask when you ring.

Also, if you go before school holidays start your chances overall will be better.

 

[grussellt]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Potentially silly question, but what (generally) are the odds of getting 2x J seats next to each other on Award bookings?

I am looking at taking my aging father in J all the way from WLG to DUB in November or December. At this point we would be looking at WLG->SYD->MEL->DXB->LHR->DUB. I am Ruby OW at the moment, however ought to be Sapphire by that point. All bar the LHR->DUB flights would be on QF metal.

I would probably be booking the outbound flights at the end of this week after doing some point sharing across my AAdvantage accounts.

You should have no problem in allocating 2 J seats together as long as you can find 2 awards. It will pay you to be flexible and look at options via HKG (CX) or others where you will pay lower taxes. The multi-city search tool may also help, particularly if you are prepared to spend a few hours in a lounge along the way.

 

[ChasingDaylight]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Thanks to you both for that .

I'll have to xfer some points around - would I be able to do this? (I have 90k in one account, and 90k available in another under another family members name) as the maximum points receivable in the T&C's is still 60k per calendar year, which seems to include sharemiles - ergo answering my own question possibly as a 'no'.

In which case I'd have to book two separate tickets (one per account) and try and have the bookings linked straight afterwards?
(And lastly, is there much point in once booked, having the AA Frequent flyer reference changed to the QF one? I will be QF Gold / OW Sapphire at that point).

 

[grussellt]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Share miles is in addition to buy miles but it's expensive. Simply book the second ticket from the other family member's account and then ask for the PNR's to be linked. You could probably change your AA number to QF but there won't be many advantages (if any) as you will have lounge access and a generous baggage allowance.

 

[get me outta here]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

ChasingDaylight, I would love to hear how you get on w' your bkg and what you end up finding the best method, itinerary.

And ... how may points and cash it ended up costing, if we may please.

 

[ChasingDaylight]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

I've found it's cheaper (in terms of taxes etc) to fly both myself and my father out of WLG than it is to head to SYD and fly out from there. (I live in DRW, so a bit of a logistical mess meeting up). I've got a strong preference to stay as far away from BA as possible as their taxes are a lot more than QF's.

At this point I will follow grusselt's advice and book one ticket from each account (outbound only, inbound will have to be a bit of points, bit of cash) - I could try for sharemiles to make things immediately easier with one account with all the requisite miles but if AA get quizzical they may decide I'm operating multiple accounts and cancel my points/flights/Christmas, or something.

 

[grussellt]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

You could have another family member buy 60000 miles (although the bonus miles are now gone) and transfer 30000 miles to each account (at a cost of $US262.50+taxes/charges as long as you complete transaction before March 23). This is quite allowable and you could come home in style! BTW if you are using QF awards to DUB it's as easy (and about the same time) to travel from SYD via LAX and ORD/JFK to DUB and you avoid LHR.

 

[ChasingDaylight]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

I've run out of money at the moment to purchase new points, so I may create another account for my mother (or similar) and transfer the remaining 30000 miles from each account into that, which would allow one of us to come back in J and reduce potential to upset AA.

I don't (unfortunately!) have the funds to purchase more points at the moment. Am going to try and save money for accomodation / internal trips etc.

Edit: I'll try sharemiles, given the current promotion. Fingers crossed AA is fine with it. Much easier to be on one PNR from the start

 

[ChasingDaylight]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Have initiated a sharemiles xfer of 30k points, will have to wait and see if it gets accepted or not. Finger crossed! Hope to find out within a few days.

 

[Pumbaa]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

You should sign up to SPG and buy 20 000 points for about $540. You can then transfer the points to AA and get a 5000 point bonus.

Best thing is family members can transfer points into each other accounts for no charge. You can only buy 20 000 points a year, that's the only downer!

 

[dalereardon]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Where do you signup for SPG? Buying at that price sounds great.

Dale.

 

[Kangol]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

I have a hypothetical scenario:
If you have a J milesAAver ticket for one day and want to change it to an F award on the same route but on a different day, do you still get charged a fee (for non EXP)?
How about if it's on the same day?

 

[Danger]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

I have a hypothetical scenario:
If you have a J milesAAver ticket for one day and want to change it to an F award on the same route but on a different day, do you still get charged a fee (for non EXP)?
How about if it's on the same day?

In my experience (which is limited to asking AA over the phone in the US) is no, you don't get charged a change fee in either situation.

 

[dalereardon]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

I just upgraded AA award tickets (1 way only) for my wife and I to first class from business class. Had to speak to 2 different AA operators on 2 different calls as wanted to check the fees and then do the change. Both operators said the 150 fee is waived with an upgrade.

I did it on the same flights and same dates - Malaysia finally released some first class again so not sure if different dates but I have found the operators really friendly and helpful - I use the American number to save fees.

Dale.

 

[11sjw]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Based on the Oneworld award chart (http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/aadvantageAllPartnerChart.jsp) I believe it is 55k points to the USA from HKG in J. Is that anywhere in the USA or is it a separate booking to get from, say, SFO (award chart says transpacific so I assume into LAX or SFO) to Philly?

 

[Danger]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Based on the Oneworld award chart (http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/aadvantageAllPartnerChart.jsp) I believe it is 55k points to the USA from HKG in J. Is that anywhere in the USA or is it a separate booking to get from, say, SFO (award chart says transpacific so I assume into LAX or SFO) to Philly?

Subject to availability, you could use 55k for HKG-xLAX/SFO/JFK/ORD/YVR-PHL. It must be continuous travel on the next available flight (or near to it). So, for example, you could fly from HKG to the US, stay at the arrival city for a couple of hours, then fly onto PHL but you can't, as far as I'm aware, stopover in the US arrival port.

However, you can on the reverse itinerary. For example, PHL-ORD, stay for a few days, then ORD-HKG, all for 55k in J.