A couple of questions from an AAdvantage newbie

[legroom]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

If you want to book CX flights using AA miles you need to ring A Advantage. I have just done this to book flights from BNE-CDG on CX

So when you call AAdvantage, you would need to know the flights, connections AND whether or not there are award seats on those flights - assuming those indirect connections do not usually appear on AA.com ?

Would you use EF or AwardNexus to look for award seats on those flights ?

A NB question!

 

[Hvr]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

So when you call AAdvantage, you would need to know the flights, connections AND whether or not there are award seats on those flights - assuming those indirect connections do not usually appear on AA.com ?

Would you use EF or AwardNexus to look for award seats on those flights ?

A NB question!

Yes, do have all of your desired flights written down ready to ask the AA person. Also, have alternate flights ready as well so you can guide the agent towards flights that are acceptable.

I used the Cathay booking site to select my flights and got one that suited for my AA redemption.

 

[TheEmu]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

So when you call AAdvantage, you would need to know the flights, connections AND whether or not there are award seats on those flights - assuming those indirect connections do not usually appear on AA.com ?

Would you use EF or AwardNexus to look for award seats on those flights ?

A NB question!

Yes, do have all of your desired flights written down ready to ask the AA person. Also, have alternate flights ready as well so you can guide the agent towards flights that are acceptable.

I used the Cathay booking site to select my flights and got one that suited for my AA redemption.

+1 for Hvr's advice. I use both CX and QF sites to organise flights and the agents may need a lot of " guidance". One initially had me going via SIN after overnighting in HGK for a fairly simple NGK-HKG-BNE-TSV trip. Also wanted to charge double the mileage, so have your flights and sector costs worked out with fall back flights if necessary. He kept insisting there were no award seats on either airline until I told him I was looking at them on those sites as we spoke! Worth the hassle though as for less than price of Y fares at the time, it was J all the way.

 

[legroom]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

+1 for Hvr's advice. I use both CX and QF sites to organise flights and the agents may need a lot of " guidance". One initially had me going via SIN after overnighting in HGK for a fairly simple NGK-HKG-BNE-TSV trip. Also wanted to charge double the mileage, so have your flights and sector costs worked out with fall back flights if necessary. He kept insisting there were no award seats on either airline until I told him I was looking at them on those sites as we spoke! Worth the hassle though as for less than price of Y fares at the time, it was J all the way.

With QF, the presence of Classic Awards is a pointer to U seats - usually.

I guess I could go to EF to confirm that at the time.

With CX, what's the equivalent to 'Classic Award' to tell us the same thing ?

Or do I need to go to EF (or Award Nexus) to find that out?

Thanks

 

[juanpablo]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Thanks Dale and others. It seems there are good quick flights to London on Malaysia Airlines. I assume that I could book these flights using AA miles by phoning them up? This sounds like a good option and then I guess I can drive or fly up to Manchester from there. Would have been nice to fly straight to Manchester, but I think I agree with it being better to be in Business class all the way with a drive at the end.

Do you know whether I book the additional infant directly with AA when I call them or go via Malaysian Airlines directly? Any estimates on what this might cost?

Thanks.

 

[dalereardon]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Yes just book Malaysian by ringing up AA. Sorry I don't know the infant charges.

Dale.

 

[TheEmu]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

With QF, the presence of Classic Awards is a pointer to U seats - usually.

I guess I could go to EF to confirm that at the time.

With CX, what's the equivalent to 'Classic Award' to tell us the same thing ?

Or do I need to go to EF (or Award Nexus) to find that out?

Thanks

I can't answer specifically but these may help:

Fare Structure and Booking Class - Cathay Pacific Taiwan

https://www.asiamiles.com/am/en/red...okfYBe000nDLEaW2g8EBfsq4vtQRCAfkb8z1hhwSgPA==

I joined Asia Miles (free) to be able to make an initial check of award seating availability.

 

[legroom]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

These may help:

Fare Structure and Booking Class - Cathay Pacific Taiwan

https://www.asiamiles.com/am/en/red...okfYBe000nDLEaW2g8EBfsq4vtQRCAfkb8z1hhwSgPA==

I joined Asia Miles (free) to be able to make an initial check of award seating availability.

I could "see" some award seats using my free Asia Miles account too.

How then would you know those seats would be available on AA.com ?

Only by ringing up ?

I guess one must be prepared to have alternate routes, dates in case AAdvantage does not have access to those CX seats.

 

[diningdecadence]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

hi team, not sure if this is the right place to post.

would like to know what you'd choose and why.

situation
SYD- DFW, 8,586 miles

QF Gold, AA basic

would you choose a QF flight booked in O, earning 15,025 points (8,586 + 75% bonus = 6,439) crediting to QF

or

AA flight booked in Q, earning 8,586 points (would only earn 0.5 * EQP so probably not worth a platinum/ gold challenge), crediting to AA

i have ignored status credits on QF as i won't re-qualify gold this year. price is similar (AA $50 more)

if i compare award redemptions for a one way SYD-DFW flight, this means my paid trip is 62,500 on AA (13.73%) or 96,000 (15.73%) on QF. anecdotally taxes are significantly less on AA, therefore would it make sense to credit this trip to AA? what other considerations should be made? (NB it is the same flight just different flight number)

cheers
thanks in advance.

 

[TheEmu]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

I could "see" some award seats using my free Asia Miles account too.

How then would you know those seats would be available on AA.com ?

Only by ringing up ?

I guess one must be prepared to have alternate routes, dates in case AAdvantage does not have access to those CX seats.

Yes, I guess the only way would be to call and be prepared to try and convince the AAgent to get the seat released if it wasn't showing as available, as well as your plan B (alternate routes/dates). How far out are you planning?

 

[legroom]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Yes, I guess the only way would be to call and be prepared to try and convince the AAgent to get the seat released if it wasn't showing as available, as well as your plan B (alternate routes/dates). How far out are you planning?

I am all good for 2014 so now is the time to learn new stuff for 2015.

 

[TheEmu]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

I am all good for 2014 so now is the time to learn new stuff for 2015.

Wow - that's forward planning - I've still got stuff up in the air for the end of this month! (no pun intended)

 

[legroom]

AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it: has anyone booked JAL from AAdvantage ?

Hi

Wish to learn from the gurus around here

Suppose you have located some suitable award JAL J seats (from the free membership account and/or AwardNexus), would you then just ring up AA.com and ask for them even though you do not see anything on AA.com ?

That's what I read here about CX (told to use the free AsiaMiles account), so I assume it is the same with JAL, correct or wrong ?

Has anyone done it and what was your experience with JAL Award from AAdvantage ?

Cheers

 

[wandering_fred]

Re: AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it: has anyone booked JAL from AAdvantage ?

Suppose you have located some suitable award JAL J seats (from the free membership account and/or AwardNexus), would you then just ring up AA.com and ask for them even though you do not see anything on AA.com ?
That's what I read here about CX (told to use the free AsiaMiles account), so I assume it is the same with JAL, correct or wrong ?
Has anyone done it and what was your experience with JAL Award from AAdvantage ?

If you wish to book award seats on airlines that do not appear on aa.com - you will need to call.

I have normally not had problems getting JL seats - though almost always as part of a longer itinerary connecting in NRT.

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[The Rok]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Can I credit points from a QF Charter flight to AA? It's booked and appears as a QF flight on the boarding pass, QF flight number, booking class is Y.

 

[ogre]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Howdy everyone - need some advice before I book my next trip to the US for November. I'm currently QF Silver, likely to lose it next year because work travel overseas has been on EK bookings without Status Credits. I have been AA Plat in the past, and have been QF Silver for the past couple of years.

I missed out on the Fast-Track to Elite promotion with AA in the last couple of weeks, but I can always do a standard Plat challenge.

Here's my current AA status (work trip earlier this year made me fly AA codeshare since it was 1/2 the price of the QF)
[TABLE="width: 700"]
[TR]
[TD]YTD Elite Qualifying Points[/TD]
[TD="class: hright"]9,874[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]YTD Elite Qualifying Miles[/TD]
[TD="class: hright"]19,746[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]YTD Elite Qualifying Segments[/TD]
[TD="class: hright"]6
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

So I'm faced with a choice for an upcoming trip to the US. I can book the AA codeshare flights, which will give me exactly double what I've got above, and leave me just shy of the threshold for a successful plat challenge. I can likely squeeze in another couple of small flights within the challenge window to put me over the edge.

Alternatively, I can book the QF flight numbers, pay ~$300 more (roughly the same that it's going to cost me to do the AA Plat challenge) and have, at best, a chance of requalifying for QF silver.

Anything obvious I'm not considering? Or any particular advice?

 

[Kangol]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Howdy everyone - need some advice before I book my next trip to the US for November. I'm currently QF Silver, likely to lose it next year because work travel overseas has been on EK bookings without Status Credits. I have been AA Plat in the past, and have been QF Silver for the past couple of years.

I missed out on the Fast-Track to Elite promotion with AA in the last couple of weeks, but I can always do a standard Plat challenge.

Here's my current AA status (work trip earlier this year made me fly AA codeshare since it was 1/2 the price of the QF)
[TABLE="width: 700"]
[TR]
[TD]YTD Elite Qualifying Points[/TD]
[TD="class: hright"]9,874[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]YTD Elite Qualifying Miles[/TD]
[TD="class: hright"]19,746[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]YTD Elite Qualifying Segments[/TD]
[TD="class: hright"]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

So I'm faced with a choice for an upcoming trip to the US. I can book the AA codeshare flights, which will give me exactly double what I've got above, and leave me just shy of the threshold for a successful plat challenge. I can likely squeeze in another couple of small flights within the challenge window to put me over the edge.

Alternatively, I can book the QF flight numbers, pay ~$300 more (roughly the same that it's going to cost me to do the AA Plat challenge) and have, at best, a chance of requalifying for QF silver.

Anything obvious I'm not considering? Or any particular advice?

If you are 126 EQPs short of getting AA platinum, I would just do an extra QF dom segment.
Even a MEL-SYD at 438 miles in at least LMV class will get you 219 EQPs.
The same in classes NGS will get you 109.5 each way - you'd need a return to get you over the limit.
Alternatively if that is too much of a stretch, the Gold challenge is 5,000 EQPs.

Are you doing this to get lounge access, or are things like baggage, priority boarding, seating, etc more important to you?
Buying QP membership may be of better value depending on where you are based and your flying patterns.

 

[dalereardon]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Hi all,

I haven't got time to investigate right now but the worst possible news has just come out:

American to impose fuel surcharges for all international AAdvantage awards(!!!) - One Mile at a Time - One Mile at a Time


Fuel surcharges on AAdvantage tickets would just be terrible.

Dale.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Hi all,

I haven't got time to investigate right now but the worst possible news has just come out:

American to impose fuel surcharges for all international AAdvantage awards(!!!) - One Mile at a Time - One Mile at a Time


Fuel surcharges on AAdvantage tickets would just be terrible.

Dale.

Not good news at all :evil:

Meanwhile over at the QFF bunker I swear I can hear the sound of champagne corks popping

 

[Nizar]

Re: Couple of AAdvantage questions from a newbie to it

Damnnnnn

When you buy miles online how long does it take to credit them ?
Also how long to buy and transfer miles from Starwood ?

I need to buy flights asap before this kicks in system wide.

Cheers dalereardon for the heads up