AA Miles & Paid AA Booking

[blessed11]

Hi all,

Mrs Blessed and myself are off to USA soon. Not booked internal flights yet and require the following in J or F on AA:

Flight 1: LAX – JFK
Date: 23rd December 2013
Time: Anytime 9:30am onward (land in LAX at 6:40am on Qantas)
Flight 2: JFK – MIA
Date: 30th December 2013
Time: Anytime
Flight 3: MIA – LAX
Date: 3rd January 2014
Time: Early morning

Preferably would like to book on QF Miles however nothing is available on my above dates. Have looked on AA Advantage and there are flights available - though not on the flexi saver rewards. Can transfer miles to AA from Amex MR -> SPG -> AA Advantage and rate is 1:.62.5, which ends up being extremely expensive given that no saver rewards are available.

Does anyone know if AA may release awards to book with QF Miles closer to the time? I've searched for paid booking at it's coming in around $9k all up for 2 PAX in J... is this normal? I've also looked at Instant Upgrade fares though could not find any. Also tried calling CX and seeing if they can see any availability on AA - zilch.

Help is appreciated !

Cheers

 

[NM]

Finding transcontinental premium cabin awards 3 weeks out and juts a few days before Christmas is always going to be a challenge. I would be very surprised to see any new award availability released. There will already be many AAdvantage members holding coach bookings and on the upgrade waitlist for premium cabin seats. Your best option would be to look at non-direct routings. But be aware that snow/weather delays can be a problem at that time of year, and you are also right smack bang in the middle of one of the busiest travel times of the year (second only to Thanksgiving).

 

[blessed11]

Thanks for the response NM.
I've checked non-peak times and flights are almost 40% cheaper, so there's a hefty premium during this busy period.
Could always flog it in Y - then might have a severe case of economy-itis!

 

[Princess Fiona]

Thanks for the response NM.
I've checked non-peak times and flights are almost 40% cheaper, so there's a hefty premium during this busy period.
Could always flog it in Y - then might have a severe case of economy-itis!

I had a play around with the AA site and it's possible to get that a fair bit cheaper. Some ugly connections admittedly. ~$2400 pp
EWR is usually a bit cheaper than JFK

 

[blessed11]

Hello Princess Fiona,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to have a quick look for me. If the connections are not too tiedious - it may be worth it for some extra SC's (not sure if my Mrs will agree though!). I've tried to look at the image you posted but its coming up too blurt both on my smartphone and my laptop - I cant see the exact connections that you have suggested. Do you mind letting me know what they are please?

It's very odd - for some searches, I chose First Saver, chose the relevant available flights, click next and the summary page shows First Saver / Main Cabin i.e. in Economy. I've attempted to change to First Flexi and then proceed to the summary - however I still get Main Cabin shown most of the time. How do I avoid this? I've chosen Business or First... why is AA giving me an Economy seat when I've not asked for it?

Cheers and thanks a lot for the help !

 

[Princess Fiona]

I searched for the dates you posted but changed JFK for EWR and looked at it as a one way multicity booking.
LAX-EWR-MIA-LAX.
Search business with restrictions and the fares start around $2300 upwards pp for that combination of flights on the dates you wanted.
Hope this helps

 

[amaroo]

Hi all,

Mrs Blessed and myself are off to USA soon. Not booked internal flights yet and require the following in J or F on AA:

Flight 1: LAX – JFK
Date: 23rd December 2013
Time: Anytime 9:30am onward (land in LAX at 6:40am on Qantas)

Preferably would like to book on QF Miles however nothing is available on my above dates.

We've got 4 of those QF107 J seats.....how much do you want them?

 

[blessed11]

I searched for the dates you posted but changed JFK for EWR and looked at it as a one way multicity booking.
LAX-EWR-MIA-LAX.
Search business with restrictions and the fares start around $2300 upwards pp for that combination of flights on the dates you wanted.
Hope this helps

Thanks a million - just figured this and got same pricing as you. One thing I noted - I was using the AU version of the AA site which doesn't have as many search options as the US version of the AA site. E.g. cannot search business with restrictions etc.

Thanks again !

 

[blessed11]

We've got 4 of those QF107 J seats.....how much do you want them?

Haha I'm jealous !

 

[amaroo]

Haha I'm jealous !

Pity the next 3 sectors are all in whY..... DCA-YYZ.....YUL-MIA-xDFW

 

[blessed11]

Pity the next 3 sectors are all in whY..... DCA-YYZ.....YUL-MIA-xDFW

I'll trade you my 2 x SYD-LAX F for 2 x LAX-JFK J ??

 

[amaroo]

I'll trade you my 2 x SYD-LAX F for 2 x LAX-JFK J ??

I'd do that trade in a heart beat!.......the kids are very well behaved! Promise.