Trouble using AA miles

gilapoin21

Level 2 Member
Hi,

I have accumulated tons of AA miles thanks to Citi. Now I am finding out that was the easy part :)
We are family of 4 and trying to go somewhere this winter. Our destination is flexible but our dates (Dec 19th - Jan 3rd) are not.

I have looked at going to Europe but most flights route through London.
Also, looked at going to Caribbean and South America but can't find much availability.
Are we out of luck since it's already late, high season, and we need 4 award seats?

Any ideas will be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill
 

Alex1432

Level 2 Member
Have you tried searching for two seats at a time? Maybe on flights slightly apart so that you don't have to have four open seats? I am no expert but that is a trick that I have seen work.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Finding 4 award seats is a lot harder than finding 1. I wrote a post trying to help out one of the readers about it that might give you some general advice, you can read it here:

Reader Question

An abridged version:

  • Book 2+2 on different PNRs - match up one adult with one child on each booking. The goal is to get you all on the same plane, but if it fails at least the kiddies are chaperoned.
  • Know the rules! AA will allow you to change the date of travel for no fee. There is a $75 fee for changes within 21 days that aren't payable if you have status.
  • Airlines will frequently drip feed seats - perhaps there are two flights with two seats each: so if you book one pair of tickets for Monday, and the next for Tuesday, then track both flights for space, and call into swap the pair over so you are 4 on the same flight. If the space never opens up then you run the risk of traveling separately, hence partnering the kiddies..
As for London - yeah that sucks, but that is a lot to do with the AA booking engine too, I have found space on IB and AB that isn't always showing up on AA.com You might want to try breaking your flights down into legs to search and see if that helps.

I'd suggest investing in an expertflyer subscription also - takes a little work to understand, but well worth it - here's my review: Award Booking like a Pro with Expert Flyer

Ultimately, you are up against it... there are lots of points out there now (as you benefited from) and it is busy season, but you should have an edge with this information.

Feel free to ask more specifics.
 

Alpen_Geoff

Level 2 Member
What class? Any destination restrictions? Origin? Remember to use BA to search for LAN, CX & JAL avail.
 

gilapoin21

Level 2 Member
Business if possible but economy is fine too. Origin is CMH. Ideal destinations would be Morocco, Spain, Central America, South America, or Caribbean but suggestions are welcome.
 
Last edited:

Haley

I am not a robot
Those are our break dates too.

I am also looking for 4 seats, but just domestic. Lots of availability when I looked yesterday, I really need to pull the trigger and book it.
 

gilapoin21

Level 2 Member
Those are our break dates too.

I am also looking for 4 seats, but just domestic. Lots of availability when I looked yesterday, I really need to pull the trigger and book it.
What's your origin and destination? I will be looking into domestics as well if international doesn't work out
 

Haley

I am not a robot
I'm in Austin.
Going to Southern California.

So going to any of the area airports, SAN, LAX, LGB, ONT, BUR, SNA. Not in that order, SAN or SNA are my first choices, LAX in many ways the easiest.

I search from AUS, DFW, SAT, GRK, if I must I will search from IAH. Depends on where I'm going and which miles I want to use.

Having so many choices in departure and arrival airports helps a ton. In a pinch I can always fly into San Francisco as well, I actually like the drive South and there are great over night or a couple of day stops (Monterey being my favorite). California in Dec can be beautiful, or it can be very very wet.
 

Haley

I am not a robot
I should also say I don't really bother with first/business on domestic flights, I'll take them if it is all there is, and sometimes the 2-2 split is 2 up front, 2 in the back.
 

Deltahater

Tequila, Miles and Suites
2/2 is the best approach. Also, once you book 2, check the next day (12:01AM) to see if AA released additional inventory in your class. Invest in a subscription for expertflyer and set up an alert. They will send you an email when seats become available
 

littlenemo

Laughing Coffin Member
Finding 4 award seats is a lot harder than finding 1. I wrote a post trying to help out one of the readers about it that might give you some general advice, you can read it here:

Reader Question

An abridged version:

  • Book 2+2 on different PNRs - match up one adult with one child on each booking. The goal is to get you all on the same plane, but if it fails at least the kiddies are chaperoned.
  • Know the rules! AA will allow you to change the date of travel for no fee. There is a $75 fee for changes within 21 days that aren't payable if you have status.
  • Airlines will frequently drip feed seats - perhaps there are two flights with two seats each: so if you book one pair of tickets for Monday, and the next for Tuesday, then track both flights for space, and call into swap the pair over so you are 4 on the same flight. If the space never opens up then you run the risk of traveling separately, hence partnering the kiddies..
As for London - yeah that sucks, but that is a lot to do with the AA booking engine too, I have found space on IB and AB that isn't always showing up on AA.com You might want to try breaking your flights down into legs to search and see if that helps.

I'd suggest investing in an expertflyer subscription also - takes a little work to understand, but well worth it - here's my review: Award Booking like a Pro with Expert Flyer

Ultimately, you are up against it... there are lots of points out there now (as you benefited from) and it is busy season, but you should have an edge with this information.

Feel free to ask more specifics.
Matt, I read that post from 10/2013....It mentioned United Airlines. I thought UA was dropped from expert flyer. Can you refer a tool as good as expert flyer to address UA award flight searching?
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Matt, I read that post from 10/2013....It mentioned United Airlines. I thought UA was dropped from expert flyer. Can you refer a tool as good as expert flyer to address UA award flight searching?
I've not used it, but perhaps KVS?
 

HotHatch312

Level 2 Member
Your requirements are going to make it extremely difficult to find what you need (as others have posted already). FWIW, I needed to book my honeymoon flight on AA on a very desirable route. I ended up checking the award availability everyday for about 2 months and I was finally able to book the two tickets (each on a separate occasion). However, I started that process about a year out. Starting your search with <6 months lead time will prove difficult. Like others have said, keep searching with a 2 + 2 mentality, 4 all at once will be impossible.
 

Mike Tetlow

Level 2 Member
I recently found: http://wandr.me/oneworld-Award-Search/ . If you feed this plugin your qantas ff# you can set up alerts for flights you want on specific dates. It seems to send you an email once a day if it finds matches. One downside is that for my current search it's essentially just spamming me BA flights with hefty fuel surcharges. I haven't found a way to exclude them yet.
 

Mountain Trader

Level 2 Member
Unfortunately, alternatives for getting award alerts are pretty thin right now. I don't know about KVS-I wish they would come out with an Apple-friendly version so I could give them a spin (I know about boot camp-sorry, no more Windows for us). Expert Flyer used to be pretty good but they lost UA and some other Star airlines a while ago. Further, EF is now hobbled on AA awards as well-they can't do US Air flights, so if you're looking for an AA award, they only show itineraries with only AA metal. Any itinerary with a single US Air flight doesn't come up.

While the UA blockage on EF appears to be UA driven, it seems the US issue is that EF hasn't programmed for it. Surprising as the merger has been in the mix for a long time. EF had a great product but it's becoming less and less usable. Maybe someone will come in and grab that market, which I imagine is growing.

Seth Miller's Wandering Aramean tools can be helpful but they are tricky and limited. Also, UA made him pull their flights down a few months ago.
 
Last edited:

LoriB

Level 2 Member
I have been earning points/miles for a little over a year now with the plan of booking flights for my family of 3 to Europe in May 2015. I have more than enough for business class but have been hit with the oh so harsh reality that just having the points is not enough.. I have found it impossible so far to find 3 business award seats on the same flight and have relegated myself to the fact that economy it will have to be. Such a bummer! I read a lot of travel blogs and very few really talk about the actual availability of higher class reward seats. For one person, sure, but I think it gets exponentially harder with more people.
 

TheBOSman

Moderator
Staff member
There are 3 business award seats on BA YUL-LHR (Montreal Canada to London) on May 13th. I know there will be surcharges though :(. Also quite a few on JFK-LHR, but where are you trying to go in Europe, and where from?
 

LoriB

Level 2 Member
There are 3 business award seats on BA YUL-LHR (Montreal Canada to London) on May 13th. I know there will be surcharges though :(. Also quite a few on JFK-LHR, but where are you trying to go in Europe, and where from?
The master plan is to fly LAX-LHR on American and come back on United from Germany, Austria, Or Switzerland about 3 weeks later. I have a ton of flexibility and have still had issues as I don't want to pay surcharges. Maybe I am just not adept at finding flights.
 

TheBOSman

Moderator
Staff member
Maybe I am just not adept at finding flights.
Nope, it is AA's awful (or maybe just quickly booked) award availability across the Atlantic on their own planes. There isn't even one business or first class seat available from April 30th through May 25th from LAX-LHR on any routing.
 

LoriB

Level 2 Member
Nope, it is AA's awful (or maybe just quickly booked) award availability across the Atlantic on their own planes. There isn't even one business or first class seat available from April 30th through May 25th from LAX-LHR on any routing.
Thanks, BOSman! I feel better knowing it's not just my lack of experience. :) The best I can come up with so far on a direct AA flight are the 45k economy seats. Any of the cheaper saver seats were only on BA flights. That would be adding insult to injury to have a huge fuel surcharge for economy! I'm hoping to have better luck finding the return flight.
 

TheBOSman

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks, BOSman! I feel better knowing it's not just my lack of experience. :) The best I can come up with so far on a direct AA flight are the 45k economy seats. Any of the cheaper saver seats were only on BA flights. That would be adding insult to injury to have a huge fuel surcharge for economy! I'm hoping to have better luck finding the return flight.
For sure, I would never pay those surcharges on the economy seats. Even business, I'd have a hard time with having seen most of BA biz class (who wants to fly backwards? :rolleyes:). BA F is a good product though, and I'm looking forward to getting a trip in on the Club World London City service at some point.
 

LoriB

Level 2 Member
For sure, I would never pay those surcharges on the economy seats. Even business, I'd have a hard time with having seen most of BA biz class (who wants to fly backwards? :rolleyes:). BA F is a good product though, and I'm looking forward to getting a trip in on the Club World London City service at some point.
That will be very nice, I am sure! I think I am most having a hard time with re-adjusting my overblown expectations. LOL! Finding the premium seats is no joke when there is more than 1 person.
 
Top