Award Ticket using AAdvantage Miles for International Travel

An unplanned trip to overseas have come up and I needed to book a flight ticket fairly soon. I searched through the main travel sites -- expedia, priceline, travelocity, etc etc. But the prices were fairly steep and I was looking for alternatives. Then I remembered I had a fairly large number of AAdvantage miles that I've accumulated over the years, so I decided to try and redeem them. To my disappointment, award tickets for international travel has to be called in whereas for domestic travel you can do everything online @ AA.com.

I spent a fair amount of time looking over several pages at AA.com to figure out what I needed to do to book an int'l flight with my miles so I decided to create this post -- so the next time booking an award ticket for int'l travel would be a quicker process.

1. Look over the AAdvantage All-Partner Airline Award Chart @ http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?p=/AAdvantage/partners/airlines/All_Airline_Award_Chart.jsp

Check if your destination is included in the list.

2. Call AA (1-800-882-8880) to book an award ticket for int'l travel - https://www.aa.com/aa/contactAA/viewContactAAAccess.do?selectedFileName=awardMileageReins.html

3. Provide representative with departure airport, arrival airport, and travel dates. Select the best suitable flight for yourself. Provide your AAdvantage account number and your flight is booked.
But you have to pay a $55 fee.

4. Once you paid the fee and the flight is booked, you will be given a confirmation number.
View your flight confirmation here: https://www.aa.com/aa/reservation/flightCheckInViewReservationsAccess.do

Before you hang up the phone, always make sure your baggage are routed to your final destination automatically without having you to pick up at every transit point.

5. Ticket is taken care of! Now off to get the passports ready and packing baggage.
Check here to see what kind of visa you may need when traveling to your destination:
http://www.staralliance.com/en/travellers/tools_services/health_visa_form.html

Also be aware of baggage allowances: http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?p=/travelInformation/baggage/baggageAllowance.jsp



-도시 (This was actually written on June 16, 2009)

When plans change...

So I booked a plane ticket using my AAdvantage miles but plans have changed.
Now what? I was offered two choices.

• Cancel the ticket at least 2 hours before the flight time and get the miles reinstated back to my account within 7 days. American Airlines would charge me a $150 fee for this.
  
• Reschedule the flight to a future date for free. Apparently, you can reschedule for any number of times.
• (Hidden Choice) IMPORTANT: If AA changes the flight schedule by at least 90 minutes, you can cancel with a fee. The fee of $150 will be waived when you call in to reinstate your miles since the flight schedule changed by more than 90 minutes.
  

And no, you can't change names on the ticket. Only way to change a name is to cancel the ticket and get the miles back by paying $150.


-도시