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The Points Guy and View from the Wing have reported success asking American Airlines to open up award space in two circumstances: to complete a party and to complete an award.
“To complete a party” is when you find two Saver award seats but you need three or something similar.
“To complete an award” is when you live in Houston and you find award space from Dallas to Miami to Lima, but you cannot find award space from Houston to Dallas to start the trip.
That’s all according to JonNYC from the Traveling Better forum who always seems to have the inside info on American Airlines.
If you fall into one of those categories, you should call in and ask the agent to request award space from QMAX.
As I mentioned a few days ago, I found Saver award space in Business Class from Buenos Aires to New York to Phoenix just before Christmas, but Saver award space from Phoenix to Honolulu, where I want to go is only available in economy. I decided to call in and ask an American Airlines agent to request Saver award space in Business Class from Phoenix to Honolulu from QMAX to complete an award.
I wish I’d recorded that call. It was a failure and a bit confusing. First the agent just searched for Business Class award space, and of course there isn’t any. I asked her to request the space from QMAX.
She said there was nothing she could do. I asked if she knew what I was talking about, and she said yes, but she couldn’t do it.
We went back and forth for a bit. At one point, she mentioned I wasn’t “Gold or Platinum” (ie I don’t have elite status with American Airlines), so I asked if she could make the request if I did have status. She said she couldn’t, so I eventually hung up more confused than ever about whether this trick could still work under any circumstances.
For my trip, it doesn’t seem worth the time to call more agents to see if I get a different answer. I’ll just stick to my plan of monitoring award space from Phoenix to Honolulu in Business Class with an automatic alert.
But if you want to try to get an American Airlines agent to release Saver award space for you, I’d suggest reading the comments in this View from the Wing post to see people’s experiences. Most didn’t get space opened up, but some did.
And to head off questions I expect:
- No, no other airlines have a similar process by which you can ask them to release award space.
- No, you cannot request American Airlines release Saver award space, so you can book it with another type of miles like Avios.
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I’m curious about this as well
I’m curious about this as well
I was actually able to get a manager to convert a revenue fare into an award fare on iberia after one of their csr’s outright lied to me on a recorded call. Then, about 2 months ago they cancelled the outbound long-haul and put me on the next day’s flight without A) asking me first and B) doing anything with my connecting flight. When that happened I spent about 4 hours on the phone with them to finally get them to convert a revenue fare on BA that fit my itinerary.
Nice work. Definitely in the case of schedule changes, airlines have the power to book you onto flights without award space.
I was actually able to get a manager to convert a revenue fare into an award fare on iberia after one of their csr’s outright lied to me on a recorded call. Then, about 2 months ago they cancelled the outbound long-haul and put me on the next day’s flight without A) asking me first and B) doing anything with my connecting flight. When that happened I spent about 4 hours on the phone with them to finally get them to convert a revenue fare on BA that fit my itinerary.
Nice work. Definitely in the case of schedule changes, airlines have the power to book you onto flights without award space.
Brenton
You earned that !! twice they changed my air by a DAY and didn’t tell me and I spent 4 hrs on the phone to fine something that will work.
Well Done
It was a combination of earning it and find the single iberia employee that was capable. Ultimately, I came out ahead, despite the headache. If I had booked when I first wanted to, I would’ve paid 24,000 avios more. Also, by having him open award space for me on BA, I’m getting to fly a different business class product for a few hundred dollars less per person. Annoying, yet fruitful…
Brenton
You earned that !! twice they changed my air by a DAY and didn’t tell me and I spent 4 hrs on the phone to fine something that will work.
Well Done
It was a combination of earning it and find the single iberia employee that was capable. Ultimately, I came out ahead, despite the headache. If I had booked when I first wanted to, I would’ve paid 24,000 avios more. Also, by having him open award space for me on BA, I’m getting to fly a different business class product for a few hundred dollars less per person. Annoying, yet fruitful…
My guess is if you are executive platinum like Gary or jon is they would open it up.
My guess is if you are executive platinum like Gary or jon is they would open it up.
I had a business class award booked on AA. They moved my 6:30 AM flight ahead to 6 AM. This alone was not enough of a time change to allow a open house on award changes. However when stating my concern on returning my rental car and checking in for my flight on time, they did offer to change me to the 7:30 AM flight instead. This flight had no award space showing. I asked if I could get a later flight but was told that asking for that would less likely be approved. So they can open award space under certain circumstances.
I had a business class award booked on AA. They moved my 6:30 AM flight ahead to 6 AM. This alone was not enough of a time change to allow a open house on award changes. However when stating my concern on returning my rental car and checking in for my flight on time, they did offer to change me to the 7:30 AM flight instead. This flight had no award space showing. I asked if I could get a later flight but was told that asking for that would less likely be approved. So they can open award space under certain circumstances.
I tried this strategy for an award that I have in March. PHX-LAX-AUH-MLE. The last leg from AUH-MLE was booked economy instead of first. In about 10 minutes I spoke with a representative who tried to complete the award so that the AUH-MLE leg would be first class. The award was booked on Etihad. Unfortunately, he checked QMAX but he could not find seats although he did note that business class was wide open. He stated that it was difficult with Etihad because the seats are not visible to them. Previously I had called Etihad to try to make a change and they also noted that business class was open on that flight but they could not do anything since the ticket was booked through American. Looks like I’ll have to be patient but I’ll try the QMAX method again. Good post, Scott- they definitely do know about QMAX.
I tried this strategy for an award that I have in March. PHX-LAX-AUH-MLE. The last leg from AUH-MLE was booked economy instead of first. In about 10 minutes I spoke with a representative who tried to complete the award so that the AUH-MLE leg would be first class. The award was booked on Etihad. Unfortunately, he checked QMAX but he could not find seats although he did note that business class was wide open. He stated that it was difficult with Etihad because the seats are not visible to them. Previously I had called Etihad to try to make a change and they also noted that business class was open on that flight but they could not do anything since the ticket was booked through American. Looks like I’ll have to be patient but I’ll try the QMAX method again. Good post, Scott- they definitely do know about QMAX.
I have had luck in the past with agents opening up space on AA and on partner flights however a month or so ago I was told by multiple agents to hey were no longer able to request space. I didn’t know about QMAX so I’m not sure if that is a factor.
I have had luck in the past with agents opening up space on AA and on partner flights however a month or so ago I was told by multiple agents to hey were no longer able to request space. I didn’t know about QMAX so I’m not sure if that is a factor.
I’m also desperately trying, but they are all saying that it is no longer possible, and that they could do it at some point, but it is now being phased out…
I’m also desperately trying, but they are all saying that it is no longer possible, and that they could do it at some point, but it is now being phased out…
A lot of what you might be seeing is the inherent chaos with the USAirways/AA merger. Now, when you call, you may randomly get a USAirways or an AA employee. Customer service with the “not in the plane staff” seems to not exist in the culture of USAirways. They tend to be rather inept in my interactions with them. Furthermore, the policies brought into AA by the USAirways management team seem to handcuff the veteran AA employees. I hang up and try again to gauge the ability of the next person answering the phone before I go any further. The USAirways flight crews, on the other hand, have been excellent.
A lot of what you might be seeing is the inherent chaos with the USAirways/AA merger. Now, when you call, you may randomly get a USAirways or an AA employee. Customer service with the “not in the plane staff” seems to not exist in the culture of USAirways. They tend to be rather inept in my interactions with them. Furthermore, the policies brought into AA by the USAirways management team seem to handcuff the veteran AA employees. I hang up and try again to gauge the ability of the next person answering the phone before I go any further. The USAirways flight crews, on the other hand, have been excellent.
[…] The third change was that American Airlines was no longer seeing Etihad availability. I re-started my search by trying to upgrade the economy legs of our trip from Abu Dhabi to the Maldives. I saw one Business Class ticket available on the Etihad website. I called American Airlines and I was sternly told that there was no availability even when I was seeing it on the screen. I found some information about ‘QMAX’ via MileValue, a system for completing an itinerary. Since we had paid for First Class but were only receiving economy tickets I thought they might complete the award for us, like this article from Scott explains. […]
[…] The third change was that American Airlines was no longer seeing Etihad availability. I re-started my search by trying to upgrade the economy legs of our trip from Abu Dhabi to the Maldives. I saw one Business Class ticket available on the Etihad website. I called American Airlines and I was sternly told that there was no availability even when I was seeing it on the screen. I found some information about ‘QMAX’ via MileValue, a system for completing an itinerary. Since we had paid for First Class but were only receiving economy tickets I thought they might complete the award for us, like this article from Scott explains. […]