Eager To Learn International Award Booking

Eager To Learn International Award Booking...but totally stuck and have some basic questions.

As I noted in another thread, I am trying to book my first European Award ticket and not satisfied with the routing that AA is giving me. I am experiencing high fuel surcharges and long lay overs and really want to learn how to build my own route.

My goal is SEA-FCO on AA Off Peak awards. AA routes me via LHR on BA which has very high fuel surcharges. So I tried SEA-FLR as a second option (same country) and AA routes me via DUS or BER on Air Berlin with very low surcharges. I see that Air Berlin flies into FCO...so how do I get the system to let me search Air Berlin instead of forcing me into LHR!?!?

I'm sure this is pretty basic but it totally has me stumped and I am stuck at this point.

I appreciate the help.

 

Try searching your award flights segment by segment, with your international flights first. Then search for connecting flights. To be clear, when I say segment by segment I mean search for a one way flight for each segment. Don't try to build it all together on a multi-city search. Write down flight numbers, dates, and departure and arrival times for each segment. Then call aa.com and have them book the flight. There is plenty of award space on AB from DUS to FCO in economy.

 

I tried doing that and got charged an extra 10K points from DUS-FCO so I knew I wasn't doing something right.

Thanks @pdxtraveltips

 

I wish I had an answer for why you got charged another 10k. It probably has something to do with the stop in DUS being too long so it was counted as a stopover instead of a layover. Someone smarter than me probably has a better answer.

 

Or maybe; SEA - LAX - LHR on AS/AA metal? Then LHR - TXL - FCO (AB) or whatever to get into Italy ... if you really want to avoid the YQ.

Or ... look into Finair?

But yeah look segment by segment. Make sure your layover are under 23:55 and over ~2hr ... Then call it in. You'll get hit w/the $25 phone booking fee; but no real way to avoid that.

Also try using the various OW search engines to search AA/BA/QF ...

 

Some great ideas there...thanks @edekba.

 

If you want to stay on AA metal, you can spend some time playing around with the "Where We Fly" map on AA to find which big gateway cities have nonstop AA flights to Rome (you'll find the interactive map under the Plan Travel map). I just spent five minutes playing with it, and discovered that both Chicago and New York City have nonstop AA flights to Rome; LAX apparently doesn't. Then see if you can put together an award ticket where the first leg is SEA-JFK or SEA-ORD, then the second leg is JFK or ORD to FCO.

 

For most trips like this the key is to first figure out the overwater bit and then build back in from there. If you can find ORD-DUS at the saver rate, for example, then add in the other pieces at either end (e.g. SEA-ORD + DUS-FLR). Once you find the individual segments available you can try to piece together the whole itinerary using the multi-city option. If that doesn't work then phoning in should. You can always try to get out of the phone fee because it isn't bookable online but don't bet on that. And, while paying the $25 if you shouldn't have to sortof sucks getting the seats you want doesn't. A small price to pay to get the award done.

 

Hmmm...I wasn't able to find any non stop on AA Off Peak Awards. I will check again..

 

Thanks Seth for the summary...all the help from everyone has been much appreciated.

 

Read this today, thought you might find it helpful. http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemi...-you-dont-want-to-use-them-to-your-advantage/

 

This is good information. I'm new to the miles game, and taking it all in.

Thanks.

 

I should've mentioned this before (honestly, I had forgotten I compiled it) when talking about finding the overwater segment first...



Here's a list of all the routes operated by oneworld partners that I'm aware of which are valid for N. America - Europe travel. It is split by operator so if you are trying to avoid BA to avoid the YQ fees you can pick other options to search.

 

Hi,
Why the under 23.55 and over 2hr parameters?
Just thinking 24 hrs would be considered a stay instead of a layover and over 2hr to make a connection?
Also with the layover could I find a hotel in the layover city and come back to continue the trip?
I've only been to international twice and it was a blur.

 

under 24hours usually means a layover and not a stopover or destination.
over 2 hours so you can transit w/o running through the terminal.
That's just my thinking

 

I have a couple of questions about Delta if anyone knows...

I want to travel using Delta Skymiles. The closest Delta Airport to me is Billings, MT. If I want to go to somewhere like Montego Bay, Jamaica, do I get charged Skymiles for each segment of the trip? I was looking on the Delta website, and they wanted like 110,000 miles for an economy trip.