AA FF to SEA-Frustration

Old Jan 14th, 2008, 11:56 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,408
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
AA FF to SEA-Frustration

I'm hoping someone might have better ideas for me, or at least listen to me whine.;-)

I've been saving up miles for a long time now to have enough for 2 business class tickets to South East Asia. The goal was to get to Vietnam, but I'd take Bangkok too.

I've been trying for months to get seats for the first 2 weeks of August and nothing!
Now today I find out that if I want to fly into Hanoi I MUST fly through Tokyo because I can only redeem miles on JAL to get to Hanoi even though Cathay flies there as well. Grrrrr.

So, essentially, there are no Business class seats availble to Tokyo (JAL) or Hong Kong (Cathay) from LAX for any of my dates.

Do I have any other options to get to SEA using my AA miles? Do I just need to wait another year?
Kristina is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 12:12 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 23,073
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'm sorry, but whoever is "saving up for a long time" to have enough miles to go anywhere, especially with relatively specific dates, and particularly for business/first class, will be highly disappointed and frustrated.

Doesn't matter where you're going and on what airline.
rkkwan is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 12:15 PM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,885
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Cathay has become VERY stingy with the J award seats from US to HKG. Don't know much about JF award inventory. F and J seats get released closer to the scheduled departure dates. Airlines have limited number of these seats and they want to sell as many as they can before releasing some for awards.

btw, SEA is an airport code for Seattle so your post is confusing. It took me awhile to figure out that for you it meant South East Asia.

Where are you flying from and where exactly do you want to go? also, if you give us some dates we may be able to help you.

Is this AA AllPartner award or AA OneWorld Award?

You won't be able to do both, Hanoi and Bangkok on one award with the AllPartner award. Neither city is a gateway city.

It's possible with the OW award but it may be more miles, but again it all depends on which cities you want to stop at and dates.
AAFrequentFlyer is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 01:04 PM
  #4  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,408
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
rkkwan-
That may be true, but what's your point?
What if I'd said, "I'm a frequent flyer with lots of miles to burn but because of my job I can only travel at specific times"?
I don't think it matters how I came by the miles or how long I've been saving them.

AAFF-Thanks for your questions.
"SEA" is shorthand over on the Asia board, sorry.

I'm flying from LAX.I'd like to leave the last weekend in July or the first weekend in August.My travel dates are unfortunately limited by my job.

I've traveled all over South East Asia, but not Vietnam, so my hope was to go there.
OTOH, if I can get to Bangkok I'd happily spend some time there and buy a low cost ticket to Hanoi from BKK.
BTW, there were also no AA seats available to Tokyo.

I think it's an AA partner award. Sorry, I don't really know much about Oneworld awards.
Kristina is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 01:11 PM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 23,073
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
My point is that award availability is always limited. I'm totally not surprised that you're frustrated, and I'm using your example to warn others that they will be frustrated too.

That's all. Sorry, but good luck on your search, and I sincerely hope AAFF and others can help you find your flight.
rkkwan is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 01:15 PM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,885
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Give me some time and I'll try to see what if anything I can come up with.

Still, F and J tickets are hard to get this far out. If I can't find anything, don't despair. Just be patient and methodical. About 3-4 months out start calling about once a week.

I'll get back to you soon.
AAFrequentFlyer is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 01:58 PM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,885
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Not good but here is a possible:

JUL31 LAX-DFW 6a-11:25a AA2410 F
JUL31 DFW-NRT 12:05p-3:05p(AUG1) AA61 J
overnight in NRT
AUG2 NRT-HKG 9:45a-1:25p CX509 J
AUG2 HKG-BKK 3:50p-5:30p CX701 J


AUG12 BKK-HKG 9:45a-1:40p CX708 J
AUG12 HKG-NRT 3:00p-8:10p JL732 J
overnight in NRT
AUG13 NRT-DFW 11:30a-9:15a AA176 J
AUG13 DFW-LAX 12:30p-1:40p AA2427 F


overnight in Narita both ways and I'm not sure if the dates work for you, but that's the ONLY business class availibility I see at the moment.
AAFrequentFlyer is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 02:23 PM
  #8  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,408
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
AAFF-Thanks. Those dates don't work for me. I hope this doesn't sound ungrateful/too picky but that's just too much time wasted in getting there (fly to DFW, and then overnight in NRT?) Then come home too early the same way? It only gives me 9 days "on the ground".
In my perfect world, I'd come home on Saturday or Sunday and try to get as much as my two full weeks will allow.

But I do like your thinking! What if I were to try and route through SFO? I've done that before with UA FF tickets to Europe.

I will take your advice to keep calling as well. I know seats open up, but I was also under the impression that the best way to go was to call as early as possible.

How is it that you can see which FF seats are there when the rest of us mere mortals have to call? ;-)

rkkwan-yes, it's frustrating. And yes, it probably should be a cautionary tale to others. I'd been told to call 330 days out to book FF seats, but honestly, I could not pinpoint my vacation days that far in advance this time.
I had the same problem trying to get business seats to Europe last year. Ended up going to Prague, Vienna and Budapest in March because it was all we could get. While the trip was good, it was cold and it wasn't my first choice destination.
Kristina is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 02:50 PM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,885
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I understand totaly.

If it helps any, AA shows J availibility almost daily from LAX to NRT. It's the BKK/HAN routes with their partners that are causing problems.

SFO may work.


If you are willing to fly the long way, AA OneWorld award may work better, but it will be more miles. At the same time you can include both destinations with this award.

Something like LAX-BKK-HAN-LAX will "cost" 130K miles for J award, but you will be flying through Europe, so your final itn may look like this:

LAX-ord-lhr(AA)-BKK(BA)(stop)
BKK-hkg-HAN(CX)(stop)
HAN-hkg(CX)-lhr(BA or CX)-jfk-LAAA)

The above is just an example. There are more possible routings.

If you decide to call AA, ask them for OW130C award and tell them you don't mind going through Europe. You just can't stop there as that would increase the "mileage price".
AAFrequentFlyer is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 03:01 PM
  #10  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,408
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
AAFF- Oh, if I had more time, I would certainly consider that. But for me, that's just too much time in transit.
Just wondering, why with Oneworld would I not be able to come home to LAX eastbound from Asia? Why go back through Europe?
What's the essential difference between OneWorld and Partner tickets?
Kristina is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 03:04 PM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,370
Received 79 Likes on 8 Posts
I can see 2+ business award seats on direct LAX-NRT AA flights on July 29 and 30, then more on Aug. 5 and 6, both midweek (no surprise there.) Between Cathay Pacific, Dragonair and JAL I can't imagine getting to Bangkok or Vietnam could be that hard. I would certainly also consider flying into HCMC and making my own way to Hanoi if it opened up more carrier options.

For what it's worth, there may also be availability to BKK via Australia, but would only work if you used a Oneworld award rather than a partner award.

The Oneworld award requires the use of two Oneworld members in addition to AA (if AA is used at all) and is based on mileage flown only between stopover points, regardless of routing. This an itinerary from LAX to Bangkok via London would be completely okay; only the miles between LA and Bangkok would count, even if you change planes at London or Hong Kong or Tokyo or somewhere else.

The standard AA business class partner award to "Asia II" including Vietnam is 135K miles. However, as the miles required for a round trip (not counting intermediate connection points) is around 16,500 miles to Vietnam or Thailand, which requires only 130K miles using the Oneworld approach.

The Oneworld award pulls from the same seating inventory as the "all partner" awards; however it opens up quite a few additional routing options - go via Australia or Europe, or via Delhi or Shanghai, etc. Might take more time in a plane, but might have a greater chance of success for your specific dates, too.

As AAFF advises, though, another alternative is patience.
Gardyloo is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 03:06 PM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,370
Received 79 Likes on 8 Posts
I was composing while AAFF was giving you a similar message.
Gardyloo is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 03:14 PM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,885
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You can comeback anyway you want (the beauty of OneWorld award/ as AllPartner award restricts Asia awards to transpacific ONLY), but as you can see, availibility is a problem from Asia to US around the time you want to go.

OTOH, BA has availibility going through London. CX/DragonAir may still pose a little problem for the short hops, but I'm sure it can be worked out.

LAX-NRT-BKK = about 18 flying hours plus 1 connection

LAX-ORD-LHR-BKK = about 23-24 flying hours plus 2 connections

Not trying to sell you on it, just want to give you some options.

If you need definite dates, routes and destinations then your only option is to become vigilant about 3-4 months before and call at least once a week.

Good luck!
AAFrequentFlyer is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 03:32 PM
  #14  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,408
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
AA-Do your "flying hours" include the connection hours at each of the two stops? That's what kills me. I've flown the Cathay flight to BKK a few times and it's more like 23 hours total. last time I chose Thai air because they are the only ones with a non-stop LAX-BKK and it was "only" 18 hours. Worth it to me for the little bit of extra $$.
Plus LHR is my least favorite aiport on the planet and I try to avoid it at all costs.

gardyloo-Thanks for all the info. AA told me I needed 110,000 miles per ticket and that's what I remember seeing on the website. I thought 135,000 was for first class. I hope I don't need 135,000.

I think at this point I'm going to wait and keep calling. I'm also going to look into going through SFO.

Thanks for all the advice! This is why I love Fodor's!
Kristina is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 03:51 PM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,370
Received 79 Likes on 8 Posts
Yep, my typo - sorry. 110K miles it is on a partner award.
Gardyloo is offline  
Old Jan 14th, 2008, 03:54 PM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,885
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It's flying hours only PLUS connection times.
AAFrequentFlyer is offline  
Old Jan 15th, 2008, 02:44 AM
  #17  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 371
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Kristina,

BA has direct flights from LAX to LHR with fairly good J availability for the date range you gave. It's a 10 hour flight and layover could be 8-5 hours but you will have access to a nice lounge! BA also has some J seats to BKK, an 11 hour direct flight. I know AA & BA are partners & I haven't ever tried to redeem AA miles for a BA flight but AAFrequentFlyer might be able to let us know if this is possible.

Good luck!!
Pulley is offline  
Old Jan 15th, 2008, 03:15 AM
  #18  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,885
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
No it's not. AA miles can't be redeemed for US-UK BA flights and the same is true for BA miles on AA flights.

AAFrequentFlyer is offline  
Old Jan 15th, 2008, 05:33 AM
  #19  
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 596
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Is there any possibility you can use your AA miles out of Vancouver to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific? I had no problem using my Alaska air miles for first class (I live in Washington state). I got the seat two months before the flight on my first call. There were only 2 other people flying over in first class and 4 coming back.
Louise is offline  
Old Jan 15th, 2008, 06:49 AM
  #20  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,885
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Yes. In fact if it was All Partner award, Alaska can be used as well to get the op to YVR.
AAFrequentFlyer is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
SDtravelers
Air Travel
15
Jan 25th, 2008 08:32 AM
beachgirl86
United States
6
Sep 23rd, 2004 04:19 PM
Lowell05
Air Travel
6
Apr 14th, 2004 05:45 AM
JimF
Air Travel
9
Jul 24th, 2003 04:36 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -