crckwc1

Hoping to use Aadvantage miles for trip DFW-MUC-DFW or DFW-MUC-IAH departing the last week in May. returning the last week in June. Right now there is little choice without having to pay BA's exorbitant fees or fly an absurd schedule. Do you think additional seats/flights will become available as time goes on, or should I grab the best of the lot now? Thanks for your ideas.
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JoyC

You can subscribe to expertflyer.com (try the pro for free for 5 days; otherwise the basic subscription is $4.99/month) to find available award seats for your routing.

You can join Iberia's Avios program and see availability of flights using Iberia instead of BA, thus avoiding the surcharges BA charge.

Gardyloo

Since AA doesn't fly to Munich, you'll have to change planes someplace. AA will tend to default to BA in London, thus incurring BA's fuel fines. I can see plenty of space on DFW-Frankfurt most days that week, and you can connect to Air Berlin who will take you to Munich via Berlin, so a bit of a pain. Frankly I'd just pick Frankfurt and take the train straight from the airport to Munich.

You have other choices as well - via Madrid, Helsinki, Dusseldorf - places where AA or partners fly nonstop from the US. Munich, like Houston, is a Star Alliance hub city, with far less service from AA partners or AA itself.

And yes, additional FF seats can and will become available in the meantime.

crckwc1

Thanks JoyC and Gardyloo

P_M

AA does not post FF availability on Iberia so I suggest you call and ask about that. Even if you have to pay the $25 fee for phone booking it's still a heck of a lot cheaper than BA's fees.

Gardyloo

<i>AA does not post FF availability on Iberia so I suggest you call and ask about that. Even if you have to pay the $25 fee for phone booking it's still a heck of a lot cheaper than BA's fees.</i>

Iberia is part of IAG, the BA/Iberia holding company. Iberia does indeed charge fuel surcharges (aka "carrier-imposed fees," a wording ploy to circumvent ongoing litigation in the US over BA's excuse of fuel prices - still pending in federal court.) However, IB's fees are not nearly as heavy as BA's, but they're not insignificant.

Join Iberia's program as JoyC suggested. Their website can be exasperating to use, but if you see an open mileage seat on an Iberia flight, generally AA can see it to and grab it. You'll have to phone (and pay the fee) to get it, but being able to point the AA agent to the IB flight almost always succeeds.

P_M

Good idea about joining Iberia's program.

Sidebar--Gardy, I have a trip coming up and I will have to use BA as there are no other options. If the plaintiff wins do you think we will get any portion of a refund for award tickets?

Gardyloo

<i>If the plaintiff wins do you think we will get any portion of a refund for award tickets?</i>

I'd give it low probability, since BA has already started rewriting history by calling them "carrier-imposed fees" and de-linking the price of fuel from the fee/profit/usury.

Plus which, I suspect we'll all be able to teleport from the USS Enterprise by the time the court case concludes. BA is trying to d r a g it out big time, a standard ploy in class actions.

Info - http://www.lieffcabraser.com/Case-Ce...-Tickets.shtml