cymbeline

When do you like to request FF miles?
I have usually done so early. An agent told me, the sooner, the better. I travel to Europe.

You can request American FF awards 330 days before return date. Then you're going to get the award hopefully! But this is early and it's sometimes the case you won't know plans that far in advance.

Has anyone here requested as late as November for the American off season award, which must return by May 14?

I wonder how long I have to get myself together!

Thanks for any help & tricks you are able to offer!

Keith

I booked my last trip 330 days out.

Book as early as possible. You may pay a fee, but you can make changes or cancel later.

Keith

gail

Remember that there are not FF tickets on every flight - so even if you try to book at 330 days plus 1 second, you may not get a seat where you want to go. In general, the more flexibility you have in travel dates, airports, the longer you can wait. And if you can tolerate weird connections, departure times (like 5 AM), you also increase chance of getting award ticket.

Also, school vacations of any kind are almost impossible to get seats - so try to avoid these dates if possible.

I usually try to book as soon as I think I might be going somewhere and then pay to redeposit miles if necessary.

AAFrequentFlyer

Changing dates <b>as long as there is availibility</b> is free of any fees with award tickets when using AA miles. It has to be the same routing, same carrier, just a different date. Any other changes do involve a fee.

Booking an award ticket at the earliest possible time is always a good idea, but it doesn't mean that it is impossible to find a seat later, but it if it is you're out of luck. Having few days leeway in either direction for your departure and return is also a good idea when claiming an award ticket.

Good luck!

In the recent past I booked a multi carrier, multi stop, month long trips to South America, Australia/Asia about 5-6 months out and with an exception of a date or 2 adjustments here and there had no problem getting a ticket.

cymbeline

FF, perhaps call up AMerican and see if this is still true. It used to be. Then last year my parntner award desk started charging 50 bucks for any change. However, this may have to do with the Alaska Airline partner desk, not American Airlines. But they do charge me 50 bucks if I change now, which sucks.

Thank you for your reasonable and informative answers.

AAFrequentFlyer

Dates and times are free of change fees (assuming there is availibility). Routing and/or carrier changes incur a fee.

This was just confirmed to me by a wonderful AAngel at the EXP desk.

cymbeline

That's nice, but my Alaska Airlines partner desk charges 50 dollars for them now. Maybe it's time for me to switch to another plan.