Award travel and fees
 

So I have enough AAdvantage miles to fly 3 people from SYR NY to ARN this summer. I have also checked about 7 other departure cities using different dates etc and the fees for the tix are high. They range from $413-$731 per ticket depending on the dates or departure city.
Is this something I'm going to have to expect no matter what? Or is there a way to reduce those fees such as waiting to book closer to departure date?
I'd appreciate any info. Thanks!

The fees are probably due to using British Airways on one or more flights. AA doesn't fly to that many destinations in Europe (and not at all to Sweden) so the AAdvantage robots will route you through London in most cases, using BA for the final leg, or maybe even for the transatlantic leg too.

BA adds these fees (formerly called "fuel surcharges" until BA got sued in US federal court) and AA happily passes them through on AAdvantage awards.

The way to avoid them is to stay on AA-operated flights. For example, a one-way award <i>on AA "metal"</i> (i.e. flown by AA) from New York to London in the summer will cost 30,000 miles and $5.60 in additional fees. The same day, a flight using British Airways will also cost 30,000 miles, but the fees will jump to $272. If you connect through London on a BA flight, there will be an additional fee for the second segment.

So the easy answer is to look only for AA flights over the ocean, then if necessary pay cash for the short-haul trip. For example, a round trip between London and Stockholm on SAS costs US$132, so using AA miles for the longhaul and a paid SAS ticket, your out-of-pocket would be $138.

AA also doesn't add heavy fees for flights using Finnair or Air Berlin over the Atlantic, so it's worth looking for those flights as well. In those cases, you could fly all the way to ARN (via Helsinki, Berlin or Dusseldorf) with minimal extra fees.

Obviously if you go with two separate tickets you'll need to give yourself plenty of leeway for the connection time; the ongoing airline won't be obligated to help you if you no-show because your incoming flight was late.

everything Gardyloo states. Just get to Europe <u>on AA metal</u> (anywhere in Europe really but London is probably the easiest) and then book a budget airline to Sweden.

Thank you so much! Very helpful!!

Or on Iberia, Finnair, or Air Berlin metal. Either Air Berlin or Finnair would be a good choice and would offer a short connection to Stockholm.

AA also passes through Iberia surcharges. Same ownership as BA.

I think Finnair is a great option. This is something that has to be checked over the phone by an actual agent right? I don't see a way to do it through the AA.com website.

Finnair turns up on AA.com for award bookings but they have very few flights between the US and Helsinki, so your chances of finding available seats (for one, never mind three) are very very slim.

Looking for three award seats on the same flights is going to be extremely difficult in any case; the airlines typically don't release that many seats at once. You might get two seats on the same plane, but if you're traveling in economy and in the summer, you might find that at least one person might need to fly on BA or you might all need to be on different flights, compounding your planning difficulties.

When are you planning to fly, and are you flying in economy or do you want business class or premium economy? A lot of us who play the FF game feel that using miles for economy class travel is not the best use of them, and of course there are a lot of very cheap fares over the Atlantic this year. You might want to monitor this board on Flyertalk - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mileage-run-deals-372/ - where people report on good (legit) deals.

Okay. Thank you!

Doug are U still a moderator?

No, I'm no longer a moderator. Those functions have all moved out to LA now.

May as well be Mars. :S-.

Thanks for the reply!

Something to be aware of. The AA website does NOT show all the possible partners flights and some not at all. You can call the Aadvantage desk and ask for assistance on flights/routing and if you book the phone call fee is waived if the flight is not available on the website. I learned this last year and had a great non-stop bus class flight from LAX to CDG on Air Tahiti Nui. :-)

Everything you read above - avoid BA like the plague when it comes to FFM.

If it gets too difficult to go with AA all the way, just use AA to a connecting hub and then pay (as suggested above) - look into the many budget airlines that, even with luggage fees, can be dirt cheap within Europe. www.skyscanner.net, www.whichbudget.com

If that doesn't want to work out, and if you can get to Boston easily, consider skipping the AAdvantage deal and using IcelandAir for this trip, then spend those AA points on a future trip where you get your money's worth. Maybe with Qantas?

Thanks! I can't even begin to tell you how helpful you have all been so far!
I'm still working on it but appreciate all this info!