frequent flyer miles redemption choices
 

I am flying to visit relatives in mid March. I wanted to use AA frequent flyer miles. Two days ago I was searching on the AA website seeing what flights I could get using my ff miles. I found an acceptable one going out and a good one going home. I waited to get some information from the relatives before I booked and when I looked today, that flight is no longer listed although there are two early morning ones. I see an additional one has been added to the list of those going out since Wed.

So my question is this. Is it possible the flight I want to take will reappear within a few days or is it likely that it is gone forever?

While it's certainly POSSIBLE, you have a rather short planning horizon to work with. My advice would be to lock in on something that is at least acceptable to you before that one disappears, too. I am not familiar with the AA program to know if there is a cost to change an award ticket after it is issued, but that is something that you could check up on. If not -- or if it is minimal -- then perhaps you can make the switch if you see your preferred flight(s) turn up again. But this clearly looks like a case of "a bird in the hand" and if you have the flexibility to meet the arrangments that are available to you now, it is probably not going to be a good idea to hold out hoping for something different.

Are you saying that AA changed the flight schedule or that the flight you wanted no longer has any award seats available? I'm not quite clear.

Unfortunately, AA does charge a $100 fee for any changes to an award ticket even if it's only to change to an earlier or later flight on the same day.

Patty, what I wanted to convey was that the second time I checked flights available, one choice had been added to the departure fights and one choice had been deleted from the returning flights.
I have never tried to use frequent flyer miles before but when I have repeatedly checked flights when I am buying a ticket, I have seen flights disappear from the choices and then reappear. I was just wondering if this was possible with award tickets. Thanks.

Call American direct. They will put a courtesy hold on redemption flights for about 2 weeks. That will give you plenty of time to get your travel arrangements sorted out. They're really helpful and easy to deal with - I've been an AA frequent flyer since their program was first introduced lo these many years ago (yikes!).

It's possible that the last remaining award seat on the return flight that you wanted was taken between the first time you checked and the second. It's also possible that they'll release additional award seats between now and the date of the flight but there's never a guarantee. Since you're only a month away, I would put something on hold right away and check back the next few days to see if a seat on the return flight that you want opens up for awards. During this time, you can make changes at no charge. Once you ticket, then the change fee applies.

They will hold your reservation for 14 days but don't wait too long because there's an additional fee for issuing award tickets within 21 days of travel ($50-75). So you need to have your ticket issued 3 weeks before travel to avoid paying the extra fee.

Hope this helps.