"On Request"
 

Two weeks ago I booked my August '22 flights to and from Nairobi using AA Advantage miles. The departing flights (with the first leg on AA and the remaining two on Qatar Air) were ticketed within several hours. The return flights (on British Air) are still "on request." I've never had it take more than 24 hours for requested flights to be ticketed. When I called last week, an agent said there was no problem; that I should be patient.

Has anyone ever had it take this long to get a flight ticketed?

I spent a ridiculous amount of time finding flights available with FF miles that would work. If this is not going to "fly" I'd like to know because there are VERY few options using miles, and I'd want to be checking into them.

"Has anyone ever had it take this long to get a flight ticketed?"

On BA -- yes, a couple of times. But that was pre-covid and not on miles so likely not at all relevant to your situation. Reading general threads on FlyerTalk it appears there are lots of annoying delays on BA but they usually ticket eventually.

Thanks, Janis. That's good to hear.

Just to make sure everything's OK, you might want to follow up with BA via their Twitter or Facebook accounts. Apparently those are faster then trying to phone.

. . . or since you used AA miles, contact AAdvantage

I've had this situation too, but also pre-Covid of course. I suspect that part of the problem is that AA and BA use different Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) - Sabre v. Amadeus respectively, and cross-GDS ticketing results in hiccups on the notifications side, not necessarily the actual ticket issuance.

I would call AA and ask if the BA flights have been assigned a BA PNR (record locator) and if so, then go to the BA website and use the "manage my booking" tool and see what comes up using the BA locator. You might find (as I have in the past) that everything was hunky dory with BA but the word never made it through AA's website.

I would not fret about losing your seats; if anything the rebound in air service following Covid is probably going to create more award inventory across the board, which of course means plenty more opportunity for BA to levy its outrageous surcharges on "award" tickets, thereby reducing the value of your miles hugely.

Thanks, janisj & Gardyloo. I spent all day today booking my first pandemic-era trips (to see family in Nashville and Florida). I'm out of practice!

The AA Aadvantage agent was no help when I called last week. But there is a BA confirmation code, so I will follow up with them IF I keep the flights. I say "if" because it looks like I might now be able to make it work on different dates -- business class on Qatar both ways, avoiding the almost $900 in British Air fees.

I'll keep you posted!

Would there be a cost to you to make the change now while the BA segment(s) are on request? Will there be a cost to make the change after your existing reservations are ticketed?

BA did me a big favor. While I was waiting (two weeks) for them to ticket my requested flights, a slew of additional, MUCH BETTER flights opened on Qatar Air for dates about two weeks after my initial reservations. (Gardyloo, you were right about more inventory opening.) As I was preparing to call AA to see about changing the reservation to Qatar flights, the British Air flights were ticketed!!!

I contacted AAdvantage and was lucky to get connected to the best agent I have ever dealt with. The flights that showed online as available were not available in the AA system. So we spent 90 minutes trying various combinations. The agent had endless patience and was so skilled and personable that I sent a commendation to the airline, praising her service.

The outgoing trip (which I was happy with) remains essentially the same. The big difference is that instead of returning on British Air economy plus for 65k miles & $471 pp, we will now fly in Qatar Air Q-Suites (business/first class) for 75k miles and $111. We save more than $700 AND get the Q-Suite!

mrwunrfl: There was no charge to change the reservations, nor would there be in the future. I'm a very happy camper!

If BA had ticketed this promptly, I might not have thought to check if other flights had opened.

Congratulations!

That is great! Qatar is one of the top rated airlines in the world on skytrax!