Don't Forget to Check Back on Better Offers When Using Miles

[SelectSys]

While most things about FF programs have gotten progressively worse over time, one benefit that I think is quite prevalent is the ability to cancel award tickets without penalty.  Where this comes into play is with today's dynamic pricing for award tickets, one can sometimes find much better deals closer to your date of travel.  This worked out for me recently where I was able to convert an existing premium economy reservation (which was already discounted off the average mile price) to business class seats for less miles and fees by checking back on my reservation and rebooking. 

 

Is this something that others do as well?  It seems to me that dynamic pricing for award travel has really changed the process of claiming award travel.  "Back in the day" before dynamic rewards it was really a case of finding the seats once and being done with it - at least for me.

[the mice]

It can work, more easily on the major US carriers.  But it's not without risks.  You hope that the miles credit back instantly and the award seats are there when you go to rebook.

[SelectSys]

1 hour ago, the mice said:

miles credit back instantly and the award seats are there when you go to rebook

Actually in my case I put the other seats on "hold" before cancelling my existing reservation.  At least with AA, the miles credited back with 45 minutes and the hold period was about a week.  I am not sure what the policy would be on another US airline like UA or DL.

[the mice]

That works if the option is available, as it was in your case.  Don't fly DL so unfamiliar.  UA doesn't have holds AFAIK.  I had UA business class awards EWR-AMS price much higher than usual this past May and the flight sold out with all the pent up demand, so no deals last minute and I checked often.  Agree that nowadays, with dynamic pricing, it's more challenging.

[SelectSys]

29 minutes ago, the mice said:

UA doesn't have holds AFAIK.

Nice to hear that the AA program has at least one benefit that is superior to UA and DL.  I found this link regarding airline holds of reward travel.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/award-ticket-holds/

[FlyerTalker]

Not all programs allow for no-cost cancellation and re-deposit of miles.  Check your specific program, as some only allow that for elite status members.

 

Also, remember that once you take a transferable currency, such as Amex MR points, or Chase or Citi, and convert them to a specific airline, you can't later turn them back into your Amex/Chase/Citi points.

 

 

[the mice]

3 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Also, remember that once you take a transferable currency, such as Amex MR points, or Chase or Citi, and convert them to a specific airline, you can't later turn them back into your Amex/Chase/Citi points.

 

And if you are transferring to a foreign carrier, you need to consider their route network and expiration terms, in case you need to cancel.   I had booked a cruise in Asia back in 2019 for 2020 and was looking to book award seats.  I found business class seats on Singapore, but was reluctant to transfer miles there in case we had cancel - Krisflyer miles expire in 3 years, and their route network might not suit our future travels.  So I booked tickets using my AA miles.  Then Covid.....so we had to cancel and the miles were redeposited into my AA account/  After a couple of years of rescheduling this trip 3x, we had those AA miles to use for flights in February 2024.   

[taxatty]

If you cancel an AA award trip using miles on a partner airline such as Qantas or BA, it can take a while for the miles and cash fees to be refunded--if a week has gone by and you haven't received the refund, calling AA is in order. In contrast, if you cancel an AA award trip using AA miles, I've always had the miles redeposited within an hour, with the credit card cash refunds coming in a few days or less.

[Zach1213]

Even when paying, I always recommend to book refundable fares and keep looking when it comes to things like hotels and, especially, rental cars. Often times, people don't think about those, but they change quite frequently. For example, my wife and I recently booked a rental car for $800 but over time I was able to cancel and re-book the same car with the same company several times, first for $650, then for $450, and finally for $330 (and actually bumped up to a nicer car on that last one). Can't imagine how many people just booked their $800 car and never thought about it, meanwhile we saved $470 and got a nicer car than originally booked. 

[fbgd]

55 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

Even when paying,

 

Indeed, and to round things off for the bidding process for upgrades too.

 

I switched employers last year and unfortunately now some domestic flights aren't permissible in FC. I'm travelling in a couple of weeks and when I booked the FC cash upgrade on AA was $700 one way and $1100 in the other....over the weekend the $700 dropped to $148 and the $1100 dropped to $350. Happy days.

Edited September 25, 2023 by fbgd

[FlyerTalker]

8 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

Even when paying, I always recommend to book refundable fares and keep looking when it comes to things like hotels and, especially, rental cars.

 

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[SelectSys]

On 9/22/2023 at 10:40 AM, taxatty said:

If you cancel an AA award trip using miles on a partner airline such as Qantas or BA, it can take a while for the miles and cash fees to be refunded--if a week has gone by and you haven't received the refund, calling AA is in order.

I actually switched from Qantas to AA.  I had a call center agent make the change and the miles credited back almost immediately as I was watching the transaction on the website while the agent made the change from one flight to the other.