Booking air travel using miles: America West / American

[tapia]

Has anyone tried redeeming either America West or American miles to get to Alaska?

 

I'm traveling from the Newark area (JFK and LGA would work as well) and want to know if it's possible since I'd be going from

 

Newark -> Anchorage

and then

Vancouver -> Newark

 

I've never tried to book something that wasn't completely round trip.

Has anyone done this?

 

Anyone do this from New York? I'd be interested to see what kind of itinerary you got.....

 

Thanks!

[OldCodger73]

Most mileage plans allow you to do an open jaw, which is what the kind of itinerary you propose is called. Go to each airline's website and check under whatever they call their frequent flyer program to make sure its allowed for that particular airline.

 

A bigger question might be are there award seats available, especially if travel is for this summer. It seems planes are flying fuller now and that means less frequent flyer award seats for popular markets. So if you're flying this summer, this is something you should look into as soon as possible.

[NancyIL]

We use FF miles on American for major trips, and will be using them next summer for our Alaskan cruise. The key is to book your flights as soon as they open up - which on American is 330 days before your travel date. You'll be able to book only the outbound at 330 days and put it on hold for 2 weeks - then book the return flights when it's within the 330-day window. Alaska Airlines is an American Oneworld Alliance partner, so be sure to check the schedule for ALL available flights so you know what is available before reserving anything.

 

As the previous poster said, check at http://www.aa.com now to see what is available for this summer. Click on "more options" - then search by schedule, choose the maximum 50 flights, and ask it to show you all carriers. You'll see more Alaska Airlines flights that way.

[Italy52]

We used our Alaska Airlines miles for our 5/22/06 Alaska cruise. We are going Chicago-Seattle-Anchorage for the first leg and Vancouver-Seattle-Chicago for the second leg. We called the airline direct and they were able to provide us with better flight connections than we could find on the Internet. Call as early as you can as frequent flyer seats DO fill up fast. Good luck!

[greatam]

Has anyone tried redeeming either America West or American miles to get to Alaska?

 

I'm traveling from the Newark area (JFK and LGA would work as well) and want to know if it's possible since I'd be going from

 

Newark -> Anchorage

and then

Vancouver -> Newark

 

I've never tried to book something that wasn't completely round trip.

Has anyone done this?

 

Anyone do this from New York? I'd be interested to see what kind of itinerary you got.....

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, very easy to do the process to cash in miles. Not so easy to get seats. One thing you may want to try: AA flies a nonstop to ANC from Chicago, but it is seasonal. This year it is not going on the schedule until June 15. Last year it was June 10. So AA (EWR, JFK or LGA) to Chicago, then the non-stop to ANC. Otherwise, you will have to fly NY area to DFW, then onto ANC. The New York/DFW flights are difficult to get award seats on. A VERY heavily traveled AA elite route.

 

Another thing-You will definitely have problems getting award tickets out of Vancouver. Alaska Airlines doesn't release many award seats to AA for Vancouver and AA doesn't fly out of Vancouver after 9:00AM . There are also only two AA flights out of Vancouver daily, on 757 equipment and believe me, there aren't a lot of seats on that route released for award tickets.

 

CX (Cathay Pacific-an AA partner) flies a nonstop out of Vancouver about 1:00pm to JFK. CX award tickets are notoriously hard to get, but it is worth a try.

 

You need to be VERY flexible with your dates, VERY flexible with your routings, willing to return from Seattle, rather than Vancouver. Book VERY early and explore AA partners (Alaska and CX specifically). And don't book a cruise, planning to use FF miles. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. FF tickets are getting VERY difficult to get, even for this AA EXP.

 

I have a pile of America West miles and tried to use them this year for some of my employee's tickets to Alaska. I finally just gave up. I could send my guys anytime from May 15 to June 10. Lots of flexibility, no one was in a hurry to get there. Would have taken a very convoluted routing if I could have gotten the seats. No award tickets available.

 

It will take some worth, but sure could save some money.

[masteryoda13]

Has anyone tried redeeming either America West or American miles to get to Alaska?

 

I'm traveling from the Newark area (JFK and LGA would work as well) and want to know if it's possible since I'd be going from

 

Newark -> Anchorage

and then

Vancouver -> Newark

 

I've never tried to book something that wasn't completely round trip.

Has anyone done this?

 

Anyone do this from New York? I'd be interested to see what kind of itinerary you got.....

 

Thanks!

 

I was able to use my United FF miles for Seattle roundrip tickets for our NCL Sun cruise in July. I'm not sure what's the America West availability is, but I believe America West is now US Airways, which is part of Star Alliance. If you can't find FF seats available, I'd suggest you call the airline and ask the to search partner airlines. A lot of time that works.

 

Hope this helps;)

[naturefly]

I was able to use my AA FF miles to book tickets for Dallas-Vancouver and Anchorage-Dallas. I got non-stop flights by booking early, last October for July 2006 flight. You only need 25K miles for both legs. AA can hold your reservations for 2 weeks before ticketing. So if you're unable to get seats on the flights that you really want, you can call back everyday to check if seats are available. I saved some money by getting 4 out of 5 tickets using the miles.

[tapia]

Wow, that sounds great. I really appreciate all the information. Since I have 4 tickets on America West and only 3 on American, I'd rather do America West. But, if I can't American would still be great.

 

I was kind of hoping for direct flights from Newark/JFK/LGA..... But, if that can't happen I'd just be happy to have 1 stop and use the miles :-)

[aklinda]

America West does allow you to use Frequent Flyer miles to fly to Anchorage from your departing city, and then return to your departing city from Vancouver. Since it is not roundtrip to same cities, you aren't able to book your flight with your miles online with America West and need to call their 800 # instead. The only other real issue is whether or not they will have any frequent flier seats available for the standard $25,000 miles. With America West, I just booked a flight from Chicago to Vancouver 6/27, and then returning Anchorage to Chicago 7/5, but I had to use $50,000 miles since they did not have any Frequent Flyer seats available for $25,000 miles. Could be that I am flying at a popular time though.

[tapia]

America West does allow you to use Frequent Flyer miles to fly to Anchorage from your departing city, and then return to your departing city from Vancouver. Since it is not roundtrip to same cities, you aren't able to book your flight with your miles online with America West and need to call their 800 # instead. The only other real issue is whether or not they will have any frequent flier seats available for the standard $25,000 miles. With America West, I just booked a flight from Chicago to Vancouver 6/27, and then returning Anchorage to Chicago 7/5, but I had to use $50,000 miles since they did not have any Frequent Flyer seats available for $25,000 miles. Could be that I am flying at a popular time though.

 

Wow!

 

I can't believe the amount of information everyone has!

 

I'm planning to go in 2007, so I was just doing some research, but I'm glad I asked. I'm going to start calling the second I can. Do you know how early you can call America West?

[NancyIL]

Wow!

 

I can't believe the amount of information everyone has!

 

I'm planning to go in 2007, so I was just doing some research, but I'm glad I asked. I'm going to start calling the second I can. Do you know how early you can call America West?

 

Look on their website - it should tell you. My guess is the same as American - about 330 days.

[greatam]

First class-Hawaii from US

Coach-Hawaii from US

Business class to Europe from US

Coach-Alaska from US

Coach to Europe from US

First class-Alaska from US

First Class to Mexico from US

Coach to Mexico from US

First Class-LAX/NYC or reverse

Coach to Florida from US

 

As you can see, Alaska tickets are much in demand. You must book early, keep calling back if your first choice is not available AND be VERY flexible on routing, dates, partners, etc.

 

You can see MOST award availability on AA.com.

[cwestbrook]

No trouble using AA miles for this summer but I called the first day possible. For four people we did have to use two flights going to Anchorage but we're all coming home from Seattle on the same flight.

 

We live close to DFW, home of AA. so that might help.

[OldCodger73]

... I just booked a flight from Chicago to Vancouver 6/27, and then returning Anchorage to Chicago 7/5, but I had to use $50,000 miles since they did not have any Frequent Flyer seats available for $25,000 miles. Could be that I am flying at a popular time though.

 

I don't know if America West, now USAir, even has a first class section, but when one tries to book a lower miles "saver" award and is told that only higher miles "peak" awards are available, be sure and ask if there's any first class availability, as a first class award is usually about the same mileage as a "peak" award.

 

Case in point, two summers ago my daughter was going to attend a conference in Boston. The cost for attending was paid for by her company. She decided that Boston would make a nice vacation and asked if I'd get a frequent flyer award for her husband. Well, I though he was worth the 20,000 miles that Alaska Airline charges for a saver award. Unfortunately only peak awards at 40,000 were available. On the off chance I asked if there was any first class availability, there was and I book him in first class for the same 40,000 miles as a peak award. The things one does for ones children, sigh.

[tapia]

Wow, thank you for the information. I will call the second I can. I just hope the schedules are out by then!

[anthk333]

Another hint, you can also use your American miles on their partner Alaska Airlines (AS). However, you can not book AS on aa.com, you need to call AAdvantage customer service (1-800-882-8880) to do that.

[OldCodger73]

Another hint, you can also use your American miles on their partner Alaska Airlines (AS). However, you can not book AS on aa.com, you need to call AAdvantage customer service (1-800-882-8880) to do that.

 

This is a really good suggestion for the original poster. Alaska has a daily non-stop EWR-SEA and a lot of flights from SEA-ANC. The return flight would be Vancouver to Seattle on Horizon, Alaska's regional airline, then the SEA-EWR nonstop back to Newark.

[tapia]

This is a really good suggestion for the original poster. Alaska has a daily non-stop EWR-SEA and a lot of flights from SEA-ANC. The return flight would be Vancouver to Seattle on Horizon, Alaska's regional airline, then the SEA-EWR nonstop back to Newark.

 

I wonder if anyone got directs from Anchorage to EWR/JFK/LGA?

 

Any other tips?

 

I'm going to call the first day I can ...... but, does anyone know what number is best (maybe not the main customer service number), or any more tips for redeeming milage?

 

Would America West be any better than American? I have 4 tickets on America West and 3 on American, so if I can use America West, all the better....but, anything that would work the best would be helpful.

 

I would much rather have a non-stop as my husband is not a great flier.....

 

Thank you!

[NancyIL]

I wonder if anyone got directs from Anchorage to EWR/JFK/LGA?

 

Any other tips?

 

I'm going to call the first day I can ...... but, does anyone know what number is best (maybe not the main customer service number), or any more tips for redeeming milage?

 

Would America West be any better than American? I have 4 tickets on America West and 3 on American, so if I can use America West, all the better....but, anything that would work the best would be helpful.

 

I would much rather have a non-stop as my husband is not a great flier.....

 

Thank you!

 

I don't know about America West, but on American - you call the AAdvantage number that correlates with your "elite status." There are different phone numbers for AAdvantage (800-882-8880), AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum, and AAdvantage Executive Platinum members.

 

I think you will have at least 2 flights, with changes in Seattle, Chicago, or Dallas.

[NancyIL]

Just did a search on Orbitz - and on America West, you would change planes in Las Vegas or Phoenix to get to Anchorage. On American it would be Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, or Seattle (on Alaska Airlines). My preference would be to get to Seattle, as there are quite a few flights from there to Anchorage each day. The other cities will have just 1 or 2 flights to Anchorage daily.

[tapia]

Thank you everyone for the info!

[apeller]

I booked our tickets for our August 2006 Alaska trip back in October from LA. We are flying to Anchorage with a stopover in Portland and when we have a nonstop home from Vancouver. We are using AA miles and flying on Alaska Airlines. In order to have gotten nonstop flights to Alaska I would have had to call way earlier than I did, so I highly recommend calling as early as possible. There were quite a few flights available when I booked, but not neccessarily the exact ones I wanted. I had to be somewhat flexible. What annoyed me the most was that I had to pay $ for customer service to book the ticket since I could not do it online myself.

[tapia]

You'd think that from LA you should be able to get a direct, right?

 

Why pay money at customer service when you're using miles in the first place?? Weird!

[apeller]

They do have direct flights from LA, however they were not available when I called. I was happy to get the non stop home from Vancouver. American has been charging for a while now if you have customer service issue your tickets, I think it is really unfair if it is something you are unable to book from their website by yourself, but complaining to them does not help.

[greatam]

They do have direct flights from LA, however they were not available when I called. I was happy to get the non stop home from Vancouver. American has been charging for a while now if you have customer service issue your tickets, I think it is really unfair if it is something you are unable to book from their website by yourself, but complaining to them does not help.

 

Four points

 

1. Per your previous post, you booked your tickets in October 2005 for August 2006. You really could not have booked any earlier. About the earliest ANY FF tickets are made available is 330 days before travel date.

 

2. If you do not see availability online for AA, you will have to call. BUT by calling your chances of getting some kind of routing increases, even though it is not your first choice, and is certainly worth the fee. After all, you are getting a ticket (s) for free, which probably have a value of at least $300.00 per.

 

3. You must pay the taxes and fees (911 Security fee, fuel surcharges, etc).

 

4. I have already posted that Alaska Airlines is not overly generous when they make seats available to AA. They almost NEVER make nonstop tickets available from Vancouver. You really lucked out and got in VERY early. They have enough of their own FF who want tickets and like most airlines, they take care of their elites first.