What is my chance - AA FF Points

[PeelBoy]

I have 31K AA ff points. I never redeemed AA points but have accumulated that amount thus far.

I am planning to go from Toronto to Tuscon, AZ on October 10 for a week, but AA web site shows 25K for the outgoing segment and 12.5K for the return, i.e. a total of 37.5K. My dates are not flexible.

What is my chance of booking both segments each for 12.5K and a total of 25K return? I can fly out from Toronto or Buffalo into Tuscon or Phoenix. Do you think AA will release more seats for 12.5K each segment?

Thanks.

[SuzanneSLO]

Originally Posted by PeelBoy

I have 31K AA ff points. I never redeemed AA points but have accumulated that amount thus far.

I am planning to go from Toronto to Tuscon, AZ on October 10 for a week, but AA web site shows 25K for the outgoing segment and 12.5K for the return, i.e. a total of 37.5K. My dates are not flexible.

What is my chance of booking both segments each for 12.5K and a total of 25K return? I can fly out from Toronto or Buffalo into Tuscon or Phoenix. Do you think AA will release more seats for 12.5K each segment?

Thanks.

While it is possible that AA will release more seats for your October trip, it may not be until August or September (about the same time they will release a fare sale for that time). The risk is that seats sell well or they reduce capacity and AA will then release neither any more Milesaver seats or any cheap fares.

You might find it worthwhile to subscribe to ExpertFlyer, which will show you the exact number of MilesSaver seats available on each AA flight. There is a free trial. This may help you to figure out whether there is another route with availability that will work as an alternative. For example, maybe you could use miles to get to LAX and then connect on a paid but very cheap ticket to Phoenix or Tuscon.

Also, remember that a change to the flight, but not the origin or destination, is free on an AA award ticket. So even if you find a flight that might work for you but is not preferred, you could change for free to a better flight should it become available for booking with miles.

Best of luck -- Suzanne

[timesharejunkie4]

Originally Posted by PeelBoy

I have 31K AA ff points. I never redeemed AA points but have accumulated that amount thus far.

I am planning to go from Toronto to Tuscon, AZ on October 10 for a week, but AA web site shows 25K for the outgoing segment and 12.5K for the return, i.e. a total of 37.5K. My dates are not flexible.

What is my chance of booking both segments each for 12.5K and a total of 25K return? I can fly out from Toronto or Buffalo into Tuscon or Phoenix. Do you think AA will release more seats for 12.5K each segment?

Thanks.

The other option would be to get a one way award ticket, which AA has recently started allowing, and wait to see if the other leg becomes available. If it doesn't, you could buy a one way ticket for that leg.

[Dave M]

A further possiblity is to buy the needed 6,500 miles from AA. Through June 30, it would cost $177.81 (the approximate normal cost for 5,000 miles) to get those 6,500 AAdvantage miles. That's pricey, but still might make sense, depending on what a purchased ticket would cost.

[wauhob3]

I just had success in getting one way tickets for my family to MSY. Since AA is pricing the one way tickets at half the cost or at least they did for my tickets it seems like a good alternative if their RT is comparable to other airlines. For me they would have been the cheapest even if I had to pay for the full fare.

[abbekit]

Originally Posted by Dave M

A further possiblity is to buy the needed 6,500 miles from AA. Through June 30, it would cost $177.81 (the approximate normal cost for 5,000 miles) to get those 6,500 AAdvantage miles. That's pricey, but still might make sense, depending on what a purchased ticket would cost.

Another possibility is signing up for a credit card (AAdvantage Citi Card) with 20,000 bonus miles. Look on the aa.com site for the link. The points post pretty quickly after a minimum spend of $750.

[kiyotaka]

Sign up bonus is 30k now.

http://creditcards.citicards.com/usc... 500B4631615A9