# When does AA open up for FF bookings?



## 5infam (Jul 27, 2010)

Going to Maui next year, late June to mid-July and need to book 5 FF tickets on American. When exactly does the system change over to let you book the next day? Is it a set time every day?

I did a test earlier Monday night, around 11:00pm pacific, I could only see dates through June 22nd. Shortly after Midnight, I could see the 23rd of June. So is midnight pacific time the change over? 

I have never booked Maui with FF miles before, but I can tell by playing around with the dates that they go very quickly, and with me needing 5, and needing them at the lowest rate possible (45,000 miles each), I need to get on there the second it is available.

Any other tricks or secrets you can pass on would be great!!! TIA


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## Pat H (Jul 27, 2010)

Getting 5 FF seats on the same flight is tough. I think AA is based in the Central time zone but I would check at midnight EDT. Whenever I put a ticket on hold it gives me the expiration time of 11:59 Eastern. I live in EDT so I don't know if that makes a difference. You can put the tickets on hold online for 5 days.


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## lll1929 (Jul 27, 2010)

I would call and use an agent.  They can see seats 1 day prior to online, I believe.  It will cost you more to use the agent but it may be worth it.


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## DeniseM (Jul 27, 2010)

Are you booking round-trip, or just the outbound flight?  (You can only book the outbound flight at this point.)

Have you looked at alternative airports as a backup?

If 5 seats aren't available for a direct flight to Maui, consider booking to Oahu with FF mi., and then paying for an Interisland flight.


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## Pat H (Jul 27, 2010)

On AA you can book one way FF tickets for half the mileage requirements.


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## SherryS (Jul 27, 2010)

lll1929 said:


> I would call and use an agent.  They can see seats 1 day prior to online, I believe.  It will cost you more to use the agent but it may be worth it.



Agents can access seats two days before they are seen online.  Online can be seen 329 days in advance.  We got our AA  FF seats to Maui using an agent, and it was worth the extra fee!


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## DeniseM (Jul 27, 2010)

How much is the fee?


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## Cathyb (Jul 27, 2010)

*We do this every year with AA*



5infam said:


> Going to Maui next year, late June to mid-July and need to book 5 FF tickets on American. When exactly does the system change over to let you book the next day? Is it a set time every day?
> 
> I did a test earlier Monday night, around 11:00pm pacific, I could only see dates through June 22nd. Shortly after Midnight, I could see the 23rd of June. So is midnight pacific time the change over?
> 
> ...



Our Maui timeshare two weeks are June 29-July 12 and every year we use AA for frequent flyer seats.  Been succesful now for five years!  Here is what we do:

1.  Call the AA frequent flyer phone number.  You do pay a fee; but they get the seats BEFORE online shows them (this is what TUG has said in the past).

2.  Once you talk with the AA agent and find out what dates have been loaded you now make a game plan on what day you need to call for outgoing part of trip.

3.  At midnight, call the AA frequent flyer number.  If it is not loaded for your day, call back in 1-2 hours.  Yes, it is a pain in the butt -- but worth the $$$ savings.  Last year we were traveling in Canada and had to set the hotel alarm clock to accomplish this task.

4.  Do the same thing when your return date is due to show up.

June/July in Maui is tough getting ffmiles due to summer and kids out of school.  Don't delay or you may not be lucky.


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## GetawaysRus (Jul 27, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> How much is the fee?



I've been paying about $20 per ticket per person for the convenience of using an AAgent to book on the phone.  That's pretty nominal if you're getting an award flight that is very valuable to you.  And you also pay taxes on the award ticket, but the amount of tax should be the same whether you book on the phone or online.

Award seats for the next day do not always routinely roll over at midnight (Dallas time), at least for the international award tickets that I have booked in the past.  I'm usually on the phone several times until I can secure the booking I want.


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## elaine (Jul 27, 2010)

*book anything they have!*

Personally, I would try for about 2-3 days before you really want to go--and try to get something.  If they do not have your Maui flights--hold anything to Hawaii that they have--such as to Kona, HNL, etc.  You can hold for 2 weeks while you try to get better flights.  But, if nothing shows up, at least you are in Hawaii and can take an inter-island flight. We "dummy-booked" 5 seats a few years ago--I assumed our better flights would come thru---no luck--and I was glad we had put in for the other island--we had to pay for the local flight--but for 5 FF seats from the East Coast, it was worth it--and we got to enjoy another island for a few days.  Then call again for the day you want, if they have it, great book it and cancel your other held flight--but if they don't, you'll be glad you have something, even if it is going in a few days early. With 5 tickets, you need to be flexible.  You'll find more availability for mid-week.  On the same trip, we could not get home on the day we wanted (Sat)and had to stay 2 extra days to use FF miles--again, worth it for 5 FF seats--
Also, set your clock for midnight Dallas time to call--I did this 4 days in a row. they do not always load the seats the 1st day.
I agree, for hard to get reservations, $20 per ticket is worth it.


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## GetawaysRus (Jul 27, 2010)

elaine said:


> You can hold for 2 weeks while you try to get better flights.



I don't think this is true any longer.  I booked an award reservation 1-2 months ago.  5 days was the maximum length of the hold offered to me.  But since AA switched to one way awards, this isn't a problem.  Grab your outbound flight (and ticket it if necessary), then call back when the time is right and reserve the return flight.  (In the old days, when awards were round trip and if your trip was several weeks long, it was a problem to try to hold an outbound flight until the return seats opened up.)


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## 5infam (Jul 28, 2010)

Wow - thank you everyone for the help!!! I had to leave early for work, and just got back very late so it was a nice surprise to find your responses after a long day. 

So I called AA and asked what they could see, they told me they could only see exactly what I could see on line. So, it appears that they could not see things in advance (she tested it and then asked me what I could see and it was the same). She did tell me that it changes over at midnight central time (Dallas), and they load them a few at a time. So she said to call at midnight central, and keep trying back every 15 minutes until my flights loaded and were available to book. She wished me luck as she said 5 tickets to Hawaii in the summer and for the 22,500 per leg was going to be tough, but not impossible. The cost to use the agent is $20 per person, so $100 each way, or $200 round trip. In this case, I am going for 2 weeks, so there is no way I am waiting 2 weeks to book the full round trip - when I can book the one-ways for the same FF point cost - but will have to pay the fee if I do not see it on line and they see it first and can book it for me.

I have marked my calendar for what I have to do now, so hopefully it will work. I will let you all know the outcome.


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## GregT (Jul 28, 2010)

5infam,

For LAX/OGG, AA only releases 3 FF seats at the 45,000 award level -- I typically will call right at 10pm PT (midnight CT) 329/330 days in advance (sometimes it's 329 days, sometimes it's 330 days).  If the schedule isn't loaded yet, I call back 30-45 minutes later and check.  Sometimes it's there, sometimes not, and I'll just call back again later.  Only once did I have to wait until the next morning because the schedule loaded after 12:00pm PT.  I don't believe many people do this, so you should get your flights.

There are only 3 seats on the LAX/OGG flights, there may be more to HNL.   They will only hold the reservation for you for 5 days -- since you can get one-way seats now, that's not a problem, but now you have to pay an "unaccompanied minor" fee if you've not booked the traveling parent yet (since I want for both ways before I book my ticket).  Annoying but I got around it by booking a refundable ticket, which I'll refund as soon as the roundtrip is available in a week.

Good luck with your booking efforts!

Greg


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## Cathyb (Jul 28, 2010)

*GregT-question*



GregT said:


> 5infam,
> 
> For LAX/OGG, AA only releases 3 FF seats at the 45,000 award level -- I typically will call right at 10pm PT (midnight CT) 329/330 days in advance (sometimes it's 329 days, sometimes it's 330 days).  If the schedule isn't loaded yet, I call back 30-45 minutes later and check.  Sometimes it's there, sometimes not, and I'll just call back again later.  Only once did I have to wait until the next morning because the schedule loaded after 12:00pm PT.  I don't believe many people do this, so you should get your flights.
> 
> ...



Where did your information come from re only 3 frequent flyer seats on the LAX/OGG flight?  Is that on each flight -- don't they have one other later flight going to OGG too.  Does that apply to each day of the week?  I didn't realize how lucky we have been (using 2 of those).   Do you know if you fly out of San Diego, how that works?

I see you also live in Carlsbad


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## lll1929 (Jul 28, 2010)

Cathyb said:


> Where did your information come from re only 3 frequent flyer seats on the LAX/OGG flight?  Is that on each flight -- don't they have one other later flight going to OGG too.  Does that apply to each day of the week?  I didn't realize how lucky we have been (using 2 of those).   Do you know if you fly out of San Diego, how that works?
> 
> I see you also live in Carlsbad



You can sign up to access expertflyer.com.  I did the 5 day trial when I was trying to grab FF seats and it worked great.  I was surprised to find out there were only 3 FF business/first class seats on the flight from MIA to Aruba.  I was able to set up nitifications when they were available and I booked them online.


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## DeniseM (Jul 28, 2010)

Cathy - if you go through the steps to book online, you can see how many FF seats are available for each flight.


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## Cathyb (Jul 28, 2010)

*Not online*



DeniseM said:


> Cathy - if you go through the steps to book online, you can see how many FF seats are available for each flight.



Denise:  We only go thru the telephone call to AA Frequent Flyer lines.  We do not know the quantity of seats -- my question was to a poster who claimed he knew three seats are what the ff traveler has (if they get those seats).


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## DeniseM (Jul 28, 2010)

Cathyb said:


> Denise:  We only go thru the telephone call to AA Frequent Flyer lines.  We do not know the quantity of seats -- my question was to a poster who claimed he knew three seats are what the ff traveler has (if they get those seats).



Cathy - I'm not suggesting that you book online, I explaining that you can see how many FF seats there are on AA's website - If you go to the AA website, and go through the reservation steps, as if you were going to make a reservation (but don't) it will show you how many FF seats are available on the flight.  Most of the time, any given flight has the same number of FF seats every day.


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## Pat H (Jul 29, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> Kathy - I'm not suggesting that you book online, I explaining that you can see how many FF seats there are on AA's website - If you go to the AA website, and go through the reservation steps, as if you were going to make a reservation (but don't) it will show you how many FF seats are available on the flight.  Most of the time, any given flight has the same number of FF seats every day.



Denise, where does it show you the # of FF seats? I've never seen anything that indicates the # available.


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## 5infam (Jul 29, 2010)

Yes, that would be great to know how many seats you can get - or are available. I don't see anything that says exactly how many, but by playing with the system, when I put in 5 passengers it says one thing, and then by decreasing te number of passengers, I see more options some times. I have been able to see all 5 seats on a given flight, at the cheapest price of 45,000 miles. I have been able to pull it up on weekends or week days in June or May - but I have not seen it for July. So I wonder if they limet the number of seats at the lowest level in July? Anyone know for sure?


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## DeniseM (Jul 29, 2010)

In the step where you choose your flight, it shows you how many FF seats are available for each flight.


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## Pat H (Jul 29, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> In the step where you choose your flight, it shows you how many FF seats are available for each flight.



I just did a dummy booking and still don't see the # of FF seats available. I even logged in first.


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## Art (Jul 29, 2010)

To  go back to the OP's  initial requests, FF seats will not be available more than 330 days or so in advance.  However, since the airlines are now  putting FF seats under revenue control, i.e., let's see  if  we can sell them before we give  them away, FF seats can  show up  as soon as  330 days before  the flight, but this is no longer a "guaranteed" date for first availability.

So if the seats  are not  there  at 330  days, keep checking at 329  days, 328 days, 300 days, 148 days, etc.  Depending on how the seats  are  released, one might actually book the return flights first. This is one big advantage of the one way FF tickets on AA.

Art


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## 5infam (Jul 30, 2010)

*Got My Seats!!!*

OK - I know for sure that at Midnight, Central Time, that American begins to load the FF seats, 331 days out. So at Midnight, Central Time on the 30th, I called into AA to try and get the seats I want, which are LAX to OGG, for Sunday July 26th, 2011 - for my wife and I, plus our 3 kids ages 20, 11 and 9. The seats were not loaded yet, and they suggested I keep calling every 15 minutes. They also suggested I keep trying on line.

Over the past few nights, I had been testing the system on line, and would see the next day about 2:00am, Central. So I kept checking on line, and did not see anything tonight. So around 12:20am Central, I tried calling back into AA, and was placed on hold for about 10 minutes. When the agent picked up, I told her what I wanted, and she told me that only 3 coach seats had been released for the one-way fare of 22,500 miles. I asked her to also check first class - and she said there were 2 seats in first class as well. So I told her to grab the 3 coach seats, and the 2 first class. Done deal!!! It cost me 142,500 miles for all 5 seats - and about $110 dollars for booking on line (I did not ask, but I believe the fee is $20 per seat, plus tax, for booking with an agent).

Fortunately, I have 300,000 miles, so I assume I will have to book the same thing coming back home on the return trip, and will just have enough miles to cover everything!! 

I can't thank everyone enough for their advice here. I assumed on line would be better than booking via phone. But, as I write this post, on line is still not showing availability for June 26th, so I easily would have missed the opportunity to book these. Not to mention, that my wife and I get to fly first class - which will be fun as well.

I now will apply the same strategy for the return trip in 2 weeks.

Thanks again everyone!!!


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## SherryS (Jul 30, 2010)

Congrats to you!  Good planning works!  Agents always will see the AA FF seats a day or two before they are visible online.


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## 5infam (Jul 30, 2010)

Thank you!! I will say though that for this exercise, AA Agents were only able to see the flights about 1 1/2 to 2 hours ahead of the on line system, and I tested that over 3 days. Not sure if that is unique to the itinarary - but according to the agents, that is an American thing, so maybe other airlines show days earlier - AA agents see hours earlier.


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## Pat H (Jul 30, 2010)

Great job. Now you can really look forward to your trip!


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## GregT (Jul 30, 2010)

CathyB,

Sorry for late response -- what 5infam found is what I've found over the last three years -- AA only loads 3 coach seats per flight at the 22,500 level (45,000 RT) which does make it important to call in when the schedule loads.

It's worked for me each of the 3 years on both ways of the RT ticket.

Interestingly, I have seen them release additional 22,500 tickets (I requested it) and they released an extra seat to me.  I have no idea if that is repeatable, but worth trying if you're short a seat.

Good luck to all!

Greg


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## 5infam (Jul 30, 2010)

I did ask them if they would release more seats to me and they said no. She did tell me that more seats could be released in the future at the 22,500 level; all dependant upon how well the flight is selling or not selling.


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## winger (Jul 30, 2010)

Art said:


> To  go back to the OP's  initial requests, FF seats will not be available more than 330 days or so in advance.  However, since the airlines are now  putting FF seats under revenue control, i.e., let's see  if  we can sell them before we give  them away, FF seats can  show up  as soon as  330 days before  the flight, but this is no longer a "guaranteed" date for first availability.
> 
> So if the seats  are not  there  at 330  days, keep checking at 329  days, 328 days, 300 days, 148 days, etc.  Depending on how the seats  are  released, one might actually book the return flights first. This is one big advantage of the one way FF tickets on AA.
> 
> Art


Absolute PIA !

5infam, great job! Let us know how the returns work.  . ..and NO, your return seatings do not have to match your outbounds (2 bus, 3 econ).


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## beejaybeeohio (Jul 31, 2010)

*Congrats & Thanks for the Info*

We've always had good luck using our AA ff miles.  I love that they've gone to the one-way booking and think it would be great if other airlines follow suit.

Our last itinerary was pretty complicated- CLE-LHR, then 2 weeks later LHR-BUD with return home a week later BUD-CLE.  It was well worth the $20 pp x2working with the AA agents.  It probably took 8 calls to book what was needed, and every person I spoke with was courteous and professional.  
We fly coach and I appreciate that AA has always been able to accommodate us at the lowest mileage level-this past trip was booked about 310 days out.

We also use Continental OnePass miles and it seems more difficult to book the lowest level awards with them.  We usually get one leg of the trip at that level, but have to spend double the miles for the other.  Plus COs low level flights have crappy itineraries, eg CLE-Philadelphia-Brussels-Barcelona:deadhorse:


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## 5infam (Aug 14, 2010)

*UPDATE: Booked return trip - but changed airports!!*



winger said:


> Absolute PIA !
> 
> 5infam, great job! Let us know how the returns work.  . ..and NO, your return seatings do not have to match your outbounds (2 bus, 3 econ).



OK - We decided to have a change in plans for our return trip. Since i was unable to get all 5 tickets in coach, and since I am blowing my wad of miles as this trip is just about taking all of my 300,000 miles I saved up - we decided to do 2 islands. So now, the return trip is going to leave from Oahu instead of Maui. I was able to get a trade through Interval for my Marriott Maui 4th of July, for a Marriott Ko Olina week, 4th of July. It came through as a request first in 10 days, so i had enough time to properly book my return trip from Oahu. Got to love II!!! 

So, I had to work the same system as I did for Maui. Calling AA at exactly midnight Central time. Just like last time, it took about 20 minutes for the system to actually load the tickets through the agents, and it took several hours for them to appear on line. Unfortunately for me, AA only released 3 coach seats again, so I was forced to do 3 in coach and 2 in first class. The funny thing is that I originally told my wife that we may have to split up the tickets where our kids would sit in coach and we would sit in first class, only because it was cheaper to do so in miles. She was upset that we weren't sitting with the kids - keep in mind my oldest will be 20 when we take this trip, so he is more than capable of keeping an eye on his brother and sister. None the less, my wife was not happy about all of this. So I told her "Well, you are more than welcome to sit in coach and one of the kids can come sit with me in first class, is that better?" It took all of 1 second fer her to reply "Well, I guess I don't feel that bad about it.":hysterical:  So much for the concerned mom!!  Anyway, we asked AA to put us in the last row of first class, and our kids in the closest row possible. They told me that the day of the trip, if we get there early, they may be able to move them even closer to us, as some of the closer rows are reserved for those with children, or handicapped - so it may be possible to move them up a few rows - but as it stands now, they are 6 rows back - no big deal really.

Anyway, looks like if you want to go to or from Hawaii on AA using miles during the summer, they only release 3 coach seats, so plan accordingly.


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