AA schedule change results in YUP "downgrade"

[Kangol]

In November I booked a YUP in April JFK-ORD-RDU with the first leg in P and the second in G.
I recently got an email from AA saying they have changed the itinerary now going JFK-DCA-RDU, with the first leg in Y and the second in G. The new itinerary is leaving JFK 15min earlier but getting to RDU about 3 hours earlier.

Obviously I'm not happy about the downgrade to Y (and hence loss of SCs). What can I do? Ring up and ask them to change my booking class? Or, get a refund and rebook? (I haven't read the T&Cs in detail yet so this may not be possible)
I was PS/OWR at the time, am now SG/OWS - will this help?

When I look at the seat allocation for the original itinerary it shows 3B (in F) for the first leg then 4A (in Y) for the second.
The updated itinerary shows the same seats but says I'm in Y for the first leg JFK-DCA.

Has this happened to anyone else before?

 

[serfty]

Can you reselect seating on the JFK-DCA flight?

What are the fare bucket loading for that flight.

I would call the USA and tell them to fix the problem.

Their standard USA number is 1-800-433-7300.

See here for a tip on how to do this for free:

FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - AA from Australia / India call centre outsourcing

 

[Kangol]

Can you reselect seating on the JFK-DCA flight?

What are the fare bucket loading for that flight.

I would call the USA and tell them to fix the problem.

Their standard USA number is 1-800-433-7300.

See here for a tip on how to do this for free:

FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - AA from Australia / India call centre outsourcing

Thanks, just had a look on Flightstats (no EF membership at this stage) for AA4410 on Sat 14/4/2012 however it says at the bottom "American Airlines has opted out; their flight options will not be shown"

They show the BA codeshare (BA 6800) with equipment as "ERD" and n/a for F/J buckets.

[TABLE="class: tableListingTable, width: 674"]
[TR="bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]
[TD="class: tableListingTableNoTopBorder"]BA 6800*[/TD]
[TD="class: tableListingTableNoTopBorder"](BA) British Airways[/TD]
[TD="class: tableListingTableNoTopBorder"]JFK 5:00 PM[/TD]
[TD="class: tableListingTableNoTopBorder"]DCA 6:40 PM[/TD]
[TD="class: tableListingTableNoTopBorder"]ERD[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 4"]

n/a

[TD="width: 36"]n/a[/TD]
[TD="width: 37"] 9 [/TD]
[TD="width: 35"] 9 [/TD]

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Does this mean the flight has no first class at all?

 

[serfty]

Yes, no First class. I would be looking for options that include first class and calling to provide your "solution" for them.

[SIZE=1]Flight Availability Search
Departing JFK on 14/04/12 12:00 AM for DCA
                                                                     Frequency
Flight        Stops  Depart             Arrive             Aircraft  Reliability     Available Classes

AA 4416       0      JFK                DCA                ERD       Daily           Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N2 O2 Q1 
                     14/04/12 8:10 AM   14/04/12 9:40 AM             87% / 19m

AA 4543       0      JFK                DCA                ERD       Daily           Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N0 O0 Q0 
                     14/04/12 10:55 AM  14/04/12 12:15 PM            85% / 18m

AA 4454       0      JFK                DCA                ERD       Su,T,Th,F,Sa    Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N1 O1 Q0 
                     14/04/12 2:55 PM   14/04/12 4:30 PM             93% / 15m

[COLOR=#0000ff][B]AA 3845       0      JFK                DCA                CR7       Daily           F7 A7 P7 Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N7 O7 Q7 [/B]
                     14/04/12 4:55 PM   14/04/12 6:35 PM             75% / 30m
[/COLOR]
AA 4410       0      JFK                DCA                ERD       Daily           Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N7 O7 Q7 
                     14/04/12 5:00 PM   14/04/12 6:40 PM             78% / 35m

AA 4449       0      JFK                DCA                ERD       Daily           Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N7 O7 Q7 
                     14/04/12 8:30 PM   14/04/12 10:05 PM            78% / 53m

AA 3944       0      JFK                BWI                ER4       Daily           Y7 B7 M7 H7 K7 L7 W7 V7 G7 N7 O7 S7 Q7 
                     14/04/12 5:55 PM   14/04/12 7:25 PM             87% / 109m[/SIZE]

Such solution would likely include AA3845 as it leave 5 minutes earlier and does have First Class (1x2).

 

[turtlemichael]

Another thought. Does it have to be from JFK? I guess you may be connecting. Unless I needed the extra 10 SCs desperately or was tied to JFK, I'd be pressing for LGA-RDU where there are non-stops including a couple with F on that day. It will earn you 60, rather than 70 SCs if you can convince AA to do it. Both flights with first class have good P availability.

 

[serfty]

Another thought. Does it have to be from JFK? I guess you may be connecting. Unless I needed the extra 10 SCs desperately or was tied to JFK, I'd be pressing for LGA-RDU where there are non-stops including a couple with F on that day. It will earn you 60, rather than 70 SCs if you can convince AA to do it. Both flights with first class have good P availability.

For JFK-RDU, Y=20SC's P/F/A=60SC's. Easiest solution is the 5 minute earlier flight.

 

[Kangol]

Thanks serfty!
I rang up and offered the 5 min earlier "solution" and it was processed without any problem!
Logged onto the aa.com website and it had been updated (P booking class), so all is good

It actually worked out better for me as the schedule change means an earlier arrival into RDU

 

[turtlemichael]

To the OP, glad you got a good result. As a matter of curiosity can you say what the original YUP fare was priced at in November ?

 

[Kangol]

To the OP, glad you got a good result. As a matter of curiosity can you say what the original YUP fare was priced at in November ?

$526 (105 SCs), which I know isn't as good value as other suggestions that have been talked about here, but certainly better value than most QF cash tickets. Plus I need to be there anyway.

The schedule and location change brings my SC earn down though

 

[beardoc]

I've been on YUPPs before where AA cancelled some of my flights and put me on different routing. When I called up QF, I was able provide details of the booking with classes booked (it was all in A and P) and ask for "original routing credit" - QF reversed the points and SCs that posted and applied the flights that were in the booking.

 

[Kangol]

I've been on YUPPs before where AA cancelled some of my flights and put me on different routing. When I called up QF, I was able provide details of the booking with classes booked (it was all in A and P) and ask for "original routing credit" - QF reversed the points and SCs that posted and applied the flights that were in the booking.

Ooh that means I also may be able to ask for "original routing credit"!

 

[moa999]

Ooh that means I also may be able to ask for "original routing credit"!

I thought Original Routing Credit only kicked in for irregular ops where you are transferred whilst flying (normally to a non status earning airline)
whereas an in advance schedule change would not normally qualify ??

 

[Kangol]

Ergh, got another email changing my itinerary and now my first leg is back in Y, (back to flight AA4410)!!
So annoying.
I might call up and try to get them to change it to JFK-ORD-RDU with both legs in P.

 

[serfty]

The is still First Class available an hour earlier (& 45 minutes before the old AA 3845):

[SIZE=1]Flight Availability Search
Departing JFK on 14/04/12 12:00 AM for DCA
Flying AA  


                                                                     Frequency
Flight        Stops  Depart             Arrive             Aircraft  Reliability     Available Classes

AA 4416       0      JFK                DCA                ERD       Daily           Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N6 O2 Q0 
                     14/04/12 8:10 AM   14/04/12 9:40 AM             92% / 16m

AA 4543       0      JFK                DCA                ERD       Daily           Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N2 O0 Q0 
                     14/04/12 10:55 AM  14/04/12 12:15 PM            87% / 18m

[COLOR=#0000ff][B]AA 3706       0      JFK                DCA                CR7       Daily           F7 A7 P7 Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N3 O0 Q0 
                     14/04/12 4:10 PM   14/04/12 5:35 PM             NA / NA[/B]

[/COLOR]AA 4410       0      JFK                DCA                ERD       Daily           Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N4 O0 Q0 
                     14/04/12 5:10 PM   14/04/12 6:40 PM             83% / 31m

AA 4449       0      JFK                DCA                ERD       Daily           Y7 B7 H7 M7 L7 K7 W7 V7 G7 S7 N7 O2 Q0 
                     14/04/12 8:30 PM   14/04/12 10:05 PM            81% / 48m

AA 3944       0      JFK                BWI                ER4       Daily           Y7 B7 M7 H7 K7 L7 W7 V7 G7 N7 O0 S0 Q0 
                     14/04/12 5:55 PM   14/04/12 7:25 PM             87% / 124m[/SIZE]

 

[beardoc]

I thought Original Routing Credit only kicked in for irregular ops where you are transferred whilst flying (normally to a non status earning airline)
whereas an in advance schedule change would not normally qualify ??

My experience with Original Routing Credit was where AA cancelled one of my sectors later that day on a YUPP whilst I was flying the first of those sectors - the put me on another AA flight which was more direct. In that case, I contacted QANTAS and asked for Original Routing Credit - they reversed the direct flight and applied the old routing points and SCs.

I can't say for sure that this will work with an advance notice routing change.

 

[Kangol]

My experience with Original Routing Credit was where AA cancelled one of my sectors later that day on a YUPP whilst I was flying the first of those sectors - the put me on another AA flight which was more direct. In that case, I contacted QANTAS and asked for Original Routing Credit - they reversed the direct flight and applied the old routing points and SCs.

I can't say for sure that this will work with an advance notice routing change.

I guess we'll find out when I get back!

Thanks Serfty, called again and had it changed to P on the earlier flight.

 

[Kangol]

They sent me another itinerary change!

This time it is on another trip a few days after - 17 April 2012

Original flight was RDU-xORD-BOS, which were:
RDU-ORD (AA4262, N booking class) 1350-1505
ORD-BOS (AA2098, P booking class) 1600-1920

New ones are:
RDU-ORD (AA4262, N class) 1410-1525
ORD-BOS (AA154, P class) 1725-2040

Just looked on the AA website and my original RDU-ORD flight is now departing 20 mins later @ 1410 and the original connecting ORD-BOS is now departing 20 mins earlier @ 1540. Giving a 15 min connect time at ORD - hence why they need to reschedule I guess...

Now I can see the RDU-ORD leg has earlier and later flights with First class inventory (AA metal, not American Eagle).
Do you think it'd be possible to ring up and ask, or "give them the solution" to changing my flights so that both legs are in F?

The ones that would work out for me are:
RDU-ORD AA1383 (1040-1140) - P booking class is available
With a connection of:
ORD-BOS AA2340 (1315-1630) - P is also available

This is me only looking on the aa.com US website, would EF be showing any others with F inventory?

 

[serfty]

Of course it's would be possible - you should be getting good at this by now.

FWIW, I have an upcoming LAX-LAS flight that was booked at the last year departing at 6:50pm, after two changes I am now leaving 8:40pm but have no option for earlier flights due to a 5:30pm inbound. (There's a 5:50pm but 20 minutes is inside MCT).

 

[Kangol]

Just rang, got the flights I wanted but only in Coach for the first leg as I originally booked coach. I guess I could always try and request an upgrade at the A/C..? If all goes to plan, my WP qualifying flight is the first one on this thread a few days earlier so if it credits in time then I will be OWE before the 17th. Do they only offer complimentary domestic upgrades to all OWE or just AA EXP members?

 

[beardoc]

Just rang, got the flights I wanted but only in Coach for the first leg as I originally booked coach. I guess I could always try and request an upgrade at the A/C..? If all goes to plan, my WP qualifying flight is the first one on this thread a few days earlier so if it credits in time then I will be OWE before the 17th. Do they only offer complimentary domestic upgrades to all OWE or just AA EXP members?

The "upgrade until F is full" policy sadly is supposed to only include AA EXP members - when I enquired, AA emailed me and told me the OWE from programs other than AAdvantage are not included in the upgrades.