Where did the milesaver awards go for Europe.

And that's exactly what I have done - 2 separate trips to Rome now have me on my new carrier of choice, IB.

I'm not "done with" this because I'm still harboring the hope that this IS some kind of computer glitch. My fantasy is that the AA presence here would investigate this, because this is a PR issue and especially since the resulting increase of Partner award bookings would not benefit AA as much as bookings on AA metal. And that our intrepid AmericanAirlines will uncover the glitch, and presto, the 'U' seats will reappear.

The only alternatives to the glitch theory that I can reason is that somehow limiting partner availability is next on the chopping block. That or AA considers the majority of the flying masses to be too ignorant to choose a partner airline and is anticipating them coughing up double the miles to fly their metal. Or of course the other answer would be that AA sells out the J cabin to paying pax on a regular enough basis for them to black out the 'U' seats. (It's just that this last theory seems odd to me, given that JFK-CDG and JFK-MAD still offer 'U" availability and I would rate CDG, MAD and FCO on par).

And si signore, it is everyone's right to ask questions - whether they're ever addressed is another story. But I'd hardly consider myself possessing any kind of right that's divine. I dig Caesar, don't claim to be him.

As of the moment, there are no J milesaaver awards JFK-LHR for the entire schedule. There are only two F milesaaver awards, in July 2012.

This a massive change from the typical situation and has been going on for some time. It appears to be a massive devaluation of the mileage program. Even Delta seems to have more availability.

As others have noted, flying partner airlines may be an alternative, but BA has a huge YQ surcharge and IB doesn't have nearly as many flights.

The fact that this has continuned with almost no change is beyond odd. I'm actually surprised how little we've heard about this, both from AA and from our forum members.

I can see why AA might not want to draw attention to what appears to be a huge negative change. I share your surprise at the lack of comment from forum members.

Perhaps those who have contacts at AA might try to get a coherent answer?

What I meant by my AA comment was that if this continues going forward it notes a significant program change and eventually they'd have to acknowledge it.

Perhaps if more members related their experiences here we could get a larger critical mass and draw some attention.....

I've managed to get two award tickets LIT-LHR at the end of May (wanted June), but of course there are no return flight awards from CDG available for the weekend I want/need.

This being my first time to travel on award tickets, I'm a bit frustrated at the lack of availability.

*EDIT* I should also add that the lack availability appears to be on the last leg of my return trip, from any AA hub to LIT.

Any luck with the return flights or still no availability?

Still no availability for the date I need. I have a reservation on hold for CDG-BOS on June 10 and BOS-ORD-LIT on June 12, but I need that BOS-ORD-LIT portion to also be on June 10. I plan on ticketing the reservation and hoping that it will open up later.

My dad asked me for help finding DFW-BCN tonight, even willing to take DFW-MAD... stops are okay, for 7/14/12. Wants BusinessSAAver. Nothing open on any route. I'm going to call tomorrow and see if EXP desk can help me find available routes, even on partners... but AA has nothing. Checked through JFK, ORD, BOS, MIA, etc. Nothing. Set an EF alert, so we'll see...

They showed available flights for FRA to LAX and LHR to LAX for 7/10/12 today. I checked throughout the day and as soon as it changed from 7/9/12 to 7/10/12 I jumped on it and tried to book my one-way 50k business class flight. I went through 50+ flights, none of which had anything available even though their calender showed it. I called the aadvantage agent and she looked as well. Nothing open out of Europe even on partner airlines. Why post it as available when it's not? She did make an interesting comment though. She said "they are being rather stingy with seats due to the Olympics". Interesting since the Olympics don't start until July 27th and I'm trying to return from Europe to So Cal.

Yay! At 10:00 pm (Pacific Time) I thought I'd try one last time to see if flights opened up and they did! I was even able to book my first choice; FRA to ONT. Patience and Persistence paid off...this time.

Based on my reading of others' experiences, and from my own searches for business and/or first sAAver awards from just about any U.S. city to -any- European city until the end of schedule, it's clear (to me, anyway) that this is a shift in strategy and inventory management for AA.

I don't know if I represent a small portion of the AAdvantage members (or of frequent flyers), but if this is how availability will be going forward (a la Delta Skypesos), then I find AA no longer holds the competitive advantage it once had for me.

I live in Chicago - a market dominated by AA and UA.
Since I've already obtained Lifetime Gold, given the way the Lifetime program will be on AA from 12/1/11 going forward, the reward for my next million miles will be the same whether on UA or AA. For 1 MM BIS on United, I would get mid-tier status. For 2 MM on AA, mid-tier status.

That leaves me to decide my loyalty based on network, award availability, schedules, etc.
Guess what? Besides Central/South America and the Caribbean, UA is gonna win for me. The "excellent" award availability that I've come to enjoy and expect from AA appears to not be there anymore.

Quite a shame.

I agree, I've mentioned a few times in the thread that this is a major issue that is oddly not getting any attention. I have yet to attempt to redeem since this inventory issue arose, but the longer it goes on the less likely it becomes that this is just a passing issue. It's been a significant chunk of time at this point and marks what seems to be a major change in AA's award structure.

I'm really hoping that AmericanAirlines will take some time to address the concerns people have here. It's being followed on MP, FT, and TB to some degree so it hasn't gone unnoticed. There's so many rumors and new developments swirling about BA/IB/AA alignment and related issues that I don't know what to think anymore.

AA's awards are a major reason why I stick with the program, and being ORD based like you UA is always an option for me. If it continues going forward and I can't find an award seat on AA in F or J, UA and *A might be an option for me (depending on how the program changes pan out).

today STILL NO "J" M.S.-- BUT 10 M.S. FIRST CLASS and 20 in back of the bus

Like both of you, AA's handling of awards was a big reason why I chose AA. Formerly a loyal CO top-tier flyer, I chose to leave CO after massive changes to their program in 2003. I selected AA after careful analysis showed the, well, advantages of the AAdvantage program over the altered OnePass and also over Mileage Plus (which had offered a status match).

I always believe in looking at the total picture - AA's availability of international Saver seats was always a big "plus" for me in the whole equation. I can understand limiting Saver availability, but essentially wiping it off the map (without reasonable alternatives)* is a major devaluation of the program. I'm not panicking or acting out yet, but wull be looking at developments with a jaundiced eye, and I wish I didn't have to do so.

* Here's an idea of what I mean by "reasonable alternative" - if Saver inventory is not going to be offered, how about a program where one-way paid inventory in Y (upgradable with eVIP or miles+copay) is offered IN CONJUNCTION WITH a one-way J AAnytime AAward?

For example, here's an idea of what AA could do for elites: Say you wanted to go to London (ok, not during the Olympics) - you would be allowed to book a one-way AAnytime award J in cojunction with a return in Y at half the lowest available round-trip economy rate, with instant upgrade to J using an eVIP or miles/copay.

AAdvantage to American - additional revenue, get one SWU off the books
AAdvantage to the flyer - You would pay more $$ and have to burn an eVIP, but in return you would get to pick the time and date of your award J flight.

At this point, I'd be happy to find ONE SAAver seat on the DOMESTIC route I've been watching (where G/Q/O/N/S have never been available, either, and the load is approximately 35% at this point) for a peak December flight (17th/22nd). I've noticed the same thing for upgrade availability, too... it all appears scaled back. I put up a blog post about the SAAver awards internationally, but no comments yet.

FWIW, I finally bought deep-discount Y tickets for our CDG trip and used SWU's. So far the return has cleared and we're wait listed on a wide open outbound flight. No SAAver award availability, but we're 186 days out (and there may have been availability at 330, but I have no way to know).

I'm happy to report that I just snagged (2) Z class ORD-LHR tickets just ahead of the Olympics! I was booked on BA... so, with this change, I'm able to dump nearly $700 in fuel surcharges/taxes.

Maybe AA is listening?

Congrats! Do you mind posting dates?

Sure... I got 07/22 ORD-LHR. At last check, there were (2) Z available for an earlier flight on the same day.

Looks like the first class milesaaver awards have opened up again! I just checked March from SJC-ORD-LHR and most dates in march are available. There were several days in Feb and Apr as well.

Thanks for posting. It made me look at a reservation I wanted and this time I found an acceptable one. Half Y Half J, but acceptable.

I booked three MileSaver F seats last night ("Z") SFO-LHR before the Olympics (62.5K per seat), and we're all on the same itinerary. I saw nine different AA flights across the Atlantic with 1-2 seats in MileSaver F on one of the two days I was focused on. Was worried I'd have to break us up into two, separate bookings, which would have worked if there was no way around it. Think I benefited from expanded EXP availability as I could not find more than 2 seats on any routing I looked at. Agent told me I would not have seen that third seat on line. Nicer than going in Anytime Coach (60K) at nearly the same price.

When I first checked a few days back the only option was an Anytime Coach award and I was prepared to do that before paying BA one cent in fuel surcharges ( feel the same way about "buying up" to use my systemwides at UA--spend enough money flying as it is). No rush to book those Anytime Coach tickets, as they'll be around as long as Y seats are for sale. We may be coming back that way as our return dates will be during the Olympics. Have to wait and see what shows up in the days ahead.

If anyone wants to follow the swimmer I'll be going to see, you can follow her HERE. This will be my third summer Olympics.

Glad to see this is clearing up, though I'd say we need at least some time of normal availability before we can raise any type of "all clear".

I didn't see a single 50K business Saver seat the week I was looking, though, with an SFO origination on AA metal, so there are still issues. Fortunately not much more to go in Saver F for my trip to London.

Booked 3 MileSaver coach tickets at 30K each today for my return date. No MileSaver business or MileSaver first tickets available, at least at this time, for the return trip. Figured I'd lock in the 30K tickets before they jump up tp 60K one-way Anytime Awards. I was actually surprised to see those 30K awards for the return being that I didn't see a single one of them for travel to London the week before.