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American Airlines Eliminates (Then Reinstates) Phone Award Booking Fees

May 02, 2016
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2 min read
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American Airlines Eliminates (Then Reinstates) Phone Award Booking Fees
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Update 5/2/16 7:00pm: AA has reinstated the award ticketing fee, which was apparently removed in error during a site update today. Bummer! Here's the corrected fee structure (which also includes corrected amounts for "Travel Center" bookings:

This morning, American Airlines changed its fees for booking award tickets — eliminating some fees while increasing others.

Phone Booking Fees

American Airlines' new award ticketing service charges.

First the great news: American Airlines has completely dropped the fees for booking award tickets in "reservations offices in the United States." We have confirmed with an American Airlines AAdvantage agent that this is indeed an elimination of the phone booking fee. Delta doesn't charge a phone booking fee (except when booking with some Europe-based agents) and United charges $25 to book award tickets over the phone (waived for Platinum and 1K).

However, the announcement doesn't seemed to have reached all agents, so you might have to point this change out to your agent in the short term, until the change is made clear to all agents.

The fees were previously $30 for travel within the US and $40 for travel outside the US. However, you could get these fees waived by an agent if the itinerary couldn't be booked online.

Travel Center

Under the previous version of the chart, the Travel Center fees were less.

Meanwhile, American Airlines increased award ticketing fees for ticketing at a "travel center" — from $35 to $50. However, this will likely have a small impact, as American Airlines only lists four of these travel centers.

What Hasn't Changed

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Everything else. It will still cost you $35/45 (travel inside/outside the US) to book award tickets at an airport ticket counter or Admirals Club.

Also, this change didn't affect the $75 fee for ticketing within 21 days of departure — which is waived for American Airlines status holders.

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  • Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
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  • Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
  • Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
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  • $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
  • $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
  • Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees.
  • Annual Fee is $325.
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