Transferring points to airline miles

This doesn't help you, but thanks for posting this.

I have some points in a Bonvoy account that I'll probably never use. I just transferred them to my American Airlines account, which I will use. Didn't kow I could do that.

Few airlines will "hold" a reservation for you without payment. How long it takes for the transfer to go through varies (a lot) so you are correct that doing what you are proposing involves some risk. (In my experience, Mariott points should be available within 24 hours of initiating your transfer to American Airlines; I did this a few months ago).

You are correct, once you have transferred points, there's no way to "undo" it. That's true for virtually every system.

Honestly, this is not the best place to get answers to your questions on this subject. While all the folks here are sincere and well-meaning, few have the deep experience to answer very specific questions. You will get better info on FlyerTalk, but you will find a steep learning curve, lots of jargon, and some attitude there. But the info there is rock solid.

I responded with a couple questions to your post in the other thread but you have not replied to that one. If you post the following details, I can take a quick look and offer some advice (no guarantees, just my own perspective from someone who does this kind of thing) to see if it looks like you have any chance at doing what you want...

For your departure:

• What city or cities are acceptable for your departure from North America?
• What city or cities are acceptable for your arrival in Europe?
• What is your acceptable range of departure dates?

Same for the return flight:

• What city or cities are acceptable for your departure from Europe?
• What city or cities are acceptable for your arrival back in North America?
• What is your acceptable range of return flight dates?

Do you have only Mariott points to use?

I've done this a few times. I make the reservation on American. I put it on hold. I then transfer points into my AA Aadvantage account. Once they're transferred, I "pay" for the tickets with points.

I don't understand your "if the flight I wanted is not longer available?" You put the flight on hold and it will be held for you until you either buy it with points or let it expire.

Yeah. American Airlines allows you to put an award flight on hold for 5 days (last time I checked). As long as your transfer is completed by then, you can then "pay" for it, and you're done. The only risk is if the transfer takes more than 5 days, your "hold" expires, then someone else grabs the award space immediately, then you're left with the points but nothing to use them on. IME, the transfer to AA should go through in no more than a day or two (last time I did that was a few months ago, it's unlikely things have changed much).

Sorry if I was unclear. Yes, there's no problem using American Airlines because they hold the reservation in plenty of time to accomplish the transfer of points. When I said the risk is, "if the flight I wanted was no longer available" I was referring to other airlines that will not hold your reservation like American.

I’ve encountered something like United’s Fare Lock in a few instances when booking flights. https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/products/travel-options/farelock.html Is this the type of thing that you are looking for with various airlines? It comes up during the booking process for a pretty reasonable fee. My son used a fare hold once on a now defunct Norwegian Airlines fare he wanted to book but needed a bit more time to figure out some logistics. It was a nice feature.

FlyerTalk is where all of the really knowledgeable folks hang out though…I have lurked there a lot but never asked a question. It’s a bit intimidating, unlike this forum IMO.

Different transfer relationships have different speeds. Most of my points are from Chase credit cards, and they transfer to United, BA, and Iberia immediately. I have the ticket booking in one tab, transfer the appropriate number of points in another, and continue with the booking. I believe some of Chase's partners aren't as fast (Singapore Airlines is cumbersome, if I recall correctly.)

The Points/Credit card blogs all have articles on these topics.

Can't use United's "fare lock" on an award flight - only on paid tickets.
United does not allow "holds" on award tickets.

I had checked specifically for award flights and the United site says you can use Fare Lock for award flights. https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/products/travel-options/farelock.html

Well, wadda ya know. I stand corrected. From their FAQ:

Is FareLock available for award reservations using miles?

Yes. FareLock is offered for both Saver and Everyday Award tickets on
United - and United Express-operated flights.

Good to know, thanks for setting me straight. That's something I had never seen before.

However, the next item in their FAQ says this (ah, as Tom Waits said, the large print giveth and the fine print taketh away...):

Is FareLock offered on every flight?

FareLock is available on select flights operated by United and United
Express (Star Alliance® flights and marketed codeshare flights are not
eligible).

So as I read that, you need to look carefully....and I just looked at an example (a dummy booking from SFO to GVA in September in Business, as the OP was considering, I see availability for 155K United miles most days, heck, even a non-stop to CDG)...and I see no option for "FareLock" anywhere, even when I get to the payment page. So maybe it's true in theory, but it may not often show up in practice. If your flight is on a partner, it will definitely not be available.

Anyway, good to know it's an option...even if only in theory! 🤷‍♂️

Air France will hold a fare but for a fee.

Just as a side issue, I have now talked to two separate agents at American Airlines, once being transferred to an agent that handles international flights, and they both told me if I cancel a reservation, they will refund the cash for taxes and fees, as well as return the miles as points to my Marriott Bonvoy account. I tried to confirm that with Marriott, but they swear American Airlines does not return points. I will keep calling until I find a consensus of answers, but this is the kind of thing that's gets frustrating if you're not in the mood for double talk.

Okay, with another round of calls to both American Airlines and Marriott Bonvoy, the consensus is they do not return points to Marriott, but they will hold the miles in your AAdvantage account for future use. It seems like a pretty simple question, but you sure get a lot of unsure answers. Training is a good thing! lol

It's good to know about United's Fare Lock when they have decent fares. And now I can look for fee-based holds on some airlines, like Air France. Thanks guys.

I have used United's fare lock at least once. I found what looked like quite a good deal to a central European city but wasn't sure of my routing; in the end, I decided to fly into a different city, so I gave up that ticket option, but it didn't cost me all that much to be very happy about the low fare for a few days! It can be very helpful to have time to verify availability of hotels at decent prices before plunking down $1000 or so for flights.