i cant find the thread...
Now let’s talk about the more straightforward and “legitimate” approach. American allows five day holds on award tickets (within a couple of weeks they often only allow one day holds), so place the cheaper itinerary on hold (in the above case, New York to San Francisco to Los Angeles). Once you’ve done so, call American and tell them you just want to end in San Francisco, and ask them to take off the second segment.
Based on my experience this should be possible, though not all agents can figure out how to do it. So this might be a case of “hang up and call again” if you don’t get the answer you want. The computer definitely seems to allow this, though not all phone agents can make it work.
i made such a booking on hold [5 days] called to knock off segment [it was cx flight] after 2 days i see reservation cancelled. anyone have expericence, is it safe ?