Here, let me clarify this for all of you, from a travel agent's perspective... allow me to provide the timeline of events:
On
August 20, 2015 AA issued a waiver for TAs to rebook customers - whose flights are now canceled - on the various AA/BA/IB options already mentioned, free of charge, or to allow free cancellation and refund of the ticket.
Then for a week, there was apparently some behind-the-scenes negotiations going on, in an attempt to add LY to the list of carriers that passengers can be rebooked on (hence the rumors floating around that "a deal is being worked on between AA and LY").
On
August 27, 2015, the waiver was updated: LY is now an option as well;
HOWEVER, tickets that were originally booked in O or Q class
cannot be rebooked on LY; those can only be rebooked on the carriers already mentioned.
So this explains everything:
1) The "mystery deal" between AA and LY was to offer LY as an additional alternative carrier option for PHL-TLV customers who got the raw end of the deal, not to revive the old AA/LY partnership. Sorry to disappoint you.
2) Amir was told that "El Al was added as an option" - because indeed, it was not on the original waiver. But unfortunately, it was
not added back as an AAdvantage partner.
3) ausome's rep was indeed correct - an O class ticket cannot be rebooked on El Al; neither can Q class. Only higher fare classes than that have the El Al direct option.
4) In case it wasn't abundantly clear yet: there is still
no option to book LY flights using AA miles. That agreement is still dead.
Hope this helps everyone get things straight...
