Best way to book an American Airlines (ex US) flight

[Myrna]

Re: Best way to book an AA (US dom) flight?

This was my experience.

Recently we returned from a trip to the US. We did a mini status run with AA - on the instant upgrade fares.

I wanted to book in the AA (US) website with a US$ debit card (I have one with HSBC in the US), but I could not do it because I was required to have a US billing address (which I do not have, as my billing address is in Australia). So, I ended up booking the flights via the AA (Australia) website and paid with my normal Amex card (without the credit card fee charged by Qantas).

The availability of flights were the same on both websites. I found the prices were comparable - taken into account currency variations. However, there was one strange occurrence. One day I looked at the fares on the AA Australia website, they were much higher than when I looked at them a day before. I phoned AA in Australia to ask for the reason, because the AA US website prices had not changed. They could not explain it to me. I checked again the next day and the fares in the AA Australian website dropped back to where I expected them to be!

When we got back Australia, both frequent flyer points and status credit points were credited to our Qantas FF accounts.

If you do book directly on AA Australian website, you will not see the booking on Qantas website - as it was explained on this forum that AA and QF have different reservation systems. BA and QF have the same res system.

 

[Grooba]

Re: Best way to book an AA (US dom) flight?

Have a look and see if the fare is available on American Airlines | Airline Tickets and Airline Reservations . If so, no dodginess needed.

Also, Travel Agents should be able to access the fares too.

PS Mods, please cast this thread free and/or lock it. The first few pages contain a lot of information that was very relevant in 2007, but is quite miisleading today.

A couple of weeks ago I walked into a few TA's one day asking if they could see a specific KUP fare that I had seen on aa.com, but was not available on americanairlines.com.au - all 3 of the TA's could only see the fares that were the listed on the australian aa site.

Flight Centre, Harvey Travel and a smaller local agent were the 3 I tried. YMMV.

 

[Carlous Moochous]

I tried to make a booking on the US site last week for the instant upgrade tickets. Put it on hold and called the number on the email, then had to call the Australian Office.. They will make the booking for you, but charge a $60 per person booking fee.. So in short, It can be done..

I may be QF fanboy, but I am also very cynical as the AA booking fee happens to be exactly the same as QF.. Is the lock out deliberately designed to try and get people to book all their flights via QF (ex Aus) or AA (ex US) ?

Anyway I decided to stuff it (i don't understand why I should pay more for the same service, just because I don't have a US billing address) and booked with Virgin America and JetBlue instead who happily took my money (less of it too). Does anyone have a non cynical view on why AA make it so hard for rest of the world dwellers to fly with them?

There are a few legs that I will still need to book with AA (on the Australian site) as they unfortunately offer the most direct / cheaper route (even on the Aus site prices) as i would like to fly someone else just to protest (which is a big thing for me as i really wanted those dam SC's.. LOL)

 

[serfty]

I tried to make a booking on the US site last week for the instant upgrade tickets. Put it on hold and called the number on the email, then had to call the Australian Office.. They will make the booking for you, but charge a $60 per person booking fee.. So in short, It can be done. ....

Your choice.:-|

In about 18 hours I'm embarking LAX-LAS, booked on aa.com; total cost? USD39!

Only issue is Q class, so no QFF points. My WP number is in the booking but I will change this to my AA number in the LAX Flagship lounge before I board.

 

[Fifa]

Your choice.:-|

In about 18 hours I'm embarking LAX-LAS, booked on aa.com; total cost? USD39!

Wow! When did you book the flight?
I am looking at the same route also on aa.com in October but the cheapest fare is $109.
I'm hoping it will come down in price in the next few months.

 

[serfty]

Wow! When did you book the flight?
I am looking at the same route also on aa.com in October but the cheapest fare is $109. ....

That was one-way; final cost for the return was USD$79.40.

Booked on AA.com 4th Feb 2011.

 

[Fifa]

That was one-way; final cost for the return was USD$79.40.

Booked on AA.com 4th Feb 2011.

Thanks serfty
The price above is one-way too.
I'll keep looking and hope it comes down in price.

 

[tuppaware]

Anyone else with this problem?
Got to the checkout only to fine the page told me the price had changed up $10. I select ok, then it goes down $10.. then backup etc etc

 

[Fifa]

2 weeks ago I booked a YUPP fare for two people using the AA UK website as it worked out approx $40 cheaper pp than the US one!
I included my AU address but added the US including a US state and zip code.
BTW - the same routing was not available on the AA Australian website.

After 10 days my booking was still showing "Purchased" but not "Ticketed" so I emailed AA to query it and got the following answer:

After further review of your reservation, it appears that you may not be using a valid credit card with a billing address in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, or select countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Our eTravel Documents Service (eTDS) has indicated that you are using a foreign credit card. When you were prompted to input your credit card billing address, it appears that perhaps you entered an incorrect address in the U.S. and this has caused an error.

Please know that all customers may use the AA.com "Book Flights" page to reserve and 'HOLD' American Airlines itineraries. If your country is not listed as a choice, unfortunately the purchase option would not be available to you. You would then need to place your reservation on 'HOLD' and call your local reservations office to check if Express
Ticketing is available in your area. If not, you may visit an American
Airlines airport ticket counter, City Ticket Office or a local travel agency to purchase your ticket(s).

If you are in one of the above listed countries, you will need to call American Airlines at 1-800-433-7300 (24 hours/daily) for assistance.
Our representative will need to have you on the telephone when contacting our eTDS department.

Anyway long story short, I waited and was planning to phone the US this weekend but yesterday my booking showed "Ticketed" and my credit card has been charged.

So, a little patience and we'll be on our way in four months.

 

[kpc]

So, a little patience and we'll be on our way in four months.

I'm sure your +1 is really looking forward to this SC run

 

[Fifa]

I'm sure your +1 is really looking forward to this SC run

Yes, you certainly picked up on that one!
But...
He is asking when he will make Gold and if he will also become WP so he's getting more interested

 

[mick]

I'm in a bit of dilemma as to how to pay for my AAdvantage Award (ex SYD). I only have Aussie credit cards and I have no status with AA. I seem to recall a while back that AA U.S. wouldn't accept Aussie cards, but the UK office did. I know the "Oz" number will accept them for a $60 fee per person, but I was hoping to avoid that charge. Does anyone know whether the UK office still accepts Aussie credit cards and, if so, what do they charge for accepting payment over the phone? Or, is there a better way to what I am suggesting?

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[MelUser]

Can someone please post the link to the fare compare site for looking up cheap YUPPs, Tks.

 

[serfty]

I'm in a bit of dilemma as to how to pay for my AAdvantage Award (ex SYD). I only have Aussie credit cards and I have no status with AA. I seem to recall a while back that AA U.S. wouldn't accept Aussie cards, but the UK office did. I know the "Oz" number will accept them for a $60 fee per person, but I was hoping to avoid that charge. Does anyone know whether the UK office still accepts Aussie credit cards and, if so, what do they charge for accepting payment over the phone? Or, is there a better way to what I am suggesting?

Any help is much appreciated!

Search this forum for "El segundo".

Can someone please post the link to the fare compare site for looking up cheap YUPPs, Tks.

Discounted First Class and Flyer Talk Fares

 

[mick]

Search this forum for "El segundo".

Heh. Thanks for that! Pardon my ignorance, but I thought that you would have to have made the booking online for that to work. When I view my booking, it says this:

Only Reservations originally booked on AA.com are eligible for purchase on AA.com. To purchase this reservation, please contact the booking source, either AA Reservations or your travel agent.

As the AA Award booking was made over the phone to the U.S. office (travel originates outside the U.S.) I can't see how I can pay this online - or have I got this completely wrong?

 

[dfcatch]

Heh. Thanks for that! Pardon my ignorance, but I thought that you would have to have made the booking online for that to work. When I view my booking, it says this:


As the AA Award booking was made over the phone to the U.S. office (travel originates outside the U.S.) I can't see how I can pay this online - or have I got this completely wrong?

I have a US postal address which still works fine when paying over the phone even if using my Aus-based CC.

So Serfty's El Segundo suggestion will work fine, even over the phone.

 

[serfty]

Heh. Thanks for that! Pardon my ignorance, but I thought that you would have to have made the booking online for that to work. When I view my booking, it says this: ...

Yep, you are correct about the award booking. I presume it is on hold.

I have only used 'el segundo' for revenue bookings on AA.com.

According to this thread you may be SOL: Calling reservations in Australia - FlyerTalk Forums

Have you tried calling AA in the USA to pay; you never know.

 

[MelUser]

I have used Melbourne, Florida and also San Diego, California when putting in a USA address. The Melbourne, Florida address I just used my Melbourne, Australia street address!

Both have worked and appears on credit card as American Airlines Dallas (or similar).

 

[mick]

Yep, you are correct about the award booking. I presume it is on hold.

I have only used 'el segundo' for revenue bookings on AA.com.

According to this thread you may be SOL: Calling reservations in Australia - FlyerTalk Forums

Have you tried calling AA in the USA to pay; you never know.

Well whaddya know... I called AA in the U.S. yesterday to ticket my AAward and they asked what type of card I was using, told her American Express. She asked for my address and I gave her my address with a zero in front of the postcode (thanks NM!) and then she asked for my phone number. Errr... She didn't like my phone number because there were too many numbers in it and so she told me to just give her a U.S. number and so I gave her a mate's number in NYC. Done! I only got charged the US$25 fee on top of the booking taxes and so I'm very happy!

The booking status now indicates TICKETED and Amex said that AA processed a $1 authority transaction that was accepted and so they believe the transaction will go through.

 

[DeKa]

After 10 days my booking was still showing "Purchased" but not "Ticketed"

I just booked a multi-city flight in the US on aa.com, using some of the suggestions on AFF. I checked "My Reservation" after 10 mins, and my booking still said "Purchased" but not "Ticketed" so I thought I may have to go through Fifa's experience to ticket my flights. About 1 minute after that, I received the E-Ticket confirmation stating that my booking was confirmed! Thank you 28 Degrees and El Segundo (although I used an address which will definitely reach me) for saving me over AUD$100 on a cheap fare, when compared to AA's Australian site whilst allowing me to book in "S" class to earn some SCs.