Status credits on AA on internal US legs (plus biz class but econ seat)

[Pixiechick]

If I or D then you earn as per business discount in the Qantas table:


This is not a Circle Pacific which has a fare basis of DCIR22. The routing I provided (SYD-NYC-YVR-TYO-SYD) is under 22,000 miles, so Qualifies as a DCIR22 - you can have a DCIR26 with a fare base for $12,759.

Looking at expert flyer, the base fare for an INX5ARN3 is AU$17047

What is you Travel Agent quoting?!!!

I'm speaking to her tomorrow, but quote is $14K. The DCIR22 base fare is dependent on fare codes being available, and the lowest for business aren't... so the $10,779 would be higher and then add taxes (plus the extra travel time). Will be checking the specifics on DCIR22 on Tuesday. Biggest issue is I'd still have the NYC-YVR issue of no non-stop flights, short connections times, and there are no discount biz available for actual physical seats. I care more about the earn on these as they are short flights (all under 3 hours or so), but want to earn Business SC (as you have confirmed, so thank you).

To be honest, I care about saving $$ of course, but I have a 92 year old parent who I must visit, and there will only be so many more trips like this to be made (I will do leisure RTW in the future, as I did pre-Covid... such amazing deals on those). I have a bajillion QFF miles that can't be used, so hitting Platinum this year would help me use those next year.

 

[serfty]

The DCIR22 base fare is dependent on fare codes being available, and the lowest for business aren't.

You need D class - and you are correct, there's not much of that around in June.

As indicated, the earn is as per here: American Airlines Earn Categories

Often for these fares you may end up traveling in Flex Economy (Y, B etc.) which is half the business earn but better than discount.

 

[Pixiechick]

You need D class - and you are correct, there's not much of that around in June.

As indicated, the earn is as per here: American Airlines Earn Categories

Often for these fares you may end up traveling in Flex Economy (Y, B etc.) which is half the business earn but better than discount.

Ends up that (according to Qantas) it doesn't matter what seat I'm in, it's the booking code that matters. So D/I will earn business SC even if I'm sitting in Economy.

Just found a perfect Alaska Airlines flight that will get me from NY-YVR (better timings, via Seattle) and sitting in Biz, so that will work nicely I believe. TA will get on it tomorrow I presume.

 

[justinbrett]

Ends up that (according to Qantas) it doesn't matter what seat I'm in, it's the booking code that matters. So D/I will earn business SC even if I'm sitting in Economy.

Just found a perfect Alaska Airlines flight that will get me from NY-YVR (better timings, via Seattle) and sitting in Biz, so that will work nicely I believe. TA will get on it tomorrow I presume.

But if you have D or I for a leg you will be in First. It’s not possible to be seated in Main Cabin and be booked in D or I.

Again, the fare for the journey is not relevant, each leg will have its own code.

 

[Pixiechick]

But if you have D or I for a leg you will be in First. It’s not possible to be seated in Main Cabin and be booked in D or I.

Again, the fare for the journey is not relevant, each leg will have its own code.

Yes, I know but the TA gave me the fare codes and sadly sometimes it’s mixed cabins even if the code for the whole leg is I. Hoping to avoid this with Alaska Airlines

 

[justinbrett]

Yes, I know but the TA gave me the fare codes and sadly sometimes it’s mixed cabins even if the code for the whole leg is I. Hoping to avoid this with Alaska Airlines

That’s not how it works - if by whole leg you mean LGA-YVR, each segment (LGA-DFW and DFW-YVR) will have its own code. It is not possible to be booked in I and not have a seat in first. You can however get a First class fare for LGA-YVR and have one of these segments in Y. The screenshot you posted above is consistent with this.

 

[SYD]

Yes, I know but the TA gave me the fare codes and sadly sometimes it’s mixed cabins even if the code for the whole leg is I. Hoping to avoid this with Alaska Airlines

Booking AS as a seperate ticket NYC-SEA-YVR in “First“ should work if you’re doing a stopover in YVR.

Then it comes down to getting the open jaw SYD-NYC // YVR-SYD on another ticket?

 

[RichardMEL]

That’s not how it works - if by whole leg you mean LGA-YVR, each segment (LGA-DFW and DFW-YVR) will have its own code. It is not possible to be booked in I and not have a seat in first. You can however get a First class fare for LGA-YVR and have one of these segments in Y. The screenshot you posted above is consistent with this.

Agree with this.

Some of these fares will book into Y if J not available (usually on a single class sector - though LGA-DFW as example seems very unlikely for that tbh). There may be other conditions but whatever the reason for a sector to book into the Y cabin, even with a "Business" (or First) overarching fare, that segment WILL have a Economy fare class associated with it (and that may not be Y, but a subset) and that would effect earnings.

I'd also note AA has just moved to a new model of fare distribution which cuts many fares out from the traditional GDS's (ie available to TA's) - it's quite a stir in the industry - but anyway that's just a sidenote only to comment that things one may see on aa.com may NOT reflect what a TA can see or access. It's called the New Distribution Capability (NDC) and basically is trying to cut out the "middle men" such as GDS's and TAs (sorry) and push more direct channels to AA. Cranky has had some recent articles on this change and the fare differences available since the cut over.

 

[serfty]

Ends up that (according to Qantas) it doesn't matter what seat I'm in, it's the booking code that matters. So D/I will earn business SC even if I'm sitting in Economy.

As posted by others that is incorrectly described.

For earn, forget fare basis codes. It is the fare "bucket" that you are booked into for each individual sector that counts for that sector's earn. If booked in main cabin this can not be anything better than "Y" on AA flights.

See more about fare "Buckets" here:

Understanding [Fare Buckets] Expert Flyer

I'd appreciate some help understanding the information EF provides. For example, F6 A6 J9 C9 D9 I0 B9 H9 K9 M9 R9 L9 V9 S0 N0 Q0 O0 X0 E0 What letters do I look at to try to work out how many seats are still available in economy? What letters do I look at to try to work out how many...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Pixiechick]

As posted by others that is incorrectly described.

For earn, forget fare basis codes. It is the fare "bucket" that you are booked into for each individual sector that counts for earn. If booked in main cabin this can not be anything better than "Y" on AA flights.

See more about fare "Buckets" here:

Understanding [Fare Buckets] Expert Flyer

I'd appreciate some help understanding the information EF provides. For example, F6 A6 J9 C9 D9 I0 B9 H9 K9 M9 R9 L9 V9 S0 N0 Q0 O0 X0 E0 What letters do I look at to try to work out how many seats are still available in economy? What letters do I look at to try to work out how many...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Yes… I know but I have been told the bucket is I (discount Biz) for all the sectors within USA. I will confirm with TA when I speak to her.

 

[RichardMEL]

Yes… I know but I have been told the bucket is I (discount Biz) for all the sectors within USA. I will confirm with TA when I speak to her.

The TA should be booking these things into the correct fare bucket so they should know.

I would absolutely query any sector where one is seated in Economy ("Main Cabin") what fare bucket the actual seat on that sector is booked in. Forget the fare basis. If your TA doesn't know the difference I'd worry

 

[Pixiechick]

Okay all... then one more question as I might just break the trip up and do open jaw SYD-JFK/YVR-SYD and book JFK-YVR separately via Alaska Airlines in First. I presume that Alaska Airlines, as a full partner of QF, would then provide at least Biz SC for that leg, correct?

Post automatically merged: Apr 9, 2023

The TA should be booking these things into the correct fare bucket so they should know.

I would absolutely query any sector where one is seated in Economy ("Main Cabin") what fare bucket the actual seat on that sector is booked in. Forget the fare basis. If your TA doesn't know the difference I'd worry

She does, it's just that it's Easter weekend and while she's super responsive, I'm trying to figure some things out myself.

 

[justinbrett]

Okay all... then one more question as I might just break the trip up and do open jaw SYD-JFK/YVR-SYD and book JFK-YVR separately via Alaska Airlines in First. I presume that Alaska Airlines, as a full partner of QF, would then provide at least Biz SC for that leg, correct?

Yes. Alaska is not just a QF partner but a full oneworld member. SC earn is exactly the same as AA for the same route. Domestic First earns as business.

 

[RichardMEL]

Okay all... then one more question as I might just break the trip up and do open jaw SYD-JFK/YVR-SYD and book JFK-YVR separately via Alaska Airlines in First. I presume that Alaska Airlines, as a full partner of QF, would then provide at least Biz SC for that leg, correct?

Yes.

AS is a member of oneworld and fares booked as Firs will credit to QFF at Business rates and be qualifying SC's for status.

 

[muppet]

Yes… I know but I have been told the bucket is I (discount Biz) for all the sectors within USA. I will confirm with TA when I speak to her.

No need to confirm - everyone on here has said multiple times, if you’re seated in the main cabin the fare bucket won’t be a business fare bucket, it’ll be an economy one. (not intending to be mean, but in case someone else ever reads this thread with a similar issue I think we should be clear)

Even on a flight where you’re booked in business, in a business fare bucket, but misconnect or get downgraded to main cabin, you won’t get business status credits (you can eventually by emailing Qantas and requesting original routing credit - but it will post to your account as economy).

 

[muppet]

Okay all... then one more question as I might just break the trip up and do open jaw SYD-JFK/YVR-SYD and book JFK-YVR separately via Alaska Airlines in First. I presume that Alaska Airlines, as a full partner of QF, would then provide at least Biz SC for that leg, correct?

I think a much better idea than paying $14k and still sitting in economy!

 

[Pixiechick]

Well, I got it all sorted and full business for less than $14K, plus as there are some connections within the US (e.g. LGA-ORD-YVR and YVR-LAX) there *should* be a bunch of status credits (just enough to tip me to Platinum, and LG). Unfortunately, nobody at Qantas can confirm the SC "until after I've flown", so I am reliant on my TA's knowledge and the partner earning tables. It seems lucky that ORD is considered "East Coast" so I get the SC for a short-haul flight from LGA-ORD (40SC), then the full East Coast to West Coast (100SC) for the second leg of that. Or am I totally mis-reading it?

Frustrating as the sale just dropped on QF and AA today (just over 24 hours after I ticketed my flight), so could downgrade the internals (LGA-ORD-YVR) and save a fair bit.

 

[serfty]

Unfortunately, nobody at Qantas can confirm the SC "until after I've flown"

People here can have a good idea.

If you have a Qantas booking reference, look it up here:

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/manage-booking.html?tabId=manage-booking

Once the booking come up, select "Flight Details" on the left hand menu.

Open up each flight listed and look for "Travel Class" following be a text descriptor then a letter on brackets. For example here is an O class booking. O is the "Fare Bucket".



Earn is based on the marketing carrier and the single letter "Fare Bucket".

For Qantas earn on American Airlines, you can look up the Earning Category the fare bucket represents here: American Airlines Earn Categories:

 

[Pixiechick]

People here can have a good idea.

If you have a Qantas booking reference, look it up here:

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/manage-booking.html?tabId=manage-booking

Once the booking come up, select "Flight Details" on the left hand menu.

Open up each flight listed and look for "Travel Class" following be a text descriptor then a letter on brackets. For example here is an O class booking. O is the "Fare Bucket".

View attachment 323335

Earn is based on the marketing carrier and the single letter "Fare Bucket".

For Qantas earn on American Airlines, you can look up the Earning Category the fare bucket represents here:

Thanks Serfty. No QF booking reference yet (and guessing might not get one as it's booked on AA, but QFF applied). I know all my fare buckets (I and D), so it's all business class earns. It's just confirming that each leg will be credited separately, as they are all separate flight numbers. Then it's just a question of the partner earning tables, which are easy, with the exception of clarity around whether a YVR-LAX-SYD (separate flight numbers) will be credited as a YVR-LAX flight at 1800 miles earn, then LAX-SYD in its normal 180SC (vs 180SC all up for 'west coast US/Canada to SYD), and same with LGA-ORD-YVR being credited as LGA-ORD (40SC for 733 mile trip) and ORD-YVR (100SC for East Coast US to West Coast US, as Chicago is classified as East Coast).

 

[serfty]

Each segment will credit as booked. If flight numbers change then they are separate. For example QF1 SYD-LHR credits as SYD-LHR. QF1 SYD-SIN then QF1 SIN-LHR a day later will credit as SYD-SIN and SIN-LHR.

YVR-LAX-SYD (separate flight numbers)

This will credit at YVR-LAX separately to LAX-SYD.