zski1

I'm writing about the military appreciation fare AA advertises in the following press release: http://http://www.aa.com/content/amr...military.jhtml, which is not the same as the government/military fare that is contracted through the GSA City-Pair program.

I just spent nearly an hour on the phone with an AAgent trying to book a fare from VPS to DCA over Jan 13/15 weekend. First, he didn't know the fare existed, so he tried talking to the tarriff desk, who also didn't know it existed. I pointed him to the press release, and he talked to them again, and got back on the phone with me and said "we're not competitive on that route, so we don't offer the fare".

I am a little wary of calling again and doing the same thing with another agent only to get a similiar answer, so I was wondering if anyone knew exactly how these worked. It has been my impression they are available on essentially every route AA flies; I recall flying with this fare from SAT-LHR, SAT-ORD, SAT-DCA and VPS-DFW and I think I've used it a few other times but I can't remember for sure. I know that AA does not have the GSA city-pair fare for very many destinations from VPS, but that has to do with the government/military fare--i.e. the contract fare, not the 'Military Appreciation' fare -- used for personal travel and is essentially a 5-year-old marketing campaign aimed at servicemembers.

If anyone knows exactly how the program works, can you reply to this post? The agent really did say "We're not competitive on that route, so we don't offer that sale fare, and that's why I couldn't price it." It made me scratch my head, because the fare available to the general public is pretty close to what Delta is offering (within $30).

Thanks
-z

heyjoe63

I tried several times to use this fare/offer. Seats are limited and most dates were not available. The fares quoted are also quite a bit higher than you can find on travelocity, but are refundable/changeable

Probably doesn't help at all other than to know you were correct that the program was not well advertised/implemented by AA.

zski1

Yes and no - it depends on the situation you are in when trying to figure out whether this fare is a good deal or not. I have used expertflyer to find the "N" fares, then place the specific itinerarly on hold on AA.com that has "N" available, and then I call in and ask them to reprice it as a military appreciation fare. I've never had a clueless agent before until last night, but I did call at 1 am on a Sunday before a holiday. I plan to call back Tuesday when the odds of getting a more experienced agent are higher.

Regarding pricing: I flew to London from San Antonio with 3 days notice for $450 plus taxes, in the middle of the summer. Domestically, I've found the tickets aren't always the cheapest generally available, but I often find out I have time off with little notice and when the seats are available, this fare is generally cheaper than anything available for sale to the general public.

Last - my peeve and question with this particular encounter was not that the agent told me that seats weren't available (there are TONS of N seats available when I want to go), it was that he told me this fare simply wasn't available on this route; I'm not sure whether to believe him considering he wasn't even aware of the program to begin with. If everyone else on the board is stumped, my backup is to call back in a couple days when the odds of getting someone more experienced to help. Either that, or drive to Pensacola (an hour away) to fly essentially the same route for $150 less on DL (oh, the humanity!) -- would pick up AA from PNS but AA's cheap seats from PNS are sold out when I want to fly.

-z

skywalkerLAX

I dont see the point of "N" inventory and the military fares

I always use "N" from germany/UK to the U.S. and it´s just booked on aa.com !

It might be easier then, just to use internet booking than trying to convince an AAgent about the promotion.

JDiver

"N" is not one specific fare class, any more than L or H - there are many subcategories and requirements under the many N fares avaliable. Military appreciation fares are only one N fare category.

skywalkerLAX

So they book in unflexible "N" but due to the Military bonus your ticket will be more flexible ?

jrhone

Military fares are booked in Q class .

jrhone

I am off to work in about 30 minutes, I will see what price I can find for you on those dates as a military fare.

I dont finish till midnight, but will reply to your post when I get back tonight.

The fare is good for travel to any domestic location, and some international ones.

JDiver

The differing subcategories of fares include different requirements and different detailed fare rules. RM / YM seem to parse these things about amazingly - why I found 58 fares and subfares available on one flight pair using ExpertFlyer.

Years ago it was easier perhaps - "military standby" fares were 50% of Economy, and seemed to be more available - but there were far fewer subfares. I took frequent advantage of military standby, and sometimes took flight sets that resembled today's mileage runs to get the discount and available seats, though earning no miles in those pre-AAdvantage days.

zski1

I appreciate your input especially as it appears you work for AA (and thanks for working tonight, I usually work holidays too, luckily, got this one off), but every fare on this particular promotion that I've been able to get has been in "N".

And if anyone thought that it couldn't get any more confusing, the gov't contract rate arranged by the General Services Administration (GSA) can book into one of two classes: Y for the higher, flexible rate, or something else (I can't remember, Q maybe?) if it's the lower, more inflexible rate. To muddy the situation even more, military/govt contract fares booked into Y are a sort of lower-Y class, not eligible for automatic upgrade, but they do allow booking into exit rows without status and 1.5 Qpoints per mile flown.

-z

JDiver

It would be nice to get the full scoop on the current military appreciation fares - and 1) add it to the Wiki, plus 2) link this in the Unofficial Guide sticky for other FTers. Anyone have more to add?

jrhone

Everything in the agent reference files says it has to be booked in Q but on some legs Q is not available. I did manage to get an itneairy priced going through DFW but it came up to be the same price as a regular discount fare.

I'm working tomorrow as well, so I will get some of the other more experienced counter agents to see if they can work their magic for you and see what price comes up.

Anyway, it's 2 AM and I just got done wrapping presents for the three little ones, I expect they will be up in just a few short hours.

Merry Christmas everyone !

zski1

Thanks for your help. Maybe the rules changed? I'm a bit of a hoarder (but not so bad that I have 23 cats and stacks of newspapers all over my house) and I checked my boarding passes from the last trip for which I used this fare, and they say N. That trip was in August 06.

Edit: Here's a link to a previous series of posts in which it was discussed that the fare booked into N. Granted, things could have changed but at least within the last year we were talking about them booking into N. Am interested to learn what you find.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=512440

Have a great Christmas!

-z

jrhone

Ski, thanks, I hope you had a good Christmas too.

I didnt get much time to look at this today as it was a very busy day with full loads. I did try pricing it different ways with different classes but the price always came back the same . I double checked the reference files and it still says that milt fares must be booked in Q , maybe it changed, quite possible.

The more senior staff ( who got the holiday off ) will be back tomorrow and I will try again to find out for you.

zski1

jrhone - Am sure you've been plenty busy as of late, but did you find anything out? If the military appreciation fares are indeed booked into Q, then, unless the agent I spoke to was indeed correct (that the fare is simply not offered on this route) or unless expertflyer is wrong, the fare should be available on the route for the dates I want. Checked ExpertFlyer, and AA 3862 - AA 1600 on 13 Jan shows "Q7", returning on Jan 15, AA 1823 - AA 3863 also shows "Q7". For what it's worth, it also shows "N7" as well.

My apologies to those who may object that this post is cluttering the board. I figure that if this particular fare sale is extended, future searchers can skim through this thread to learn a little more about how the fare works.

-z