SFO777

The bonus for premium fares is only applicable to EQPs not EQMs. AA let's you earn status either way. The most common way is EQMs and most of AA"s current promotions are EQM-based bonuses. EQPs are usually important only to those that buy a lot of international premium fares.

cyber1k

Thank you.

RogerD408

delete

rahul408

It looks like people are getting DEQM for DFW-SNA and not for ORD-SNA RT. I have been traveling ORD-SNA every week since the day they extended it to ORD-SNA (March 9) but haven't got any DEQM credit till now. But I read on this forum that people are getting DFW-SNA credit (which AA did not mention when they extended the offer). Could it be a mis-print from AA?

Sagy

If this is a mis-print it is a big one. Have you tried to call AA and ask?

rahul408

I am waiting for one last time this Tuesday. I will call them after that as then it will be well past 6-8 weeks

rahul408

Here is an update. I called AA and told them that I traveled ORD-SNA-ORD 5 times since you extended the promotion to SNA but have not got any DEQM credit till date. The representative told me that there is some issue with my account and he credited the miles to my account for 4 out of 5 RT immediately on call. The Elite Qualifying Miles will be posted in another 24 hours. He is investigating the system issue due to which the miles were not being credited automatically or else I have to call them everytime

For the 5th round trip, he said that he cannot credit my account. Reason: The booking was done before March 9th. Now I used to travel ORD-LAX-ORD before they extended this offer to Orange County on March 9th and had booked the ORD-LAX-ORD March 16th flight on March 3rd. Later on March 12th (after reading the extended promotion), I moved my flight to SNA from LAX. Although I moved the flight on March 12th but the original booking date on the ticket is March 3rd. So nothing can be done.

It seems I got robbed off for 3500 EQM due to this booking date thing. I could have easily traveled ORD-LAX-ORD that week and got my miles.

2millionquest

Your post count indicates you're new around here, so maybe you've never seen it; but it's been widely reported during the run of other EQM-multiplying promotions that simply changing a reservation doesn't affect its original booking date to reflect booking after the start of a promotion. The only way to accomplish that is to completely cancel the original trip, pay change fees and fare difference (if any), and go from there. It doesn't sound like that's what you did, so you rightly did not get EQM for the "new" trip.

Saying you were "robbed" is rather extreme. If you could so easily have flown ORD-LAX-ORD, why didn't you? At the very least, since the extra EQMs seem very important to you, why didn't you investigate first before changing your travel plans?

rahul408

[QUOTE=2millionquest;18530476]The only way to accomplish that is to completely cancel the original trip, pay change fees and fare difference (if any), and go from there. It doesn't sound like that's what you did, so you rightly did not get EQM for the "new" trip.

FYI, I did pay the change fees and fare difference. I called AA and told them that I need to move my reservation from ORD-LAX-ORD to ORD-SNA-ORD on March 12th. I paid the change fees of $150 and also the fare difference of $130 and got a new ticket number. It cost me total of $280. How is it different from completely canceling the ticket and booking it again? I think this is clearly a system issue. When I have paid the change fees and the fare difference, it should be treated as a new reservation for crediting EQM. Any comments??

Yes I am new here and I accept that I did not read the fine print that one has to book tickets after March 9 to be eligible but when I did pay the change fees and fare difference I think I am right in saying that I got "robbed off" due to a AA system constraint which looks at the original booking date. I know I cant do anything about it but expressing that this is an issue doesn't seem to be out of place.

2millionquest

Yes. If you went through all that and paid all that money, you should get credit. Call back.

And it's really none of my business, so this is more or less rhetorical; but why would you pay that much money to switch from LAX to SNA if both earned DEQM? You could have purchased an additional RT that would be assured of earning DEQM for less than that. I'm simply curious. Feel free to tell me to mind my own business if you're not inclined to answer.

rahul408

Hey Buddy,

Here goes my story.

1) On March 3rd booked ORD-LAX-ORD to fly on March 13th. My office is in Orange County but I used to drive down from LAX to Orange County in order to avail this promotion. The cost of fuel (driving) was almost covered by cheaper ORD-LAX-ORD prices than ORD-SNA-ORD.

2) On March 11th realized that my meeting in Orange County (on March 13-14) has been pushed to next week so had to change my itinerary from March 13th to March 19th. Called AA. paid $150 change fees and $130 difference in fare and got the change done. Itinerary is still ORD-LAX-ORD. Did not know till that time that offer has been extended to SNA.

3) On March 12th, I read that AA has extended the DEQ11 promotion till June 30th and added ORD-SNA-ORD route as well (from March 9th to June 30th). Called AA again and checked with them if I can change the destination from LAX to SNA at no additional cost. They told me that my current fare doesnt require any change fees but a $30 fare difference. I agreed to this change as $30 < Drive from LAX to Orange county

So technically I did pay $150+$130 on March 11th (i.e. after march 9th) for date change and then $30 on March 12th for destination change. All through this the booking date remained the same as March 3rd. Its complex and I dont think that I will get credit for this but I will try

In hindsight, I feel that I unnecessary changed my destination on March 12th from LAX to SNA. I hope this makes sense now. If I missed something and should have handled this in a different way (not only from DEQ11 perspective) then please let me know. It will be useful

aktchi

Rahul408:

You seem to be a perfectionist and are taking this one glitch too seriously. You are an organized traveler, as evidenced form the fact that you can recall or look up all these details. You did what seemed more convenient for your travel, nothing wrong with that. Airline rules are complex and change unpredictably; even the best among us slip through the cracks once in a while.

Call AA and make your case as succinctly and coolly as possible. If the agent doesn't agree with you, or seems disinterested, etc, just thank him (don't argue or try to convert him to your viewpoint) and hang up. Call again a little later. You may succeed simply by trying with different agents. If you don't even after a few calls, just accept it as one of the many inevitable glitches you'd envcounter and move on.

BTW if experienced travelers at FT have one golden rule, it is "Thank them, hang up, call again."

rahul408

Thanks for the confidence and the Golden Rule. I shall follow it till success!!!

2millionquest

I see now. Your timeline makes perfect sense when explained the way you did. You didn't spend $280 just to change to SNA from LAX; you spent $30. Given the time/gas factor, I probably would have done the same in your shoes. However, it also didn't cost you $280 to try to qualify for the ORD-SNA-ORD promo; it only cost $30.

I did not fully understand the sequence of events until your last post, hence my somewhat conflicting replies. But I take back what I said about the fact that you should get the credit; you shouldn't. Unfortunately, you only modified an existing reservation, so you didn't comply with the rules of the promo.

I agree that you should follow the time-honored FT mantra of calling again, maybe even a couple more times. You might get lucky.

And next time, if there is a next time, don't just modify an existing reservation. Cancel it outright and book a fresh one. Do it as two separate transactions. It may cost the same, but at least you'll be assured that you'll qualify for the promo.

rahul408

Thanks for the reply and patience . Yes I know I messed up. There was no need to change a sure shot qualifying reservation. I got excited with the idea of landing in a small airport which is just a mile away from my office. I did save driving time though. Silver lining

Anyways I earned eqms for my next 4 RTs to SNA today after calling them and will continue earning this week.