armus

For that type of flight I'd expect that the website might not allow the flight to be booked until it's midnight in Dallas.

For more specific details on how to grab the seats ASAP see this 2014 quote of a FT post I made in 2013. AFAIK the info still applies, though it's possible that daylight saving skews the concept of "midnight" by an hour (I've never tested during standard time).

backprop

I've looked at a whole month of flights STL-FCO-STL in September and October - whether I look at Anytime or Saver awards, any airline (AA or BA), there are plenty of flights that show up.

But whenever I select a pair, it gives me the "The flight you selected is no longer available" message. I tried all flights within one date pair, and then alter the dates and try again. I haven't found a single combination (award type, date, flight #) that results in any available flights. This is after looking at maybe 30-40 different sets of flights that initially show up.

Is this really a phantom availability issue? Or another IT problem?

NYC_DFW_LAX

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I'm wondering if anyone has more information about this problem. I've tried for a couple weeks now looking at award tickets on AA to Europe for next summer, and each time I search several flight appear. However, I click on each one, and one a time they disappear with this message until there is nothing left. I've basically been treating my pile of AA miles as a useless mistake for a year or so now, but I figured if I could manage to plan a year in advance they might be worth something. Has anyone had any luck getting around this problem? Is calling or writing to AA worthwhile, or are they just going to give me the runaround and then throw up their hands?

pssteve

Had same problem this am. Expert flyer shows it available.AA shows it but when you click thru you get "no longer available"

JonNYC

Doubt it applies to either of the above cases, but on previous occasions when this was reported, in some cases it was for flights outside of the actual AA booking window (too far out.)

pssteve

Mine is in 2+ weeks on QF in Oz.

NYC_DFW_LAX

I've tried all sorts of different dates. It's definitely a website issue, just not clear if it's incorrectly displaying availability when I search or incorrectly hiding it when I try to select individual flights. Once I have a better idea when we can travel, maybe I'll try calling AA, but I'm suspecting more and more that I'll never find it worthwhile to use AA miles again.

JonNYC

If it's a QF award flight, I'd say that's possibly a somewhat different issue.

You'll find a use for 'em, just have to try.

Not trying to earn anymore of them, that I agree with completely, @:-), but certainly use up what ya got.

lobo411

Been fighting this issue since I've been trying to book my June 2018 trips, including itins that are easily inside the booking window (323 days as of today). It applies to awards on both AA and OW partners (BA and IB). It applies to business class and economy. It applies to aa.com and the phone system. In every case I tested, the problem was strictly with TATL segments.

Given the above, I can't help but think AA isn't terribly interested in fixing this bug. Why should they? Most people are going to search, see 20 dates in a month with availability, try to book a few and be told they're "no longer available," and assume that someone beat them to the punch. The latter will allow people to think that the fault was their own for being too slow, not AA's for being too cheap.

carlosdca

This issue has existed on and off for many years already. Many years.
And it also happens sometimes when trying to buy a regular ticket (non-aaward).

It is really lame and embarrassing that after SO many years, this issue still exists. Obviously, it is something AA doesn't care a bit about. Feel free to speculate why.

When I encounter this problem, I call. In the case of a revenue ticket, it always turned out that the fare on the website was really not available and the ticket turned out pricing much higher.

In any case, I don't think your AA miles are useless.
Whenever I find that issue "no longer available" I just call and the phone agent can see the real availability and book stuff for me.

I don't know what is the hesitation about calling AA up.
I have absolutely no shame in calling AA and have them check aaward availability for a a bunch of different date ranges/ itineraries, different classes, etc. The phone agent will just check stuff for you, he/she won't get mad or scold you. Just do it. Don't feel bad. Call
And request having the fee waived if you are not EXP.

trooper

Happens with virtually all itins ex Australia connecting to AY in Asia.... I did get ONE to actually book to come home on..but could ONLY get BA over....(I didn't know then about opportunities by calling for QR etc)

ijgordon

Don't even think of trying to use Delta miles then...

nwflyboy

I spent some hours with them last night, through which I came to realize:

• The phantom inventory issue described here is more than widespread - it is the norm. If it's a "good" (valuable") flight, you can't book it. Has been this way for years.
• AA staff know all about it. Some of them pretend they don't know. Some simply lie to you. Some of them will admit it's widespread and well known.
• They're not going to do a damn thing about it.

Here was my interaction from last night, when I tried to book flights that I had been planning a trip around:
post #156 in the "Phantom / false AA award availability with AA partners (master thd)"

No airline works harder to screw their frequent flyer members than American Airlines.

Class action lawsuit, anyone?

lobo411

I agree it's a travesty, and that this is more than simple incompetence (which is one of the few fields were AA leads). A conscious decision has been made at the corporate level not to fix this issue.

However, I think you're getting frustrated with the wrong people. The front line CSRs don't make policy. There's some rich SOB in Dallas who thinks he's a super-genius just because his frat buddy hired him over a bunch of more qualified candidates who is to blame. Get angry at the leeches, AKA management.

In the near term, to get your seat you're going to have to color within the lines of a totally crappy system. Don't plan anything until you get your flights nailed down. Try try and try again. There is no way of telling whether it'll work right off the bat, on the 32nd try, or never.

And if you absolutely positively have to get there...don't book AA.

nwflyboy

Plenty of blame to go around.

Honest workers who are simply there punching the clock, who sincerely attempt to be helpful while working for an evil corporation - I got no issue with them.

But when a CS agent openly lies to me, repeatedly, and we both know it...when all they're trying to do is push the call off on some other poor employee who they know won't be able to do anything, when they say "yes I will do X" and instead they immediately do "Y"...that's over the line.

Do I have sympathy for the poor SOBs working for this evil, dishonest, scummy airline? Yes, I do. Until they lie to me, I catch them at it, and they continue to lie....then they deserve all the contempt and misery that comes their way.

The *other* AA folks I spoke with - who did not openly lie to me - were fine. They didn't (couldn't) do anything for me, other than responding honestly. It's the brazen, unabashed dishonesty on display that crossed the line for me.

The rich a-hole who intentionally created this stunningly dishonest system, yeah, he deserves to burn in hell. But CS agents who simply lie over and over, like "Antionette" did, they deserve just as much contempt and misery.