Noobie Help Needed - Goal Plat AA

[FTPeep]

Trying to reach Plat for the first time on AA.

2,826 miles from goal (1,413 w/ AATHX credit)
DFW base
ORD looks to be a good destination to satisfy the mileage req
Can travel 12/17-18 or 12/26-27 (prefer short turnaround)
Budget <$300 (open to diff dest if needed)

[clacko]

put ord on hold while its available for $300...

i'm not sure i understand open to another dest....you only have 4 days, so you have checked ord i assume...

[AeroWesty]

I would realistically go with ORD for $350.

[FTPeep]

im green as can be. aa.com shows $700+ for 12/17-18 & $400+ for 12/26-27. am i not looking in the right place?

[AeroWesty]

Dec 18 found with google.com/flights. It's DFW-ORD returning ORD-PIT-DFW. $346 r/t.

[FTPeep]

Originally Posted by clacko

put ord on hold while its available for $300...

i'm not sure i understand open to another dest....you only have 4 days, so you have checked ord i assume...

yes, aa.com shows $700+ for 12/17-18 & $400+ for 12/26-27. am i not looking in the right place?

[clacko]

sorry, i mis read...you say ord will get the mi & budget is $300...not that ord is $300...

buy westy's $350...

[AeroWesty]

I also just confirmed manually. You'll have to enter it as a multi-city. DFW-ORD then ORD-PIT, then PIT-DFW on aa.com

Or try something like Orbitz who should be able to book it.

[Madone59]

12/27 DFW-CAE-DFW $374, 1,800+mi. A few bucks more than ORD but lower chance of snow

You can also do 2X DFW-TUL-DFW for under $300 if you get 500mi min for short flights (sorry I don't know AA that well). 12/27, 30, 31 its $134 each trip, 12/28, 29 $166.


Good luck!

[FTPeep]

Got it. Thanks all!

[FTPeep]

question - what is the best overall site to look for the best deals? google, orbitz, travelocity, other?

also, what's the trick on searches so you're not wasting a bunch of time?

[FTPeep]

i tool ORD out of the equation and did a 12/18 RT to PITT for $335. thanks again.

[AeroWesty]

A good lesson on how fast fares change. When I saw the return via PIT, I tried a r/t to PIT and it was coming up more expensive because the outbound leg didn't have inventory in S. Now it does.

Congrats on finding a deal that works for you!

[FTPeep]

thanks for the lesson. looks like it just takes a lot of keyboard pounding & some eventual experience.

[AeroWesty]

Yup, that's why looking at the fare construction is important. In my initial search, the fare was actually constructed DFW-PIT/PIT-DFW, showing why the trip was pricing as it was. That's when I thought I might be able to get a simple r/t out of it. Looks like between the time I searched and the time you searched, inventory got loaded for the S fare class on the nonstops for DFW-PIT, allowing the extra costs associated with the connection at ORD to be eliminated, resulting in a lower overall fare.