Welcome to Flyertalk, gejone!

Since your question is about getting the best airfares rather than about miles and points, I'm going to move this thread to TravelBuzz.

(This forum, MilesBuzz, is for "Discussion of the latest frequent flyer program buzz...")

If your interest really is just in fares on American Airlines you could post your question in the American Airlines forum. But since most of the advice to answer your question is likely not to be airline specific, I do think TravelBuzz is probably the best place to get the answers you seek.

Best,
Gary
aka gleff
MilesBuzz and Delta moderator