A3 bizarre system error and even stranger explanation
 

So I have been trying to book a flight from Paris to New York on TP (Tap).

The problem is that TP flies from Orly (ORY) airport.

When you try to book ORY to JFK the system gives an error message.

I called A3 today and they insist this is because TP doesn't give A3 the ability to book through awards.. and that if I want to book this it has to be booked as two separate tickets ?!

I believe their explanation is ridiculous... that this is a system error. Any thoughts on this?

They could be right. To book a through ticket, the carrier must publish a through fare to the issuing carrier. If TP does not publish a fare for award between BOS and ORY/PAR, then A3 can not issue a single ticket with through fare.

I am not saying this is the case, but I am just trying to say that there is a pretty good chance that A3 is telling you the truth.

I don't understand how you reached the conclusion that PAR/ORY is the problem? By that logic, why is NYC/JFK not the issue?

There is logic in that ORY-LIS-JFK could be not available as an award, while the independent segments are available. It fully depends on how the operator publishes their availability. I believe that this phenomenon is called married-segments.

However...as you tried to book online as well (?), I would assume that the website showed availability for the full itinerary. So that would indicate that there is availability?

Perhaps call again, another operator may be able to book it for you..

To add to this-
TP shows availability from LYS, BRU, FRA, MUC, MAD, etc etc etc to JFK/BOS.
The ONLY city that generates an error is ORY.
So yes, I do believe it's a system error.

I don't have enough miles in my account to see the route A3 offered.

But, if I type in ORY, A3 system identify the Paris airport correctly. Then I typed LIS and JFK in 2 separate searches and both yielded positive result.

However, as I said, I don't have enough miles to see whether TP flight is listed.

That being said, if the system can identify ORY correctly, and it offers ORY to JFK as award flight in my searches on 8th and 9th May, it means A3 system is working until you book it. Have you called A3 again to see if another agent is able to offer a solution.

I can only offer advice from what I understand. Since my means are restricted due to lack of miles to see the route. Maybe you should give it another try? I see more flights are available to Boston than JFK. Have you tried BOSTON on TP? Maybe that will solve your puzzle?

I was able to proceed through to the payments page for a sample ORY-BOS flight for 2 March. Where does the message pop up?

It works perfectly fine for me, flights ORY - JFK appear, and i reached the enter your payment details page with nonproblem.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b27a9f9425.png
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d87ac32c1a.png

I’ve just tried for August and can also get to the payment screen.

This was:
A3 English language website
Safari on iPad
Searching for both one-way and return flights
Business Class

OP, are there specific dates and flights in August you’re trying to book that might be causing this, or perhaps displaying phantom availability?

How is anyone trying to "prove you wrong"? The first step in solving these sorts of problems is to try and replicate the problem.

Well, I just searched ORY to BOS oneway for 15 August and A3 website says there is no availability. There is availability for ORY to JFK, like the above two posters have found.

I also did a search with awardnexus and it did not find anything ORY-LIS-BOS in the middle of August. Maybe you can try Expertflyer or KVS.

As mentioned there might be married segment issues, for example once I could not get any award availability for HKG-LHR on BA yet when I changed the destination to LBA, there was availability for HKG-LHR-LBA on the same longhaul flight.