brp

If it's loose you should hold tighter to your faith. There are many reports here of folks having success with this. You can find the thread and see for yourself. Basically, you're saying that, because things didn't happen fast enough for you, you cancelled the deal and then lost faith in their processing of something you were no longer eligible for

General:
As for the reason behind some of these fare differences, look into "married segments" here and that will explain some of it.

Cheers.

nbevan

Whether or not the differences are fair I agree.

If the fare classes are the same, the only other possible explanation I can think of is that occasionally breaking the route into 2 fares could be cheaper than a through fare (though not often in the same fare class as the through fare).

IflyonAA

I might actually start to look on Expedia (and its cousins) for AA flights unless they sort out the sort by price/travel time/departing time function which we for some reason lost.

brp

What I've done is to look on the various cousin sites to find what I want, and then go to AA.com to book, assuming I can find the same fare (thanks nbevan ). We're still using CostCo AA GCs, so I have incentive to purchase on AA.com.

Cheers.

nbevan

If you book on another site and there is a schedule change, can you still contact AA directly to make any necessary changes? (BA insist that before departure changes can only be made by the agency that booked the flight.)

brp

This is another reason that I prefer to book on AA.com- the resolution path is clear, and no finger pointing can happen.

One time I did use Expedia a few years back (and it was a married segment issue), we upgraded with SWUs, so AA took over the booking at that point. That was fortunate as a cancelled connector flight meant that we had to be rerouted on a different airline to China. I would shudder to have Expedia handling this.

Cheers.

SSheinfeld

I have collected a number of times on the low fare guarantee usually within 2 hours

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

This is very true. A family relative once purchased a ticket on Expedia, and ran into problems at the airport while traveling in Asia. The airline couldn't help, and she had to call internationally to Expedia to get the problem resolved, and also had to pay some fees. It was something I've never experienced and I used to purchase exclusively from Expedia. It's a lot easier if you can talk to the agent at the counter.

Georgemia

I must be having the worst luck on AA.com. MIA-ORD already seems overpriced, but AA.com is out of control. A recent booking on Orbitz in F on a Monday AM outbound 3/11 and Friday PM 3/15, inbound, booked today was over $1,000 less on Orbitz:


Your Itinerary NOTE: This is not a ticket or electronic receipt
Carrier Flight
Number Departing Arriving Cabin
________________________________________Booking Code Seats Meals
City Date & Time City Date & Time

AMERICAN AIRLINES 2025 MIA Miami Mar 11, 2013 09:00 AM ORD Chicago Mar 11, 2013 11:15 AM First
________________________________________P 5E Breakfast

AMERICAN AIRLINES 832 ORD Chicago Mar 15, 2013 05:30 PM MIA Miami Mar 15, 2013 09:30 PM First
________________________________________F 6B Dinner



Fare Summary
Average Fare per Person - 1957.01 USD
Passenger Type Used in Pricing
Fare per Person
Additional Taxes and Fees per Person
Total Price
1 Adult 1957.01 USD 21.80 USD 1978.81 USD
Total Price 1978.81 USD


versus Orbitz

Airline Ticket(1) $889.80
(Adult: 1)
Car rental
Base rate: $141.07
Taxes and fees $106.08
Total car rental estimate: $247.15
Amount due at booking: $889.80

incognitoMD

Part of the problem that the aa.com fare is way overpriced is because the segment is booking (based on your info) into full fare F on the return. I do see A inventory bookable on aa.com for AA832. Are these the exact same flight numbers that you are booking on orbitz?

jfinsocal

Orbitz must have access to P or A bucket fares on the return. F is $$$$.

jtav559

<redacted>

Ziiiiiiing.

To the OP - Their YeildManagementSoftware (YMS) has so many factors in the calculation that one fare is more than likely, never quite the same as another.

For instance - maybe the route you are interested has a higher rate of early buys (within lets say 120-60 days out) and that drives the price up for people buying the ticket within the 60-21 day window. And the results from that section of buying will determine the price for 21-7 days out. So on and so forth.

Each route has its own qualities that AA tries to use to its advantage to make the most money. Last time I checked, there are in business TO MAKE A PROFIT. Never heard of a non-profit airline before.... Can't exactly fault them for the high fare.

However, their discrepancy between the AA.com price and Expedia should be looked into. Link on AA.com at the bottom of the homepage for the "Low Fare Guarantee" should help ya out.

Dallas49er

Caveat Emptor.

Nihil novi occurrit. Numquid jungimus fila?

JDiver

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Georgemia

Yes the same outbound and inbound flights obviously. Yes Orbitz booked in P fare, but I still get my EQM's. I know there's the Low Price Guarantee that requires me to pay more to book the same flight, argue for hours to get a price match and hopefully get a fare diff refund + $50. Not worth the time for $50 and the chance that I get stuck with the higher fare. While yes if it was a complex itinerary with connections a direct book with AA may avoid an inconvenience, MIA-ORD isn't that complex.

I guess the point is that I trusted AA.com somewhat blindly in the past but now there is something special going on and it is not in the airfare.