pgppetch

AA.com might not still "have" sale inventory as in offering higher ticket options when searching by lowest fare but that does not not mean the sale inventory is fully gone. I now check availability on ExpertFlyer, hold a higher fare quote from AA.com with flights which still have the sale inventory type, then call AA rez and ask them to check for the sale inventory and rebook into that inventory. AA.com does not always book into the lowest cost inventory. It does get to a point, time being money, that I feel like forgoing the 1k AA.com booking bonus and just booking with Orbitz when they offer an itinerary actually booked into the lowest available inventory instead of the AA.com version of "lowest fare". I'd also rather pay any other sites booking charge than book with the site that I must always question and double check.

CBrokaw

For those of you that were successful with AA's lowest fare guarantee program, what screenshots did you provide? I provided screenshots of every screen until just before purchasing the ticket.

I just wonder why AA.com refused to discuss this matter over the phone and choosing to only communicate via email...

Darren

The one where it asks for your credit card info and the one with the fare rules. I only had to send in one, though, since the others were still verfiable on expedia.

The email thing, my guess is that it's a policy to make sure that the workers aren't driven nuts with questions. I am sure they don't have a lot of people in the websales division and if they spend their time answering questions all day then nothing will get done. Email allows them to respond when they have time and not immediately. That's the feeling I have gotten from them because the times I spoke with them have been when they called me back. I have never spoken with anyone directly. And when I did, they asked me to use the form. If it were me, I would resubmit using the form and in the comments note what happened and that you're resubmitting the form. Note that the original request was sent on time and give the autogenerated number that was returned when you submitted the first form so they can look it up in their systems. Be patient for a day or two. If they don't respond, I would raise holy hell at that point but not before.

And, again, photo/fine/superfine on a fax is your friend. It's the difference between sending a fax in black and white versus in greytone.

drtimbo

So, I'll share that I went through all this too. Found a fare from LBB to LAS that was about $25 cheaper in Expedia. I thought it would be a good experiment, so I bought it on AA then filled out the form. I didn't have to send anything in, they just approved it and it took about 15 minutes. Sent me a nice note and everything.

I'm wondering, given the feedback I've seen, if their procedure is to only check Expedia regardless of what you say and then demand proof otherwise.

Thoughts?

stratofortress

I've done this guarantee 7 times. I've never had a problem, and I've only twice had to fax my screenshots. When I went to ticket at the airport, they hadn't ever seen the particular certificates from AA.com, but were all impressed I had racked up $350 in lowest fare guarantees. I love my Austin AAgents. ^

wdwright

Just purchased a XNA - SJC roundtrip for $338 on aa.com and found it on Travelocity for $279.30. Here is the email I received (note that they matched the price minus the $5.00 Travelocity fee).

9/29/05

Dear Mr. Wright,

American Airlines received your Lowest Fare Guarantee Request.

We are pleased to advise you that your Lowest Fare Guarantee request has
been approved.

The fare you submitted, through Travelocity was located and verified.
Since we are able to catch your reservation prior to ticketing the
ticket will be issued for the lower fare of $274.30.

As a result of your approval you will also qualify for USD50.00 travel
voucher for future use on American Airlines/American
Eagle/AmericanConnection.

The transportation voucher for USD50.00 will be sent to the address
provided in your reservation. Please allow 4 - 6 weeks for processing
and receipt of this voucher.

Rest assured that you can always obtain your lowest American Airlines
fare on AA.com.


Sincerely,
Ms. B. Derring
AA.com Web Services
American Airlines, Inc.

ADDENDUM (10/13/05): For the record, I received the $50.00 voucher about 10 days after submitting the claim with AA.

ADDENDUM #2: (11/28/05) Sadly, AA makes a good thing bad. Below is the text of my email to them that sums this up...

I recently was given a $50 travel voucher as part of your Guaranteed Lowest Cost program. I was very disappointed to find that there is no way to redeem this voucher without paying you $10.00. I am accustomed to using your web site for my ticket purchases and you have chosen to provide no means on the web to redeem these vouchers. Indeed, when I asked how to redeem them, I was told to use the web site, put the ticket on hold and then call to redeem the voucher. Using the web site usually means no fees, but not in this case.

When I complained to the person processing the voucher I was told that this is a common complaint that they have passed along to management. A web-based solution was at least a year and a half off, I was told.

It strikes me as a deceptive business practice to advertise a $50 voucher offer and not clearly mention that there is a $10 fee to redeem it. As a loyal customer, I am disappointed by all of this. I think that you can do better.

klawsteve

Here's one more note of success. Placed on hold a SEA-DFW-MIA itinerary at $263 which had climbed to $302 by the time I purchased it. Travelocity still showed the itinerary at $253. Fired off the form and had the positive response in my inbox first thing in the morning. Today the aa.com itinerary has risen to $320 but travelocity is holding at $253.

Here are a couple of additional observations and thoughts on the subject:

For those having problems with saving screenshots, I suggest that you find and install a PDF printer driver. Then print the screen to a PDF which you can later use to fax in. (For that matter you could then edit the PDF and change the competing fare to $1, but I am not recommending that cheat.)

My hunch (I'm no expert) about the philosophy behind the low fare guarantee is that AA is working towards a near future date when all lowest fares will be on aa.com (nearly) without exception and that they are using the low fare guarantee as a tool to track down flaws in the current fare system. Seems there are three common scenarios where a fare will appear lower elsewhere: As mentioned above in the thread, Orbitz or Travelocity acting as a consolidator; Inventory depletion tracked by AA in realtime but which lags in appearing elsewhere; or fare increases posted in realtime on aa.com but which lag in appearing elsewhere. Under this theory, the latter two scenarios are capable of being eliminated.

Each lower fare found elsewhere helps them to track down a hole in the system and hopefully patch it. More lower fares found today mean less will be available tomorrow. Just a hunch.

lesenok

I've always used "Print to a PDF file" option instead to the printer to ensure that I have an undisputed copy that's readable, and sent it to AA as an email attachment...no problems thus far.

BTW, i also save all my online receipts, flight purchases, promo registrations this way in pdf formats. Much more efficient than paper, and less trees too

alamedaguy

This is one thing I have never understood in the discussion of the guarantee. I have never seen two sites price a trip with the exact same fare basis differently. Is that common or even possible? My successes have typically been that aa has the lowest fare in one direction, but not roundtrip. When expedia has both, I have always had luck with aa coming through.

andrzej

Exactly!!!

Why do people have such a hard time understanding this easy concept. The idea is that if site XXX can find Q fares in both directions, but aa.com cannot, aa.com will refund the difference.

Q or whatever fares ALWAYS price out the same, it's just when one site cannot find the available fares the price differs.

As long as it's the same class of service the guarantee should and will work. The fare codes DO NOT HAVE TO MATCH! folks.

Doppy

I have a hard time understanding this "easy concept" because that's not what AA's fine print says. It says the tickets must have the "same fare rules and restrictions."

Same class of service != same fare rules. It can, but typically tickets booked under different fare codes are going to have different rules.

I agree -- it's really easy if AA ignores the rules it's set out and refunds liberally.

SirFlysALot

I always took it to mean if you found a round trip for less anywhere you would get the guarantee. A seat is a seat and AA says you will always fine the lowest fare. If they want me to use them exclusively AA had better produce.

Darren

It just means that you can't get an unrestricted fare and have it matched to a restricted fare. For example, you could not get a K fare, which IIRC allows you to change dates for free but not refund the ticket, and have it matched to an N fare for which all restrictions apply. But you could match an N fare, which as I said has all restrictions, with an O fare that also has all restrictions. They are essentially identical fares but come out of different buckets.

And I think that the guarantee does do a lot for AA. Keep in mind that the people on Flyertalk are not representative of the average flyer on most airlines. Generally, Flyertalkers are much, much more informed, they are willing to spend time to get the best deal, etc. Most people just want to book a flight and move on. By and large, the fares on Expedia (I will just pick on them today) and AA will be identical except for the $5 fee. Having the guarantee gives people a sense of security. It makes people say, "hey, why bother even looking at the other sites. If they're offering this then they must really have the lowest fares." Maybe people will look at Expedia and see that the fares are the same then want to buy on AA for less. Next time they go somewhere, they will go straight to AA and buy it without even looking because of their past experiences. So AA has to give out a few vouchers here and there. All that means is that someone will have to spend out of pocket to get *another* flight. In the grand scheme of things, the vouchers probably cost AA considerably less than $50 and AA gets an eventual benefit from them. They retain a customer and that customer is practically guaranteed to spend more money on AA. Not to mention that you actually have to spend money to get money. In order to get the voucher, you need to buy the ticket, not just find a cheaper fare. So I don't think it's in their interest to screw around with people. I would be surprised if AA issues more than 10 of these a day. For a company doing $20 billion in revenue to quibble about $20,000 in vouchers would be silly. The cost of hiring someone to do the quibbling would be more than $20,000.

Tango

The airlines pay serious money to the online booking companies. Just look at the recent NW BA filing---all of the major online companies (Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia) are listed as creditors that Northwest owes money to--in one case over $60,000,000.

Karen2

I helped my nephew find a cheap fare from DFW to SLC RT. Cheapseats had a fare of $354 with fees and taxes! On AA. www.aa.com had $1050! Same exact flights. We searched the website for a guarantee and found none. Then we called AA and the agent said there is no guarantee! So, he bought from cheapseats. That was an amazing differential. Much too risky to book AA and then find they would not honor the guarantee.