Originally Posted by MikeShores (Post 31363996)

Had a tough one today. Long story short, traveling sunday AUS-DFW-MIA-SJU. I have a remnant paper voucher and saw that the fare difference on the outbound was less than the voucher amount, so I decided to upfare. I called the PPro line and the agent said within 14 days they cannot use a voucher for upfare payment. I mentioned that I had no problem running down to the airport today, but she was firm. I tried the HUCA method. The second agent said there was no way to hold the reservation (so that the fare would still be available when I got to the airport) and no way for her to indicate a voucher payment due to the 14-day window. I tried HUCA one more time, just trying to get the upfare held, to no avail. Off to the airport I went.

The agent at the desk was confused by what I wanted to do, thinking I had held (versus purchased) my ticket in Y and simply wanted to create an all-new ticket in F. I explained the upfare and that I do it on the phone all the time, but she declined to assist. I asked for a supervisor and again they didn't seem to understand upfare. She explained that I could use the voucher to buy 500-mile upgrades, and I chuckled...I have 23 of them, but as a PPro I don't need them. No matter what I said, she kept trying to upGRADE me, and I said no, I want to PAY for first-class, and I want to use the voucher to do so.

Ultimately, she called ticketing (reservations?) and asked, and was then transferred to the PPro help desk, and then to someone else (perhaps system help desk?) The whole process took about an hour and a half, but was able to be completed...no change fee and they didn't charge me the $35 ATO ticketing fee. That said, I have a couple of questions, in the case that I find myself in a similar situation:

1) Is it not possible for the reservations (phone) agent to hold an upfare?
2) Is it not possible for the reservations agent to ticket an upfare, showing the voucher as the payment type and go to the airport same day?
3) Why doesn't the front-line staff understand the difference between upGRADE and upFARE? Is there another term they are more familiar with?
4) What could I have done differently to make this situation easier or less complex?

Originally Posted by ORDbird (Post 31367782)

Hello all -
Apologies in advance if this is a dumb question, but is there a wiki on here that explains how to best utilize EF? I might sign up for it, but haven't really used it before. There are often good bits of info about it in these forums, but I can't recall if there are comprehensive FAQs/tips for it anywhere.

Thanks!

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Originally Posted by USFlyerUS (Post 30479046)

This is correct. There is a $50 charge for AA to take control of a ticket booked by a travel agent. AA has gotten more diligent about assessing this charge, as I too have been charged it recently even though historically I had not been.

Originally Posted by boerne (Post 31600146)

Just reporting, but i upfared 2 AA flights yesterday on the EXP line. Both were purchased by a TA (work requirement) and neither charged the $50. Lucky me? While i had to wait about an hour for a call back the EXP agent was very good and knew just what i wanted to do. She did remark that a lot of people were upfaring earlier this year, compared to the usual December rush for re qualification.

Originally Posted by tfizzle (Post 31602880)

Hmmm, I have never been targeted for an Upfare..... is it just certain routes? does it usually come by email.....?

Originally Posted by tfizzle (Post 31602880)

Hmmm, I have never been targeted for an Upfare..... is it just certain routes? does it usually come by email.....?

Originally Posted by boerne (Post 31603608)

No target, You must request by phoning in. And I looked at my credit card yesterday and no $50, but will check again