AA/US Codeshare Purgatory
 

I fly out of PHX which means most of my flights are on US on first leg. The issue is that a lot of times the US website will not present "competitive" routes that AA flys. For instance: for PHX-GEG US only lists their two direct flights and no AA flights but on the AA side it lists the direct US flights AND several other connecting options. Those connector's are MUCH MUCH cheaper than the direct. Or the only way sometimes to get somewhere now since they have cancelled some direct routes out of PHX in favor of connecting at the hot mess called Ohare or DFW. However booking these inevitably leads to a US metal first leg on AA ticket stock. Which of course means I don't have access to upgrades out at the Platinum time window on that first flight. This is a very common issue, in fact almost all of my recent flights have started on US and ended on AA with AA ticket stock, rendering my upgrade request down to a 24 hour with almost no hope status. Almost eliminating any upgrade advantage of being a preferred member. I will be very happy once the reservation systems are COMBINED, greatly relieving these common issues. I wonder if the brain trust in Dallas understood they are alienating a solid group of long standing supporters in their own hub cities. I bet CLT and PHL travelers are seeing similar problems with the combined AA route network now.

Do you really think AA hasn't figured this out? One might expect they're watching purchasing and routing behaviors to see how to derive a revenue premium, and how much.

Feel better?

Yes, the situation isn't perfect. It is also inevitable some parts of the merger are compromises that don't work out perfectly for us.

The good news is that you only have until October or so until the last flight bearing a US number. I'm sure we will all make it through these dark times until then.

As a PHL flyer, I have yet to take anything but US metal direct to anywhere I needed to go. Any additional AA routes through DFW or ORD from PHL don't price low enough to make up for the added time of connecting (at $100/hr).

I'm taking my first AA codeshare as the initial leg of a YYZ-LGA-BOS trip in 2 weeks FWIW. Maybe I'll come back and rant with you after that trip.

I book my travel on Expedia. They pull up routings that don't show up on either the AA or US sites, often with prices below what I can find on the airline websites themselves.

FWIW, even before the merger I learned that the AA site was selective in what it shows. The Expedia option, for example, has in the past uncovered for me AA-numbered codeshares on other airlines that didn't show up on the AA website.

Hmmm... posting/editing seems to be going wonky.

I wanted to add: On Expedia, I often find the same flights (both AA- and US-operated) sold for the same price on both airlines' ticket stock. So, for example, if I'm flying LGA-MIA-MEX (as I am on my next flight), the same flights pop up with both an AA flight number and a US flight number for the same price. That should solve your immediate problem, no?

(I realize there are lots of people who argue never to book with a third-party TA. I personally have never had a problem and feel that as long as you're a savvy, proactive traveler who knows when to follow up - e.g., if you don't get an email confirming ticket number and itinerary, don't wait until you show up at the airport before asking questions - you should be fine.)

It has been a while since I have had a reason to try, but back in my status seeking mileage run days, I would find flights using the ITA website, none of which would appear on aa.com abbreviated offerings. This was resolved by selecting the advanced search option, either the Price & Schedule or Schedule option under How Do You Want to Search, 50 under Show flight results.

AA ticket stock is NOT the issue with getting upgrades and other benefits. It's the fact that you may be booking codeshare flights, although there have been reported issues of booking mixed itns. AA.com does make finding prime flights a bit difficult and you need to know how to extend the search. Read the other threads about AA/US issues and you will find a lot of suggestions.

Until there is only one ticketing system, we need to continue to think of them as being two different airlines. This should all go away later this year.

I do feel better. I hear the cutover will be early November (thats the GOAL) before busy holiday season. I have seen spreads at up to $400 difference between a full direct and a spartan filled connecting domestic flight. I'm not really ranting as much as lamenting that essentially US is charging a premium for booking with them to "ensure" maximal upgrade possibility. In reality the only thing that matter's upgrade for me now is long haul flights. Otherwise 10F on the 321 is a pretty nice seat!

I would hope. I'm curious about how the data collected now would influence future routing preferences. Of course they do have the benefit of now historically looking back at data on same passenger year over year and get a fuller view of their travel preferences between US and AA.