24-hour hold: how reliable?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: Alaska MVP
Posts: 48
24-hour hold: how reliable?
Hey, so I found an incredible price on an AA premium cabin mileage run. I put it on hold yesterday at 4 pm PDT. On the hold page, it says I have until 11:59 PDT on March 24th to buy the ticket - meaning this would be about a 32-hour instead of 24-hour hold. My question is: will they actually hold my ticket until 11:59, or will they only hold it until 4 PM? My credit card doesn't clear for the month until midnight EST tonight, and I'm trying to buy the ticket on next month's statement. It's a good enough price that, if they won't hold the price until then (and when I do a new search, the price of the ticket has gone up $350), I'll just buy it on this month's statement and swallow the extra hit.
So: should I buy now or wait until midnight EST tonight?
So: should I buy now or wait until midnight EST tonight?
#2
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 5,270
Hey, so I found an incredible price on an AA premium cabin mileage run. I put it on hold yesterday at 4 pm PDT. On the hold page, it says I have until 11:59 PDT on March 24th to buy the ticket - meaning this would be about a 32-hour instead of 24-hour hold. My question is: will they actually hold my ticket until 11:59, or will they only hold it until 4 PM? My credit card doesn't clear for the month until midnight EST tonight, and I'm trying to buy the ticket on next month's statement. It's a good enough price that, if they won't hold the price until then (and when I do a new search, the price of the ticket has gone up $350), I'll just buy it on this month's statement and swallow the extra hit.
So: should I buy now or wait until midnight EST tonight?
So: should I buy now or wait until midnight EST tonight?
In seriousness, I think it's always better to lock in an "incredible price" by purchasing (unless you're unsure whether you actually want the flights, which doesn't seem to be the case here). Holds are generally reliable, and do indeed extend to 11:59pm the following day, but can be voided in the case of mistake fares, or sometimes if the fare expires (e.g. in the case of a 14-day advance purchase) before the end of the hold period. Once the flight is actually ticketed, you do have some legal protections against the airline unilaterally cancelling the ticket.
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: Alaska MVP
Posts: 48
Thanks so much for this. The trip is a ways off. I'm quite certain it's not a mistake fare - it's the classic LAX-NYC-PTY-MIA-LAX mileage run (with YVR thrown onto both ends). It's usually available if you play around with enough dates. Unfortunately, I'm time constricted by a wedding, so I can only go on certain dates.
#4
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 5,270
Thanks so much for this. The trip is a ways off. I'm quite certain it's not a mistake fare - it's the classic LAX-NYC-PTY-MIA-LAX mileage run (with YVR thrown onto both ends). It's usually available if you play around with enough dates. Unfortunately, I'm time constricted by a wedding, so I can only go on certain dates.