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AA "Special Fare" (AA Vacations, TYP, MR, etc.) Questions, EQD, Issues (merged)

Old Sep 8, 2017, 4:48 pm
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American Airlines "Special Fares" and EQD Earning

Link to aa.com Special fares: Earning Award Miles and Elite Qualifying Credits


"Special Fares" include some fares sold by other than AA, such as those sold in conjunction with a travel lodging package by AA Vacations, and those purchased with credit card points, such as Thank You Points and Membership Rewards points.

Like oneworld partner (and Alaska Airlines through 31 Dec 2017) fares, these earn Elite Qualifying Dollars based on a percentage of base miles / miles flown / flight distance and the fare class purchased.

Flights booked using Thank You Points, Membership Rewards, etc. where the cardholder is essentially buying your ticket most often are special fares as well.

NOTE: EQD credit varies for "Special Fares" (e.g. AA Vacations), and the chart for those changed on 1 Jan 2019. See here.
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AA "Special Fare" (AA Vacations, TYP, MR, etc.) Questions, EQD, Issues (merged)

Old Apr 8, 2018, 6:50 am
  #196  
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: USA & UK -- AA EXP 3.5MM, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, Avis President's Club
Posts: 6,411
Originally Posted by ckd38
Does anyone know what the Special Fare earning is for Premium Economy? It's showing booking code P* (with the asterisk attached in AA Vacations) but according to the special fare chart, P is first class. Any insight?
You'll get 1.5 EQM per mile flown, and 0.2 EQD per mile flown. There's a special case for full-fare Premium Economy, but it's not worth the mental effort to think about it, because nobody ever buys it.
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Old Apr 8, 2018, 8:24 am
  #197  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 90
Originally Posted by GTITAN
In the chart it is "P" after special fares for travel after May 4, 2017. You may be looking at travel after January 11, 2017. It is a tad confusing.

Safe travels
Wow I totally missed that. The website should definitely have May 4, 2017 as the default on top. Thank you.
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Old Apr 8, 2018, 6:18 pm
  #198  
nrr
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Join Date: Jul 2003
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AA Vacation package, will payment method effect EQD?

On most AA Vacation hotel + flight "deals" AA computes the EQD based on distance.
Right now AA Vacations to lots of European cities will give me a 20,000 mile bonus after the trip is completed.
I priced a Vacation package: $1400 or 52,000 miles + $774 [but based on bonus it will only cost me 32,000 miles]. Will either payment method net me the same EQD?
Side note: $1400 - $774 = $626, so AA Vacations values 52,000 @$626, while AA based on their latest mile sale will sell me 53,000 miles [38,000 + 15,000 bonus] for $1,121].
Am I missing something in my analysis?
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Old Apr 13, 2018, 6:13 am
  #199  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinium
Posts: 1,330
Originally Posted by nrr
On most AA Vacation hotel + flight "deals" AA computes the EQD based on distance.
Right now AA Vacations to lots of European cities will give me a 20,000 mile bonus after the trip is completed.
I priced a Vacation package: $1400 or 52,000 miles + $774 [but based on bonus it will only cost me 32,000 miles]. Will either payment method net me the same EQD?
Side note: $1400 - $774 = $626, so AA Vacations values 52,000 @$626, while AA based on their latest mile sale will sell me 53,000 miles [38,000 + 15,000 bonus] for $1,121].
Am I missing something in my analysis?
Be careful when you use points on a reservation, AFAIK you will not get the 20K bonus when you partially paid with miles.
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Old Apr 13, 2018, 12:50 pm
  #200  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: CID/ORD
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 66
Has anyone had success finding bulk/wholesale tickets booked into B (Basic Economy)? Via any of the CC travel portals or via aavacations.

So far I haven't found any on Chase UR portal. At least the fare rules all lack mention the keywords (wholesale/bulk/tour) and language I used to look for.

Before the expansion of BE fares, used to find bulk fares on discount tickets all the time, which would credit as a Special Fare. Not sure if BE is ever sold as a bulk fare.
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Old Apr 18, 2018, 8:10 am
  #201  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: New England
Programs: UA 1P, Hyatt Diamond, HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,497
Two recent data points:
1. Booked through Amex travel using MR points. The portal did not show any fare.
2. Booked through aa vacation. All flights have * at the time of booking. Sdc one of the segments.

Both posted as fare not by distance.
mediator is online now  
Old Apr 18, 2018, 8:12 am
  #202  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: GNV
Programs: AA EP (life Gold), Global Entry, TSA Pre-Check, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 392
Originally Posted by mediator
Two recent data points:
1. Booked through Amex travel using MR points. The portal did not show any fare.
2. Booked through aa vacation. All flights have * at the time of booking. Sdc one of the segments.

Both posted as fare not by distance.
guessing you're aware but just in case, you can contact AA and have them "fix" this. It's happened to me, contacted AA, and they updated with special fare mileage applied.
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Old Apr 18, 2018, 8:49 am
  #203  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: New England
Programs: UA 1P, Hyatt Diamond, HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,497
Originally Posted by Whodunit68
guessing you're aware but just in case, you can contact AA and have them "fix" this. It's happened to me, contacted AA, and they updated with special fare mileage applied.
Thanks for the advice! I just called AAdvantage and the agent said it took 72hrs for the review.
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Old Apr 18, 2018, 3:05 pm
  #204  
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: AA
Posts: 3
Chase UR Booking Data Point (Different earnings calculations for different segments due to low fare):
Booked 11/15 for flights around 3/1. Was paid with a mix of UR points and cash payment through UR, listed "wholesale" language in ticket terms. Total cash price of $428 per person for a transatlantic open jaw that was partially an AA code share on Iberia metal (MCI-DFW, DFW-CDG; FCO-MAD, MAD-ORD, ORD-MCI), with at least some fare information showing prior to flight (I believe we ended up with the tickets booking into fare code "L" if I recall but can't find confirmation on that right now). End results credited as follows:
  1. Distance credit on MCI-DFW (69 EQD, 500 EQM, 345 RDM)
  2. Fare credit on DFW-CDG (151 EQD, 4,948 EQM, 829 RDM)
  3. Distance credit on FCO-MAD (125 EQD, 829 EQM, 622 RDM)
  4. Fare credit on MAD-ORD (151 EQD, 4,203 EQM, 755 RDM)
  5. Distance credit on ORD-MCI (61 EQD, 500 EQM, 303 RDM) - This flight ended up changing by same day standby, doesn't appear to have impacted crediting.
I appealed once by phone to get special fares, was told all should have actually posted as fare based with likely worse results on EQDs. Appealed again by email with asking for fuller explanation of how different segments qualified as fare or distance and how fares were allocated. Initial email indicated agent had never seen split segment crediting like this and would submit a ticket for follow-up. Follow-up response summarized as follows:
  1. Chase rewards points are not posted based on Special Fare chart.
  2. Eligible fare is $1 with eligible international taxes of $300.
  3. Short legs were pro-rated less than $0.40 of fare so they did not meet the "minimum dollar requirement for Fare based posting", therefore those flights defaulted to distance based crediting.
  4. Transatlantic legs were allocated full international taxes so ~$150 fare each.
My current takeaway: Chase bookings generally are not qualifying as special fares. If you want distance based earnings on a super low "fare" amount ticket (possibly generally even if booked through AA) then you should attempt to include the longest possible "domestic" legs on either side of your "international" trip. Would have been nice to get the TA legs as special fare to complete EQD on a challenge for one party but not planning to pursue further at this point unless someone has any contrary experience/advice.
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Old Apr 19, 2018, 11:05 pm
  #205  
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: ARN,Potomac TRACON
Programs: Cheapest lie-flat available and credit card bestowed hotel elites now, long-time AA EXtraPotato then
Posts: 130
How to check if a ticket is going to be credited as special fare rules through Citi?

Hi,

I wonder if it is possible to find some clues in the fare rules when booking through Citi travel portal to identify a ticket that is going to be credited by a special fare rule (distance-EQD system). Some say search for words like "Wholesale" ,etc yet it came from a 2016 post so I don't know if it still works.

I guess the bottom line is, if the citi portal tickets are eligible for 24 hour free cancellation, I will just book one and ask AA desk to confirm...
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Old Apr 20, 2018, 7:34 am
  #206  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Programs: Honors Diamond; AA Ex Plat; AS MVP 75K
Posts: 225
Based on reading through this thread and the Wiki, which says most credit card portal bookings qualify, seems incorrect. I know there probably isn't a surefire answer anywhere though. I'm still struggling to determine whether a Citi TY booking using (one) point to ensure a mix of cash and points will post as special. The fare information is all well displayed on AA(dot)com making me think it will post as fare based.

How come there isn't a way to see the earnings of a flight after booking like there is during an AA booking? (probably rhetorical, alas)
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Old Apr 20, 2018, 9:48 am
  #207  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinium
Posts: 1,330
Originally Posted by wylerkip
Chase UR Booking Data Point (Different earnings calculations for different segments due to low fare):
Booked 11/15 for flights around 3/1. Was paid with a mix of UR points and cash payment through UR, listed "wholesale" language in ticket terms. Total cash price of $428 per person for a transatlantic open jaw that was partially an AA code share on Iberia metal (MCI-DFW, DFW-CDG; FCO-MAD, MAD-ORD, ORD-MCI), with at least some fare information showing prior to flight (I believe we ended up with the tickets booking into fare code "L" if I recall but can't find confirmation on that right now). End results credited as follows:
  1. Distance credit on MCI-DFW (69 EQD, 500 EQM, 345 RDM)
  2. Fare credit on DFW-CDG (151 EQD, 4,948 EQM, 829 RDM)
  3. Distance credit on FCO-MAD (125 EQD, 829 EQM, 622 RDM)
  4. Fare credit on MAD-ORD (151 EQD, 4,203 EQM, 755 RDM)
  5. Distance credit on ORD-MCI (61 EQD, 500 EQM, 303 RDM) - This flight ended up changing by same day standby, doesn't appear to have impacted crediting.
I appealed once by phone to get special fares, was told all should have actually posted as fare based with likely worse results on EQDs. Appealed again by email with asking for fuller explanation of how different segments qualified as fare or distance and how fares were allocated. Initial email indicated agent had never seen split segment crediting like this and would submit a ticket for follow-up. Follow-up response summarized as follows:
  1. Chase rewards points are not posted based on Special Fare chart.
  2. Eligible fare is $1 with eligible international taxes of $300.
  3. Short legs were pro-rated less than $0.40 of fare so they did not meet the "minimum dollar requirement for Fare based posting", therefore those flights defaulted to distance based crediting.
  4. Transatlantic legs were allocated full international taxes so ~$150 fare each.
My current takeaway: Chase bookings generally are not qualifying as special fares. If you want distance based earnings on a super low "fare" amount ticket (possibly generally even if booked through AA) then you should attempt to include the longest possible "domestic" legs on either side of your "international" trip. Would have been nice to get the TA legs as special fare to complete EQD on a challenge for one party but not planning to pursue further at this point unless someone has any contrary experience/advice.
Did you check the wholesale language for each segment?
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Old Apr 23, 2018, 9:04 pm
  #208  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: New England
Programs: UA 1P, Hyatt Diamond, HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,497
Originally Posted by mediator
Two recent data points:
1. Booked through Amex travel using MR points. The portal did not show any fare.
2. Booked through aa vacation. All flights have * at the time of booking. Sdc one of the segments.

Both posted as fare not by distance.
Update, AA does not believe flights booked through AA vacation is bulk fare. I called AAdvantage to ask for EQD credit by distance not by fare. Here is the AA's response:

"... We show that the correct miles were
posted to the account based on the fare used to purchase the ticket.
Even though these were bought from AA Vacations, it was a published fare
that was purchased. Not all trips purchased from AA Vacations are
special fares and earn based on distance. "

Should I keep trying?
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Old Apr 24, 2018, 1:47 am
  #209  
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,438
Did the fare have an asterisk next to it denoting it to be a special fare?

Not all bookings through AA Vacations credit as distance but do credit by fare as normal
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Old Apr 24, 2018, 5:51 am
  #210  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: GNV
Programs: AA EP (life Gold), Global Entry, TSA Pre-Check, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 392
Originally Posted by mediator
Update, AA does not believe flights booked through AA vacation is bulk fare. I called AAdvantage to ask for EQD credit by distance not by fare. Here is the AA's response:

"... We show that the correct miles were
posted to the account based on the fare used to purchase the ticket.
Even though these were bought from AA Vacations, it was a published fare
that was purchased. Not all trips purchased from AA Vacations are
special fares and earn based on distance. "

Should I keep trying?
You should keep trying if you're correct.
Check your initial email showing your reservation. If it has a * next to the fare code, as Dave mentioned, it's a special fare and should post as %. I had this issue, contacted them, and they fixed it.
Just show it to them and it should solve the issue.
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