Sep 8, 2017, 4:48 pm
Last edit by: thorofare
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.
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.
AA "Special Fare" (AA Vacations, TYP, MR, etc.) Questions, EQD, Issues (merged)
Dec 2, 2018, 4:43 pm
#361
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 27
Ok, right, makes sense. So the followup then...was the fare-based earnings accurate to the P fare you actually paid? That is, they didn't try to give you way lower EQD (like the fare got switched to whatever the cheapest econ fare was at the time your SWU cleared) did they? I ask for a really specific reason: on the main thread about P->C EQM glitching there is a theory that when they rebook those they're just grabbing the lowest available fare off the list and applying that as the original fare. Something like that could be a reasonable technical explanation for how something might "stop being special" after SWU.
Dec 2, 2018, 4:58 pm
#362
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: COU
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 499
Well it's supposed to be minus the taxes, so that would explain the $30 or whatever. If they had changed it to a discount-econ fare basis it would be much lower than that.
Dec 2, 2018, 11:32 pm
#363
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 27
Dec 3, 2018, 12:29 pm
#364
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 27
Thanks for all the reply and help, I guess I need to ask my travel agent for all the fare rules when I book in the future.
Dec 7, 2018, 2:16 am
#366
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: GNV
Programs: AA EP (life Gold), Global Entry, TSA Pre-Check, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 392
“To earn AAdvantage® miles when you fly on American and American Eagle flights and codeshare flights operated by other airlines:“
Dec 7, 2018, 12:24 pm
#367
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: Jose Cuervo Gold, Bud Light Platinum, Schwab 401K, VW Bug 2MM
Posts: 1,101
Ok so to clarify I mean that if I go through AA vacations and book a * fare which is operated by JL, with an AA flight number, I should earn distance based EQM/D?
Dec 7, 2018, 12:27 pm
#368
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: GNV
Programs: AA EP (life Gold), Global Entry, TSA Pre-Check, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 392
AA flight number or JL flight number or El Al flight number shouldn't matter.
with partners, your earning is usually distance-based anyhow since AA doesn't have insight to the exact fare details.
EQM is always based on distance (whether full or some %).
Dec 7, 2018, 1:03 pm
#369
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Vail, CO
Programs: AA EXP/1mm, Marriott Titanium/LT Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 626
Flew my first AA Vacations booking last week LAX-LHR in Prem Economy booked as P*. Flight time was changed after booking so it went down to P without the *. SWUs ended up clearing to J. Of course ended up crediting as fare based in C economy. Called in - got a very nice rep but was beyond confused. Eventually credited miles flown as 2x EQMs as was confused about the 20% of distance flown parts even though its pretty black and white. I had him Google "AA Special Fares" to make sure we were looking at the same data. Eventually said they will fix but needs to take time. The call was over 30 min.
Pretty annoyed at what a pain this was - should not be this hard to fix. As the delta in EQDs on fare vs distance is $1300 which is material - especially in regards to the upgrade list - its worth it to fight but still.
Any idea how long I should wait before harassing again? Have a few long haul flights around the holidays I would like the EQM bump on!
Pretty annoyed at what a pain this was - should not be this hard to fix. As the delta in EQDs on fare vs distance is $1300 which is material - especially in regards to the upgrade list - its worth it to fight but still.
Any idea how long I should wait before harassing again? Have a few long haul flights around the holidays I would like the EQM bump on!
Dec 7, 2018, 1:46 pm
#370
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: Jose Cuervo Gold, Bud Light Platinum, Schwab 401K, VW Bug 2MM
Posts: 1,101
* indicates special fare.
AA flight number or JL flight number or El Al flight number shouldn't matter.
with partners, your earning is usually distance-based anyhow since AA doesn't have insight to the exact fare details.
EQM is always based on distance (whether full or some %).
AA flight number or JL flight number or El Al flight number shouldn't matter.
with partners, your earning is usually distance-based anyhow since AA doesn't have insight to the exact fare details.
EQM is always based on distance (whether full or some %).
Dec 7, 2018, 4:59 pm
#371
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Programs: UA Platinum MM; DL Silver; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Hilton Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 24,249
I booked an AA Vacations flight + hotel package on an O* fare. I applied SWUs in both directions and all segments cleared. Unfortunately, three of the four segments including both transpacific long-haul segments posted on the "fare" method, instead of the "distance" method. My suspicion is that, after the SWUs cleared, I was re-ticketed in O, rather than O*.
I emailed AA Vacations Customer Relations ([email protected]) to point out that my flights should have credited on the "distance" method and three days later AA re-posted the three flight segments at issue manually on the "distance" method without further fuss. Pleased with the outcome.
I emailed AA Vacations Customer Relations ([email protected]) to point out that my flights should have credited on the "distance" method and three days later AA re-posted the three flight segments at issue manually on the "distance" method without further fuss. Pleased with the outcome.
Last edited by SAT Lawyer; Dec 7, 2018 at 5:04 pm
Dec 7, 2018, 5:13 pm
#372
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Vail, CO
Programs: AA EXP/1mm, Marriott Titanium/LT Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 626
I booked an AA Vacations flight + hotel package on an O* fare. I applied SWUs in both directions and all segments cleared. Unfortunately, three of the four segments including both transpacific long-haul segments posted on the "fare" method, instead of the "distance" method. My suspicion is that, after the SWUs cleared, I was re-ticketed in O, rather than O*.
I emailed AA Vacations Customer Relations ([email protected]) to point out that my flights should have credited on the "distance" method and three days later AA re-posted the three flight segments at issue manually on the "distance" method without further fuss. Pleased with the outcome.
I emailed AA Vacations Customer Relations ([email protected]) to point out that my flights should have credited on the "distance" method and three days later AA re-posted the three flight segments at issue manually on the "distance" method without further fuss. Pleased with the outcome.
Dec 7, 2018, 9:50 pm
#373
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,551
Quirk on EQD
I found out something I hadn't anticipated. EQD's posted as a percentage of miles flown do NOT reflect a 500-mile minimum.
On a recent trip I flew a 236-mile segment in I*, and it posted as 47 EQD rather than the 100 I had expected. It could have been catastrophic because it left me 11 EQD short of the next tier, but I have credit card dollars posting next week.
On a recent trip I flew a 236-mile segment in I*, and it posted as 47 EQD rather than the 100 I had expected. It could have been catastrophic because it left me 11 EQD short of the next tier, but I have credit card dollars posting next week.
Dec 8, 2018, 1:34 am
#374
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: GNV
Programs: AA EP (life Gold), Global Entry, TSA Pre-Check, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 392
It's a very well-known issue. This FT community knows it, AAdvantage knows it, etc. You *should* have confidence that if this happens, it will get resolved.
Dec 12, 2018, 8:05 am
#375
Join Date: Aug 2003
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 466
AA Vacation Fare: less hotel nights?
Is it possible to Book an AA Vacation, Airfare and Hotel ... and have the HOTEL DATES for less days that the TRAVEL dates (FOR AIRFARE)
IE: Air Travel 3/4 - 3/10
Hotel: 3/4 - 3/6 (3 nights)
Is this possible?
IE: Air Travel 3/4 - 3/10
Hotel: 3/4 - 3/6 (3 nights)
Is this possible?