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)
Jul 11, 2019, 11:46 am
#466
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinium
Posts: 1,334
Jul 11, 2019, 8:46 pm
#468
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: IAH
Programs: UA MM, AA almost MM
Posts: 1,164
there are easier ways to get the spend and EQM than AA vacations, for example booking on BA/IB/QR for a flight, all depends on how much you want to spend. For you can fly 8000 - 10,000 miles r/t on a partner airline in PE/J to earn 2000 EQD and 12000-15,000 eqm. In my opinion, the sweet spot for special fares is premium economy since it starts with 1.5 EQM multiplier and 20% EQD. YOu get that same benefit booking PE with IB/BA.
Jul 11, 2019, 9:37 pm
#469
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Vail, CO
Programs: AA EXP/1mm, Marriott Titanium/LT Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 626
Has anyone had issues booking on AAV recently? Trying to book flight and hotel package to Madrid and have gotten the following every time:
"We are unable to complete your booking. Please call our customer service for assistance at 1-800-489-4810 and provide the booking number located under your itinerary."
I called at one point and they said they prob just cannot confirm the room but I have tried with like 6 hotels and gotten the same thing. Have to think its an IT/system issue - curious if anyone else is seeing the same
"We are unable to complete your booking. Please call our customer service for assistance at 1-800-489-4810 and provide the booking number located under your itinerary."
I called at one point and they said they prob just cannot confirm the room but I have tried with like 6 hotels and gotten the same thing. Have to think its an IT/system issue - curious if anyone else is seeing the same
Jul 11, 2019, 9:55 pm
#470
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
Has anyone had issues booking on AAV recently? Trying to book flight and hotel package to Madrid and have gotten the following every time:
"We are unable to complete your booking. Please call our customer service for assistance at 1-800-489-4810 and provide the booking number located under your itinerary."
I called at one point and they said they prob just cannot confirm the room but I have tried with like 6 hotels and gotten the same thing. Have to think its an IT/system issue - curious if anyone else is seeing the same
"We are unable to complete your booking. Please call our customer service for assistance at 1-800-489-4810 and provide the booking number located under your itinerary."
I called at one point and they said they prob just cannot confirm the room but I have tried with like 6 hotels and gotten the same thing. Have to think its an IT/system issue - curious if anyone else is seeing the same
I have also run into the issue where a hotel room wasn't actually available at the quoted price, but that doesn't sound like it's your issue here.
Jul 11, 2019, 10:50 pm
#471
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: NYC/PHX
Programs: IATA, Sabre, AvgeekAgent
Posts: 1,958
Has anyone had issues booking on AAV recently? Trying to book flight and hotel package to Madrid and have gotten the following every time:
"We are unable to complete your booking. Please call our customer service for assistance at 1-800-489-4810 and provide the booking number located under your itinerary."
I called at one point and they said they prob just cannot confirm the room but I have tried with like 6 hotels and gotten the same thing. Have to think its an IT/system issue - curious if anyone else is seeing the same
"We are unable to complete your booking. Please call our customer service for assistance at 1-800-489-4810 and provide the booking number located under your itinerary."
I called at one point and they said they prob just cannot confirm the room but I have tried with like 6 hotels and gotten the same thing. Have to think its an IT/system issue - curious if anyone else is seeing the same
Jul 12, 2019, 6:20 am
#472
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 1,107
there are easier ways to get the spend and EQM than AA vacations, for example booking on BA/IB/QR for a flight, all depends on how much you want to spend. For you can fly 8000 - 10,000 miles r/t on a partner airline in PE/J to earn 2000 EQD and 12000-15,000 eqm. In my opinion, the sweet spot for special fares is premium economy since it starts with 1.5 EQM multiplier and 20% EQD. YOu get that same benefit booking PE with IB/BA.
Don’t forget to also check the BA Holiday site (similar to AAV) if going this route. They also only require a 3-night hotel to make the deal, so you can really come out ahead on the game crediting to AA. Just watch your fare codes and have the BA chart accessible when looking at flights. I’ve done this several times and it’s worked very well. And no, you are restricted to BA metal, either.
Jul 12, 2019, 9:52 am
#473
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Vail, CO
Programs: AA EXP/1mm, Marriott Titanium/LT Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 626
I have had this happen when trying to book a package with PE flights for clients as well. Many of the PE fares (both published and bulk) are now dual booking class fares, requiring P/W and an economy booking class to be availabile to confirm seats. I suspect that the AA Vacations booking engine struggles with this still to some degree, resulting in phantom availability in search results sometimes.
Have you been able to call and get them to force through?
Jul 12, 2019, 11:10 am
#474
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: NYC/PHX
Programs: IATA, Sabre, AvgeekAgent
Posts: 1,958
AA Vacations help desk does not seem to get the issue. I don't think they have full access to air inventory booking class info (i.e., they are not seeing a Sabre availability display). Usually, the price gets worse. Unless you are in love with the hotel deal you're getting, you are better off with a consolidator fare in most instances if you need Special Fare EQD treatment.
Jul 12, 2019, 6:46 pm
#475
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Vail, CO
Programs: AA EXP/1mm, Marriott Titanium/LT Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 626
AA Vacations help desk does not seem to get the issue. I don't think they have full access to air inventory booking class info (i.e., they are not seeing a Sabre availability display). Usually, the price gets worse. Unless you are in love with the hotel deal you're getting, you are better off with a consolidator fare in most instances if you need Special Fare EQD treatment.
Do you have any other idea of where I could get this done outside of AA Vacations? About to give up and just book via AA.com but figure I would give it one more shot
Jul 12, 2019, 7:03 pm
#476
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: NYC/PHX
Programs: IATA, Sabre, AvgeekAgent
Posts: 1,958
Clients I have booked on consolidator fares have had to call AA customer service for an adjustment when SWUs were used and EQDs did not properly credit.
Sep 6, 2019, 10:31 am
#477
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: IAH
Programs: UA MM, AA almost MM
Posts: 1,164
I recently accepted a bump to a later flights. The new flights were in Y booking class. One of the two legs showed up on my account activity as special fare earning 20% of the distance. Is this normal or will take back the RDM and the EQD?
The other leg is MIA. I will have to request credit for that leg.
The other leg is MIA. I will have to request credit for that leg.
Oct 8, 2019, 5:59 pm
#478
Join Date: May 2018
Location: New York
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 36
I booked a special fare class N on expedia and just applied SWU to the flights. The tickets are LAX-HKG so obviously I want this to code as a special fare distance based but the tickets were “exchanged” and now show a fare class of C. Am I going to still get distance based? Based on AA’s response they say they are unable to calculate estimated earning right now.
How can I ensure I get the special fare distance based?
How can I ensure I get the special fare distance based?
Oct 8, 2019, 6:02 pm
#479
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,533
I booked a special fare class N on expedia and just applied SWU to the flights. The tickets are LAX-HKG so obviously I want this to code as a special fare distance based but the tickets were “exchanged” and now show a fare class of C. Am I going to still get distance based? Based on AA’s response they say they are unable to calculate estimated earning right now.
How can I ensure I get the special fare distance based?
How can I ensure I get the special fare distance based?
If you have documentation that shows Special Fare, you will have something to call them with in case it doesn't post correctly. That's what I like to have as my back-up.
Cheers.
Oct 8, 2019, 6:03 pm
#480
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,138
I booked a special fare class N on expedia and just applied SWU to the flights. The tickets are LAX-HKG so obviously I want this to code as a special fare distance based but the tickets were “exchanged” and now show a fare class of C. Am I going to still get distance based? Based on AA’s response they say they are unable to calculate estimated earning right now.
How can I ensure I get the special fare distance based?
How can I ensure I get the special fare distance based?