AA: wrong EQM after upgrade from Premium Economy
Dec 1, 2017, 8:42 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 120
AA: wrong EQM after upgrade from Premium Economy
Hi,
I recently flew a route on AA which was booked in PE (fare code P). I applied a SWE to fly business. Looking at my account activity, the EQM for that flight appear to be factor 1.0, not 1.5. I also shows fare code C instead of P. I know that the business upgrade fare class is C; but I wasn't aware that applying an SWE will in fact remove any benefit I had from paying the PE upcharge. In other words, if this is normal then paying PE never makes sense when you try to apply an SWE, at least from miles perspective. Is that indeed the case, or should I contact AA?
Thanks!
I recently flew a route on AA which was booked in PE (fare code P). I applied a SWE to fly business. Looking at my account activity, the EQM for that flight appear to be factor 1.0, not 1.5. I also shows fare code C instead of P. I know that the business upgrade fare class is C; but I wasn't aware that applying an SWE will in fact remove any benefit I had from paying the PE upcharge. In other words, if this is normal then paying PE never makes sense when you try to apply an SWE, at least from miles perspective. Is that indeed the case, or should I contact AA?
Thanks!
Dec 1, 2017, 6:20 pm
#2
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Hi,
I recently flew a route on AA which was booked in PE (fare code P). I applied a SWE to fly business. Looking at my account activity, the EQM for that flight appear to be factor 1.0, not 1.5. I also shows fare code C instead of P. I know that the business upgrade fare class is C; but I wasn't aware that applying an SWE will in fact remove any benefit I had from paying the PE upcharge. In other words, if this is normal then paying PE never makes sense when you try to apply an SWE, at least from miles perspective. Is that indeed the case, or should I contact AA?
Thanks!
I recently flew a route on AA which was booked in PE (fare code P). I applied a SWE to fly business. Looking at my account activity, the EQM for that flight appear to be factor 1.0, not 1.5. I also shows fare code C instead of P. I know that the business upgrade fare class is C; but I wasn't aware that applying an SWE will in fact remove any benefit I had from paying the PE upcharge. In other words, if this is normal then paying PE never makes sense when you try to apply an SWE, at least from miles perspective. Is that indeed the case, or should I contact AA?
Thanks!
Dec 1, 2017, 8:44 pm
#3
Join Date: Jun 2004
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 57
This happened to me in September. The AAdvantage support folks can fix it, but it may take several weeks to work through the process.
I believe that when the agents process the systemwide upgrade, the "original" class is changed to economy, leading to the 1.0 multiplier. When you contact AAdvantage support, explain that you paid the PE price because you wanted the 1.5 multiplier and, if possible, provide them with the original ticket purchase (or held reservation) email. In the end, the outcome for me was great.
Sadly, I think that the fact that the same thing has happened to multiple people means that some of AA's IT systems do not know about PE, making this a repeat problem. Good luck.
I believe that when the agents process the systemwide upgrade, the "original" class is changed to economy, leading to the 1.0 multiplier. When you contact AAdvantage support, explain that you paid the PE price because you wanted the 1.5 multiplier and, if possible, provide them with the original ticket purchase (or held reservation) email. In the end, the outcome for me was great.
Sadly, I think that the fact that the same thing has happened to multiple people means that some of AA's IT systems do not know about PE, making this a repeat problem. Good luck.
Dec 5, 2017, 3:37 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 120
To complete the story, it was indeed a mistake and AAdvantage fixed it. It was a pain to get there, as expected. First the agent didn't believe me that it originally was a P fare, but insisted it was O. Then they acknowledged it but only fixed one of the flights. Then, after calling in again and repeating the whole exercise, they now switched the complete flight to P fare, including two domestic legs which don't even offer PE. I'll leave it like that, not a big difference but I'll take it.
Thanks for the advice!
Thanks for the advice!
Feb 2, 2018, 8:34 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 120
Just following up to add that this seems to be a systematic issue. I'm currently on the next PE itinerary to which I again applied a SWU which brought me into fare class C. EQM credit is again showing only for the base milage, no 50% addition for the paid P fare. I'll have to call AA again to get this fixed, but either the mileage entry process is more manual than I'd hope or this is a general problem that always applies to this scenario.
Last edited by matt85; Feb 2, 2018 at 8:44 am
Feb 2, 2018, 9:16 am
#6
Join Date: May 2001
Location: (AA EXP)
Posts: 609
Just had to call in myself. When I used a SWU (round trip), my P fare changed into an L and an N fare on the credit to my account. I did have to call and they had to look at the underlying ticket (not the 'exchanged' ticket which is what initially automatically posted). So they are changing the fare codes on the underlying ticket to get us into C class. Thanks for the post otherwise I wouldn't have even checked!
Last edited by MIAFlyer; Feb 5, 2018 at 6:12 am Reason: edited for clarity as to what actually posted to my account
Feb 5, 2018, 11:18 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 120
Now that my full itinerary has posted at AA.com, I see the same issue for the return flight as well. Both had been upgraded via SWU.
However, I also noticed that the EQD for this itinerary are vastly higher (4x) to the paid fare. Seems like a mistake to me, and probably due to me having to rebook the whole complex thing on the first day due to a small change. Now I'm not sure if the missed out EQM (~ 6,500) justifies AA fixing their EQD error. I'll probably let it sit for now.
However, I also noticed that the EQD for this itinerary are vastly higher (4x) to the paid fare. Seems like a mistake to me, and probably due to me having to rebook the whole complex thing on the first day due to a small change. Now I'm not sure if the missed out EQM (~ 6,500) justifies AA fixing their EQD error. I'll probably let it sit for now.
Feb 5, 2018, 1:07 pm
#9
Join Date: Oct 2008
Programs: AA Plat, National EE, Marriott Plat, HH Gold, SPG Plat
Posts: 401
Now that my full itinerary has posted at AA.com, I see the same issue for the return flight as well. Both had been upgraded via SWU.
However, I also noticed that the EQD for this itinerary are vastly higher (4x) to the paid fare. Seems like a mistake to me, and probably due to me having to rebook the whole complex thing on the first day due to a small change. Now I'm not sure if the missed out EQM (~ 6,500) justifies AA fixing their EQD error. I'll probably let it sit for now.
However, I also noticed that the EQD for this itinerary are vastly higher (4x) to the paid fare. Seems like a mistake to me, and probably due to me having to rebook the whole complex thing on the first day due to a small change. Now I'm not sure if the missed out EQM (~ 6,500) justifies AA fixing their EQD error. I'll probably let it sit for now.
Feb 5, 2018, 1:15 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 120
I'm not exactly sure why, but got counted as approx. $4,500 EQD instead of $1,100 paid. 75% was AA metal, 25% code share. If AA doesn't correct this themselves, I'll give it some time and see if I get closer to status on EQM or EQD first.
The way I see it: I can easily collect additional EQM with a mileage run, but to stock up on EQD tends to become quite expensive.
The way I see it: I can easily collect additional EQM with a mileage run, but to stock up on EQD tends to become quite expensive.
Feb 5, 2018, 4:13 pm
#11
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: WAS/NYC/LON
Programs: AA EXP, HH DIA, Hyatt DIA
Posts: 286
I'm not exactly sure why, but got counted as approx. $4,500 EQD instead of $1,100 paid. 75% was AA metal, 25% code share. If AA doesn't correct this themselves, I'll give it some time and see if I get closer to status on EQM or EQD first.
The way I see it: I can easily collect additional EQM with a mileage run, but to stock up on EQD tends to become quite expensive.
The way I see it: I can easily collect additional EQM with a mileage run, but to stock up on EQD tends to become quite expensive.
Link here: https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...cial-fares.jsp
Feb 7, 2018, 10:48 am
#12
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Austin
Programs: AA EXP +2MM- LT PLT! HH Diamond
Posts: 6,087
Where did you book this fare on? Sometimes, AA fares from 3rd parties are classified as "Special Fares" and have different EQD earnings.
Link here: https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...cial-fares.jsp
Link here: https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...cial-fares.jsp
Feb 7, 2018, 10:56 am
#13
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: New York
Programs: AA, CX, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 1,484
It actually does. You need to use the second table (For travel on or after May 4, 2017), instead of the first. It's strange order and they should use the newest as default.
Feb 7, 2018, 11:09 am
#14
Ambassador: Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 7,390
This got me thinking would it be possible to avoid this issue when the SWU clears call in and during the exchange process ask the agent to ensure that they reticket the exchange in “P” rather than some random coach fare?
I suspect during this process agents generally just reticket in the lowest available coach fare class rather than the original booking class, but seems like they should be able to manually select the appropriate fare class.
I suspect during this process agents generally just reticket in the lowest available coach fare class rather than the original booking class, but seems like they should be able to manually select the appropriate fare class.
Feb 7, 2018, 11:15 am
#15
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Austin
Programs: AA EXP +2MM- LT PLT! HH Diamond
Posts: 6,087