Passmethesickbag

My systemwide upgrade cleared, and I phoned AA. Reticketing reservations made by our horrid corporate travel agent routinely takes half an hour or so, but this time, the agent came back and told me they couldn't do so because of an "incorrect designator" — meaning, if I understood her correctly, that the actual fare was not showing on the ticket (an observation I had already made). She told me that I would not lose my parallel reservation in C, in case I would be able to sort it out with them, but that she would make a note. Travel agent, unsurprisingly, is shrugging their shoulders. Can AA's setup which allows me to hold bookings in different classes for the same flight potentially save my upgrade on the day of travel? My return journey starts from a domestic US airport and connects via an international gateway, if that makes a difference.

ijgordon

I believe the designator is the string of letters in the full fare basis code after the slash "/" sign. It's often used with -UP type fares that are based on an underlying coach fare, with the designator indicating it's for a premium class. I think it's also used to note the corporate discount, here's one from a DL ticket: IFFUS/XB72N (digits changed slightly), with that "XB72N" showing on all DL tickets issued by the corporate TA.

I doubt that really explains your issue, but maybe it sheds some light...

dll

I've had the same situation...purchased a ticket with a travel agent. Processed a J-->F upgrade via systemwide on the phone but they informed me they weren't able to finalize it with the tariff department due to missing fare information. They suggested I wait 3-4 days then try again...that was a month ago. Travel isn't until May and my original J seat is still there, as well as my upgraded seat in F. I'm going to sit tight and am hoping they'll process it later on. If they don't I'm perfectly fine with my J seat assignment...77W and in many ways I prefer the J cabin, but have unused SWUs!

Passmethesickbag

Even though the difference is much greater, for me, as I'm trying to upgrade from Y to J, if the upgrade does go pear shaped I'm also thankful to be on the 77W.

Often1

This may also be a function of the ticket issued by the corporate TA. Some employers choose to purchase bulk or consolidator tickets through a TA program. Those tickets do not have a fare basis or price because the carrier sold them to a third-party, which could be the TA or yet another. That may affect whether the ticket is upgradeable at all.

A starting point here would be to ask the corporate TA for the information. Corporate TA's may be reluctant to discuss all of this with you and that may mean having to deal with your CFO or whoever in your organization handles the TA relationship.

Passmethesickbag

The plot thickens. Received an e-mail from my travel agent notifying me that the economy class segment has disappeared from my record. And indeed it has. But I have not received any e-mail confirming that I have been reticketed (the status shown is "ticketed" with no indication of anything pending), and my SWU also hasn't been pulled from the account. Further, my seat assignments have disappeared from both outbound segments, and when I try to choose seats for them and for the C segment (or any combination thereof), I get the error message "We are experiencing technical difficulties with your seat assignment at this time. Please try again later.". On the other hand, the system now accepts my selection of C meal, which it didn't do before. So I'm really torn — don't want to rock the boat by calling in if the likely outcome is spending an hour on hold and then being irreversibly chucked into coach, if the other option turning up at the airport with a reservation in business but none in coach creates a fait accomplix that may leave them with no other alternative than sending me back in business. On the other hand, I also definitely don't want to do two transatlantic segments in random economy seats. I suspect I'll end up giving it 24 hours and then call anyway, but any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

dkc192

Yes, I'd definitely call to get your situation and ticket cleaned up. The potential downside of doing so is ending up back in coach with a chance of a decent seat assignment. The potential downside of waiting until you get to the airport is, as you pointed out, ending up in lousy coach seats, or worse, missing the flight altogether because the airport agents couldn't reissue the ticket correctly in time.

Often1

This is also consistent with an employer which does have its corporate TA monitor all changes in tickets. While the employer may not care that OP is upgrading, its desire to be in the middle of this is causing a problem.

Passmethesickbag

Thanks! As of this morning, I was able to select seats. So my inclination is not to rock the boat for now, and that if there are any fatal problems with the return, it will be flagged when I check in for the outbound four days earlier.

I'm wondering if I couldn't select seats because it was being reticketed, and they actually found a way of doing so? The SWU still hasn't been pulled but that wouldn't be the first time it's not done until they get around to auditing.

ijgordon

FWIW, I can never select/change seats on AA.com when I book through a travel agent until the reservation is ticketed.