Basic question about changing itinerary/flights
 

I made a reservation on aa.com for my family recently that I am considering changing. When logging into my account & looking up the reservation by the record locator, I am able to bring it up but don't see an option to change the trip anywhere online. Seems like a basic thing I should be able to do - what am I missing?

Not so basic, I think.

Do you have a fully changeable Flight? If not, a human has to calculate the change fee and any difference between what you paid for the original flight and any difference that might be due for the new flight.

(The Detailed Fare Rules can be seen before you purchase. If they’re different for different segments, generally the most restrictive rules apply.)

That's not really true. There are cases (e.g. some simple domestic roundtrips) where AA.com can calculate and process changes to itineraries without involving a human. I've done this a few times myself and I never purchase fully refundable fares. It will show you the fare difference and change fee before you make the change.

Many other times AA.com can't do this. I'm not sure the rhyme or reason behind which trips it can change and which it can't, but in my experience international trips and/or trips with segments on partner carriers or codeshares can't be changed online.

Perhaps I wasn't being so foolish after all - I was thinking that all of this should have a fairly obvious way of getting done. Generally, I expect to be able to do most things (certainly as regards booking, etc) online. I thought this idea was confirmed after looking at AA's FAQ (quoted below):

>>>
" How do I make changes to my reservation?Expand
You can change your reservation online if your:

• Travel was booked on aa.com or through American Airlines Reservations
• Travel was booked by a travel agent or travel website (may require changes through the original booking source – check with travel agent or the website)
• Travel originates within the U.S.
• Trip isn't an AAdvantage award, booked with a promotional code or part of a group booking
• Have at least 3 hours before your next scheduled flight

You can access your reservation from “My trips/check in” on the homepage or go to "Find reservations". After you retrieve your reservation, look for the “Change trip” option.

Find a reservation

If your reservation doesn’t have the “Change trip” option, contact Reservations.

Contact Reservations "
>>>

I guess I stopped reading at "look for the change trip option". There is no such option on my reservation. It is not a refundable fare, but I wanted to investigate possible changes I might make anyway. Further down it says to contact reservations if there isn't a change trip option. Don't know why some trips should have it and not others.

About needing a human - that is an interesting question. Why shouldn't this be do-able online? How is it any different than doing the original fare search while booking. In this case, I was trying to push my return out by a day or two. So, wouldn't AA's search engine just look for corresponding flight options and substitute my return for them, populating the new fare (+ change fee) in each case?

Anyway it is a moot point. I called reservations, but I have to maintain that this is an awful way to do things. Looking up the exact same flight on a different day took the agent several minutes. What then? Do you execute an elaborate search on the phone, looking for all combinations and layovers and dates one after the other? Can't imagine we do this even today.

Not sure what happened to OP, but when I call AA to make a change, I feed the agent the new flights and it takes the agent about 30 seconds to verify that what I am asking for really is there and is correct. Nothing to look up if you've got the details.

Ticketing is still in the dark ages and many of the rules are still based on paper tickets with flight coupons, even though they are no longer relevant for most.

At least AA can issue a ticket online and in fairly short order. Try BA and you will find the 3-day wait for a ticket maddening.

If the opportunity to make changes isn’t presented, there’s really no option to calling.

Here’s the deal: The AA PSS was designed in the 1950s, based on a US Air Force system to track incoming bombers called Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) (I worked on SAGE a bit). An IBM exec seated by AA CEO C. R. Smith sold him on the mission similarity in 1953. The result was the Semi-Automatic usiness Research Environment (SABRE), trotted out in 1960, now Sabre.

Everything added and modified has added tonwhat today is very dated and klugey software. When AA told us eVip (SWU) we’re going to be shown in our accounts, it took something like 18 months to accomplish! (It turned out to be a good thing, as our eVip validity was extended from one year to the current “remainder of this status year plus the following one”.)

Prior to bankruptcy, AA had an MOU with Hewlett Packard to design an entirely new system called Jetstream. That was cancelled and the parties settled on an agreement in 2012. After the takeover, Doug Parker selected Sabre as the PSS (over available systems like Amadeus, etc.)

Short of it: AA, and of course we, are stuck with an antique. First out doesn’t mean the best or most capable after other competing systems are built. It kind of stinks, but that’s where we are. (I’ve been flying AA, through the good and the bad, since the 1940s. I’ve seen much of this occur.) Think Slow Loris.;)

Thanks for the lesson. Sure is interesting. Of course, I now realize that I could be better prepared before calling in. I also understand that there is no alternative to calling if the online account doesn't show an option to change the trip. The question was pretty much along the lines of ... maybe it is hidden under some sub-menu or remote section of the website that experienced users know of.

By the way, my username has nothing to do with the name Loris (I am male) - I never realized that it would read this way. Long story about how I had a hard time creating an ID on some website ages ago (everything logical being taken) and so I patched some arbitrary name together. The name refers to the Slender Loris (a strange creature - look at an image if you are unfamiliar). Neither am I slender...

I’m slightly familiar with a few of the nocturnal strepsirrhine primates (Lorises) in Asia, including the Slow Loris group; I hope to perhaps see a couple of more early next year, if I’m lucky. :) I didn’t suspect your handle was related to your name; I was merely making a bad pun.

It seriously, it’s a hellishky klugey Passenger Service System (it was down part of yesterday, and as happens when batch processing goes on our accounts were zeroed out), and when there are IROPS / OSO and the phone system is clogged it’s nasty. If you speak another language try one of the other language lines at those times. (See the Wikipost at the top of the page of https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html.)

Also https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html or https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ay-2015-a.html can be useful.

For simple changes, use Twitter. On rare occasion I’ve gone to the airport desk tonget it fixed, and in the old days the CTO (I’m not sure if there are any of those left).

I gravitated to FT because there were things shared here that weren’t documented or published by AA, or weren’t well known. That can reduce frustration sometimes.