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-   -   How to book full fare J ? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/1924575-how-book-full-fare-j.html)

AlphaTango Aug 10, 2018 7:40 pm

How to book full fare J ?
 
Probably not a common question, but I cannot figure out how to do this on the AA website. I want to book a J fare. Not D. Not I. Full fare J. I want the EQMs and the fare I want is only marginally more than the discounted fare.
I've tried every combination of advanced options, flexible fares, cabin choices ... but I can't get them to appear. I know they exist: the fare buckets are available in EF and I can find them by using "F BC=J" in Matrix.

aa.com just doesn't want to sell it to me.

Any ideas?

FlyingEgghead Aug 10, 2018 7:52 pm

Possibilities:
1. bookwithmatrix.com
2. Phone reservation
3. On AA.com, make (or put on hold if possible) a discounted-fare booking, then call to upfare

AlphaTango Aug 10, 2018 8:11 pm


Originally Posted by FlyingEgghead (Post 30070098)
Possibilities:
1. bookwithmatrix.com
2. Phone reservation
3. On AA.com, make (or put on hold if possible) a discounted-fare booking, then call to upfare

All great, but what I wanted to know was how to get aa.com to sell me a J fare, which doesn't seem possible.

shd9 Aug 10, 2018 8:25 pm

Agreed on above. Creating an AA link using bookwithmatrix.com or ITA powertools should work.

FlyingEgghead Aug 10, 2018 8:30 pm


Originally Posted by AlphaTango (Post 30070126)
All great, but what I wanted to know was how to get aa.com to sell me a J fare, which doesn't seem possible.

Well, if it works, bookwithmatrix.com should open a page on AA.com that sells you that fare (essentially, using an API). True, you aren't finding it using the normal AA.com search features, but it will be just like any other AA.com booking in terms of fees, payment options, etc.

It has long been noted that AA.com doesn't support looking up arbitrary fare classes.

ESpen36 Aug 10, 2018 8:35 pm

I did it recently and had to call AA to book it.

You might be able to choose the itinerary you want, put it on hold, and then call AA to up-fare it to J. Just make sure that the phone agent confirms that the fare basis code is full J....fully changeable and refundable.

Dave Noble Aug 10, 2018 8:47 pm


Originally Posted by AlphaTango (Post 30070126)
All great, but what I wanted to know was how to get aa.com to sell me a J fare, which doesn't seem possible.

Just pick up the telephone and call

Is the price difference actually making the additional EQMs worthwhile?

ijgordon Aug 10, 2018 8:50 pm


Originally Posted by AlphaTango (Post 30070126)
All great, but what I wanted to know was how to get aa.com to sell me a J fare, which doesn't seem possible.

No, that’s not what the title of your post says. :rolleyes:

jfinsocal Aug 10, 2018 9:27 pm

You can call a travel agent.

fotographer Aug 11, 2018 3:51 am

Just give your CC and I will take care of it for you

wjbesh Aug 11, 2018 8:14 am

AA's online interface isn't the best for this, but there's a way to do it (at least sometimes) for J fares, though this won't work for most international first fares (what you'll see is actually an A fare, not an F fare). Assuming that you're looking for full fare business in a 3/4 class cabin and not domestic first in a 2 class cabin which would often be an F fare.

If you search for a flight on AA.com, in the upper left hand side of the results page, there are two boxes, "Lowest Fare" and "Flexible", and "Lowest Fare" is automatically selected whenever you do a search (so the fares you're seeing are discounted business fares under the "Business" column). If you select "Flexible", you'll often see the J fare listed under the "Business Flexible" column that shows up. You can check which fare is selected by continuing with the booking and looking on the "Review and Pay" page after you've selected seats, etc. The "AAdvantage earnings for this trip" section has a link to "Show AAdvantage earnings", in which you can see the fare for the ticket...which should be a J fare.

I only have experience with this for international AA flights, so I'm not 100% sure it's always the same for domestic, but I just ran through a few dummy domestic transcon bookings and it worked for that as well. Although this has worked for me for TATL and TAPC business flights I've taken in the past, I guess it's possible that for whatever reason AA's weak online interface would show a non-J fare under "Flexible Business" for a certain itinerary (though I haven't seen it do that before), at which point I'd just call AA to book as the agents should be able to see all available fares.

AlphaTango Aug 11, 2018 12:07 pm


Originally Posted by Dave Noble (Post 30070178)
Is the price difference actually making the additional EQMs worthwhile?

Absolutely. I'm doing the 35K challenge for EXP - a couple of J fare transcons on flights I was already going to take seemed the easiest way to do it. I'm just after the systemwides for some trips later in the year and next year. The way I see it, this is a couple hundred dollars now to get a load of future benefit.

Thanks everyone for the input: I had no idea about bookwithmatrix. Learn something new every day on FT :)

Dave Noble Aug 11, 2018 2:13 pm


Originally Posted by AlphaTango (Post 30071890)
Absolutely. I'm doing the 35K challenge for EXP - a couple of J fare transcons on flights I was already going to take seemed the easiest way to do it. I'm just after the systemwides for some trips later in the year and next year. The way I see it, this is a couple hundred dollars now to get a load of future benefit.

Thanks everyone for the input: I had no idea about bookwithmatrix. Learn something new every day on FT :)

You are aware of the sort of price difference? it is not a couple of hundred dollars extra

For Example LAX-JFK one way
Lowest business class one way $965 plus tax
Booked in J class $3155 plus tax

There is an F fare (F7AHZNF1 ) which is cheaper at $2934 plus tax

Calchas Aug 11, 2018 2:22 pm


Originally Posted by Dave Noble (Post 30072195)
You are aware of the sort of price difference? it is not a couple of hundred dollars extra

For Example LAX-JFK one way
Lowest business class one way $965 plus tax
Booked in J class $3155 plus tax

There is an F fare (F7AHZNF1 ) which is cheaper at $2934 plus tax

The lower fares may not be available on the flight AlphaTango requires.

AlphaTango Aug 11, 2018 3:02 pm


Originally Posted by Dave Noble (Post 30072195)
You are aware of the sort of price difference? it is not a couple of hundred dollars extra

Yes it is for the route I want. Thanks for your concern though. STS-PHX-PHL. Discount biz D $1018, J: $1320

3x EQM, here I come ;)



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