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Can I buy AA ticket in foreign currency from my country (UK)?

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Can I buy AA ticket in foreign currency from my country (UK)?

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Old Dec 13, 2018, 7:43 am
  #1  
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Can I buy AA ticket in foreign currency from my country (UK)?

Hello,

So I’m looking at booking a multi trip journey with AA for next year, Edinburgh-Ottawa and then Las Vegas-Edinburgh.

on the U.K. site the price is around £800, the US site after conversion is roughly £150 less.

obviousiy I can’t book the Us site prices as my card is registered in the U.K.

i can however seem to get the European prices if I set my location as Italy for example. This again works out at about £150 cheaper.

now my question is this, if I do manage to buy the ticket at this foreign currency price will I have any issues when I come to check in/fly since I didn’t buy them from the U.K. site?

Cheers

NEN

Last edited by NEN86; Dec 13, 2018 at 7:58 am
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Old Dec 13, 2018, 8:39 am
  #2  
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Originally Posted by NEN86
Hello,

So I’m looking at booking a multi trip journey with AA for next year, Edinburgh-Ottawa and then Las Vegas-Edinburgh.

on the U.K. site the price is around £800, the US site after conversion is roughly £150 less.

obviousiy I can’t book the Us site prices as my card is registered in the U.K.

i can however seem to get the European prices if I set my location as Italy for example. This again works out at about £150 cheaper.

now my question is this, if I do manage to buy the ticket at this foreign currency price will I have any issues when I come to check in/fly since I didn’t buy them from the U.K. site?

Cheers

NEN
Absolutely not, no issues, there's no requirement that if you're flying from the UK you must buy the tickets on the UK site, or anything like that.
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Old Dec 13, 2018, 8:41 am
  #3  
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Hi JJeffrey,

Thanks for the reply that's great cheers.
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Old Dec 13, 2018, 8:47 am
  #4  
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Welcome to FlyerTalk.

Your question is a good one, and it has been answered by one of our most knowledgeable (and helpful) members.

As we do not allow cross-posting, your unreplied to question in the Newbie Lounge thread has been redacted.

FlyerTalk offers a lot of resources and information for improving our travel, earning and spending points and miles, etc. We hope you will enjoy and benefit from your membership.

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Old Dec 13, 2018, 10:20 am
  #5  
 
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Originally Posted by NEN86
So I’m looking at booking a multi trip journey with AA for next year, Edinburgh-Ottawa and then Las Vegas-Edinburgh. on the U.K. site the price is around £800, the US site after conversion is roughly £150 less. obviousiy I can’t book the Us site prices as my card is registered in the U.K.
This leaves me with more questions than answers.... What do you mean your card is "registered" in the UK? If it's a debit card then that makes sense but if it's a Visa/Mastercard credit card why can't you buy on the US site?

And more importantly -- I wonder why there's a price difference. The currency conversion rates shouldn't result in a discrepancy that high and usually actually get you a better rate than most banks or credit cards. So I wonder if you're actually getting a different fare from the two sites. I wonder if you're getting a basic economy fare from the non-UK sites or perhaps just a different fare code.

Also, have you tried pricing the third leg Ottawa-Las Vegas in the same booking? You may find a stopover in Ottawa cheaper than booking an open jaw with a separate ticket between them (and sometimes even cheaper than just booking to a place like Ottawa where fares tend to be a bit higher than competitive destinations like Las Vegas).
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Old Dec 13, 2018, 10:32 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by zkzkz
This leaves me with more questions than answers.... What do you mean your card is "registered" in the UK? If it's a debit card then that makes sense but if it's a Visa/Mastercard credit card why can't you buy on the US site?

And more importantly -- I wonder why there's a price difference. The currency conversion rates shouldn't result in a discrepancy that high and usually actually get you a better rate than most banks or credit cards. So I wonder if you're actually getting a different fare from the two sites. I wonder if you're getting a basic economy fare from the non-UK sites or perhaps just a different fare code.

Also, have you tried pricing the third leg Ottawa-Las Vegas in the same booking? You may find a stopover in Ottawa cheaper than booking an open jaw with a separate ticket between them (and sometimes even cheaper than just booking to a place like Ottawa where fares tend to be a bit higher than competitive destinations like Las Vegas).
The aa.com US site requires a billing address in the US. So a credit card with a billing address in the UK or Europe won't work. And airlines can set different airfares depending on the point of sale. It's not uncommon to see different fares depending on the country of purchase.
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Old Dec 13, 2018, 10:34 am
  #7  
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Hello and thanks for the reply.

what I meant by my card is registered in the U.K. is that it’s from a U.K. bank as I live in the U.K. it’s just s visa debit card not a credit card.

it was the same ticket type, I.e. economy( can’t remember what AA call it but the one with the baggage and seat section included).

ill try adding the Ottawa to vegas flights too and see if that makes much of a difference.

thanks for your help👍

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Old Dec 30, 2022, 3:28 pm
  #8  
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No sense in starting a new thread for this since it's the same question. Would this fare be able to be changed fee-free? If you cancel a ticket booked in GBP, does the credit have to be used to the same destination or can it be used to any other country as long as it is paid for in that currency?
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Old Dec 30, 2022, 3:44 pm
  #9  
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Originally Posted by SkyTeam777
No sense in starting a new thread for this since it's the same question. Would this fare be able to be changed fee-free? If you cancel a ticket booked in GBP, does the credit have to be used to the same destination or can it be used to any other country as long as it is paid for in that currency?
If you cancel a non refundable ticket, you will not get anything back. If it is refundable, then you will get a refund back to original form of payment minus any cancellation penalty

From what I can see in fare rules, the Scotland to Canada fares do not have any provision for a credit to be held
Where changes are permitted , then if the new fare is lower than the original, then the difference (minus any change fee) may be given as a credit and , iirc, can be used for departures from countries where the currency applies
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