pbd456

the best is to call and pay change fee (if applicable) -- which isnt for AA when seat comes out,
there is no point to maintain a waitlist since it seems difficult to sort.

Dave Noble

Many airlines run waiting lists quite effectively - there is nothing difficult about it ; even AA manages to run waiting lists successfully

AA manages it for mileage upgrades and systemwide upgrades

Exec_Plat

Pretty easy: the first person on the WAITLIST (not upgrade list)

(Note- I am not talking about 'upgrade fares'....this is J (or F fares) that would otherwise allow booking straight into the J/F cabin.)

How you "know" anything that AA doesnt publish is a perennial issue....

Why you would pay a 'change fee' when you arent changing a ticket seems very odd.

I can buy a fare Dxxxx ticket say SMF-DFW-LHR... get booked into J for DFW-LHR (in D inventory)...get booked into Y for SMF-DFW, with a waitlist for SMF-DFW (since no D available). It clears (or more likely if revenue management opens D as it gets closer to t-100), I get reseated- NO TICKET REISSUE NEEDED, why pay a change fee? Again, it isnt an upgrade list...its a waitlist

Dave Noble

When rebooking from economy to business, there is a reissue required;

Regardless , there is no reason to pay a chaange fee by AA policy

Exec_Plat

No 'rebooking'. no reissue.

I feel like I am in a twilight zone here- I have had this happen many times... intl J ticket, no inventory in the domestic connections- just take a Y seat and waitlist for F. nothing is ever 'reissued'. For the simple reason the original ticket was issued for a J/F fare!

pbd456

The fare is a J fare, but the eticket is in Y. just because you have a J fare means you can fly in J.

i have first class ticket, i only get to fly business class.

Exec_Plat

Are you discussing ONE SPECIFIC FARE? OP has never clarified his full fare code.

I have no idea what the rest of your words mean....

Dave Noble

If booked in "Y" and then "J" inventory becomes available and an agent then changes the booking to be in "J", then there is a rebooking - changing a booking such that the booking is in "j" rather than "y" is as much a rebooking as any other change. There is no change of fare

If a waitlist is at the gate hoping that there will be space, then that is different

FullFare

Have to comment on this. I had a full Y fare ticket some years ago and wanted to pay up to J---it was LAX-JFK on AA. The AA agent said I would get charged a $200 fee in addition to the fare difference. I thought this was a crock of horse puckey. As loyal as I am to AA, I just got the ticket refunded and booked DL.

DL has never charged me a "change fee" or whatever to "buy up" in fare class. (Have been DM forever). AA was trying to do this on the episode I have cited. Never bothered to try to buy up on an AA ticket again.

Exec_Plat

You are talking nonsense.

You are booked in J, but seated in Y. If the J seat opens and they move me to J, there is no "re-booking".

Changing seats is not a 'rebooking'.

This whole idea that you can upfare with no change fee is true, but has no bearing on this issue.

Exec_Plat

Again, twighlight zone with people that dont know how airline tickets work....

Lets say you are flying A to B to C

You 'book' a fare that is A to C, in J. (Assumptively the fare rules allow connection in B)

Lets further stipulate that AB has no J availability, so you are in Y for A-B, but in J for B-C... (NOT A 'voluntary downgrade', just not seated in the cabin you have purchased.)

DO YOU THINK that A-B is booked in some 'y fare basis' and B-C is then in a J fare basis???????? Such that when inventory opens in A-B, you have to re-book the whole ticket??????

Lets start with the basics here, shall we?

Colin

pbd456

are you earning J miles or Y miles? if the ticket is no re-issued, you are not getting J miles. if it is re-issued, it was rebooked.

pbd456

You bring up another issue. If the ticket is I fare, say I fare HKG CUN HKG with some sectors in Y class due to I = 0. Later on, the sector LAX CLT opens up in I. but the fare is gone. then what?

Dave Noble

Yes - if a person purchased a J afre and then is booked in economy due to it being either an economy only flight or becuase J had zero availability, the booking class that the passenger will be booked in will be Y

If it is a discount business class ticket, the booking class may be a different economy booking class

If the passenger is booked into J, then that passenger is booked in business class

When checking fare details, such as offered on Expert Flyer, there is information on what booking classes may be used

The fare basis will stay the same

e.g. booking a fare basis JRT for A-B-C r/t but J not available from A-B , then ticket will reflect

A-B - Booking class Y Fare Basis JRT
B-C - Booking class J Fare Basis JRT
C-B -Booking class J Fare Basis JRT
B-A - Booking class Y Fare Basis JRT

If J becomes available for A-B , either due to improved availability or due a change of aeroplane that means that J is offered, then can change to J on the A-B by phoning the airline and getting rebooked into J on A-B . Will then be able to select seats in the business class cabin

The ticket will need to be revalidated or reissued ; AA seems not to be in to doing revalidations though