Is it okay to book a back-up one-way ticket?
#17
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#19
Join Date: Jun 2012
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not sure how it's against TSA regulations? anyone know of a rule?
#20
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Manhattan Beach, California
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Its a good point about travel agents, they are definitely constrained in this area and so I would be surprised to find a business travel agent who would be willing to book this upfront. That said, omce you have started travel and you change you plans, I have not found AA to be as draconian as some in the thread suggest they might be. I often rebook on a different AA flight with a new ticket when that is more economical (or just plain possible given restrictions in the original RT) and have like another poster above found there are many times when AA will in fact give a (not insignificant) refund to the remainder of the original ticket. Nobody here should be surprised at how often there is a schedule change, delay or other issue that AA deems adequate to trigger a refund.
But a word of caution, even if my TA allowed double booking a return with AA at ticketing time of the original AA RT, i would not do that, I think you are playing with fire doing that.
But a word of caution, even if my TA allowed double booking a return with AA at ticketing time of the original AA RT, i would not do that, I think you are playing with fire doing that.
#23
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: California
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lol
Id fire that travel agent.
Yes, they are following the rules and CYAing... feels like they work for AA and not you....
My TA could keep a return booking 'alive' for a week, no problem- he can always cancel a booked ticket within 24 hrs, so could just keep rolling it along. (Unless your one way has some unique advance purchase) Book, hold, if invetory is there, book again, cancel the old. Rinse and repeat.
My TA knows that if the fit hits the shan, and something rolls back onto his agency, I am good to cover it. Over the years I have never had to cover any issue. So we are both WAY ahead.
Finally, they left out the cost to change the ticket after you fly the outbound and just rebooking the return. As pointed out above, the $75 SDFC is possibly not accurate. They'd be toast in my book. "Let us know what you want to do"??? Right.
Id fire that travel agent.
Yes, they are following the rules and CYAing... feels like they work for AA and not you....
My TA could keep a return booking 'alive' for a week, no problem- he can always cancel a booked ticket within 24 hrs, so could just keep rolling it along. (Unless your one way has some unique advance purchase) Book, hold, if invetory is there, book again, cancel the old. Rinse and repeat.
My TA knows that if the fit hits the shan, and something rolls back onto his agency, I am good to cover it. Over the years I have never had to cover any issue. So we are both WAY ahead.
Finally, they left out the cost to change the ticket after you fly the outbound and just rebooking the return. As pointed out above, the $75 SDFC is possibly not accurate. They'd be toast in my book. "Let us know what you want to do"??? Right.
#24
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Easier said than done when you're a peon in a large corporation that requires business travel to be booked via the corporate TA.
Of course, it's also easier just to expense through whatever the change fee is if the underlying business meeting time changes.
Of course, it's also easier just to expense through whatever the change fee is if the underlying business meeting time changes.
#26
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If it's coming out of your own pocket, I can see why you would want to use the approach of booking a backup ticket.
If it's company paid travel(which I surmise it is due to the company TA intervention), why not just switch it now and let the company incur the change fee/fare difference. You seem to have good justification.
If it's company paid travel(which I surmise it is due to the company TA intervention), why not just switch it now and let the company incur the change fee/fare difference. You seem to have good justification.
#27
Join Date: May 2017
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lol
Id fire that travel agent.
Yes, they are following the rules and CYAing... feels like they work for AA and not you....
My TA could keep a return booking 'alive' for a week, no problem- he can always cancel a booked ticket within 24 hrs, so could just keep rolling it along. (Unless your one way has some unique advance purchase) Book, hold, if invetory is there, book again, cancel the old. Rinse and repeat.
My TA knows that if the fit hits the shan, and something rolls back onto his agency, I am good to cover it. Over the years I have never had to cover any issue. So we are both WAY ahead.
Finally, they left out the cost to change the ticket after you fly the outbound and just rebooking the return. As pointed out above, the $75 SDFC is possibly not accurate. They'd be toast in my book. "Let us know what you want to do"??? Right.
Id fire that travel agent.
Yes, they are following the rules and CYAing... feels like they work for AA and not you....
My TA could keep a return booking 'alive' for a week, no problem- he can always cancel a booked ticket within 24 hrs, so could just keep rolling it along. (Unless your one way has some unique advance purchase) Book, hold, if invetory is there, book again, cancel the old. Rinse and repeat.
My TA knows that if the fit hits the shan, and something rolls back onto his agency, I am good to cover it. Over the years I have never had to cover any issue. So we are both WAY ahead.
Finally, they left out the cost to change the ticket after you fly the outbound and just rebooking the return. As pointed out above, the $75 SDFC is possibly not accurate. They'd be toast in my book. "Let us know what you want to do"??? Right.
#28
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This is called churning and is specifically prohibited by the ADM Memorandum/ Policy of most airlines. If your TA does it very infrequently it won't get picked up by data analytics, but anything more than that and the ratio of tickets issued to inventory put on hold will stand out. AA might investigate, and thereafter debit memo the TA up to the full fare for each instance where inventory was held to "save a fare" for a customer with scarce intention of ticketing.
#29
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#30
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People miss their original flights all the time and buy new tickets not a problem.