limeyx

Not sure if I am an idiot or if this is just not possible.

Trying to book flights on AA/Partners from SEA to SIN
AA.com generally shows SEA-LAX-HKG-SIN for 90+% of the flights with the occasional SEA-DFW/ORD-HKG-SIN thrown in for delight

Sometimes you will get SEA-NRT-SIN but there seems to be no way to force a connection through NRT. Cannot do a multi-city since it prevents that for "connecting" flights -- which it wont show me.

I suppose its possible the NRT-based flights are just full most of the time? Or is there some trick to get it to show me these flights ?

SeattleDavid

aa.com shows you the flights it wants you to buy, and surprisingly it shows different flights to corporate travel agents (last three trips I see no availability on aa.com for flights my TA can book and they see no availability for flights I can book!!).

Google flights seems to access a different set of flights again, as it now often shows me flights that aa.com won't, even though aa.com will let me book them if I follow the link from google flights (but not if I try to go back and look for alternatives on aa.com).

These problems seem particularly acute when trying to book Premium Economy. You'd almost think AA don't want to sell their empty seats.

So, the answer to your question is to dig around on google flights and see if you can find what you want there and then follow the link too aa.com.

xliioper

Also would suggest just using Google Flights and set Airlines to American only and Connecting airports to NRT only. Just use the roundtrip search function (don't use multi-city). Obviously, it's not always going to be the cheapest option. But Google Flights shows booking availability on most days as AA codeshares.

limeyx

Ah yeah I see it on google flights. Of course out of my price range
Irritating that they can book stuff on AA that a normal user can't easily do

Thanks for your advice (and to the other poster who said similar)

limeyx

It's funny as google flights seems to ONLY show me the JAL flights and not the AA/CX ones

AlwaysAisle

On Google Flights you can specify airlines and connecting airports, that will make it list more of specific airlines you are seeking.

MathMusic

For super specific routings, I find using ITA matrix to find the flights works best for me. Easy enough to force connecting airports in there.

Stripe

I use ITA matrix, then plug the itinerary into bookwithmatrix.com. It will load the exact itinerary into aa.com, where you can complete the purchase.

SeattleDavid

Google flights tends to only show you the cheaper and shorter flights, even if you ask for longer and more expensive. If the AA flights don't show up, then they are probably zero'd out. An EF subscription becomes useful then.

bo94114

AA/JL have a Joint Venture. AA/CX does not. One would think it would be biased toward the JV. A good Agent/Advisor can usually get you what you need.