QueenOfCoach

I am now in Germany (German IP address) and am working with a German friend who has Aadvantage miles. He wants to fly to the US in February and pay the taxes/fees with his Euro currency credit card. I am helping simply because I am familiar with the AA.com website. We thought it would be quick and easy.

We are trying to get him an award ticket. We've tried four times without success.It keeps on kicking us over to the US site, then does not accept his euro credit card. We tried using my US$ credit card, but it kicked us out because the name on the credit card (mine) did not match the name of the Aadvantage miles account holder.

His credit card is good and has plenty of available credit.

Any clue?

Dave Noble

What do you mean it kicks over to the US site? is it at time of paying or just when accessing aa.com

If the latter, just change the country selection at top of page; if the former, I would suggest just phoning up and making the booking

madmexusa

Advantage tickets must be bought on the US site in US$. If you call they can probably process the Euro card for you. I've come across this problem many times as I am based in Spain. Cheers,

QueenOfCoach

Thanks. It's good to know we are not the only ones with this problem. We tried using my US$ credit card at one point, but they rejected it as the name of the Aadvantage account holder must match the name on the credit card.

This is the first time my German friend has tried to redeem Aadvantage miles. He doesn't fly much, except between Germany and Los Angeles. He finally accumulated 48K Aadvantage miles and was ready to use them for his next trip to LA. After four attempts, he gave up and just bought a ticket for cash from Delta. Delta actually had a better connection for him, anyway.

We started from americanairlines.de and clicked "Meilen einlösen" (Redeem miles) and proceeded as usual. At the point of payment, it had "USA" in the "country/region" field for the credit card. We changed it to Germany, and were immediately redirected to the German site (which is exactly where we started) and told we had to start over.

Essentially, AA makes it impossible for a person with only a Euro credit card to redeem Aadvantage miles through their website. Next time, he will know to phone it in. They will probably charge the phone ticketing fee. Grrr. I can't say this guy is all that happy with the Aadvantage program.

QueenOfCoach

It kicks us out at the point of payment when we entered "Germany" as the country/region for his credit card.

1. Start on German site (americanairlines.de)
2. Go through the process of selecting a flight
3. Get to payment of the $178 in fees
4. Change credit card country/region from USA to Germany
5. Get redirected to the German site and told to start again.

Rinse lather repeat.

As I mentioned above, my friend got disgusted after four fruitless attempts and just bought a regular ticket on Delta (with a better connection).

trueblu

I've never redeemed AA miles from the German site...BUT, I have done from the UK site numerous times, so the (implied) assertion that only the US site works is certainly not the case, and my AA account is based in the US, so it's not even a case that the account country and POS need to match. One can also use a foreign credit card on the US site, but of course, the charge will be in US$ so there is the potential for currency transaction charges.

I don't doubt the OP's experience, but I would be very surprised if this is a genuine issue in general.

tb

Dave Noble

I have , in the past redeemed on the AA site, but have also seen the issue that the OP experienced with the AU site (saw it today trying to make a dummy booking). Go to pay for the award and change country on the credit card and it bombs out

JDiver

If it can’t be done online, there should be no charge.

AeRoSpaceman

This a good point that needs to be brought up every so while. For the Big 3 carriers and I imagine LCC's if there is an issue trying to book a ticket online you should NOT be charged anything to do it making a call as you have no other option.

Djokison

Easy fix.

Leave the country on USA instead of changing it to Germany. Pick a random state, and fill in the German address and city. The country doesn’t have to match the cards actual billing address, it’ll still go through.

Dave Noble

It is a fix that will have about 3% cost to customer on most cards. Pay in USD on a card which is based on EUR has commission costs in most cases

Book and pay by phone is cheaper and doesn't take much time

Djokison

I wish calling were easier. Sometimes it goes without a hitch, other times it takes forever for them to process a foreign card.

The 1.75% forex fee is insignificant to me compared to the time saved by not having to call. (Particularly since we’re talking taxes on an award ticket here. On my last trip, $1.40 extra.)

Of course, YMMV.

Dave Noble

Well - a flight orginating London other than in economy - for example - one way will be GBP239 ( assuming no carrier surcharge to pay )

The rate on many cards is more like 3%, so could be an unnecessary GBP7.17 and is reliant on the system not flagging an issue with card country

JonNYC

Goodby cruel airline for him, I guess.

kaku_jinbutsu

I just wanted to second the advice given by Djokison. My credit card is issued by a Japanese bank and billed in JPY, but I have successfully ticketed an AA award flight online in this manner. Best of luck to the OP.