Choose a different flight or fare
Mar 23, 2023, 4:44 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 75
Choose a different flight or fare
I'm trying to book HKT-DFW or HKT-AUS on the AA website. They present me with a calendar of dates and prices, then when I select the lowest prices for the round trip, inevitably I get the "choose a different flight or fare" message except on the most expensive flights. The fare prices keep fluctuating on the lowest price, so I'm wondering if this error goes away at some point if they are indeed adjusting prices, or if this is just a bait and switch showing lower priced fares but not actually having them. This is quite frustrating to say the least. Thanks
Mar 23, 2023, 4:49 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: BLR
Programs: AA - EXP, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, UK - Gold
Posts: 1,223
more likely an IT glitch - if you know the exact flights, an Agent on phone can help you put it together for the price you saw and put it on hold for you to ticket on the web..
Mar 23, 2023, 5:29 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,437
This is an aa.com/IT/fare/cache issue that has been around forever and pops up every now and then, especially with more complex searches involving partners.
You can try piecing the flights together with Google Flights to see if it can combine them for whatever the "real" price is. Otherwise call AA as mentioned, although the "real" price that an agent can book may or may not be whatever aa.com is displaying that errors out.
“Choose a different flight or fare“ message on AA site
You can try piecing the flights together with Google Flights to see if it can combine them for whatever the "real" price is. Otherwise call AA as mentioned, although the "real" price that an agent can book may or may not be whatever aa.com is displaying that errors out.
“Choose a different flight or fare“ message on AA site
Mar 23, 2023, 7:05 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,015
Multi-city searches on Google Flights and ITA Matrix don't look at married segment inventory when combining flights on a single fare component (it only looks at individual flight bucket inventory). This can lead to spurious fare quotes as they should be using married segment inventory when combining segments on one fare component.
Correct one-way fare quote -- V fare based on V5 married segment inventory on flights as seen from EF above.
Bogus fare quote - G fare but no G bucket available on married segments. Note quote below is not composed of separate fares, but a single G3AHZNN1 fare covering both segments.
End result when attempting to purchase the G fare on flights on aa.com.
Correct one-way fare quote -- V fare based on V5 married segment inventory on flights as seen from EF above.
Bogus fare quote - G fare but no G bucket available on married segments. Note quote below is not composed of separate fares, but a single G3AHZNN1 fare covering both segments.
End result when attempting to purchase the G fare on flights on aa.com.
Last edited by xliioper; Mar 23, 2023 at 7:51 am
Mar 23, 2023, 7:57 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 75
As a follow up, I finally managed to get a booking. I don't know if signing up as an AA member helped, but after signing up as a member and then playing around for a few hours, a decent price finally was bookable. HKT-DOH-BOS-DFW It will be a long trip, but this routing was about $1000 cheaper than booking Qatar directly, or using the higher priced options on AA site,
Mar 24, 2023, 12:18 pm
#7
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: ORD/LHR
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K, 1MM, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,218
This is an aa.com/IT/fare/cache issue that has been around forever and pops up every now and then, especially with more complex searches involving partners.
You can try piecing the flights together with Google Flights to see if it can combine them for whatever the "real" price is. Otherwise call AA as mentioned, although the "real" price that an agent can book may or may not be whatever aa.com is displaying that errors out.
“Choose a different flight or fare“ message on AA site
You can try piecing the flights together with Google Flights to see if it can combine them for whatever the "real" price is. Otherwise call AA as mentioned, although the "real" price that an agent can book may or may not be whatever aa.com is displaying that errors out.
“Choose a different flight or fare“ message on AA site
Mar 24, 2023, 12:27 pm
#8
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: New York
Programs: EK Platinum, AA EXP, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,129
Having the same issue for JFK-IST on BA in F. I want to book via AA flight numbers so I can get the proper LPs as per the fare.
Worst case I'm going to try booking via an OTA.
Worst case I'm going to try booking via an OTA.
Mar 24, 2023, 3:48 pm
#9
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: New York
Programs: EK Platinum, AA EXP, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,129
Update, called in and the agent was able to book the flights I wanted at the same price I saw online!
