aa.com: “The flight(s) or fare selected is no longer available.” Please modify...
 

I've been seeing a lot of:

Check below for errors:
The flight(s) or fare selected is no longer available. Please modify your request.

on aa.com yesterday and today. I'm just trying to book a simple, international round trip using the Round-Trip search. Multi-city is equally frustrating. It will find flights, price them out, and then tell me that I cannot put the flights I want on hold because...

Price Change Notification


The price of this itinerary has changed since you selected your flight(s).
This happens because seat availability often changes based on demand for a particular flight.

The lowest available total price, including taxes and fees, is now:

And I can never get it to hold. :(

Anyone else experiencing this pesky problem?

yes, it seems to be getting worse and worse. very frustrating.

I've experienced this problem before. I usually call up web services, explain the problem. Depending on the representative, my experience is that they will:

a) make a reservation for you at the higher price
b) make a reservation for you at the higher price and then put a note in to waive the ticketing fee
c) somehow make the reservation for you at the lower price after doing a lot of manual intervention

The reservations they make for you cannot be purchased online -- they will require you to call in to purchase.

Simple international round trip. hmmmmm

I used to get this when trying MRs for no overnight stay .. MSP-DFW-LAX-DFW-MSP where I got to LAX at 8pm and left at like 11:30pm the same night. LAX seemed to be the issue .. I could do it with other cities but not LAX.

If this is a 'normal' trip with a few days of in-destination-city time, sounds like a call to Web Services.

My experience is the same as the OP.

Both searching by price or price & schedule for an international trip I get this same message.

Yup. Happened to me twice last week for BOS-SFO and BOS-SEA itins. Each time price was about $100 higher than originally quoted. Strange how the price never goes down!

Anyways, smells like something fishy is going on? I've remember hearing something last year about pricing strategies on amazon.com and dell.com, where they manipulate the price based on your purchasing history -- I wonder if aa.com is doing the same thing?

To Spiff --- Did you check the fare basis and then see if the bucket was available on EF?

might help to know if it is happening when there is availability in a given bucket or maybe it is happening when say it is at N1 or some other low number of available seats

I use my company system which is a scaled down version of Sabre. I noticed the same problem recently with a "simple" international flight that would not ticket out at the very though it priced it. I removed the SIN / BKK flight and it ticketed. Never had this problem before.

I've experienced this issue on some simple domestic roundtrips this year. I will try to hold or purchase a $250 ticket and get a price change saying the new price is $300. I press hold/purchase to continue with the $300 price and get another message saying the price is now $250. It will go back and forth endlessly. I've cleared the browser session, started fresh and still have the same issue. Solution has been Web Services who always managed to ticket the lower price.

Still giving me the price change notification error....Calling-in?
 

Hi FTers,

I am wondering if there's any of you who recently tried the multi-city search and it came up with the price change notification. I tried to call last night and the web services said they require a fee to make the reservation for us. Also, she added that if you would like to really make that specific reservation ROC-ORD-STL-LAX which breaks into three flights in multi-city search, then the prices are going to be $700 instead of $130! What is really going on here?

My recent booking with multi-city itinerary was a positive one - my price decrease by $100 from the initial hold price.

The question to you is how did you manage to hold the itinerary? I tried the multi-city and some of the flights are on the same day. Did you have the legs booked on different dates?

Search "married segment" here and all will be explained.

Cheers.

Still happening to me...I just ran through the menu of 40 fares AA.com offered me. Only 15 are actually valid and bookable, according to the website.

I was able to select a V fare in economy for 2 weeks from now from SBA to DCA for the bargain price of $2424 r/t. Taxes are not included, however.

Someone needs to buy these cracker-jacks a TRS-80 so they can modernize their systems.

Last week I ran through all the options on an international roundtrip and every one of them came back "unavailable." Funny that it shows up on Travelocity though.

+1

Certain 3rd party online agencies can often times get around married segments when booked multi-city.

American Airlines fares not available on AA.com!
 

“The flight(s) or fare related is no longer available.” This is annoying on third party sites but how can this happen on a carrier’s own site where availability is presumably coming directly from its Sabre host system?

AA.com has to be the worst major carrier site for shopping. Why for example are results spread over four pages? Any meaningful comparison requires additional steps: scroll down and select “View All Results” and then you are ready to sort by price or time. Why not display all the results and allow user to sort by clicking on the column headers?

Speaking of column headers... In the price & schedule display, the column headers “Economy Super Saver”, “Economy Saver” are practically meaningless because they do not refer to consistent attributes. These aren’t Fare Families in the usual (AC, SK, WN) sense. Is there a same day change fee? Will I pay for baggage? Well, it "varies." It varies further depending on AA status. Does it vary depending on OneWorld status? Who knows.

Then there are follow on searches. Look at LAXLGA one ways by price & schedule and then click “Start Over” to look at SANJFK as a possible substitute. Your default search is now round-trip by schedule! I am learning to deal with the eccentricities of AA.com but surely if the point of AA’s disputes with the online agents are to steer traffic to its own site, it could do a better job on AA.com.

I have had the same problem with unavailable fares for the last 2 months. The basic problem is that aa is run by a moron former accountant ceo, Jerry arpey, who never took technology or the Internet seriously.

Fire arpey, save aa.

It's just that simple.

I've been having the problem for months. Fairly recently I encountered this repeatedly over a period of 2 weeks while attempting to book flights DTW-LIM. Various attractive combinations of times would appear but when I clicked on them I got the "no longer available" message. This was whether I searched by price or by schedule. The same flights would appear and then not be available for the entire 2 weeks, so it wasn't a question of flights selling out while I was searching. Finally I simply used multicity search to book the flights.

I agree with the other poster that the web site is simply malfunctioning.

It just might be more basic than that. AA had the first automatized reservation system (using punch cards) called the Reservisor in 1946, which progressed to the Magnetronic Reservisor, sporting a drum-based memory system, in 1952.

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mags/...ht_machine.jpg

Presumably due to a random meeting onboard of C. R. Smith, CEO, and an IBM salesperson by the same last name, AA joined with IBM to develop a new system, the Semi-Automatic Business Environment, SABER (which was based on SAGE, the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment used by USAF / NORAD to track aircraft,) in 1957. (The SAGE A/N-FSQ7 was quite a device - a vacuum tube computer with ferrite core memory, huge and complicated.)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...puter_room.jpg
A/N FSQ-7

http://www.plyojump.com/classes/imag...ation_1960.jpg
1960s SABRE

Since then, basically, layers have been added to that onion (renamed SABRE), and AA's IT system seems unwieldy and tricky (witness two years it took after announcing it that it took to show SWUs in our online accounts). AA has signed a contract with Hewlett Packard to develop an entirely new "next-generation Passenger Service System" named Jetstream <link>. It will be enhanced with availability features AA is buying from ITA Software, an old FT "friend" <link>.

Being first doesn't mean being best later. It's hard to say when Jetstream will become a reality, but the contract and project certainly didn't get initiated because Gerard Arpey is an accountant or a Luddite.

Thanks for the run down. I knew that they were leaders back in the day, but I'm suspicious of promises of a newer/better computer system. California has been building a better state gov't computer network for the last 20 years, and now, hundreds of millions of dollars later, it still doesn't exist. You can't just graft a new network onto a 1960s era mainframe network and expect it to work.

But be that as it may, I've come to the conclusion that what I'm experiencing isn't a bug at all. I think it's deliberate.

Here's the results of my experience looking at summer fares this year (I've tried dozens of itins over the last few months).

There are two different patterns, depending on whether the destination is serviced by nonstops. Example:

SBA-BOS:
I was able to book this route as SBA-LAX-MIA-BOS, or SBA-LAX-BOS for every fare I was offered.

I was NOT able to book fares for SBA-LAX-DFW-BOS, or SBA-LAX-ORD-BOS, except at the very highest fare classes. (Generally, only fares > $600 were bookable)

SBA-MCI:
There is no nonstop service from LAX to MCI. I was able to book SBA-LAX-DFW-MCI fine, for every date I tried.

And the above behavior magically disappears after 9/1. I'm perfectly able to book any fare I'm offered regardless of routing after 9/1. I was perfectly able to book any fare I was offered before April. It was only this summer that I was unable to book any deep discount fare involving a connection between LAX - destination that I'm offered as long as parallel nonstop service exists.

I thought maybe the problem was SBA, but I tried running the above using FAT and Sacramento as the origin cities and they didn't work either. Originating from LAX = no problems.

What does this mean?

* It could be that AA is already getting hosed on Eagle flights to the hubs, so maybe they don't want the business unless it's worth it to them.

* It could be that this is connected to the recent DEQM offers. My problems started exactly when these offers were announced. I never had so much trouble booking on AA in my life. Is it a coincidence that all these problems disappear right when the DEQM promo does?

* It could be that they want to save Eagle seats on these routes because they're holding out for higher revenue pax than the deep discount fares I've been trying to book. SBA flights have *not* been oversold or even full, though.

I am having this problem right now. Looking into a MR on July 3 DFW-SFO-DFW to take advantage of the DEQM promotion (I am a Texas resident but temporarily live in Colorado for work). ITA Matrix shows $319 ai. Booking these flights on AA.com is a nightmare.

Doing the initial search for DFW-SFO RT by Price & Schedule. Several flights are available at the $149 price. Click on the 9:05AM flight, click "Continue": "...flight or fare no longer available." Ok, try the 10:05AM flight. Same thing. Next down the list is the 7:40AM flight. Ok, seems to work.

Now on to the return flight. There are two flights at $148 listed. Click on the 3:35PM.... no longer available. Click on the 5:40PM.... no longer available. So that's both of the $149 flights gone, but even so, the tab at the top shows "Return: Sun Jul 03: From $148" with both fares showing as unavailable, and no $148 flights listed on the other pages.

Ok, I switch to another browser. One where I have never logged into aa.com before and with all cookies cleared. Same thing happens! The $149 fares still show up initially, then disappear upon clicking them! If they're "no longer available" then why do they show up again, only to disappear again?!

Just out of curiosity, have you plugged itin dates for after the DEQM promo ends into the system? When I tried that, I noticed that the problems went away. Not that it helps with our current problem at all, but I'm interested in figuring out what exactly is going on here.

Yes, everything seemed to work when searching for flights on September 3rd (after DEQM expires). On the other hand, I also tried August 7th (DEQM still active) and had no problems with disappearing fares on that date either. So it could just be a close-proximity thing. :confused:

I had the same problem trying to book ticket to Madrid via DFW for Nov. 2011. Which is way after the DEQM ends. I called the EXP desk and was told to use multiple cities, did that and got the ticket, but at a higher price. That same route is still listed online today and then when you try to make the reservation you get the message fare no longer available. Still available using multiple cities, Is AA trying to make more money?

I had the same problem a couple of days ago while trying to book DFW->NRT->HKG and PVG->LAX->DFW. Multi-city search based on price showed exactly what I wanted but became unavailable at the last possible moment, as in after going through all the credit card details and clicking the Finish button. This behavior was consistent and repeatable over several attempts. I finally solved the issue by switching to a search by schedule. However, the fare did end up being $100 more per person. Talking to web services about it, the problem appeared to be with the NRT->HKG segment which was originally showing as a CX codeshare on a JL flight but which only appeared to be bookable as a true JL flight number.

have the same problem
 

trying to book SMF-CNF for December/January.

ALL options on the first two pages of price/schedule will come back as not available any longer. What a joke.

Tried to book on kayak.com. They show the price, but then just link to AA.com where the same problem continues. I guess AA advertises the low prices to come up high in the search on sites like kayak.com. Of course they only angry any possible customer when the advertised fare is not available.

Unlikely. It's just really bad programming between the front end and the database.

Cheers.

none of the fares are available
 

I just went through all 4 pages of offered flights for the return trip Belo Horizonte to Sacramento. NONE of them are available to book, all of them came back as not available.

In general I am a very happy customer of AA, but this is rediculous. I have better things to do than trying to find a fare that is available to purchase.

Peter

I am currently having this problem booking SFO-LAX-SAN. I called web services in and the web services agent told me that I was seeing this "because the fare is no longer available".

She was completely unhelpful and merely found a flight that AA actually was selling and insisted on a $25 ticketing fee even if I was EXP.

Trying to book a flight on AA.com that shows up on ITA and Orbitz as $168. I have some gift cards that I need to clear off, hence the sadistic need to use AA.com

AA.com shows the exact same flights as $377 (but others at $168). If I select the $377 itinerary it says the new price is $168. Great! Until I press continue and it gives me the fare is no longer available but still showing other itineraries at $168. Now if I select one of those, they all disappear and it says "There were no flights that matched your criteria." Really, no flights for SAN-SAT? :confused:

What did they say when you called Web Services about this issue?

I'm having the same problem booking a flight from HNL-SAN over the Christmas Holiday...DealFinder shows a reasonable RT fare of $533, but when I try to purchase I get an error message that the fare is not available! If I try doing a multicity search HNL-LAX-SAN and back, I find a great fare of $350, and of course that errors out too.
How does AA expect to sell seats and retain customers when they make it so difficult for us to give them our money? Ugh!

Had this problem for about a 3-day period SFO-SAO -
it was a relatively last minute work trip and I could never get AA to price out a dang itinerary - it always gave the message "no longer available" - thru clicking all the flights. Same problem each day.

In the end, had to go with *A flights as our funders just needed an itinerary with a price tag on it to approve the flight.Was hoping to make the transition back to OW!

Had the same problem as well last week when I was trying to book a few of my MRs. I could buy/hold OWs at the low price, but not on the RTs. Had to call the EXP desk to manually book the RTs at the lower fare.

I think I am having a slightly different problem to you guys

I am able to complete my booking right up to processing my card transaction, it says it is processing the payment THEN says the flights are unavailable

I am buying LAN flights on AA though, you guys are probably buying AA flights. I called AA and they said (in their own words) AA doesn't sell LAN flights :confused:

After 30 minutes on the phone they were able to book it, but I didn't get to use my gift cards. Oh well, there will be more flights.

I suggest taking a video and posting it on YouTube. This is definitely sloppy programming which transmuted into a deceiving trade practice.

This sort of problem happens to me all the time, no matter what browser, operating system or type of Internet connection I use. Usually, if I wait a few hours and try again, the problem disappears.

In those few situations where the fare is quite low and I want to book the ticket immediately, I will give Web Services a call. Even though I know it won't help, they always make me clear cache and cookies, restart the browser, and try again. Then when that isn't successful, they give it a go themselves. Only when the transaction fails on their own machines will they attempt to make the booking and force the price. It always takes a while.

If it helps, the only "trick" that sometimes helps is to make the booking without being logged in. But that only seems to work some of the time.

None of these till help because, as mentioned, it is a poor programming issue. Their front end and back end systems don't communicate well. In these cases, from what I've been told, the fare really is not available. The front end just takes a while (sometimes a long while) to get the message. So, it reports the fare being available, then the back end says "nope." This simply should not be happening.

I've also had them tell me that it happens more with partner inventory, and they don't get the updates in a timely fashion. Well, your back end knows about this with just one more click, so apparently you do have the information. Why don't you sync your interface and database better? Imagine if a bank did that?

With multi-city, it can be yet a different issue. There are married segment rules that price higher than the individual segments. That's a real fare and shows up that way with a regular booking. When you try multi-city and pick the individual flights, it can show the lower fare, until one tries to price, then it applies the real rules. This one doesn't bug me as much since it only shows up when one is trying to circumvent the real fare. The first one, though, is just very poor.

Cheers.