found fare on ITA, now what?
Jul 6, 2005, 1:42 am
#1
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found fare on ITA, now what?
I read the sticky regarding what is and is not appropriate posts on the MR forum, and I think this is appropriate.
My mom is getting a new job in Washington D.C., and since I go to school in Wyoming I thought this would be a great opportunity to get miles. Anyway, my Spring Break is in March and I began looking for fares to go to Philadelphia and D.C., as well as get some extra miles while I'm free. I went to ITA as has been suggested (it is awesome) and I found some nice routings that can get me some extra miles. My plan is this: DEN-PHL-DEN-IAD-DEN. I found the following on ITA: DEN-ORD-PHL-ORD-DEN-LAX-IAD-STL-DEN. I have the booking details (fare codes, such as "AA DENPHL NRH21XVN fare").
My question is, with these fare codes in hand, can I call AA reservations and give them the fare codes, then they will book those flights for me? If not, how do I book the flights that showed up on ITA?
I greatly appreciate all of your help.
My mom is getting a new job in Washington D.C., and since I go to school in Wyoming I thought this would be a great opportunity to get miles. Anyway, my Spring Break is in March and I began looking for fares to go to Philadelphia and D.C., as well as get some extra miles while I'm free. I went to ITA as has been suggested (it is awesome) and I found some nice routings that can get me some extra miles. My plan is this: DEN-PHL-DEN-IAD-DEN. I found the following on ITA: DEN-ORD-PHL-ORD-DEN-LAX-IAD-STL-DEN. I have the booking details (fare codes, such as "AA DENPHL NRH21XVN fare").
My question is, with these fare codes in hand, can I call AA reservations and give them the fare codes, then they will book those flights for me? If not, how do I book the flights that showed up on ITA?
I greatly appreciate all of your help.
Jul 6, 2005, 4:24 am
#2
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Give Orbitz a try - see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=449845
Jul 6, 2005, 6:09 am
#3
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AApokes08,
On United, I call and give the fare codes to the agent.... and a few minutes later I have the flights I want. I just did that with a 10 segment run this past weekend.
Hopefully, AA would do the same thing. It may be your only option depending on how many segments you are trying to book.
GOOD LUCK!
William
On United, I call and give the fare codes to the agent.... and a few minutes later I have the flights I want. I just did that with a 10 segment run this past weekend.
Hopefully, AA would do the same thing. It may be your only option depending on how many segments you are trying to book.
GOOD LUCK!
William
Jul 6, 2005, 9:35 am
#4
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While you are adding segments, you're really not getting any additional miles for the ORD stopovers (i.e. DEN-ORD-PHL is 9 miles longer than DEN-PHL). I'm not a frequent AA flyer, but I'd imagine if you routed through DFW you'd be able to get more miles than thru ORD.
Jul 6, 2005, 11:50 am
#5
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Originally Posted by fzwinter
While you are adding segments, you're really not getting any additional miles for the ORD stopovers (i.e. DEN-ORD-PHL is 9 miles longer than DEN-PHL). I'm not a frequent AA flyer, but I'd imagine if you routed through DFW you'd be able to get more miles than thru ORD.
Also, for those who choose AA, you can call AA reservations and give them the fare codes from ITA and they will book the flights for you. But you do have to pay a fee for booking over the phone. Again, thanks for the help.
Jul 6, 2005, 12:11 pm
#6
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Originally Posted by AApokes08
You are right. I called AA and they were able to get those flights for me. But I was able to be routed through DFW each time. So it now looks like this: DEN-DFW-PHL-DFW-DEN-LAX-IAD-DFW-DEN. I will get extra miles (compared to being routed through ORD) for the same price. Again, thanks for the help.
Also, for those who choose AA, you can call AA reservations and give them the fare codes from ITA and they will book the flights for you. But you do have to pay a fee for booking over the phone. Again, thanks for the help.
Also, for those who choose AA, you can call AA reservations and give them the fare codes from ITA and they will book the flights for you. But you do have to pay a fee for booking over the phone. Again, thanks for the help.
Jul 6, 2005, 12:22 pm
#7
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What I usually do is route as many legs as I can on AA.com (ignoring connecting cities like ORD or DFW), and the last leg home in the last field, then place it on hold. Then I call AA.com Web Services to add "adjustments" to my itnerary (w/o purchase). I then go back to "My Reservations" and purchase online. No booking fee, 1000 bonus miles. ^
EDIT: I left out some details...
1) Use the "multi-city" booking feature,
2) Choose by "Schedule" and set number of routes to display at "50", and
3) by picking the exact same flights as on your ITA itinerary, it should price out correctly (sometimes AA.com prices a non-stop/1-stop trip higher when you sort by "Fare").
EDIT: I left out some details...
1) Use the "multi-city" booking feature,
2) Choose by "Schedule" and set number of routes to display at "50", and
3) by picking the exact same flights as on your ITA itinerary, it should price out correctly (sometimes AA.com prices a non-stop/1-stop trip higher when you sort by "Fare").
Last edited by IceTrojan; Jul 6, 2005 at 12:57 pm Reason: For clarity
Jul 6, 2005, 12:51 pm
#8
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Originally Posted by IceTrojan
What I usually do is route as many legs as I can on AA.com (ignoring connecting cities like ORD or DFW), and the last leg home in the last field, then place it on hold. Then I call AA.com Web Services to add "adjustments" to my itnerary (w/o purchase). I then go back to "My Reservations" and purchase online. No booking fee, 1000 bonus miles. ^
Jul 6, 2005, 1:50 pm
#10
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Originally Posted by AApokes08
You are right. I called AA and they were able to get those flights for me. But I was able to be routed through DFW each time. So it now looks like this: DEN-DFW-PHL-DFW-DEN-LAX-IAD-DFW-DEN. I will get extra miles (compared to being routed through ORD) for the same price. Again, thanks for the help.
Also, for those who choose AA, you can call AA reservations and give them the fare codes from ITA and they will book the flights for you. But you do have to pay a fee for booking over the phone. Again, thanks for the help.
Also, for those who choose AA, you can call AA reservations and give them the fare codes from ITA and they will book the flights for you. But you do have to pay a fee for booking over the phone. Again, thanks for the help.
And the DEN-LAX-IAD part of the routing seems odd. I fly united and they would never let you do that routing, I don't believe. What kind of fare are you looking at on this itin?
Jul 6, 2005, 2:49 pm
#11
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If the fare is available on both legs (DEN-LAX, LAX-IAD) available AA will let him do it. AA let me go RDU-MIA-LAX, even though the AAgent wanted to route me through DFW for obvious reasons. Also allowed me LAX-MIA-DCA, even though there was a direct flight LAX-IAD.
I guess AA allows for creativity ^
I guess AA allows for creativity ^
Jul 6, 2005, 5:20 pm
#12
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Originally Posted by thegingerman
Is this one itinerary? I'm curious how you get to go through DEN in the middle of it even though you're stopping and ending there.
And the DEN-LAX-IAD part of the routing seems odd. I fly united and they would never let you do that routing, I don't believe. What kind of fare are you looking at on this itin?
And the DEN-LAX-IAD part of the routing seems odd. I fly united and they would never let you do that routing, I don't believe. What kind of fare are you looking at on this itin?
went to aa.com and clicked on "multi city"
entered the following information (departure city-arrival city): DEN-PHL
PHL-DEN
DEN-IAD
IAD-DEN
I set the number of flight displays to its maximum setting
then I chose which flight I wanted for each segment
such as for DEN-PHL, I chose DEN-DFW-PHL
for PHL-DEN, I chose PHL-DFW-DEN
for DEN-IAD, I chose DEN-LAX-IAD
for IAD-DEN, I chose IAD-DFW-DEN (or I could have chose IAD-LAX-DEN)
I just played with the settings and I was able to get the flights I wanted for the cheapest price. I did what IceTrojan suggested. AA did allow me to do the routings I chose with no problem on one itenerary. For what I am looking at, I calculate it will get me 9,845 miles (after aa.com bonus) for about $450 (comes out to 4 cents/mile).
But, looking on aa.com now I can be routed through DFW each time (DEN-DFW-PHL-DFW-DEN-DFW-IAD-DFW-DEN) for $375 (will be 8,524 miles with aa.com bonus).