veeRob

As long as you don't check bags you'll be fine. I've done this 3-4 times in the last few years.

Chucksterace

He could check bags if he wanted to. Since PHL is his first airport in the USA he would need to clear customs and claim his baggage before leaving. He just doesn't recheck it in after.

veeRob

Good point, and I just did this. I was flying back from Australia to LAX and bought my ticket as SYD-LAX-YVR as it was cheaper. Threw away the last leg.

I'm not 100% sure that every airport in the US makes you recheck your bag... I was under the impression that some airports sent your bags right through, but I could be wrong.

Chucksterace

Well when you land in the USA you need to go through customs, and one of the requirements by customs is that you need to have your bag when going through. Maybe there is one or two airports that bypass this but I doubt it.

fuyao

Wrong!

There are a few.
Be careful of IAD, SNN and AUH.
SNN and AUH has "United States border preclearance": link

I might be wrong but IAD has it for flights to Canada, so when you do a HC to Canada you won't be able to pick up your bags at IAD

Chucksterace

Well it should be know SNN or AUH won't work since you aren't going through customs in US.

Zaragoza

You can definitely do this in Philly since I've done it----twice. The first time was a couple of years ago and the second time was just in March. You have to clear customs and walk down a hall where you have two options- exit on the left or walk further to the right to re-check bags. It's that easy. I know that you shouldn't do it so I have done it on rare occasions (I fly enough that I would think they won't notice the two instances) but I know there's always the potential of it being an issue.

Anyhow, I just wanted to say that it can be done!

Duke787

IAD also can be a problem because some flights connecting passengers are sent to the midfield for immigration / customs which prevents you from the standard collection process

bucketlist

Thanks, OP, found two to Prague. Didn't have to reposition. Great find.

AA's site was strange - it mentioned some cheap fares but didn't display any flights with those fares. had to go to Expedia to book.

Cost was a bit more out of MSY, but much cheaper (and less potential grief) than repositioning to a cheaper gateway.

idiosyncrasy

Airfarewatchdog would not shut up about this fare on Twitter. They keep peddling this fare when TFD scooped it first, and now they are asking will AA honor to drum up discussion. Deeply annoyed by them and their stupidity.

PGHflyer

Well, when I booked, it immediately went into a "on request" status that I have never seen.....called this morning and the agent said it "fell out of the ticketing queue" but said he put it back in and should ticket in 20-30 minutes.....this afternoon still in the same on request status so called again and another agent said the ticket was fine and price is guaranteed but just in line for the ticketing desk and to wait another 24 hours after my re-submission this morning before calling again......

Djokison

"On Request" is normal. A reservation that involves flights with partner airlines often can take up to 3 days to ticket.

The problem is, when something goes wrong (like CC being declined), the ticket will stay as "on request." So sometimes a call after 48 hours is a good idea to doublecheck that there are no problems.

Orion

Do these fares show up on Matrix ITA?

desi

If you do this very frequently with the same airline then it can raise falgs otherwise throwing away last leg is not that uncommon.

You have to be bit careful when you are checking bags as bags can travel differently (sometimes when they have been mishandled).

What I do is sweet talk check-in agent into check my bags only up to first stop (including double checking actual sticker t make sure that final destination is not even mentioned)

That way, bags will always arrive at first destination.

Although chances of re-routing decreases significantly once check-in is done, it is always a possibility and during re-routing, you can be put on a different flight that goes directly to your final destination.

In case or EWR/PHL, that is not a big deal but in case of LAX/YVR example that someone mentioned, it could be an inconvenience.

sbm12

Not that I'm aware of. Seems to have disappeared ~4:30pm EDT on Saturday. The base fares now typically have the YQ/YR in them so even though there is still no YQ/YR being charged the total cost is the higher, "normal" rate.