AA Around the world desk
 

This post is a work in progress. I will be back to edit it. But by posting it now I'm forcing myself to tell the whole story later.

It is not often that I'm impressed with the assistance I receive planning a trip over the phone.

I've just finished my third conversation with Mark - a specialist at the AA RTW desk. Simply said, he is a Gem. Patient, appreciates knowledgible travelers, works the system, etc. On top of that, the gentleman seems to honestly enjoy helping we crazy types to jointly plan our RTW trips.

I'm not sure who had first brought the AA RTW group to my attention, but THANK YOU http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.
Jenn

ps. This trip is a 4 continent in business. And, after reading some horror stories about flying AA domestically I was concerned about my north american segments. Mark was fully aware of the fact that on a 2 class plane, that means the forward cabin. Seat assignments are already made.

Yes, I have received a wonderful assistance with my OWE planning with MARK at RTW desk. He is courtesous, articulate and knowledgeable on top of being friendly. I wish all RTW desk people had the similar calibar as Mark. I just always wish that when CTO ticket agents call back RTW desk, its MARK who responds. Otherwise, two to three hour delay could take place......

Adding my kudos to this thread on the AA RTW desk. I have been dealing with Mary and Sarah. I cannot adequately express in words how helpful, patient, courteous, friendly, customer oriented and just plain nice these individuals are. Over nearly 40 years of flying I have probably dealt with several thousand airline customer service personnel but none have impressed me nearly as much as these two wonderful AA representatives.

Does anyone have the address of the RTW office at DFW? I would like to send them a small token of my appreciation. Also, other than Don Carty, is their someone I can write at AA to give these individuals the recognition they deserve?

I agree. Mark, Sarah, Jeannie, Robbie, Stan and everyone at the RTW are super agents and VERY helpful

I hope you're all sending letters -- not just SOSs! -- to these great folks. I surely will as soon as my RTW planning gets off the ground...

Does anyone know the fax number of the AA RTW desk?

Next time I make a booking I would like to fax them an itinerary.

Also, if my first "over the water" segment is with CX or BA, will AA still take my booking?

Yes you can use AA even if your 1st segment is not AA. I start my RTW from CPT next month on BA. No problems, except that any issues related to routing, etc must be done by them, not the other OW carriers. The fax number is 817-931-8737. I fax'ed my itinerary on 29-Jan at 4pm EST and by 7pm there was an e-mail with all of the flights booked. The next day I went to the city ticket office in DC and the wrote up the ticket for pickup on 31-Jan, all before the big price increase.

Let me add to this thread that Mary (and all the colleagues I have spoken to), are just SUPERB. Yes, I really mean SUPERB - helpul, informed, communicative.
Please send them VIP certs if you have them as I think AA needs to know what a valuable resource they are.
When I had a problem with LanChile, they sorted it out, told me what was going on, and what they had done to fix it.
When I had returned my ticket for re-issue, and then asked about two extra sectors, they held the re-write so I'd only have to pay one $75 fee. What service!
It is a long time since I found people this helpful at any airline - it's UA in London used to be 15 years ago.

[This message has been edited by Markie (edited 03-16-2002).]

I guess I have been unlucky with the AA RTW desk! On Feb 10th, I booked a fairly involved AONE3 RTW itinerary originating in GIB. I received the itinerary by fax from the RTW desk and called them for a quote and received $4700 approx incl. taxes which was about right at the existing currency conversion rate for the Gibraltar Pound. I reviewed my itinerary and called a few minutes later to have the ticket issued and gave them my credit card number. Before a final charge to my credit card AA RTW asked me to confirm the amount as $7200!! I talked to a number of people there but no luck. I had to abandon the itinerary as it made no sense at that price.

Care to share the itinerary with us? Maybe we can see what caused the fare to be increased. I suspect that the initial quote you received from the AA RTW Desk was for the basic AOWE3 fare but after the rate group reviewed your itinerary they decided it did not qualify for the AOWE3.

Sure! Here is the itinerary that was faxed to me:

GIB BA
x(LGW)
x LHR BA
o MCT BA
x LHR BA
o JFK AA
o STT AA
x JFK CX
o YVR AA
x DFW AA
o ANC AA
x DFW AA
x(LGA)
o JFK CX
x HKG CX
o NRT CX
x HKG CX
o DEL CX
x HKG CX
o BOM BA
x LHR BA
x(LGW)
GIB

I hope this is clear!


[This message has been edited by satish_ny (edited 03-19-2002).]

Interesting. I sure don't see how the got to US$7200 with that itinerary. I do understand how it escalted over the original quote as you have an added segment in NA (7) and Asia (5) over the amount allowed in the basic fare. That would only add a little less than US$1000 to the US$4700 original quote. Even with taxes and fees, the total should have come in around US$6000, not US$7200.

Did you ask the RTW desk rep what they were using for a fare basis? It looks like they might have been charging you for a AONE4 plus the extra 2 segments. Speculating, maybe the rate desk thought, incorrectly, that MCT was Africa or STT was SA.

Base Fare GIB Pounds 3299 = US$4650 + addl seg in Asia 'D' Class = $350 + addl seg in NA 'D' class = $350 +taxes $345 = $5695. No way is $7200. They did not want to explain it they just said base fare is OK but with taxes and extra segments it comes to $7200. It was like take it or leave it!

I am surprised that you are experiencing difficulties. I have been in contact with the RTW desk yesterday and today with excellent service. I found an ambiguity in the wording of the fare rules that once the agent understood what I wanted, she has argued successfully with the tariff's desk in my favor. In fact, I stated that New Zealand and Gibralter were the 'cheap' places to buy a OWE. I have never found these agents to be unwilling to explain the fare rules. There must be something missing in your posts that is causing them to quote you a fare that is higher than expected. If it wasn't such a small office, I would tell you to try another agent but that won't work here.

Well, if you do want to pursue it, call and ask for Mary. She does the "troubleshooting" and might be able to get to the bottom of this for you.

I wish to relate my recent experiences with the RTW desk and second all the praise that has been given. I will refer to the AA employee as agent X, so as not to overwhelm X. Also, I want to avoid a repeat of what happened to a certain EXP desk agent a while back. However, one will know X by the demeanor and service that is rendered.

It all started as a routine inquiry of the rules for my ticketed OWE on Monday morning, especially the limit of 1 trans-con flight in N Am. X gave the standard reply, but I said that is not what is printed in the rules. No go. Ok, I tried and failed. That would have been the end of the story, except X was intrigued. About 30 minutes later, X called and said that I was right, but I should act quickly before the tariffs desk changed the rules. So I faxed my revisions, and was called back saying that X had received my fax and would begin working on it right away. Note that X was going to support the traveler not AA in the interpretation. I had work obligations for the rest of the day, but X told me to call the desk early the next morning and ask for X.

Today, I called as scheduled and X answered. X was going to the tariffs desk that morning. Two hours later X called me at my office and confirmed that tariffs recalculated the fare and the only difference was $26 in taxes and fees. Tariffs wanted to use the new higher fare ex-SA, but X said that is not what the rules say. X informed me that as long as the 1st segment remains unchanged, all of the rules (and fares) in effect at the time that the itinerary was ticketed and paid for are what govern the fare calculation. I told X that I would rush to the DC CTO and have the ticket reissued. X said that was not necessary since all of the recalculations had been done (this is a hand-written ticket). Again I thought that was the end of the transaction. But what happened next is what cemented my praise for the RTW desk.

I told X that I had an award ticket that I was using to fly to S. Africa and had been sent for processing last week. The Aadvantage desk had computer problems with BA computer switch over so no seat assignments were possible. X said no problem, I can do that. That is when I discovered that my reservation showed a coach award code on the LHR-CPT flight, not the business class award code. X had flown once to S. Africa in coach and said, don't do it. It hurts. So X called Aadvantage desk to fix the problem. Sorry, no seats on the LHR-CPT flight, but I could go via Jo’burg with an evening connection to CPT. X said that wasn’t good enough for MY customer. The Aadvantage desk found a coach seat in the morning for Jo’burg to CPT. X said that was OK, since X had been to S. Africa last year and had flown that segment. I told X ok. Next, the Aadvantage desk said that the itinerary change required more FF miles. X said that wasn’t right and again said not good enough for MY customer. Get approval or let me speak to a supervisor. Notice all of the proactive service on my behalf, even for an award ticket that was not X’s department. And X got me the last upper deck seat on the 744 to Jo’burg. After this was all completed, X was kind enough to spend about 5 minutes conversing about OWE, 1st class on airlines, and the Western Cape area of S. Africa. At the end I asked for the RTW address to send X a letter and SOS. X was thrilled. I told X that X was ‘someone special’. No,no. You the customer is special. The attitude of X was that if you treat the customer as someone special, they will come back. How very true. One faux pas on my part. I said that the RTW desk is almost as good as the EXP desk. X would have none of that. The RTW desk is the best. Not having any experience with the EXP desk, I can’t say.

I felt that a specific example of the service that the AA RTW desk provides would support all that has been stated before. By the way, they call themselves the ATW desk. X said the supervisor of the RTW likes ATW better. Flyertalk will call always call it RTW.



[This message has been edited by headinclouds (edited 03-19-2002).]

For those of you who feel that the RTW (or ATW) desk is a key benefit that causes you to fly more AA segments, let the AA brass know. In these days of airline cutbacks this service may be vulnerable. Some supportive letters to AA HQ might make the difference. As I haven't found anyone better to write to, I will be sending off my comments on these folks to Don Carty this week.

With all the posts expressing overwhelming support for the folks at AA RTW, I think I owe it to myself to give them another shot! I will contact them later today and report!