Just wondering other than the number quoted on aa.com:
81-3-4550-2111

Is there another number you guys use for AA in NRT as this number is always busy and it takes at least 10 dials before I get through and then have to wait for another 5 minutes. As I am on international roaming at the moment, it type of adds up....

The process is definitely not as smooth as I though compare to CX because the NRT AA people can't make any decisions and any small changes to the itineary have to be sent back to the Tariff department for re-pricing, compare to CX whereby the agent can confirm to be within 1-2 hours any changes in pricing...

I guess you get what u pay for.

I believe you are calling "Mindpearl" in Brisbane.

This hold is also a pain for us in Oz; earlier this month I hung up after 1 hour.

I do generally get through after 30 minutes or so

Last time I spoke to someone I was advised they realize there is a problem and are putting on more staff ...

Who is Mindpearl?

No wonder the agent is not as proficient as the RTW Fare desk.

Is there an alternative way to ask the RTW desk to ticket this at NRT prices?

That is the number I have used in order to confirm ticketing arrangements. My problem has not been so much waiting for an answer as constantly encountering Japanese holidays or some other reason the office is closed. I suggest Skype.

Mindpearl is the general sales agent for AA and CX in South Africa. Not sure how the name arose in this context.

Yes, of course. Set up the itinerary with the AA RTW desk for ticketing in Japan, and limit your discussions with AA in Japan to arranging payment with your credit card. AA in Japan will need to queue it to rates for pricing, but that shouldn't take more than a day or two at the most (time zones and Japanese holidays notwithstanding.) I would strongly urge you not to make itinerary changes once it's gone off for pricing. If you need to make changes, just suck it up and pay for a reissue later, using the US desk.

See this post and the link in it.

Aha. Interesting. Thanks.

I find the agents on the AA NRT reservations line (MindPearl) although are courteous and nice (typical Japanese culture) it can take a while to get things done (eg get pricing confirm, route changes etc..)

Agree best to use the RTW desk to do everything

Just wondering can you ask the RTW desk to call up tarriff (in DUB or whereever they are based) and they can then confirm the pricing and noted in the PNR. That way I don't even need MindPearl to queue it across to tarriff. All I need them to do is to take my CR card details and process it and issue to tix?

It takes some little time to calculate the +++ on an xONEx.

That's why such pricing tasks are "queued" and not done on an ad hoc basis.

Yes they can. I recently set up a LCIR26 through the RTW desk for an itinerary originating in Tokyo, so I had to get it ticketed through the AA NRT office. After calling them a number of times they said they still didn't have the fare sheet yet.

So I called the RTW desk and told them that NRT couldn't ticket it and my booking was only held to the following Sunday. The probably is that the NRT office isn't open on week-ends, so I pushed them to try and get something done. After being put on hold for a while, they said they had contacted the DUB office and that the fare sheet would be ready in 1-2 hours.

So it appears that the RTW desk can speed up the process... at least they could in my case.

But I wonder why it takes so long for AA to calcualate the taxes. I ticketed a LONE4 through a travel agent in Sydney who originally wanted to ticketed it on QF paper. But I told him to ticket it through AA. I gave him my credit card details around 1pm and just told him to charge whatever AA told him it would cost... and by 5pm my e-ticket had be issued.

In contrast my LCIR26 through the RTW desk took nearly 2 days to price and probably would have been longer if I had not pushed them to get it priced quicker.