donotblink

I don't recall seeing this previously reported, I'm seeing that lower fares on some AA routes on the Amex Travel Website available exclusively to platinum card holders, including business class on premium transcons have a significant discount available online with the cash price, not just the points price...it's advertised as only running through the end of the year--but the T&C say it's good through the end of March, on a random date in March, I'm seeing $416 for a J ticket from JFK to LAX where it's $489 on aa.com

While there has been a discount around for a while, you used to have to call in to incur the $39 ticketing fee or use points on the website. Looks like you can use cash now which is a great win!

This is what it shows on the site:From September 1 – December 31, 2020, Platinum Card® Members can access lower fares on select domestic routes, as indicated by the Recommended Flight notation.

Terms

Discount applies to the base airfare of the ticket/s. All ticket/s are subject to government imposed taxes/fees and airline-imposed fuel/security surcharges/mandatory non-refundable fees. All ticket/s purchased will have all valid fare rules and restrictions apply. Tickets will only be refundable if the ticket purchased is in a refundable fare class. Non-refundable American Express service fee of $39 (per ticket) applies to each ticket purchased through the program and itinerary change on the phone via American Express Travel; this ticketing fee is waived for U.S. Centurion® Members. Tickets are non-transferable or endorsable. Available for U.S. Platinum Charge Card Members and U.S. Centurion® Members only and excludes Platinum Credit Card Members such as Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Card Members who are not also U.S. Platinum Charge Card Members or U.S. Centurion® Members. Fares will display in search results on amextravel.com only if an eligible Card Member is logged into his/her account. Fares are combinable with other promotions available through American Express Travel. Participating domestic routes may be subject to change throughout the offer period and will vary across participating airlines. The discounts are valid for bookings from September 1st 2020 through December 31st 2020 for travel from September 1st 2020 through March 31st 2021.

econ

It's good for flights through March, but you have to book by end of December, as I understand it.

What I am not sure of is the process at AmEx Travel for changing flights. Does anyone know if you can you do it on the website or do you have to call in? If you have to call, do they still charge the $39 ticketing fee?

There were some speculative bookings that I was thinking about making, but if they're charging the ticketing fee I'll just book those direct with AA.

Kacee

AMEX has long offered special fares on AA flights. I got LAX-JFK RT in J in June for $539 (and upgraded to F with SWU).

I mentioned this in the AMEX forum - the savings have to be really substantial for me to consider this, as booking through AMEX Travel means you're booking through Expedia, and that can mean a nightmare if you need to make changes.

platbrownguy

yeah it's $39 + the royal pain of dealing with amex travel agents (who are by far the slowest and worst of all amex people I've ever dealt with)

I book a lot of my tickets on amextravel.com for the 5x points (I have the biz plat card so I don't get 5x booking direct through the airline). I've noticed the lower fares recently but didn't realize it was part of a promotion. DCA-DFW in F for ~$440 RT was an especially good deal.

I will say that for things like IROPS, same day changes, etc., it's never a problem to rebook these through AA (so no $39 fee or hassle for that).

metallo

Agree these fares have been around for a while, but I've never had issues with AA making changes to "Expedia" tickets.

That's been my experience also.

alphaeagle

That's what I'm wondering. I've never had any troubles with booking through an OTA such as Expedia, and then just changing directly with the airline, Though that's always been for "normal" tickets, and not whatever these are considered to be.

I'm hoping by booking one of these, you can just click a cancel/change link on AA.com to make any adjustments or cancel into their new wallet to use later on. Would like verification that it works that way, since otherwise I'd just wait to book anything as I don't want to deal with any hassles.

platbrownguy

No, when I book on amextravel, my AA booking page says something like "you booked elsewhere, contact them for changes." I can still do IROPS and same day via AA, but it's been hit or miss on doing other changes directly via AA. I don't really do that many changes before same day, but I know that more than once I've been told by AA to contact amex etc. Maybe it's a YMMV/HUACA sitch, but still a pain. I avoid amex when the savings are low & I think there's a high likelihood of making changes.

alphaeagle

Thanks for the info. Never did much non-IROPS changes with AA before either but with the free changes and uncertainty for next year, would like to keep the option open. The flights I'm looking at are close to 20% less via AMEX, but sounds like there is a good chance it will be more trouble than it's worth.

VFR

I'm glad this thread popped up again to remind me that this program still exists. Sadly, not anything good out of Boston.

AA can take over a reservation booked by an OTA; they usually charge $50 for the privilege. It's listed on their schedule of optional fees. If the savings are more than $39 or $50 I think it's worth considering.

donotblink

Worth noting the $50 fee is waived for EXP & CK members. As I was saying upthread, you can now ticket (via the expedia powered site, online, without using points) and save the $39 fee!

VFR

Are you sure that's true? The elite benefits page only mentions the ticketing service charge which AA used to charge for issuing tickets over the phone or at the airport, which is now suspended until further notice for everyone.

donotblink

They just did it for me recently on two tickets.

platbrownguy

That's good to know. Convincing AA to take over the res for free still sounds like a potential hassle, but maybe I'll give it a whirl next time the occasion arises.

twoaisleplane

Having used this several times, I would echo 100% what has been said above about making changes to these tickets: if you think there is any chance you will have to change your flight before departure, think long and hard about what your time is worth and whether it balances out the savings. I have had to make a few changes to these tickets, and I have NEVER experienced anything like the slowness and frustration of dealing with the agents at Amex Travel online (whether that is Expedia or whatever). On each call, I was prepared with the exact flight to which I wanted to change -- which has always been the identical route, identical fare amount, identical class of service, and in one case the same flight # just a different day -- and never got off the phone in less than 30-40 minutes. And was left feeling totally exasperated at how complicated it was to switch something that should be able to be accomplished online in 30 seconds.

First there are 2-3 minutes of security verification questions, even though you already had to verify through the automated phone system before being connected to an agent. Then it takes them several minutes to find your reservation, and even though you have told them you want to change the ticket, they insist on verifying every detail of the existing reservation. Then they put you on a 5 minute hold while they review the fare rules to see if changes are allowed -- even though these are tickets purchased post-quarantine on AA, which by definition allow changes. Then you tell them the exact flight number and date you want to switch to, and it inexplicably takes them another 5 minutes to find that flight. They keep saying "I am filtering my search to try to locate that flight". It's unreal. Then they ask if this is the flight you want to change to, you say yes, and they tell you you will be responsible for any difference in fare. You respond, I have looked at this online and there does not appear to be a difference in fare. And the agent will then say "oh, I have not priced it yet. Let me place you a brief 5-7 minute hold while I price this new flight." Finally they come back and say it appears to be an even exchange, would you like to make this change? You confirm, which is followed by a few minutes of fully verifying every detail of the new flight. You think you are done, but no! They then ask to place you on a brief 5 minute hold while they complete the ticketing process. There might be some finishing touches at the end, but I was so spent at that point I couldn't really focus. And then you are told they cannot send you a new email from Amex but they will generate a "share my itinerary" email from aa.com or tripcase.com, which has no fare details. So I am not sure how one has "proof" that it was an even exchange, other than that they never charged your card. And of course the new flight does not appear on the Amex website under "my trips", but another call later to them later in the week (if you have the energy) reveals that their website has been an ongoing problem and many ticketed flights are no longer showing up.

The agents are perfectly nice people, but the systems and procedures they have been given are mind-numbing. And I cannot really see how this helps their overall business, because the extra staffing necessitated by every call with an agent having to take so long seems wildly inefficient. In any event, I am intrigued to read here that AA might take over these tickets -- I'd gladly pay a fee, even though I am ExPlat -- just to avoid this in the future.

Sorry for the long post, this was therapeutic for me to write this down.

shd9

Echoing this post - AMEX Travel is just very difficult to deal with. They seem to have a strange overlay on their system that forces them to re-populate the flights, instead of just adding a flight into the reservation and process the change. I would gladly pay $50 to AA to get a change sorted out - usually I get off the line within 2 minutes for a post-departure date change. And No, this charge being waived for EXP is highly depends on the agent. I think the standard rule is that the telephone booking fee is waived, but the external reservation assistance fee is not.