bedelman

I'm currently in a discussion with the AA Tariff Department about routing rules of an AA fare. Fare is DFR for CDG-SCL.

Here's what I see for routing rules in ExpertFlyer:(Note the period on a blank line at the end of the rules -- that's all verbatim copied from EF.)

Here's what AA Tariff says the rule is (verbatim copying from their email):
Note that AA indicates that the 1000 mile deduction only applies if all travel is on AA within Area 1. The routing at issue includes some non-AA travel within Area 1, so if AA's rule is right, I lose the benefit of the 1000 mile deduction.

It seems surprising to me that EF is incorrect. I'm not saying AA Tariff made it up -- but how strange! Hence my interest in getting a third or fourth opinion. KVS? Some other tool? Suggestions welcomed and appreciated!

(Note that the two quotes are for travel on different dates, which explains the price discrepancy between the quotes. I don't think that's relevant for the routing rule question at issue, though.)

ExpertFlyer Voice

ExpertFlyer is not incorrect. We are showing the complete fare routing rule from the reservation system:

bedelman

ExpertFlyer Voice, thank you for looking into this. Very kind of you.

I don't know about others, but I find this absolutely fascinating. How could it be that AA Tariff staff -- purportedly super-experts! -- see (or purport to see) different text for this rule, than the reservation system provides to the interested public?

Is AA obliged to make its full tariff, including all rules and thus including this routing rule, available for passengers for inspection? See 14 CFR 221.100. Most obviously relevant is 14 CFR 221.102:
Suppose I went to my nearest airport with AA personnel, bringing a copy of 14 CFR 221.102, and asking to see the relevant section of the relevant tariff. What would happen?

Most interestingly, what do I do if AA produces text that matches what the AA Tariff staff provided? -- text that includes the line that ExpertFlyer staff and systems claim is not relevant. How do I get to the bottom of whether or not that additional line of rules is or is not part of the tariff?!

ExpertFlyer Voice

It may not be that cut and dry. The way the fare rules are filed are as something similar to computer code. The English "translation" that we are presented by airline websites or reservation systems are derived from those coded rules. Different systems can translate slightly differently into something that is human readable, maybe leaving out anything assumed or given (like that AA is the required carrier for to/from a USA gateway city for an AA fare).

bedelman

I see. Is it possible for a person to review the original, in the same code in which airlines provide it? No doubt that's harder to understand, but I write software -- I think I can do it. The raw data might begin to provide some insight into which presentation of the underlying data is accurate.

Can anyone think of some official place where AA makes available these routing rules, separate from what I get by asking AA Tariff staff? Or other sources, beyond EF, so I can get a third opinion, fourth, etc.?

EF Voice: Note that AA's insertion says more than "that AA is the required carrier for to/from a USA gateway city for an AA fare." AA purports to require all-AA travel within area 1, which includes all of south america. So for this CDG-SCL ticket, the rule would prevent use of LA (excluding codeshares) on segments like EZE-SCL and the like.

I reviewed AA's International Tariff and found no provision there requiring all-AA travel within area 1. Maybe that's to be expected -- a rule in the international tariff would apply to all fares, whereas there are plenty of AA fares that allow other carriers within area 1. But that brings us back to the question of what provision (or computer-encoded provision) exists in the routing rules of this fare, and the surprise that AA decodes this differently than the very capable ExpertFlyer.

bedelman

Thanks angatol. Just to be very clear: AA agrees that the TPD exists, for travel via BOS-DFW. The question is the restriction on carriers when invoking the TPD. Specifically, AA claims that the routing rules include the following restriction (emphasis added):
EF confirmed that this restriction is not in the version of fare routing rules it obtained from the reservation system.

Angatol, can you think of any way to use ITA to check whether ITA sees this restriction? I tried to get ITA to propose a routing CDG-SCL that was not all AA within Area 1, but I struggled to do that -- and I think the routing needs to be just right in terms of distance, so that we can see whether or not ITA is applying the TPD. Not easy!

Are there any other sites that provide routing rules?

bedelman

Angatol, AA is saying the following:

1) If all of a passenger's travel within Area 1 is on AA, and the passenger travels via DFW and/or BOS, then the passenger gets a 1000 mile TPD.

2) If the passenger makes even a single flight on some other carrier, within Area 1, then the passenger does not get the TPD.

Certainly the transatlantic segment will have to be on AA. I think that's somehow implied on the fare rules -- can't apply an AA fare to a ticket that doesn't have AA on a long-haul segment. AA is saying it only wants to provide the TPD if all within-area-1 flights are also all on AA. This ticket allows for unlimited stopovers and unlimited transfers, so all kinds of crazy multi-carrier routings are permitted in principle. AA is saying that whatever you do, if you want the TPD, you must say on AA within Area 1. That's all well and good, except it remains disputed whether this provision actually appears in the routing rules. Hence this thread!



Regrettably I don't know any TA's who I can ask for this routing rule. I relish EF exactly because it provides this information. I've never had the problem of anyone alleging an EF statement of routing rule is incorrect or incomplete.