American Airlines booking engine for international flights

JohnK · #41 (**permalink**) 9th August 2008, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by medhead

Did you check with Amex to make sure their auto fraud protection system didn't kick in or something?

I haven't checked with Amex but I have now spoken to countless AA call centre staff and all have said the same thing. You cannot use an Australian credit card with an Australian address and insert UK/GB as the country. In fact there have been suggestions that in order to purchase an airfare I have committed fraud by providing them with false information. I agree. Unless others can correct me mr_matt_t was extremely lucky to get his itinerary ticketed, based on the information that I have received from AA.

Either way I have learnt my lesson and do not wish to take this further. I will book through Expedia for ~A$1350, somewhere between $A100-$200 more than the AA price, but also the itinerary is not identical to the itineraries available on the AA website. I have even searched the ITA website and the cheapest airfare with the exact itinerary I booked is ~34,000THB, or ~$A1500, which makes the AA UK price seem like a bargain and too good to be true.

I would not be surprised if the AA website is updated in the near future where they will not be able to sell itineraries that do not include an AA flight. Maybe QF and BA have been pressuring AA not to sell these airfares as the AA UK call centre insisted I call QF, on 131313, to get this itinerary ticketed. Maybe AA is telling me porkies just to get rid of me. Maybe not. Apart from the lowlife from Brisbane yesterday everyone of the customer service agents I spoke to could not have been friendlier....

medhead · #42 (**permalink**) 9th August 2008, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnK

I haven't checked with Amex but I have now spoken to countless AA call centre staff and all have said the same thing. You cannot use an Australian credit card with an Australian address and insert UK/GB as the country. In fact there have been suggestions that in order to purchase an airfare I have committed fraud by providing them with false information. I agree. Unless others can correct me mr_matt_t was extremely lucky to get his itinerary ticketed, based on the information that I have received from AA.

Either way I have learnt my lesson and do not wish to take this further.
<snip>

I agree what you want to do is the best thing in the situation.

I only asked because it sounds like there were 2 problems: the address/CC mismatch and that the CC was failing to pay. It's strange for the payment to not work just because it's an Aust CC.

I think I read someone else had a CC failing to pay, which turned out to be the banks auto protection system. Once they contacted the bank the payment went through.

So I just wonder if that happened to you, which caused the payment to not work and then alerted the UK people to check the booking. Perhaps if the payment did work then they won't have checked

I definitely wasn't questioning your alternative arrangements.

JohnK · #43 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by medhead

I only asked because it sounds like there were 2 problems: the address/CC mismatch and that the CC was failing to pay. It's strange for the payment to not work just because it's an Aust CC.

I think I read someone else had a CC failing to pay, which turned out to be the banks auto protection system. Once they contacted the bank the payment went through.

As far as I am aware there is nothing wrong with my Amex credit card. I am using it regularly and have not had any issues. I have a feeling that AA has increased their checking mechanism, whether manual or automated, and my itinerary did not even make it to the credit card stage as the address and country did not match.

Other than that I have no idea what is happening and how some itineraries are processed while others fail. Maybe you need to be lucky and get the right customer service agent. The days of the country loophole on the AA website could be well be over. It will be interesting to hear other peoples experiences further down the track....

Dave Noble · #44 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnK

. The days of the country loophole on the AA website could be well be over. It will be interesting to hear other peoples experiences further down the track....

One occurrence does not a trend make

It is at least as likely that the fare rules state that the ticket must be issued on QF ticket stock which is what QF is doing with a lot of their cheap fares

Mal · #45 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnK

Other than that I have no idea what is happening and how some itineraries are processed while others fail. Maybe you need to be lucky and get the right customer service agent. The days of the country loophole on the AA website could be well be over. It will be interesting to hear other peoples experiences further down the track....

I suspect that your itin required manual intervention somewhere, the address discrepancy flagged and the issues stemmed from there.

I need some AA tickets booked soon, so still deciding whether to use the UK trick, or pay in $A via the call centre here. It's still a hassle, but since moving the call centre back things *should* be a little easier.

mr_matt_t · #46 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mal

I suspect that your itin required manual intervention somewhere, the address discrepancy flagged and the issues stemmed from there.

I agree with Mal. JohnK and I both had problems with flights being waitlisted even though the website indicated they were available. I will continue to use this method to book flights but will dilegently check fare class availability before booking. As mentioned, a similiar itinerary for my wife ticketed quickly and automatically because there were no issues with availability in her fare class for the day of travel.

Why the website shows availability for certain fare classes where there isn't, to me, is the main problem and hence where manual intervention was required.

How does one ticket in AUD? The fare i was quoted from AA Aus was more than double what the website was showing.

Mal · #47 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_matt_t

How does one ticket in AUD? The fare i was quoted from AA Aus was more than double what the website was showing.

Create booking on website. Change residency to "All Others" when doing the search. Click on "Hold" after you enter your name/phone/email address details. Note the reference number (Record Locator) and call AA Australia to pay. They'll convert the cost to $A, and take your credit card detail and address details. A day later or so your booking will go to "Ticketted - <date>" and you may/should receive a receipt in the mail.

Dave Noble · #48 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mal

Create booking on website. Change residency to "All Others" when doing the search. Click on "Hold" after you enter your name/phone/email address details. Note the reference number (Record Locator) and call AA Australia to pay. They'll convert the cost to $A, and take your credit card detail and address details. A day later or so your booking will go to "Ticketted - <date>" and you may/should receive a receipt in the mail.

That works fine for AA only itineraries. If the itinerary contains flights other than AA, then hold is not available

Dave

Mal · #49 (**permalink**) 10th August 2008, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Noble

That works fine for AA only itineraries. If the itinerary contains flights other than AA, then hold is not available

Indeed:

Quote:

Reservations containing one or more flights on airlines other than American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection must be purchased at time of booking and may not qualify for electronic tickets.

Thanks for the correction!