AA launches Australian AA.com page

[serfty]

Thanks for your input Connected1, welcome to AFF

Though the system is not designed to do so today, that wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. What types of bookings would you make on the US site that you would want to pull over to the AU site?

The US style Multi Segment rather than the Amadeus the current one.

The US one has the option to list and select from possible complete routings sorted by price rather than selecting flight by flight - as the Oz Multi-City Flight Search page currently does ...

 

[Starship]

The Sabre search engine is for more useful than the Amadeus one the Oz site uses for my purposes.
..

It is interesting how corporate arrangements play out! SABRE was a subsidiary of AA when i did some work with them in Dallas in '96, but the separate spin off of Sabre Holdings in 2000 now lets AA play with whoever they want.

All the legacy GDS systems have some architectural issues, but the flexibility you desire needs to be available to make it a useful system.

Wondering what role 'Connected1' has here?

 

[JonNYC]

Wondering what role 'Connected1' has here?

Best not to ask

Just be glad you have him!!

 

[Connected1]

The US one has the option to list and select from possible complete routings sorted by price rather than selecting flight by flight

The Amadeus-powered booking engine has an option like that. The key would be to ensure multi-stop booking volume would be sufficient to make a change like that worth it -- a strong possibility given the uniqueness of AU customers. This change would also be within the realm of possibility; I would say even more possible than pulling held bookings over to the AU site from the US site.

 

[Connected1]

Wondering what role 'Connected1' has here?

1) Learn.
2) Act and/or inform when possible.
3) Provide candid and useful thoughts.

I am not, however, the official face of American and I am surely no expert on the AADV program. I am but one of your tentacles into the company.

 

[docjames]

Connected1 - welcome and thanks for clarifying!


Some free market research - AA's aircraft that i've been on recently (in Y) have been appalling. The 757 CUN-DFW and 767 DFW-SCL were both appallingly old, and the seats on the 767 must rate as amongst the most uncomfortable i've sat in for a long time. I would seriously think twice before ever booking an AA Y seat again.

Do you have any info on any fleet upgrade plans for AA because the product i've experienced seriously needs it (and for the record, my immediate recent comparisons are: QF dom, QF Int, LAN Dom and Int, MX int and Click MX)?

 

[Connected1]

docjames - I think you'll find me to be pretty useless in the area of fleet refurbishment. I would love to tell you that I can help you solve all sorts of problems with American but I can't make any such claim.

 

[docjames]

No problems - I just thought you might be able to lay your hands on this info (eg. AA Intranet or similar!).

Sorry for thread hijak.

 

[Mal]

There are 2 things I like about the AA site that isn't available when the Amadeus booking system is used.

The ability to use AA discounts (where I have a voucher), and the different ways flights are constructed.

As an example, a random search for JAX-RDU on 15 Jan (one way) gives totally different results:

Amadeus gives 2 results, whereas Sabre gives 37. The price differences are also huge - eg Amadeus's cheapest is $A427, whereas Sabre offers a $US143 option (albeit through a more convoluted route). I've also learnt how to 'convince' the Sabre interface to give me the routings I want, whereas the Amadeus one isn't anywhere near as flexible.

 

[Connected1]

The ability to use AA discounts (where I have a voucher)

Yes, this will continue to be a limitation of the Amadeus-powered sites. It is one thing to take an off-the-shelf application from an IT provider and it is quite another to configure it for all of the things that are specific to your business. On the other hand, American has more flexibility to file discounted fares especially for the AU site (particularly for trans-Pacific travel) that won't appear elsewhere.

the different ways flights are constructed.

As an example, a random search for JAX-RDU on 15 Jan (one way) gives totally different results:

Amadeus gives 2 results, whereas Sabre gives 37. The price differences are also huge - eg Amadeus's cheapest is $A427, whereas Sabre offers a $US143 option (albeit through a more convoluted route).

This can be tweaked and the great news is it doesn't require an act of Congress to get it done, either. The more examples you can provide, the better, so that the display settings can be made as robust as possible. Note that differences in inventory availability by point of sale can cause fare quote differences. The differences could either go for or against you.

 

[hippo]

1) Learn.
2) Act and/or inform when possible.
3) Provide candid and useful thoughts.

I am not, however, the official face of American and I am surely no expert on the AADV program. I am but one of your tentacles into the company.

Hi Connect1,

Something that I don't understand about the new site (actually, it seems all AA sites) is that you can't pull up code shares like MEL-AKL (AA7315) , or AKL-MEL (AA7337). I'd like to book one of those a week, but it doesn't seem possible (initially I thought it might be that the flight was sold out next week).

If the answer to the question is that the code share needs to be booked in conjunction with a international airfare (which I thought AU-NZ would already be considered), then is it possible to purchase a fare USA-NZ/AU in conjunction with say 12 return flights NZ-AU?

Cheers.

 

[Connected1]

If the answer to the question is that the code share needs to be booked in conjunction with a international airfare (which I thought AU-NZ would already be considered), then is it possible to purchase a fare USA-NZ/AU in conjunction with say 12 return flights NZ-AU?

No. My understanding is that *each* MEL-AKL segment must be purchased in connection with an international AA segment.

 

[Dave Noble]

No. My understanding is that *each* MEL-AKL segment must be purchased in connection with an international AA segment.

MEL-AKL is international

AA can offer trans-tasman without the need for a flight to the USA however they do not offer any fares between the 2 points. When booking a YY fare I have been able to use an AA codeshare on the trans-tasman in order to give an AA segment such that AA was prepared to price the itinerary

If prepared to pay $1303 for a one way YY fare MEL-AKL , it could be booked on AA

Dave

 

[hippo]

No. My understanding is that *each* MEL-AKL segment must be purchased in connection with an international AA segment.

Does that mean on AA metal?

As I am looking at flights in the Australia/NZ region does that mean that code shares in this region need to be tied to a NRT/HNL-USA sector? (are there other transpacific aa sectors?)

Thanks.

 

[Connected1]

Dave - International tariff issues are not my strong point but my Sabre display clearly says "international connections / stopover traffic only" on MEL-AKL. Since I see it in a city pair availability screen I assume that it applies to how inventory is used rather than a fare rule, so theoretically it shouldn't matter whose fare you apply to it. You have said that you can do it so I'm happy to take you at your word.

 

[Connected1]

Does that mean on AA metal?

As I am looking at flights in the Australia/NZ region does that mean that code shares in this region need to be tied to a NRT/HNL-USA sector? (are there other transpacific aa sectors?)

Should be either codeshare or on AA metal.

 

[hippo]

MEL-AKL is international

I'm glad someone else is taking that position...

AA can offer trans-tasman without the need for a flight to the USA however they do not offer any fares between the 2 points. When booking a YY fare I have been able to use an AA codeshare on the trans-tasman in order to give an AA segment such that AA was prepared to price the itinerary

If prepared to pay $1303 for a one way YY fare MEL-AKL , it could be booked on AA

Dave

I was hoping I could pick up a discount fare on this route - better to book M class
with AA than O class with QF (still booking the miles to AA).

All I could find on expertflyer fare information were F,J, and Y fares (way expensive).

Cheers.

 

[aussiejohn]

Where do you call to redeem AA points for a QF domestic flight, eg, MEL-SYD??

Seems you can't do online redemptions even with the new Aussie site.

Thanks

Aussiejohn

 

[simongr]

Just call the AA 1800 number here in Oz (mind you, you do have to sit through very very weird hold music).

 

[aussiejohn]

Just call the AA 1800 number here in Oz (mind you, you do have to sit through very very weird hold music).

Thank you for the info. Much appreciated.

Aussiejohn