Best way to book an American Airlines (ex US) flight

I was trying to purchase 2x domestic tickets on AA this evening from LAX - MCO. The US site was pricing cheaper than the AU site and allowed me to select preferred seats (row 17 with the middle seat blocked) and without having previously been aware of this thread, when I tried to purchase with my AU credit card, kept coming back with error. I put the reservation on hold and had to pop out for a while. When I came back I tried one more time paying with my AU credit card, entering Australia as the country and my Australian billing address, except leaving the postcode box blank. It again came up error and at this point I searched AFF and found this thread.

I was deciding whether to call the AU call centre to pay for my US site booking that was on hold or to just book through the australian website, however now I notice that my booking has somehow been ticketed and the final price has gone up $100USD! I'll have to wait until it comes up on my credit card account to know how much they charged me, but has anybody else ever heard of this happening?
 
I was trying to purchase 2x domestic tickets on AA this evening from LAX - MCO. The US site was pricing cheaper than the AU site and allowed me to select preferred seats (row 17 with the middle seat blocked) and without having previously been aware of this thread, when I tried to purchase with my AU credit card, kept coming back with error. I put the reservation on hold and had to pop out for a while. When I came back I tried one more time paying with my AU credit card, entering Australia as the country and my Australian billing address, except leaving the postcode box blank. It again came up error and at this point I searched AFF and found this thread.

I was deciding whether to call the AU call centre to pay for my US site booking that was on hold or to just book through the australian website, however now I notice that my booking has somehow been ticketed and the final price has gone up $100USD! I'll have to wait until it comes up on my credit card account to know how much they charged me, but has anybody else ever heard of this happening?

? Computer cookies

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ing-cookies-browser-history-before-48067.html
 
Sponsored Post

Struggling to use your Frequent Flyer Points?

Frequent Flyer Concierge takes the hard work out of finding award availability and redeeming your frequent flyer or credit card points for flights.

Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, the Frequent Flyer Concierge team at Frequent Flyer Concierge will help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

Can confirm entering a Australian billing address, leaving blank the zip code part works no problem.
Had my booking confirmed as ticketed within 15-20mins, saving around $160 from the Aus site :cool:
 
Hi, long time lurker. Just wondering how do you book CX awards using AA miles? What is the cheapest and best way?
 
Have a look at the AAdvantage forum. You can find CX awards online at either QF or CX (or awardnexus) but you will need to ring AA (preferably the US number) to book. Award booking fee is $25 but see hints on the forum to minimise the credit card fee for payment of taxes, etc.
 
Just noticed that it's now possible to book many more destinations online (not just ex-US). Not sure when it changed but the relevant page now states

NOTE: For travel originating outside of the U.S., Canada, UK and select countries in Latin America, the Carribbean, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and South America , or for complex itineraries, please call AA Reservations .

and its possible to book Awards from Australia online. I have tested it with a SYD-LHR up until the credit card entry and booked HKG-SYD
Great news !! :)
Now all we need is CX availability online and it'll be pretty much perfect, no more calls to Fiji and maybe no more El Segundo !!

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but when you are booking the AA award seat are you using AA miles or QF points?
 
Just made a booking on the AA US site...on average, how long does it take for the ticket to go from "pending" to "ticketed"?
 
It's a bit variable IME, anything from a couple of hours to a few days depending on carriers/ complexity.
You are right on the money PF:p...received eticket 2 hours after booking made. Booked with my Australian issued 28 degrees MC using the method outlined by penegal below with no need for "fake addresses", fiddling with postcodes etc:)

What I do:



  • Select country as Australia
  • Don't put anything in the Post Code box.
  • Put the address, city, state and post code in the it in the address boxes, as per the screen dump.

e.g. Leave the last two boxes blank... the form still works (in my experience).



View attachment 9144
 
Anyone had any issues with AA booking of late?

follow the usual process which has worked well in the past (even 2 weeks ago) but every time I click next after the credit card info it thinks for a bit then comes up with:
aaerror.jpg

Thats trying both the "El Segundo" method, and using australia as the country of choice.

Any ideas?
 
I have made 12 bookings on the US AA website in the past month, using my Australian address and no issues.

I do know from a friend who tried to book some flights before Christmas that he had issues using a Debit Card... Then used an Amex with no issues
 
Anyone had any issues with AA booking of late?

follow the usual process which has worked well in the past (even 2 weeks ago) but every time I click next after the credit card info it thinks for a bit then comes up with:
View attachment 23633

Thats trying both the "El Segundo" method, and using australia as the country of choice.

Any ideas?

On the www.aa.com US site are you entering Australia as your country of residence plus your cc billing address & but leaving the zip code field blank?

The traditional 'El Segundo' method was entering the US as your country of residence as well as CA for state plus the 5 digit zip code for El Segundo or whatever suburb took your fancy.
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

On the www.aa.com US site are you entering Australia as your country of residence plus your cc billing address & but leaving the zip code field blank?

The traditional 'El Segundo' method was entering the US as your country of residence as well as CA for state plus the 5 digit zip code for El Segundo or whatever suburb took your fancy.

the irony is that i got a booking confirmation after that error message, of course as Ive tried it multiple times, I now have multiple bookings, oh well, this will be fun to see how AA handles cancelling them!
 
Is there any/easy way to book a stopover for an AA reward ticket? i.e. Stop in Dubai on the way to London for a few days?
 
As of acouple ofweeks ago all AAdvantage mileage awards are basically for one way journies and do not permit stopovers ... (that is without generating an additional/separate award).
 
As of acouple ofweeks ago all AAdvantage mileage awards are basically one way and do not permit stopovers ... That is without generating a separate award.

Ah shucks thanks Serfty. Does this include the stopover in USA if going on to NY as well?
 
Since April 8, all AAdvantage mileage awards are basically for one way journies and no longer permit stopovers ... (that is without generating an additional/separate award).
 
Is there any/easy way to book a stopover for an AA reward ticket? i.e. Stop in Dubai on the way to London for a few days?

Irrespective of the changes announced in the past few days that serfty points out, I don't believe it's ever been possible to have a stop on an award ticket anywhere outside of North America. So don't beat yourself up; it's not a case of you having just missed the boat with respect to having a Dubai stopover.
 
Back
Top