paying in Yen for a DCIR22 booked out of NRT - help please

[DTM1]

I recently made a booking for my parents on a DCIR22 out of NRT. I booked through the US AA desk and had it priced in Yen. The pricing came back and everything was looking fine.

Problem arose when my dad tried to pay for the ticket. AA desk in Japan told him that they could not accept yen payment on Aussie credit card and that it would have to be recalculated into AUD. They then passed him through to an operator in Brisbane.

They then told him that he'd have to call back.

None of this sounds right to me. Based on the threads I have read here, I would have thought that it should be as simple as paying over the phone for the tickets in yen.

Is anyone able to assist ?

cheers

 

[Dave Noble]

Unless they have changed their policy, it should be easy

As long as the itinerary can be e-ticketed, then phone back and try again; could just be a problem with the agent that you got

Dave

 

[DTM1]

ok, I'll try and see where we get to.

the itinerary is straightforward, so shouldn't be a problem and is capable of e-ticket.

NRT - SFO - SLC - DFW - SFO - SYD - MEL - NRT

my dad said he thought the AA japan desk is operated out of australia (ie the Japan number goes through to australia) - that doesn't sound right to me either.

 

[Dave Noble]

my dad said he thought the AA japan desk is operated out of australia (ie the Japan number goes through to australia) - that doesn't sound right to me either.

It isn't operated from Australia

Dave

 

[serfty]

It may be the case - there was some information posted regarding the AA call centre for SWP and some Asian countries being relocated to BNE this month.

 

[DTM1]

well, my dad did say that he was speaking to a chinese girl who said she was in BNE, so maybe that is waht has happened ?

Wonder if that affects ex-NRT yen fares now ?

Will let you know how this plays out.

 

[v8Statesman]

It isn't operated from Australia

Dave

According to THIS POST ON FT it seems from May all calls for Japan are handled in BNE.

 

[serfty]

It may be the case - there was some information posted regarding the AA call centre for SWP and some Asian countries being relocated to BNE this month.

Here's the thread:

• http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...vantage/aa-call-centre-coming-back-12397.html

 

[Dave Noble]

Interesting. I knew that it was moviing but didn't realise that it had moved

Even so, they should be able to issue the ex-NRT ticket

Failing that, off to AA Canada and see if they can take AU cards

Dave

 

[serfty]

It may not have moved yet; the OP did indicate late May and also the article quoted indicate: "with the carrier set to advise new contact details closer to the implementation date."

 

[DTM1]

unfortunately, no new contact details yet, and I have been trying to get through all day but it simply rings out (even though gen enquiries in tokyo told me that this was the number)

 

[DTM1]

ok, problem now resolved, but not without challenges.

I had been ringing the reservations number (+81 345 502 111), but it kept ringing out.

I got fed up with that approach and decided to ring the AA tokyo head office number (+81 345 502 200). Not speaking any Japanese, I waited for the message to start and then randomly picked a number between 1 and 3, assuming that the message was giving the caller options.

1 was not much use, so I tried again and hit 2. managed to get a very helpful lady in marketing (I think). Anyway, she wanted to give me the flick, but I think felt sorry for me when I told her that no one was answering the reservations number, so she put me through to an agent.

He got into the booking and told me that someone had increased the amount priced by AA in the US. (I think someone had simply taken the AUD price for the ticket and then converted back to yen (the orginal yen price from AA US was 618,500 and the agent told me it had been lifted to 736,000 plus taxes - with taxes, over $UAD1,500 more per ticket).

Anyway, I told him that that was not right and that the US had priced it at Y618,500 and that the oneworld website clearly had a base price of Y577,500.

He said he'd check it out and get back to me.

At that point, I gave him my dad's phone number so they could work out payment details.

I've just heard that the agent called back and had the original AA US price, although with an extra Y1,500 to allow for forex movements. Although this is odd, b/c the price out of the US was only a couple of day's old and should be fixed for 7 days, it was a marginal difference, and given the hassle so far, it made sense to just grab it and pay for the tickets.

They've now been paid for, and I'm just waiting to confirm with the CC company the amount charged to the card (just to be safe).

However, it all looks good now. All being well, that works out to $AUD6,336 (inc taxes) for a DCIR22 as against local price of $UAD7,599 plus taxes (which I think would be at least $600).

A saving of around at least $1,800 per ticket - worth the effort I think.

Would be interested to see how anyone else goes with future bookings through NRT AA.