Questions about booking with American Airlines

[D&D]

Later this year (Sept) I'm planning a trip to Nth America. I was looking at flying to HNL with Jetstar in Starclass then to New York with AA business/first. When checking the AA website I noticed they are offering 'instant upgrade' fares - i.e. business/first for the price of an economy ticket. When I selected the 'instant upgrade' option and checked the fare basis the code was 'Y26' whereas the code for fully flexible on the same flight is either A or F. My two questions are:

1. If I select the 'instant upgrade' option and the business/first cabin is full of higher paying passengers does that mean I'm likely to end up down the back without warning? I'm prepared to pay more if it means I'll be travelling in relative comfort but will take advantage of the cheaper fare if it means I'll receive the same product. I'm finding the fare rules for AA very, very confusing.

2. What's the difference between business and first on AA? Again I'm finding it difficult to find a clear explanation about the difference between these classes and am further confused by the seemingly random pricing relating to these fare types. In the case of HNL to New York, fully flexible business is more expensive than fully flexible first but I was under the impression that first was a superior product offering.

Any help would be greatly appreciated because I'm close to making a booking and don't feel very confident about booking with AA. Furthermore, flying with AA requires a change of planes whereas Continental has a direct flight with comparatively clear fare rules at a very reasonable price. Also, from their website I fully understand what Continental offer in their premium cabins on certain sectors compared to AA. The only downside is no SC or FF points.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[notzac]

1. If I select the 'instant upgrade' option and the business/first cabin is full of higher paying passengers does that mean I'm likely to end up down the back without warning? I'm prepared to pay more if it means I'll be travelling in relative comfort but will take advantage of the cheaper fare if it means I'll receive the same product. I'm finding the fare rules for AA very, very confusing.

To the best of my knowledge -- booking a Instant Upgrade (Y-UP) fare books you directly in to A or P and gives you a confirmed seating allocation in F or J (depending on how many classes are sold on the flight). The only reason you wouldn't end up the front is either: a) you're travelling on an all-Y flight (such as American Eagle), or b) you missed the flight or connection in some way, and they had no space for you up the front on the rebooked flight (in the case of a missed connection, not terribly likely as you would carry equal/better priority than those getting the freebie upgrades).

Any help would be greatly appreciated because I'm close to making a booking and don't feel very confident about booking with AA. Furthermore, flying with AA requires a change of planes whereas Continental has a direct flight with comparatively clear fare rules at a very reasonable price. Also, from their website I fully understand what Continental offer in their premium cabins on certain sectors compared to AA. The only downside is no SC or FF points.

No reason to not feel confident about booking with AA. You're right in saying that their service can be somewhat ordinary at times (then again, so can most American airlines), but I've never had any material problems that weren't fixed promptly.

 

[serfty]

When booking (if using the 'Price & Schedule' tool), click the "[+] Flight Details" link to the left of each option and it should show what booking class the flight books into.

e.g.

• for a $2208 HNL-SFO-JFK fare I see A and I classes - A is first class, I is Business class (both Discount)
• for a $1115 HNL-DFW-LGA fare, I see both segments in P class, this is discount first class.

Any booking completed will book into those classes as a 'revenue' booking. If you do not change flights that's the class/cabin you will travel in.

FWIW, if the cabin is full or getting there, you would not be able to book these discount fares anyway.

 

[D&D]

Thanks for your replies. Your help and expertise is appreciated.

 

[Dave Noble]

Any booking completed will book into thos classes as a 'revenue' booking. If you do not change flights that's the class/cabin you will travel in.

That is indeed the case in normal operations. In an irregular situation and you need, for example, to be rebooked onto another flight due to problems, then you may end up back in economy

Dave

 

[BVT]

Hi Team,

I am flying JFK to LAX on AA. No QF seats available ; I have to fly on that date. I should be booked in J, but on the AA website it looks like I am in F! On a 757,I think. Can anyone give me some tips on seating, please?

I have heard many horror stories about AA. As recently as last week.

Love the forum,btw.

 

[Dave Noble]

I think that all the JFK-LAX services are operated with 767-200 aeroplanes
What is the layout of seating
On 762 in first there are 2 rows in a 2-1-2 layout and business is 5 rows of 2-2-2
If it is a 757 the layout would be 2-2

AA is not that bad an airline to travel on

 

[drron]

Only a few of the Transcons have 2 classes.The 757s are only 2 class-Y and F.However if that plane were then to do an international sector those F seats will be J seats.
Anyway you pay J fares.Get domestic J seating-not as good as Australia but better than Europe.and you get F miles and SCs.
In F AA is not that bad.I have had many more good experiences than bad.We avoid last row(6EF) on 757 with galley behind,or 5AB with closet and loo behind.Row 1 has more leg room.Other rows are quite acceptable.We usually avoid 1 as mrsdrron likes her bag under her feet at all times:!:

 

[BVT]

Only a few of the Transcons have 2 classes.The 757s are only 2 class-Y and F.However if that plane were then to do an international sector those F seats will be J seats.
Anyway you pay J fares.Get domestic J seating-not as good as Australia but better than Europe.and you get F miles and SCs.
In F AA is not that bad.I have had many more good experiences than bad.We avoid last row(6EF) on 757 with galley behind,or 5AB with closet and loo behind.Row 1 has more leg room.Other rows are quite acceptable.We usually avoid 1 as mrsdrron likes her bag under her feet at all times:!:

Thanks for the responses (you to DN). I am slightly encouraged by the positive expereinces in AA at the pointy end. Last weeks not so positive was from a F traveller. But, then again she is a hard marker!

 

[NM]

When are you travelling? Its very unusual to have a 757 on JFK-LAX non-stop services. As Dave said, they are usually all 767-200 services with 3-class cabin. The occasional 757 may be substituted due to a 762 going out of service, but that is usually a late notice change.

757 do appear on some one-stop services but will have a different flight number for each sector.

 

[BVT]

When are you travelling? Its very unusual to have a 757 on JFK-LAX non-stop services. As Dave said, they are usually all 767-200 services with 3-class cabin. The occasional 757 may be substituted due to a 762 going out of service, but that is usually a late notice change.

757 do appear on some one-stop services but will have a different flight number for each sector.

Oops. Upon checking, it is actually Washington to LAX. Sorry, I will do better next time. I now vaguely remember my TA saying something about no need to go back to NYC ...

Thx.

 

[NM]

Oops. Upon checking, it is actually Washington to LAX. Sorry, I will do better next time. I now vaguely remember my TA saying something about no need to go back to NYC ...

Thx.

then it is likely to a 757 if its the evening departure (AA75). The earlier flights are generally 737-800 aircraft. You mention it being business class. That implies you are purchasing a QF codeshare ticket on the AA flight. AA will only sell the flight as two-class, being First and Coach. But Qantas sell their codeshare flight (operated by AA) as three class including Business Class. Qantas Business Class passengers travel in the domestic First Class cabin, but only earn business class Qantas FF points and Status Credits.

 

[drron]

then it is likely to a 757 if its the evening departure (AA75). The earlier flights are generally 737-800 aircraft. You mention it being business class. That implies you are purchasing a QF codeshare ticket on the AA flight. AA will only sell the flight as two-class, being First and Coach. But Qantas sell their codeshare flight (operated by AA) as three class including Business Class. Qantas Business Class passengers travel in the domestic First Class cabin, but only earn business class Qantas FF points and Status Credits.

So pick your flight number!I always have mrsdrron on the AA flight number on our DONEs and she gets the F SCs.