Timeline on purchasing AA tickets via the call centre

[Tiki]

Can someone explain in exact detail (version for blondes) the timeline from when you first call up the AA Indian call centre to pay for a ticket to when the CC gets charged to when the ticket arrives on your doorstep?

I am cutting it very close using the Amex provided they will let me prepay enough to cover the tickets.

Does the Indian call centre charge my card right then and there or do they send it to Sydney to be processed?

What I need is step by step what happens as the timing is very important in my situation. I need the charges to hit the AMEX after 4 April so it goes on next month's statement.

What I need is

1. Call Indians, give Amex number
2. Indians process payment (how many hours, days)
3. Indians liase with SYD office (how many hours, days)
4. Payment hits Amex card (hours, days)
5. SYD sends ATW tickets to me-they use courier or reg post? How lond from step 1 do the tickets arrive in my hand?

I am trying to get the timing right so the charge goes through 5 April but I get the tickets before Easter so they aren't kicking around some courier office over a long weekend.

The other issue is I need to see the award structure AA has for JL after they are officially OW members as I might change the QF codeshare to the JL metal flight number.

 

[Keith009]

1. Call Indian call centre, give reloc and say you want to purchase your reservation. Supply email address for credit card authorisation form.
2. Indian call centre emails said authorisation form (within 1 hour).
3. Fax form with details and copy of the back of ur credit card to Sydney office (number supplied on the form) by 4pm.
4. Card charged, ticket issued simultaneously(within 1 hour of fax transmission). At this point your reservation on AA.com should say 'Ticketed - date' and if any portion of your itinerary is viewable on Amadeus you will be able to see the ticket number.
5. Haven't done ATW via the Sydney office, but I got my eticket receipt via regular mail 4 working days later. Courier might be the case for a paper ticket.

That's been my experience. But I could've just been lucky that it's taken so little effort apart from the actual reservation process when I was reminded just how important knowledge of one's Alphas, Bravos and Charlies is.

I suspect the process will take a little longer if it's a ATW. But you don't actually need the receipt if it's e-ticketed, just the ticket number. Would only cause a problem if the itinerary is issued against more than 1 ticket numbers. Call Indian call centre and ask for ticket number/s just in case.

 

[Dave Noble]

The length of time between contacting AA and the payment going through is v variable. After faxing the authorisation to AA, then the AA ticketing office in sydney will add it to their queue of tickets to do ( assuming it is paper ) . It will be given priority in relation to departure date; I have seen it take a few weeks to be processed

if it is an e-ticket, then the processing is much simpler and quicker

Dave

 

[Tiki]

Wow, that's fast! I was expecting it to take longer than that. So I don't dare try until 5 April or it might hit the current statement and I have to pay it off in 3 weeks instead of 7 weeks. Thanks for that, you saved me some interest charges!

The bummer is I won't get the tickets before Easter, 6 April is Good Friday. Do they post by a courier for paper tickets or regular post? I would prefer E-tickets but I don't think I will get a choice with BNE-SYD-PPT-IPC-SCL and a bunch of domestic Peru.

 

[Tiki]

Dave your post wasn't up when I started typing (I'm slow).

They would still put the charge through the same day, right? Because if I make a special arrangement to prepay enough on the card to cover the one-off transaction I may need to let Amex know when it will go through.

 

[Dave Noble]

Dave your post wasn't up when I started typing (I'm slow).

They would still put the charge through the same day, right? Because if I make a special arrangement to prepay enough on the card to cover the one-off transaction I may need to let Amex know when it will go through.

That is not guaranteed. they will, iirc, take payment when they issue it. If you have less than 17 sectors and can be issued by machine, then will likely be done soon after the fax is sent (could easily be same day). If it is a handwritten ticket, it could be a week or 2 or more

Dave

 

[Tiki]

We have 16 segments, actually only 15 but they are showing GIG-GRU-JFK on AA as 2 segments but it is actually the same flight number. AA950.

How do they post a paper ticket? Courier like DHL/TNT or regular post? Do I get any choice?

 

[Febs]

Thought I'd chime in with my recent experience, and a question...

Experience:
Reserved a ticket through aa.com on Wednesday, called up Indian call centre Wednesday night, gave CC details.

By Friday the charge had hit my AMEX. Arrived home Friday night and had the receipt/EFT receipt in my letterbox, sent by standard Australia Post.

Question:
This is the second ticket I've booked through AA.com, and for both I've only received a "Passenger Itinerary" and "Passenger Receipt", both of which state "NOT VALID FOR TRAVEL". Will I receive my tickets at a later date, or are these all I need, plus ID?

Also, on that note - how are award flights taken entirely on AA handled? Will I be sent tickets, or are they E-tickets (or does it depend)? Flight is DFW-MEX-DFW. Thanks.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[serfty]

... Question:
This is the second ticket I've booked through AA.com, and for both I've only received a "Passenger Itinerary" and "Passenger Receipt", both of which state "NOT VALID FOR TRAVEL". Will I receive my tickets at a later date, or are these all I need, plus ID? ...

Febs, those BP lookalike passenger intinerary and passenger receipts are a reference containing your ticket number.

Combined with what you see on AA.com under the reservation constitutes your e-ticket. With Photo Id, this is all you need.

The ticket number can be found on the "PASSENGER INTINERARY" directly underneath the "**NOT VALID FOR TRAVEL ** text printed near the top of the card in the centre. This ticket number is the important part. It will be shown as "*** NBR 0019876543210". (Underlining represents a 10 digit number)

It can also be seen on the "PASSENGER RECEIPT", firstly at the top middle sans the 001 (American Airlines) prefix, at the bottom middle with the 001 prefix and a one character check digit and finally, at the bottom right on the 'stub' part underneath the text "NOT VALID FOR TRAVEL".

 

[Tiki]

I wouldn't mind being sent a reciept for an e-ticket by normal post but definitely paper tickets.

Has anyone ever had a paper ticket sent before? I really wish there was a SYD phone number I could call to asl all these questions so I didn't keep bugging you guys!

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Has anyone ever had a paper ticket sent before?

Not by AA for me. All my tickets have either been e-tickets or collected at their office.

 

[Dave Noble]

I wouldn't mind being sent a reciept for an e-ticket by normal post but definitely paper tickets.

Has anyone ever had a paper ticket sent before? I really wish there was a SYD phone number I could call to asl all these questions so I didn't keep bugging you guys!

There is the 1300 number and can ask the call centre

They send paper tickets using express post. Don't see the concern about post since until the tickets are delivered , they are the responsibility of AA and they are perfectly capable of re-issuing if the tickets are never delivered. Qantas uses regular Australia Post in Australia and regular Royal Mail in the Uk for delivering tickets as does BA

Dave

 

[Febs]

Febs, those BP lookalike passenger intinerary and passenger receipts are a reference containing your ticket number.

Combined with what you see on AA.com under the reservation constitutes your e-ticket. With Photo Id, this is all you need.

The ticket number can be found on the "PASSENGER INTINERARY" directly underneath the "**NOT VALID FOR TRAVEL ** text printed near the top of the card in the centre. This ticket number is the important part. It will be shown as "*** NBR 0019876543210". (Underlining represents a 10 digit number)

It can also be seen on the "PASSENGER RECEIPT", firstly at the top middle sans the 001 (American Airlines) prefix, at the bottom middle with the 001 prefix and a one character check digit and finally, at the bottom right on the 'stub' part underneath the text "NOT VALID FOR TRAVEL".

Thanks Serfty, good to know.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Tiki]

OK a new complication. Amex won't allow me to prepay $4000 so the transaction for both tickets goes through at the same time. I had a credit limit increase last month to get me to $5200 so I can't have another one for 6 months. I explained to them it was a one-off puchase of airline tickets and there was no risk to them as I would be giving them the money in advance. I even overpaid my card by $100 just to see what would happen. My credit limit didn't go up.

I told them that other people on travel forums have gotten one-off purchases approved and they said those people probably had charge cards as opposed to credit cards. I went up to a supervisor with no luck. Oh, BTW, guess where the Amex call centre is located?

I am wondering if the actual card is charged by SYD not in India maybe I can do it in two parts? Put one ticket through, wait 48 hours and put the other one through? I could fill out a seperate authorization form for each one and post date the second one? When the Indians email you the form, do they pre-fill it out or is it a blank form?

I can't believe I am the first person to have this problem when the tickets are so expensive. So many people are buying DONEs for several family members, that has to be over $20,000 in one go!

 

[Keith009]

I am wondering if the actual card is charged by SYD not in India maybe I can do it in two parts? Put one ticket through, wait 48 hours and put the other one through? I could fill out a seperate authorization form for each one and post date the second one? When the Indians email you the form, do they pre-fill it out or is it a blank form?

My form came pre-filled. But I think you can edit the form in word.

Maybe get the SYD office's number off the Indian agent and liaise with SYD prior to submitting the form/s?

 

[Tiki]

I have been trying to get the SYD direct number by googling and searching and all I ever see is the 1 300 number. If anyone has it, PLEASE PM it to me, I swear I won't give it to anyone!

So I take it the Indians won't know how much credit I have? Is it worth getting the fare requoted? I think the USD has gone down a bit since I booked this back in Dec. It won't affect the base fare but maybe the taxes?

 

[Keith009]

Ok 2nd experience with AA - this time a paper ticket.

Entire process was not only painless, but happened at lightning quick speed!

First, I got an Indian reservation agent who spoke with a very clear accent and could understand my accent. Unless I'm mistaken and 'no worries' is commonly uttered in India, the agent was clearly well-trained to serve Oz customers. I'd say she's much better than some QF agents I've encountered. Alas I forgot her name - doh!

10 minutes after faxing off my authorisation form to Syd, the Syd office called to reconfirm my mailing address and advised that my booking has been ticketed, would be sent off via regular mail tonight and should arrive by next week. :mrgreen:

Hopefully it arrives ok. Otherwise - 2nd time lucky!

 

[Keith009]

So I take it the Indians won't know how much credit I have? Is it worth getting the fare requoted? I think the USD has gone down a bit since I booked this back in Dec. It won't affect the base fare but maybe the taxes?

I don't think the taxes or base fare are confirmed until ticketing.

 

[Dave Noble]

I don't think the taxes or base fare are confirmed until ticketing.

The base fare is confirmed ( unless a price rise occurs of course ) but taxes are recalculated if there is more than a cpl of days between price quote and payment time

Dave

 

[Keith009]

The base fare is confirmed ( unless a price rise occurs of course ) ...

Was refering to a price rise/decline, apologies for not being clear. But I'm assuming the airline will contact you with adequate notice should that occur, especially if it's a rise.