When a D is not a D

[Bob]

Hi,

I am doing a DONE. On a number of AA flights in USA, the KVS tool plus others show several D seats available, but Flight Centre say they don't show up and therefore can't book them. Can anyone enlighten me on this?

Bob

 

[serfty]

From a post on FT by KVS:

For QF, the Amadeus/AUA method of the KVS Tool would be the most reliable source.

More help in the FT KVS Thread: F. A Q.

 

[serfty]

Hi,

I am doing a DONE. On a number of AA flights in USA, the KVS tool plus others show several D seats available, but Flight Centre say they don't show up and therefore can't book them. Can anyone enlighten me on this?

Bob

FWIW, this is a common issue. In March I wanted to leave MEL for LHR as my SWP-EUR transcontinental. Expertflyer was showing D4 on QF9 for the Thursday but CX could not see that, nor could they get QF to release seats.

In the end I booked SYD-LHR instead and purchased a Red e-Deal MEL-SYD for $87.

 

[Bob]

Thanks serfty. In this case the airline is AA and Sabre: ITN/AXP is the tool of choice according to the KVS FAQ. It is showing D6 on AA887 DFW to YVR on 26 Feb, but Flight Centre can't book it.

 

[serfty]

Thanks serfty. In this case the airline is AA and Sabre: ITN/AXP is the tool of choice according to the KVS FAQ. It is showing D6 on AA887 DFW to YVR on 26 Feb, but Flight Centre can't book it.

Using ExpertFlyer for that flight, I see:

J7 D6 I0 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 G7 N0 Q0 S0 O0

.

So I would reason that FC are not seeing availability through the same souce.

I do know that fare bucket availabilty for a flight can very depending upon the region from where the reservation is being attempted.

 

[NM]

There is also the issue of some seats/classes being available for sale in different regions. Most of the on-line tools show availability for the US market. Some seats that are available in one market will not be available for sale in another market.

If you have a DONE4 booking, then you can waitlist for a D seat. In my experience, when you waitlist for a seat that is available for sale in another region but not from Australia, the waitlist is generally successfully cleared within a few days.

When using KVS, some of the methods allow you to select the POS (Point of Sale) to see availability for different regions. Unfortunately most are US, Canada or European, not Australian. I don't know how specific regional POS needs to be in order to see true local sale availability.

 

[Dave Noble]

Thanks serfty. In this case the airline is AA and Sabre: ITN/AXP is the tool of choice according to the KVS FAQ. It is showing D6 on AA887 DFW to YVR on 26 Feb, but Flight Centre can't book it.

Just for reference, DFW - YVR isn't actually a USA flight but an international one to that small country north of there .. Canada istr it's called

Flight Centre don't have Sabre access so the Sabre results dont really help. I had that problem when I was going to get them to issue an AA booked ATW ticket

If it is not already ticketed, I would suggest that you might want to consider booking directly with the AA ATW ticket desk since (a) they will almost certainly be able to book that flight straight away and (b) you'll probably save a few hundred $ over using Flight centre and (iirc) their booking via QF.

If you are part way into your ATW trip, then you should just be able to bypass FC and just phone AA and book on the flight; if Sabre is showing availability, then AA should just confirm you onto it

Alternatively, just have it waitlisted and contact AA and see if they can fix it for you since they should be able to see the availability , though they may just send you back to the TA

Dave

 

[Bob]

Just for reference, DFW - YVR isn't actually a USA flight but an international one to that small country north of there .. Canada istr it's called
Dave

:shock:

If it is not already ticketed, I would suggest that you might want to consider booking directly with the AA ATW ticket desk since (a) they will almost certainly be able to book that flight straight away and (b) you'll probably save a few hundred $ over using Flight centre and (iirc) their booking via QF.
Dave

Do you mean AA in Australia?

 

[Dave Noble]

Do you mean AA in Australia?

You could try AA in Australia but , personally, I would use the AA ATW ticket desk in the USA for booking the flights since they are v good and experienced at it. For payment, then just pay for it with AA in Sydney to ensure that you get the Australia price rather than the US price

Their number is 0011 1 800 247 3247

If you are going for a DONEx, have you considered starting it in Thailand; there is a substantial saving in starting there, plus have the benefit of 4 flights in D within Australia/NZ later; if you can get an award ticket in economy/world traveller plus there and then start there, the savings are pretty decent. If it appeals, I have the details of a decent TA for getting it issued and posted to Oz

Dave

 

[QF WP]

No, Dave Noble means the AA Around The World ticket desk, that I believe is domiciled in the USA...I don't have the contact number, however I know Dave does and he'll probably advise you in this thread.

ah, look at that, beaten to the punch by Dave, we were posting at the same time...

 

[Bob]

If you are going for a DONEx, have you considered starting it in Thailand; there is a substantial saving in starting there, plus have the benefit of 4 flights in D within Australia/NZ later; if you can get an award ticket in economy/world traveller plus there and then start there, the savings are pretty decent. If it appeals, I have the details of a decent TA for getting it issued and posted to Oz

Dave

Thanks Dave, I am interested. I have thought about this option but not been confident about who to use.

Bob

 

[Dave Noble]

Thanks Dave, I am interested. I have thought about this option but not been confident about who to use.

Bob

It is a v good option and will save you a lot of money on tickets and the ability to do 4 fairly unrestricted sectors within AU/NZ is v useful; I have sent you a message with the details of the agent I have used a few times

Dave

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

If you're wanting to maximise earning you may want to consider DFW-SEA instead. Domestic 2-class so gets booked into first and get SCs and points for first. From SEA not too hard to get to YVR.