AA and USair
Mar 5th, 2014, 04:23 AM
#1
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AA and USair
I am confused. I have American Airlines FF miles that I'd like to increase toward a future trip. The flight I need to book is actually operated by US Air. If I book thru US Air, the flight is $80 cheaper than what is shown on the AA website. It doesn't look like I can transfer US Air miles to AA.
Two different prices for the same flight depending on which airline I book with sounds ridiculous. I guess it's better to save $80 except this flight if booked with AA would qualify me for a free ticket (continental US).
What should I do. I must be missing something.
Two different prices for the same flight depending on which airline I book with sounds ridiculous. I guess it's better to save $80 except this flight if booked with AA would qualify me for a free ticket (continental US).
What should I do. I must be missing something.
Mar 5th, 2014, 04:59 AM
#2
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sorry, answered my own question. Because of the merger, I could use my AA FF number when I booked with US Air. I have no idea why there is such a large price discrepancy between the two airlines for the exact same flights. Maybe I lucked out.
Mar 5th, 2014, 08:18 AM
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American lists the flight but it's on USAir planes. Same route, same cheapest fare, same planes, same day of departure and return times.
I didn't look to see if there were other American flights on US Air planes that were a different price. Maybe AA has to pay USAir a kickback.
I didn't look to see if there were other American flights on US Air planes that were a different price. Maybe AA has to pay USAir a kickback.
Mar 5th, 2014, 08:37 AM
#5
I misread your initial post. You're not using miles for this trip, you're buying a revenue ticket and want to increase your AA miles balance, right? The flight is operated by US, but can be purchased as an AA codeshare, except the AA price is higher than US's?
Easy answer - AA's codeshare tickets are being sold in a different fare bucket than US's, which is very common with codeshares. Until the merger is complete, AA and US are codesharing flights; it's very common for the operating airline (US) to only allow a different selling airline (AA) access to certain fare classes, while reserving the cheaper ones to themselves. (And sometimes it works in reverse - buying a flight from Iberia on an AA-operated plane gets you a lower fare.)
Don't try to figure this out unless, like the revenue management people at the airlines, you're a Hogwarts graduate.
Easy answer - AA's codeshare tickets are being sold in a different fare bucket than US's, which is very common with codeshares. Until the merger is complete, AA and US are codesharing flights; it's very common for the operating airline (US) to only allow a different selling airline (AA) access to certain fare classes, while reserving the cheaper ones to themselves. (And sometimes it works in reverse - buying a flight from Iberia on an AA-operated plane gets you a lower fare.)
Don't try to figure this out unless, like the revenue management people at the airlines, you're a Hogwarts graduate.
Mar 5th, 2014, 10:38 AM
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thanks Gardyloo. When I tried to book with American last night I thought I'd lost out on the cheap fare because I didn't see it listed. This morning I found it was still listed on USAir and discovered I could enter my AA FF number. I guess I shouldn't question why, just grab and run.
Mar 5th, 2014, 11:29 AM
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We are FF on US Air. I understand that we can redeem our miles on AA, but are they equivalent, i.e., 1 US air mile = 1 AA mile? The reason I am asking is that for the flight I just checked, AA only requires about half the miles that US Air wants for the same itinerary.
Mar 5th, 2014, 01:03 PM
#8
For now you can only redeem US Dividend Miles through the US Airways website (or on the phone - $$.)
AA's are half as many miles because all AA awards are one-way, and US's are all round trip. In general the redemption requirements are comparable, with a few exceptions, which will go away as the merger moves ahead.
AA's are half as many miles because all AA awards are one-way, and US's are all round trip. In general the redemption requirements are comparable, with a few exceptions, which will go away as the merger moves ahead.
