Any American Air experts here - ??? fare types

[Wishing on a star]

I am looking at flights to Europe and back, and see some better fares on AA.

When booking Premium ( Comfort ) seating, the two short domestic flights are on planes that do not have this section, so it looks like I would be selecting Main Cabin Extra seats.   That would be fine.  It is the long overseas flight that matters most.

 

Okay, then the website shows a notice  Mixed Fares - Highest Restriction Fare Rule.

Both of these fares could be refundable?   But I don't know exactly what those MCE seat fare rules are.

Very confusing.

 

Also,  I am seeing 'REFUNDABLE' fares,  as well as 'FULLY REFUNDABLE' fares.

 

Can anyone help!

[taxatty]

Are you trying to book Premium Economy (correct term on AA) on the transatlantic flight and Economy with MCE seats on the domestic flights on the same booking (PNR)? That would be mix of fares on a single booking.  MCE is just Economy with an extra charge for an exit row or upfront seat with extra legroom if you're not an AA elite. AA MCE is not as nice as PE, which is similar to a Business class seat on a domestic AA narrowbody plane. If you have any questions on the refund policy you should call AA and ask--it can get confusing. At worst, if you cancel you should get a credit for a future flight. 

[6rugrats]

It means the most restrictive fare rules would apply to the entire ticket.  Which means no refund, just a credit if you cancel.

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks!

Yes, it is premium economy with MCE for the shorter domestic flights.  (at least that is what it seems)

Both do say refunds and cancellations allowed.

But, I don't know if that shorter flight where it has to offer you MCE might also might be changed to restricted.   It should show these things!

 

I hate to deal with calling the customer service on these big airlines, sitting on hold, etc...

Looks like that is what I would need to do before planning and booking specific seats and flights.

 

[LibertyBella]

Or just get a great travel agent who will do all the work for you...

[Globaliser]

On 5/20/2023 at 7:31 PM, Wishing on a star said:

Okay, then the website shows a notice  Mixed Fares - Highest Restriction Fare Rule.

Both of these fares could be refundable?   But I don't know exactly what those MCE seat fare rules are.

 

On 5/21/2023 at 11:45 PM, Wishing on a star said:

Yes, it is premium economy with MCE for the shorter domestic flights.  (at least that is what it seems)

Both do say refunds and cancellations allowed.

But, I don't know if that shorter flight where it has to offer you MCE might also might be changed to restricted.   It should show these things!

 

You will probably be paying a premium economy fare for all of the travel in each direction; the domestic connecting flights are usually not charged as a separate fare. So if the premium economy fare that you're buying is refundable, then it's refundable. In this situation, there is no question of you paying any sort of MCE fare, even though that's where you might be seated on the shorter flights.

 

Trying a dummy booking on the AA website now, I see a notice at the top of the page with the firm fare quote (after you've selected seats) that says:

 

<<

You have a mix of fares
The rule of the most restrictive fare will apply.

>>

 

That seems to be clear enough? This only matters if your outbound travel and inbound travel are on fares with rules that are truly different from each other. Often there will technically be different fares in each direction because (for example) it's weekend travel in one direction but midweek travel in the other, but actually all the fare rules are identical.

 

To check this, go to the bottom of that page and click the link for "Detailed fare rules". That should bring up a page that gives you the fare basis code for the fare in each direction, together with a selection of the most important fare rules for each of them. These include the "Penalties" section, which will tell you how refundable the fare is (or isn't).

 

I don't know what AA means by "fully refundable" as opposed to "refundable", but my guess is that "fully refundable" gives you everything back if you cancel, but "refundable" means that there will be a cancellation fee and then you get the rest refunded.

 

Of course, it's difficult to be sure about any of this unless we know exactly what you're looking at so we can see what rules are involved.

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks!

Yes, I did select Premium seats, fully Round Trip, Flexible... and their website is subbing in MCE for the two shorter domestics.

The thing is, I don't know if when they switch those short flights over to MCE, whether they are more restrictive when it comes to changes or cancellations.  I know the seat class is changed, but I have no idea about the fare code.

 

This should be WAY more obvious and transparant.

 

I will check again, looking to see if I can find specific fare codes for each flight.

Thanks!

[Globaliser]

29 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Yes, I did select Premium seats, fully Round Trip, Flexible... and their website is subbing in MCE for the two shorter domestics.

The thing is, I don't know if when they switch those short flights over to MCE, whether they are more restrictive when it comes to changes or cancellations.  I know the seat class is changed, but I have no idea about the fare code.

 

They're not "switching" anything so far as the fare is concerned. You pay the premium economy fare from your origin to your destination. You're never paying a separate fare for the short-haul flight, so there's nothing to switch.