Manipulating the American Airlines booking computer

can someone help me find a deal?

I dont know, maybe im missing something

OK heres what I want ( ish)

Depart london on 31st July or 1st August ( pref 31st)
Arriving into anywhere like
mobile, new orleans, atlanta, nashville, memphis or surrounds

Would prefer direct butI know AA dont go direct, so OK , will go via anywhere whatevers cheapest although one stop only is all i can bear - no more than that please!

Weve got 568 inclusive with last minute with delta can ANYONE find anything cheaper on AA? please help :beer:

Moving this topic on a bit-one of the thigs I like about AA is the opertunity to "bump" and gain vouchers for future trips.
Basically bumping is when the plane is oversold or has cargo weight issues and the airline asks for volunteers to travel on a later flight in exchange for vouchers that can be used for any One World carrier (includes BA Iberia amongst others as well as AA) for future travel.

Here's some of my experiences
Three of us checking in for Heathrow New York 4pm flight-offered $500 each plus food vouchers and overnight hotel to fly at 8.30 am the next morning. We declined.
Same trip flying home New York to heathrow 9pm flight-offered $400 each to fly on the 11pm flight instead-worth it for a 2 hour wait so accepted. (if we'd accepted both bumps we'd have ended up £200 each in profit as tickets were £250 each return)
Flying home from Vegas via Los Angeles to Heathrow. We had a four hour layover in Los Angeles. Offered $200 each to fly 45 min later on a United flight (made no difference to us as we had a wait anyway).
Sometimes it's offered-sometimes not-and sometimes it suits me to accept and sometimes it doesn't. Just another way to get more for your money sometimes.

No July and August are rare for bargains-AA are discounting til end of June now.
I don't expect any great bargains so have booked my July flights already

Hi Guys,

I've been following this thread for a while as I've recently booked cheap AA flights from EDI-LAS in June (£451 all in) after using the tips on this thread! :j

But I'm confused about this platinum challenge thing. I can't find anywhere that explains it in a way I can understand so that I can find out if there is any way I can benefit from it!? Don't even know how to sign up (although I signed up to AAdvantage when I booked my AA flights).

I know that my route (EDI-LHR-ORD-LAS) is 5,800miles both ways, so I will have racked up 11,600 miles once I have taken my flights. Am I eligible for some kind of discount on future flights? I'm just so confused about what the platinum challenge is and what to do to take advantage of any offers I may be eligible for!

Can anyone explain this or point me in the direction of a useful description?

Thanks guys

bairn7 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I've been following this thread for a while as I've recently booked cheap AA flights from EDI-LAS in June (£451 all in) after using the tips on this thread! :j

But I'm confused about this platinum challenge thing. I can't find anywhere that explains it in a way I can understand so that I can find out if there is any way I can benefit from it!? Don't even know how to sign up (although I signed up to AAdvantage when I booked my AA flights).

I know that my route (EDI-LHR-ORD-LAS) is 5,800miles both ways, so I will have racked up 11,600 miles once I have taken my flights. Am I eligible for some kind of discount on future flights? I'm just so confused about what the platinum challenge is and what to do to take advantage of any offers I may be eligible for!

Can anyone explain this or point me in the direction of a useful description?

Thanks guys

As per stoneman's post all you have to do is actually ring AA and say that you'd like to be entered for the Platinum challenge.
The AA rep explains how it is done and basically you can choose which month it will start. (Mine starts 15th Dec 2008 as I fly on the 20th)
From that date you have 3 months to get 10K status miles.

Once you have acheived that 'elite' status of Platinum you are then entitled to benefits the next time you fly on AA ( and possibly partner airlines e.g Ba etc).
There is no real financial discount or money off I'm afraid to say but if you get the flying bug and travel either with AA or their partners the benefits become worthwhile.

Looking at the list and you'll see that probably the best benefit is the ''Booking an Exit row' and the lounge access.

There's also the benefit of different check in desks (First with AA -don't have to queue with the hoy palloy!) Business with other airlines.
If you fly US domestic (and have bought an appropritate fare class ticket )you may be able to use the 'upgrade sticker's (coupons) to upgrade from economy to business,
for both you and your partner. You have to wait 72 hours before departure to ask for this and of course is dependant upon availability.

There's also the 100% miles bonus which means next time you fly AA the miles you earn are actually doubled.
Download the official PDF from here

Also as a Plat you are more likely to get upgraded if the flight is full and they need to move people up from coach to the next cabins.