[Willow980]

Everyone should be aware of the perils of booking on the Internet with AA. Last month I was looking to book 2 return flights to LA for myself and my husband. The AA website allows you to put reservations 'on hold'. This enables you to check out seat configurations and availability of seats on certain flights on specific days BUT BEWARE...
I put 3 reservations on hold. You get an automated response for each one which informs you these will be 'held' for (approx) 72 hours. The following day, I logged into one of the 'on hold' reseervations, booked the seats and paid by credit card. In return I received a receipt, an itinerary and an e-ticket. You think, dont you, that you have a confirmed booking? No way! Today I decided to check out my online reservation - dont ask me why - call it intuition. Well, I discovered my booking was cancelled - or, as they put it - 'status cancelled'. I phoned AA and was informed it was MY FAULT for putting more than one reservation on hold! Can you believe it?? ' 'The computer,' they say 'cancels all your reservations.'
Where is my money then,' I asked. 'We have it.' says the AA Rep. 'But I dont have a booking though?', I ask. 'No, you dont,' says the rep.
Fortunately, I persisted and was able to get my booking 'reinstated'. Unfortunately, the seats I wanted on the outbound flight are no longer available and we are stuck in the middle row. However, it could have been worse. Imagine this....turning up at Heathrow for a 16 day trip to LA only to be told at check-in that you dont have a reservation!!
I have emailed customer services and also sent an express delivery airmail letter to their customer services in Dublin. I'm not holding my breath....
Its hardly surprising that they are selling seats at half the BA price.

[Capn Ron]

Most people, including myself don't read the fare rules, restrictions, etc. while browsing the travel websites. I have gotten better to check before I book. The website sets up the hold period when you put tickets on hold, however the fare guarantee only allows a hold for 24 hours. This means the price you put on hold is only guaranteed for 24 hours but you are guaranteed you can purchase a ticket on that flight for the longer hold time but possibly at a higher price.

As to cancelling your reservations, airlines don't allow you to book multiple flights with the same names on the same itinerary. You are tying up their inventory that they could be selling to others and they know you can't be in two places at the same time. The airlines' computers will cancel all or all but one of the reservations. Also don't use different names to hold the tickets because they will have to be purchased as such and airlines don't allow name changes.

No one has a guaranteed assigned seat on an airplane until that plane takes off and you are seated in that seat.

[airhead]

Don't forget that when one books multiple reservations and expects to travel on the 2nd or 3rd leg but skipping the first, the reservation cancels after the 1st leg is missed. The airline believes you are not going to make the rest of trip and they sure could use that seat you reserved since many of the flights are already over booked.

[Eagleguy]

If you miss the first segment of your reservation and never intended to actually use it and ONLY fly on the later flight, that is in fact fraud. Airhead and Capn Ron, if you catch a passenger who is trying to defraud the airline by doing that you can report it and get a $50 gift card.

Now as everyone is reading what I just wrote, I am sure you're just absolutely appalled. Here is the reasoning behind that situation.

A passenger needs to get from Evansville, IN to Dallas. So he/she looks at fare EVV to DFW to EVV and it's $800. Well he/she looks at fares for EVV to DFW to LBB (Lubbock, TX) to DFW to EVV and that is only $450. The passenger thinks, "great, I'll just get off in Dallas and never take the DFW to LBB segment" Well so that happens, passenger flies EVV to DFW and does not take the LBB flight...Well as you said the computer cancels out the next segments because it figures you won't keep on traveling. So now you have no ticket DFW LBB, then LBB DFW, then DFW EVV. So you come to the counter all happy that you got a cheaper ticket for faking out the system saying you are going to LBB but no.

This happened to me just two weeks ago, well not TO me, but to a passenger that I got in line. I literally could not do anything to reinstate his ticket. He asked me what I could do for him and I said that I could sell him a new ticket. That price came up to around $700....He didn't like that so I kept on looking and found him a fare on Delta for a cheaper price that left in 40 minutes.

PEOPLE! If you ever are not going to make your flight please please please call reservations and tell them to cancel your reservation, because if you don't your tickets almost always say, "NONREF/CHGFEEPLUSFARDIFF/NOVALUEIFNOTCXLDBYFLGTTIME" So just call and cancel it and tell them you're in a storm or flat tire whatever, so that the rest of your ticket is not expired.

[countrynewsman]

I think a point to remember is that an airline seat is a perishable product.