Finding cheap flights on American Airlines

[EricLaurie]

I would like to plan a fall trip to Disneyworld on American. We’re pretty flexible on when we go.

Our preferred airline is American out of O’Hare. It seems like it’s fairly easy to find when the low cost flights are on Southwest. United shows the lowest priced flights by day when you hover on the calendar. I’ve never figured out how to do anything like this on American’s site. We’re literally checking week by week. Has anyone figured out a better way?

 

[lorimt]

Google flights might help

 

[DanceDisney23]

Definitely Google flights or the Hopper app.

 

[gmi3804]

Google Flights is a very robust search engine. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the many features, and you'll be in good hands. If your dates are flexible, the "Date Grid" feature is very lucrative.

 

[sam_gordon]

Second using google flights. You can sign up to track the prices.

 

[Keladry84]

Google is a good suggestion.

Or if you want to stay with Americans site, try checking the rewards point search. Once there you can look by month. While the points cost and regular cash price don’t always directly correspond, it can still give you an idea of the cheaper travel days and times so you know what dates to search.

 

[sam_gordon]

I just put in random days for a RT on American from my home airport to MCO. Is this not what you're looking for?

It was at the top of the search results.

 

[gmi3804]

Or if you want to stay with Americans site, try checking the rewards point search.

The rewards point search is a good place to find out where the low-point award availability is, and then you can go to partner airlines' sites to see how many points they're asking for the same [code-share] seat. We got Business Class flights to Tokyo on JAL's brand new Airbus A350 (which is like a private room) for 60,000 points.

 

[Keladry84]

The rewards point search is a good place to find out where the low-point award availability is, and then you can go to partner airlines' sites to see how many points they're asking for the same [code-share] seat. We got Business Class flights to Tokyo on JAL's brand new Airbus A350 (which is like a private room) for 60,000 points.

Random question….do you happen to know if you book a regular economy (cash) with American with the codeshare JAL airbus a350 for the overseas flight, if you have the opportunity to upgrade to premium economy through American? I know you can if booked through JAL, but I don’t know if they let you upgrade if booked through American for the codeshare.

 

[gmi3804]

Random question….do you happen to know if you book a regular economy (cash) with American with the codeshare JAL airbus a350 for the overseas flight, if you have the opportunity to upgrade to premium economy through American? I know you can if booked through JAL, but I don’t know if they let you upgrade if booked through American for the codeshare.

I don’t believe so, but you can book a Premium Economy seat through AA’s site, if available.

 

[EricLaurie]

I just put in random days for a RT on American from my home airport to MCO. Is this not what you're looking for?
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It was at the top of the search results.

I’ve definitely seen this. I’m looking for the whole month view that United and Southwest have.

 

[Keladry84]

I don’t believe so, but you can book a Premium Economy seat through AA’s site, if available.

Thanks!! I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Japan and this is good to know!

 

[EricLaurie]

Google is a good suggestion.

Or if you want to stay with Americans site, try checking the rewards point search. Once there you can look by month. While the points cost and regular cash price don’t always directly correspond, it can still give you an idea of the cheaper travel days and times so you know what dates to search.

Thanks. I really wish they had this for $. I think I’m searching for something they don’t have. I’ll have to try google flights and see if that helps. If nothing else, I just keep doing it the way I am now which is checking one week at a time.

 

[Keladry84]

Thanks. I really wish they had this for $. I think I’m searching for something they don’t have. I’ll have to try google flights and see if that helps. If nothing else, I just keep doing it the way I am now which is checking one week at a time.

Good luck!

Also, be sure to keep checking back with the search on different days - I've noticed that American prices seem to fluctuate quite a bit, sometimes even within 1 day, and I've managed to get some really good flight deals with persistence!

 

[EACarlson]

OK, I'm curious. Why American out of ORD and not United? Or Southwest out of MDW. All three offer nonstops to MCO. I've flown all three of them and there wasn't all that much of a difference besides boarding.

 

[kimmar067]

I fly out of the NY/NYC area [specifically EWR] and have found that both Delta and American do not have non-stop flights to MCO....I just booked a non-stop flight for the middle of August through United for $186 R/T!

 

[gmi3804]

Thanks!! I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Japan and this is good to know!

If you're looking to use points, make sure you book on the day the fares are published. The award seats go faster than BOG tables, i.e., minutes. The thing is, different airlines require different amounts of points, so you need to do a bit of homework and know what the "going rate" should be before you pounce. Good luck!

 

[gmi3804]

OK, I'm curious. Why American out of ORD and not United? Or Southwest out of MDW. All three offer nonstops to MCO. I've flown all three of them and there wasn't all that much of a difference besides boarding.

American and United both have major hubs at ORD (United is our "hometown airline"), and I consider them to be pretty much equally bad, so I shop for price/time.

SWA was starting to tap the ORD market, but recently they've drastically reduced service out of ORD. They're much more of a presence at MDW; it's just that MDW is so inconvenient for us (we're in the north 'burbs, MDW is on the SW side of the city), so we're much less likely to consider SWA.

 

[Keladry84]

If you're looking to use points, make sure you book on the day the fares are published. The award seats go faster than BOG tables, i.e., minutes. The thing is, different airlines require different amounts of points, so you need to do a bit of homework and know what the "going rate" should be before you pounce. Good luck!

I unfortunately don’t have enough points for an international flight, otherwise I’d pounce on that!

 

[EACarlson]

American and United both have major hubs at ORD (United is our "hometown airline"), and I consider them to be pretty much equally bad, so I shop for price/time.

SWA was starting to tap the ORD market, but recently they've drastically reduced service out of ORD. They're much more of a presence at MDW; it's just that MDW is so inconvenient for us (we're in the north 'burbs, MDW is on the SW side of the city), so we're much less likely to consider SWA.

I should have specified, I was asking the OP @EricLaurie why they were so specific about looking for AA flights out of ORD and not UA. I've flown both ORD-MCO and flown MDW-MCO and MKE-MCO on SW. I wouldn't limit myself to one airline out of ORD.