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This deal is dead. But wouldn’t you rather save 90% on your American Airlines flights? See here.

Via the Flight Deal, American Airlines is offering 5% off all flights using promotional code 9612DD. The coupon code is meant for City County (Fort Lauderdale/Broward County) Credit Union members, but it appears that anyone can use the code to knock 5% off their American Airlines airfare!

Details of the promotion are below. Note that travel must be booked by December 31st. Also note that this coupon code is only valid online for American and American Eagle flights.

The terms and conditions below help shed some more light on this deal. Multi-city itineraries must be booked via phone, where a $20 fee is charged that will likely negate any benefits of the 5% off coupon. Unless you are booking a $400 fare or higher, you would be losing money by calling. Note that several deeply discounted fare classes are also excluded from the deal.

To avoid the phone reservations fee for multicity itineraries, you might be better off booking separate oneway tickets online. Be careful to note that if there is a mechanical or weather related issue with your original flights, American will not be obligated to accommodate you.

How do I book using this code?

Simply go to AA.com and plug in your desired city pairs and travel dates.  Instead of clicking “Find Flights”, choose the small print option “More Flight Search Options” in light blue font.

Once you have clicked, you will be taken to the advanced booking page for American. Your city pairs and travel dates should already be inputted from the previous screen. Simply scroll to the bottom and enter the 9612DD promo code into Box #9 labeled “Promotion Code”. Then click the red Go button to see all available flights.

You will be taken to the standard booking page where you select the individual legs for your flights. You should see all eligible flight prices slashed through (in black) with the discounted fares displayed immediately below in green font.

Select the legs of your journey and pay as normal. There is no need to input the code again. The price you pay reflects the discount applied to your fare. You are all set.

5% off doesn’t seem like much, why is this a big deal?

Several reasons, actually. The first is that Thanksgiving and Christmas flights are filling up quickly, and airlines are adjusting by quickly raising fares. This 5% off coupon should help ease the sting for those of you who waited or need to make last minute holiday/vacation bookings on American.

The other important point to remember is that American Airlines recently launched a double elite qualifying miles promotion for travel booked from November 1st-December 31st. Registration for that promo is required and can be found here. With the 5% off coupon, you can combine both deals when traveling on American or American Eagle. The Double EQM promotion is eligible on all purchased & published fare tickets that are also eligible for mileage accrual. Fares booked using the 5% off promo satisfy both stipulations.

Hopefully this will help lower the cost of your mileage runs and bring you closer to coveted elite status with American. For Scott’s take on the Double EQM promo, make sure to check out his post, How Much is the American Airlines Double Miles Promo Worth?

What are some of the best uses for this code?

It might seem obvious, but the two best times to use this are for destinations that American has a firm stranglehold. Direct flights to/from Dallas and Miami, traditional American Airlines hubs, are just two examples.

Another good use is for visits to places like Chicago-O’Hare, where American and United  often price fares extremely closely together. The 5% off coupon, especially if you don’t hold status with either airline, could make your decision to fly American an easy one.

Can I use this 5% off on codeshare flights?

Yes, but there are some rules and restrictions.

Per the terms and conditions, flights marketed by American Airlines but flown by a codeshare partner (such as British Airways or Qantas) must be booked via telephone to apply the 5% off code. To confirm this, I tried an online dummy booking to Madrid from Tampa in December. Only American operated flights had the discount applied. The flights with a codeshare leg on Iberia were excluded.

When calling to book a codeshare, you need to be mindful of this stipulation taken from the 5% off terms: “flights will require that at least one segment of the itinerary be on AA aircraft.”

For example, if I called American and wanted to book their roundtrip codeshare from Miami to Madrid direct on Iberia, I would not be able to unless I added a leg that was also operated on American. However, a Tampa<->Madrid roundtrip with Tampa-Miami on American and Miami-Madrid on Iberia would be considered an eligible fare.

What else should I know about this coupon code?

The code was clearly intended for the small number of members of the City County Credit Union in Florida. I highly doubt they anticipated it being spread around the frequent flyer community at large. The code could be pulled at any time, so I suggest you book as soon as possible if you have upcoming plans on American.

Recap

If you have have holiday or vacation plans flying on American Airlines, this 5% off coupon is a great bonus, especially coupled with the double elite qualifying miles promo.

Though not a huge difference, anything that decreases the cents per mile earned on a mileage run is great news.

To properly apply the 5% off code, multicity itineraries and codeshare flights must be booked via telephone and incur a $20 fee, along with the codeshare restriction listed above. The fee negates any value derived from the  code unless your fare is over $400. The fact that one leg of the codeshare rountrip must be on AA metal is even more restrictive.

Also, more people calling and using the code could alert American that the discount is being abused. I suggest you stick to eligible online bookings for this until the deal is finally pulled.