American Airlines :(

JimmyDoe

Hi All,

I have a predicament with American Airlines and wonderd if anybody is aware of any rights i may have in getting some money back???

Situation:

We booked some flights to Chicago on my brother-in-law's a credit card as we were going as a group, however, due to a getting a promotion and work commitments, we could not travel on the originally planned date.

(and now the fun begins)

I called American Airlines to ask if i could cancel and get a get any sort of a refund. (6 months before departure) - They say, "no". The reason for this is a few rows was the seats where we were placed.

They did say that my flights would still be valid for and i could fly again within a year and would have to pay £100 to rebook. I thought this was reasonable, checked when they had to be used and was told i had to 'rebook' before the end of October.

A couple of weeks later, we get a phone call from some family that would like to take our place on the group holiday but cannot get ticekts for the same flight as the rest of the group. "Would we like to transfer our tickets to them?" - and they would give us the price we paid.

"Briliant", i thought. . . . thought!

I call American Airlines again (probably good to point out now that the line you call is terrible, hardly audible and the english is not the best) i explain the situation and ask if we can transfer . . . "No".

Thing is they couldnt give me an explanantion as to why i couldnt use them myself (or get a refund) or let somebody else use them. Thought id use this opportunity to check again about when they have to be rebooked by . . and this time they tell me the 1st of October.


We are now looking at when to reuse the tickets so i call them again 2 nights ago to check some details.

They now tell me that i the ticket have to be used by the 10th of September and that is be there and back by the 10th of September. - SO im loosing yet more time. Do these people not understand that a trip to another country such as America requires money to be saved etc!?!?

(it gets better)

Given that this info had changed AGAIN i double checked that it was £100 to rebook . . .. guess what . . . . ."we don't know, it depends on the flight you want to book . . . . . (question how much this could be and then after asking a few direct question) . . . it could be upto as much as 50% f the original price" :eek:

Summary :

Im not best pleased.

The customer service and consistency of information is ridiculous and to be perfectly honest i realy dont want to fly with them anymore because God knows what that might be like. Hope British Airways might be worth a look next time.

Any advise appreciated folks

budgetflyer

BA would be the same. They seem to have been pretty reasonable. You just don't seem to know what you want, if you want to go or when.

Incapuppy

JimmyDoe wrote: »

They say, "no". The reason for this is a few rows was the seats where we were placed.

I don't understand what this means?

AA will surely need to comply with the T&Cs relating to the type of ticket that you bought? Check those carefully.

A lot of tickets are completely non-refundable and non-changeable in which case the best you could hope for is a refund of taxes on unused flights.

claire16c

JimmyDoe wrote: »

Hi All,

I have a predicament with American Airlines and wonderd if anybody is aware of any rights i may have in getting some money back???

Situation:

We booked some flights to Chicago on my brother-in-law's a credit card as we were going as a group, however, due to a getting a promotion and work commitments, we could not travel on the originally planned date.

(and now the fun begins)

I called American Airlines to ask if i could cancel and get a get any sort of a refund. (6 months before departure) - They say, "no". The reason for this is a few rows was the seats where we were placed.

When you book a scheduled flight thats it. You cant just expect to get a refund. You shouldnt have booked it unless you were 100% sure. Your sentence doesnt really make sense either.

They did say that my flights would still be valid for and i could fly again within a year and would have to pay £100 to rebook. I thought this was reasonable, checked when they had to be used and was told i had to 'rebook' before the end of October.

A couple of weeks later, we get a phone call from some family that would like to take our place on the group holiday but cannot get ticekts for the same flight as the rest of the group. "Would we like to transfer our tickets to them?" - and they would give us the price we paid.

"Briliant", i thought. . . . thought!

Why would you think that? You cant normally just alter the name. Youd probably have to buy a new ticket or pay a huge fee.

I call American Airlines again (probably good to point out now that the line you call is terrible, hardly audible and the english is not the best) i explain the situation and ask if we can transfer . . . "No".

Thats strange. Ive called them before and their call centre is in Ireland. The US one is in the USA - whove Ive called if I need to speak to them after office hours. Both English speaking countries..

Thing is they couldnt give me an explanantion as to why i couldnt use them myself (or get a refund) or let somebody else use them. Thought id use this opportunity to check again about when they have to be rebooked by . . and this time they tell me the 1st of October.

Because you booked the flights in your name. That is the reason.


We are now looking at when to reuse the tickets so i call them again 2 nights ago to check some details.

They now tell me that i the ticket have to be used by the 10th of September and that is be there and back by the 10th of September. - SO im loosing yet more time. Do these people not understand that a trip to another country such as America requires money to be saved etc!?!?

Thats your problem not theirs. And surely if you were planning a trip in the first place you would have saved anyway? Or just put it on a card when you are there???

(it gets better)

Given that this info had changed AGAIN i double checked that it was £100 to rebook . . .. guess what . . . . ."we don't know, it depends on the flight you want to book . . . . . (question how much this could be and then after asking a few direct question) . . . it could be upto as much as 50% f the original price" :eek:


£100 would be the fee to change your flight to a different date. You then of course have to pay the difference in fare between your flight date and the new date.

Otherwise you could routinely book flights in say Feb, a cheap time of year, and then ring up 2 minutes later and ask to pay £100 to change to August! Unless you tell them which flight you want how are they supposed to know how much the difference would be???

Summary :

Im not best pleased.

The customer service and consistency of information is ridiculous and to be perfectly honest i realy dont want to fly with them anymore because God knows what that might be like. Hope British Airways might be worth a look next time.

Any advise appreciated folks

BA would give you the same response.

Touch wood Ive always had good service from AA.

Theyve done things like let us check baggage for free domestic flights, sorted out a problem efficiently I had last year at Heathrow, and gave me a group booking discount when my friends booked tickets to our wedding in the US, even though in the end there wasnt enough people who ended up flying with them to qualify the discount.

However if I booked a flight with them and then couldnt decide if I was taking it anymore, let alone on what date it would be, Id expect the same response you had.

Caz3121

JimmyDoe wrote: »

Hope British Airways might be worth a look next time.

You need to read the terms and conditions that you sign up to when you book an airline ticket as you could end up in the same position again

Example BA flights to Chicago for dates in November for the same economy seats you have the option of paying £529 for non changes and no refunds (similar to what you booked with AA) or £1699 to have a flexible ticket that you would be able to change or cancel (same economy seats)...it is all there in the fare rules. Also I don't think BA would let you change a non-changeable ticket even for a fee.

I can only assume your reference to "The reason for this is a few rows was the seats where we were placed" actually refers to the ticket class you have booked - like BA, AA will have flexible tickets (at a higher fare) but as you appear not have one you do not get the flexibility that other people a premium to have.

If you book a flight and you are not 100% sure you will be travelling your options are

a) pay the premium for a flexible ticket
b) delay booking till you are certain you will be able to travel (which will likely cost you more than booking early)
c) understand that if you sign up for a non-refundable ticket and you cancel for a reason not covered by your travel insurance, you will be out of pocket

As has been said, you can claim back the taxes