AHHHHH! Need help, American airlnes is screwing us!

[snowroach]

I'm at Disney world right now, and I have quite the problem. A little back ground first, I am here on business till Friday. On Friday my Fiance will be flying in for vacation at the world for a week. We had originally planned on her flighing in with me and just hanging out at the hotel for a couple of days while I did my confrence stuff. We went ahead and booked our flights on american. A few weeks before we left something came up for my fiance at work and she decided it would be better to stay and fly in just in time for our vacation. When I went to change our flight I found out it would cost quite a bit to change the original american flight. So I went online and booked a one way flight on delta and called american to make sure that if we didn't use the first leg of the trip we could still use the second. The person I spoke with confirmed that we could so everything was good till today. I decided to double check our flight info for our flights out and when I pulled up her flight online it showed the reservation as cancelled. So long story short; reservations told us that because we didn't actually cancel the first leg we couldn't use the second now!!! and that the ticket "has no value"!!! The only people who can do anything for us is customer relations and apairently the ONLY way to contact them is by email or snail mail. Our flight home is next tuesday and I'm worried I won't here from them by then. What should I do? does anyone know of a number I could call to get a hold of american?

 

[goofy4tink]

I checked their website...for refunds the phone number is...1-918-254-3777. They are there Mon-Fri 9-12:30 and 1:30-3:00 central time.
To the best of my knowledge you do have to cancel any leg you won't be using...the agent should have made that clear. Let us know how you make out!!

 

[tracys2cents]

I think you would have to call American and ask the same question all over again. IF you get the same response...saying that you can cancel the first leg without affecting the second....get the agents name , time of day, supervisors name or whatever you can get.

Then you will have more credence when you call Customer Service. Just telling them that "two weeks ago one of your agents said this was okay" is not gonna hold much water. It's pretty standard with air tickets that if you don't show up for the first leg, the whole ticket is cancelled. However, this cancelled ticket should still have some value so you might be able to apply it to whatever one-way American fare you can find to get home with.

 

[snowroach]

Ok, well after battling american for 2 hours on the phone I made pretty good head way although I'm still pretty upset about the whole thing. First off if anyone ever needs to actually talk to someone in customer relations call 817-963-1234, it's the number for american's parent corp. Just wait till the operator comes on and ask for customer relations.

What they ended up doing for me is alowing the entire value of the original ticket to be aplyed to a new one way ticket. I still had to pay $100 out of pocket but it was better than the $450 they originally quoted me for a one way ticket.

I learned a good lesson though about the whole not using the first leg thing. I don't fly much so it's all kind of new to me still.

Thanks for everyones help.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

So long story short; reservations told us that because we didn't actually cancel the first leg we couldn't use the second now!!! and that the ticket "has no value"!!!

That's correct. That's what the fare rules say.

To see your rights (and obligations) and American Airlines' rights (and obligations), see American Airlines' Conditions of Carriage. Also, look at the fare rules associated with your ticket.

American Airlines' Conditions of Carriage specifically prohibit "Throwaway Ticketing," which is the use of a roundtrip excursion fare for one-way travel. Even if you had cancelled your initial flight, American would be unlikely to allow you to fly on the return flight until you rebooked and flew the initial flight.

The fare rules for nonrefundable discount fares requires the passenger to cancel his/her flight if he/she can't fly as ticketed. The passenger can then apply the value to a future flight, minus a change fee (typically $100). If the passenger simply doesn't show up for the flight, the ticket loses all value. That's not just how it is with American Airlines. As far as I know, the other legacy carriers (Delta, Northwest, United, Continental, US Airways) and most smaller airlines have the same rule.

When I went to change our flight I found out it would cost quite a bit to change the original american flight. So I went online and booked a one way flight on delta and called american to make sure that if we didn't use the first leg of the trip we could still use the second.

Is there any chance that the person with whom you spoke at American noted the call on your ticket record?

If you're currently at WDW, I doubt you have time to engage in written correspondence. So, call again, and ask for a supervisor who is empowered to handle exceptions.

Right now, the only chance you have with American is to explain that you acted in good faith, but that you were given misinformation by an American Airlines phone agent (or that you misunderstood the agent). You have subsequently learned the actual rules, and you will heed them in the future. However, in any case, you acted in good faith. Explain exactly what you want American to — to reinstate your return flight as though you had taken your initial flight. Be polite, and realize that the people with whom you speak are just following the rules — and, in this case, the rules are that your ticket is now cancelled an worthless.

Good luck. Please let us know how it works out.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

After I posted above, I saw that snowroach was able to work out a reasonable solution with American. I'm glad it worked out.

To snowroach, thank you for posting! Others reading this board may have learned a valuable lesson from your experience.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

It's a good opportunity to point out the fine print and how important it is to read it. Most people book the lowest fare they can and, in doing so, forfeit flexibility in subsequent changes to their original ticket.

Always keep a copy of the itinerary and receipt with you and make sure you read it (preferably BEFORE you buy it!) Don't necessarily believe what a representative is telling you verbally when your hardcopy ticket dictates otherwise. Ticket changes can be costly, and what might seem like a better deal (i.e., buying one way on another airline) initially, can really bite you in the end.

Glad they were able to help you somewhat with your return flight.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Nearly every airline will cancel your entire reservation if you fail to show up for your outbound flight. I don't think what AA did following snowroach's conversation with customer service was any concession on their part. By failing to use the outbound ticket what they had was a completely unused ticket which could thus be applied to any future ticket purchase with a $100 change fee. And that is what they ended up doing.

Many of the so called "low fare" airlines won't cancel an entire reservation because most of their airfares are actually one-way fares and when you purchase a round trip you are really purchasing two one-way trips. So failing to show for the outbound flight may not jeopardize the return flight. Most of the so called "legacy" carriers sell a majority of tickets as roundtrip fares only. So if you don't fly out, you don't get to fly back.

BobK/Orlando

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Nearly every airline will cancel your entire reservation if you fail to show up for your outbound flight. I don't think what AA did following snowroach's conversation with customer service was any concession on their part. By failing to use the outbound ticket what they had was a completely unused ticket which could thus be applied to any future ticket purchase with a $100 change fee. And that is what they ended up doing.

BobK/Orlando

But the particular flight reservation on that ticket had to be cancelled before the first segment of the itinerary to retain any value. Again... the fine print. Is it a popular policy? No... but when you purchase a lower priced fare, it comes with this restriction.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

American Airlines' Conditions of Carriage specifically prohibit "Throwaway Ticketing," which is the use of a roundtrip excursion fare for one-way travel. Even if you had cancelled your initial flight, American would be unlikely to allow you to fly on the return flight until you rebooked and flew the initial flight.

This is correct. Most airlines prohibit doing this. You're lucky AA is giving you any break at all.

They aren't "screwing" you, they are simply following policy.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Here's an interesting article that discusses similar situation: American Airlines must die, John Carroll, ZDNet, July 31, 2006.

Among other things, John Carroll wrote:

"To make matters worse, American service personnel are of the opinion that the company gets to eat your fare without giving you any service, much like the proverbial troll eating the bones of unwary travellers who crossed his bridge, a comparison I voiced to the desk clerk and American's 800-number customer service personnel (in response to which they probably thought…what in the hell is a troll?)."​

Of course, it's actually incorrect to say that, "American service personnel are of the opinion that the company gets to eat your fare." It's not an opinion, and it's not the service personnel making things up. It's the published rule that goes with the fare (but American really doesn't do a good job making the rules clear to occasional leisure travelers at time of purchase).

The legacy airlines are playing a dangerous game. By publishing and enforcing rules that reasonable people consider unreasonable, the legacy carriers are driving "burned" customers (and their friends and co-workers) to the newer carriers with more reasonable rules.