American Airlines Upgrade Question

[Eeyore1220]

Hello all! I'm currently on a 2-plus-hour hold for a customer service rep for AA, so I figured I might as well see if any of you have experience with my specific question. I am booked on AA to MCO and I bought Main Cabin Extra seats. In the AA app, I just got an upgrade offer for first class, and it's only a few dollars more than what I paid for the MCE seats. Question: If I upgrade, will AA refund what I paid for those MCE seats? Thanks in advance if anyone has experience with this!

 

[sam_gordon]

Hello all! I'm currently on a 2-plus-hour hold for a customer service rep for AA, so I figured I might as well see if any of you have experience with my specific question. I am booked on AA to MCO and I bought Main Cabin Extra seats. In the AA app, I just got an upgrade offer for first class, and it's only a few dollars more than what I paid for the MCE seats. Question: If I upgrade, will AA refund what I paid for those MCE seats? Thanks in advance if anyone has experience with this!

I have no experience with this, but why would you think you get a refund? You paid $x for the MCE seats. AA offers you an upgrade to FC for $x (which you've already paid) + $y. So in order to take the upgrade, you have to pay more (the difference). How do you see a refund being justified?

 

[Eeyore1220]

I have no experience with this, but why would you think you get a refund? You paid $x for the MCE seats. AA offers you an upgrade to FC for $x (which you've already paid) + $y. So in order to take the upgrade, you have to pay more (the difference). How do you see a refund being justified?

Well, seat purchases have completely different "ticket numbers" (how AA labels each transaction) and are not considered part of the fare in an upgrade, I believe. In essence, I would be paying for four seats instead of two (two first class, two MCE) if I didn't get a refund. I did a little research (still on hold, lol), and AA's site has this, so I kind of answered my own question!
When we'll issue a refund for seats (no request needed)
We'll issue you a refund if:

• We cancel your flight.
• You pay to upgrade to First or Business.
• You pay more for another seat on the same flight (but not if you change to a lower priced or free seat).

Oh, I just got through as I was typing the above -- the rep confirmed that I should get a full refund on the seats. Hope that info helps someone else!

 

[sam_gordon]

Well, seat purchases have completely different "ticket numbers" (how AA labels each transaction) and are not considered part of the fare in an upgrade, I believe. In essence, I would be paying for four seats instead of two (two first class, two MCE) if I didn't get a refund. I did a little research (still on hold, lol), and AA's site has this, so I kind of answered my own question!
When we'll issue a refund for seats (no request needed)
We'll issue you a refund if:

• We cancel your flight.
• You pay to upgrade to First or Business.
• You pay more for another seat on the same flight (but not if you change to a lower priced or free seat).

Oh, I just got through as I was typing the above -- the rep confirmed that I should get a full refund on the seats. Hope that info helps someone else!

Just to clarify. To upgrade to FC from the MCE seats, you pay the full fare (not just the difference)? Sorry, in that case, yes, I would expect a refund.

 

[Eeyore1220]

Just to clarify. To upgrade to FC from the MCE seats, you pay the full fare (not just the difference)? Sorry, in that case, yes, I would expect a refund.

No, sorry if I wasn't clear. I paid a fare for my economy seat and then purchased seats (designated as main cabin extra). In the AA app, a message popped up above my flight info saying "upgrade for as low as..." with a number MUCH lower than what it would cost to pay the difference between the economy and FC fares. The number was not significantly more than what I paid for those MCE seats. So, I took the offer and paid that smaller amount to upgrade. According to AA's rules, apparently, if you upgrade in class (in any way - through an offer, by rebooking, etc.), you get a refund on any seats you purchased in economy. To me, it wouldn't be worth it to upgrade if I didn't get the refund, because then the "low" offer is actually double (what I pay for the upgrade and what I paid for the seats I will no longer be using). That's why I wanted to confirm before upgrading. I think the key that I wasn't realizing at first is that AA considers seat purchases a different transaction than the fare, and there are circumstances (like mine), where that seat purchase is refundable.

 

[sam_gordon]

No, sorry if I wasn't clear. I paid a fare for my economy seat and then purchased seats (designated as main cabin extra). In the AA app, a message popped up above my flight info saying "upgrade for as low as..." with a number MUCH lower than what it would cost to pay the difference between the economy and FC fares. The number was not significantly more than what I paid for those MCE seats. So, I took the offer and paid that smaller amount to upgrade. According to AA's rules, apparently, if you upgrade in class (in any way - through an offer, by rebooking, etc.), you get a refund on any seats you purchased in economy. To me, it wouldn't be worth it to upgrade if I didn't get the refund, because then the "low" offer is actually double (what I pay for the upgrade and what I paid for the seats I will no longer be using). That's why I wanted to confirm before upgrading. I think the key that I wasn't realizing at first is that AA considers seat purchases a different transaction than the fare, and there are circumstances (like mine), where that seat purchase is refundable.

Sorry, I still don't follow, but I'm glad things worked out for you!

 

[Eeyore1220]

Sorry, I still don't follow, but I'm glad things worked out for you!

Sorry! If it makes more sense, I paid the difference in fare between economy and FC. The extra money I paid for a better seat in economy gets refunded because it's a totally separate transaction. Since I used points for my economy seats and paid a lot for my MCE seats, this became a "deal" for me to cancel the MCE seats and upgrade to first. Thanks for working through it with me!

 

[Eeyore1220]

Sorry! If it makes more sense, I paid the difference in fare between economy and FC. The extra money I paid for a better seat in economy gets refunded because it's a totally separate transaction. Since I used points for my economy seats and paid a lot for my MCE seats, this became a "deal" for me to cancel the MCE seats and upgrade to first. Thanks for working through it with me!

BTW, not trying to be annoying with the multiple explanations - I'm a teacher so it's really hard for me not to keep explaining if someone says they don't get something I'm saying! Just built into the genes for me.

 

[sam_gordon]

BTW, not trying to be annoying with the multiple explanations - I'm a teacher so it's really hard for me not to keep explaining if someone says they don't get something I'm saying! Just built into the genes for me.

No problem. I appreciate you trying to explain it. I think I get it now... the MCE is an separate "upgrade" from the economy seats that you've already paid for. Since it was "separate", you're not credited with what you paid, and you now need to pay the difference between the economy and FC. I was looking at it simply and thinking the amount you paid for MCE would be credited, so you'd pay the difference between MCE & FC.