Foolish to purchase American Airlines gift cards?

[Belle5]

I am wanting to purchase several American Airlines gift cards. Would that be foolish considering there recent financial issues? Do you think these would be safe if used sometime in the next 6 months?

 

[MAH4546]

Buy them. AA will be around in six months, in one year, even ten years from now.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

They will absolutely be good. Just make sure that the recipients can use these.

 

[seashoreCM]

I would not buy them.

If a gift card is lost or stolen, you have no protection. It's just like losing cash. So you might as well give cash (or a check) rather than a gift card.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Costco sells $300 American Airlines gifts cards for $269.99 (may not be available or in stock at some Costco stores).

I made a AA reservations for an upcoming vacation on aa.com. AA allows a free 24-hour hold. The price was almost $600, so I went to Costco and bought two cards (along with all the other stuff we buy at Costco).

At home, I went back onto aa.com and applied the two gift cards, using one up and leaving a small balance for future use on the other.

It was an easy way to save another 10% on what was already a very low airfare.

To answer the OP's question, AA will be around for many years. The word "bankruptcy" is scary, but Chapter 11 is simply a way to reduce the company's cost of doing business.