Really sad American Airlines story (long) Happy Ending!

[rigsby25]

My son wanted to take a friend with him on our happy family reunion trip in May, so I looked up our flights to see if there were any more seats left. To my shock and dismay, I found out that I had booked the flights in opposite directions! FROM Orlando on 5/20 and back TO Orlando on 5/27. I've been making this trip for so long, I don't know how I did this. I made the reservations back in August. I called American immediately and they told me my $200.00 flights were now $400.00 and that to each ticket, I should add $100.00 for a change fee. So now the $200.00 flights were $500.00. I just couldn't believe they weren't willing to help me. They weren't willing to give me the August prices. They weren't willing to cut the fares $.01 because of my mistake, they weren't willing to waive the $100.00 change fee, and they weren't willing to extend the voucher validity. Because I made the reservations back in August, if I just wanted to cancel, I had to use the vouchers by this August. I can't believe their unwillingness to help me. I felt like they were filming a Capitol One commercial. I'm sure its their policy and I was the one who made the mistake, but to charge me $900.00 for a mistake? They've had my money since August. I'm freeing up seats on a now $400.00 flight. I've been feeling blue ever since Wednesday night when this happened. They did call back and offer to extend the voucher, so I grabbed it but I am still feeling so wounded. I booked on United. But I guess all airlines are the same. Does anyone know any big wigs at American that I should write to just to give them feedback? I sincerely believe that lack of customer service is one of the reasons that the airlines are crumbling. Or should I just accept responsibility that this was my fault and they have their rules? What do you think?

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Good luck. I fly about 100,000 miles a year on business and I have had more trouble with American Airlines and their policies then all other airlines combined. I give the majority of my business to Delta now. I have a credit for $400 on American that I need to use by May but I dread going thru the hassle of booking the ticket then flying them.

For cheap flights check www.sidestep.com and also www.southwest.com.

 

[CarolA]

My son wanted to take a friend with him on our happy family reunion trip in May, so I looked up our flights to see if there were any more seats left. To my shock and dismay, I found out that I had booked the flights in opposite directions! FROM Orlando on 5/20 and back TO Orlando on 5/27. I've been making this trip for so long, I don't know how I did this. I made the reservations back in August. I called American immediately and they told me my $200.00 flights were now $400.00 and that to each ticket, I should add $100.00 for a change fee. So now the $200.00 flights were $500.00. I just couldn't believe they weren't willing to help me. They weren't willing to give me the August prices. They weren't willing to cut the fares $.01 because of my mistake, they weren't willing to waive the $100.00 change fee, and they weren't willing to extend the voucher validity. Because I made the reservations back in August, if I just wanted to cancel, I had to use the vouchers by this August. I can't believe their unwillingness to help me. I felt like they were filming a Capitol One commercial. I'm sure its their policy and I was the one who made the mistake, but to charge me $900.00 for a mistake? They've had my money since August. I'm freeing up seats on a now $400.00 flight. I've been feeling blue ever since Wednesday night when this happened. They did call back and offer to extend the voucher, so I grabbed it but I am still feeling so wounded. I booked on United. But I guess all airlines are the same. Does anyone know any big wigs at American that I should write to just to give them feedback? I sincerely believe that lack of customer service is one of the reasons that the airlines are crumbling. Or should I just accept responsibility that this was my fault and they have their rules? What do you think?

No, the airlines are crumbling because even at $200 you were a money losing customer.

I would assume this is an expensive lesson learned. They have the rules and you did well to get the voucher and get it extended. I would not expect anything more.

The very restrictive fares are the price we pay for "cheap" airfare.

 

[Luv2Roam]

It is disappointing, and I see your reasoning (freeing up a flight). But knowing what the rules, and they are pretty standard, I would just chaulk it up to a lesson learned. It would be nice if they would work with you. But they chose not to give you the easiest way out.
I don't like American either. But I don't know that any other airline would have done any different.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Or should I just accept responsibility that this was my fault and they have their rules? What do you think?

Unfortunately, the fare rules are strictly enforced on the traditional airlines. Nonrefundable means nonrefundable, and a change fee means a change fee.

The airlines offer sky-high unrestricted fares and much lower restricted fares with serious strings attached.

I changed two American Airlines tickets this week, just a few days after buying them, because we decided to add a few more days to a vacation. The particular fare rules called for a $50 change fee per ticket. It doesn't matter that I'm Platinum in the AAdvantage program; I had to pay it. The agent mentioned that she might have been able to waive the fees in the first 24 hours, but not after that. (I didn't think she would waive the fees, but I felt it didn't hurt to ask nicely.)

Last year I had to reschedule an American Airlines trip when my daughter got sick on the day of the flight. I had to pay a $100 change fee per ticket, for a total of $300. The days when airlines accepted a note from a doctor to waive a change fee on a domestic flight are gone.

I bought tickets for three vacations on AA.com over the past few weeks. Each time, I checked and double-checked the dates, times, and fare when booking. I then put the trips on a one-day hold (which the AA.com website allows). I then went back a few hours later, looked at the saved reservation one more time, and only then completed the transaction.

I wish I could offer a more encouraging story.

 

[ptrbryant]

Shortly after 9/11, our family just didn't feel in the mood for our first WDW vacation. I'd made the reservations months ahead of time and, of course, got stuck with $100 per ticket fee to change the flights to a later date.

I always thought this was the case with ALL airlines until I spoke with a relative who used to be a golf pro. He said that with SWA, you can call them the morning of your flight and say,"You know, I just feel like going tomorrow instead." and there is ZERO penalty! Now, they're not going to refund your money and you have to fiddle around a bit to try to get good fares again, but at least you're not flat-out penalized. Since DS has asthma, there've been 2 trips we had to reschedule and had absolutely no problem. In one case, the fares had gone down, so we were able to put the remaining balance towards another trip.

I know people complain about SWA boarding cattle-call and, no, they don't fly everywhere. But, we try not to fly on any other airline solely for the flexibility issue.

JMHO!
Karla B.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Yeah, change fees are terrible. But in these days when airlines are losing money left and right, they're just a fact of life.


This is why I love Southwest. One can change thier flight 100 times without penalty. And if the rebook is cheaper, you get a credit for the difference.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

I know I will probably get slammed for this but I would try getting the address...not the email address but the real, snail mail address for someone "higher up". I know that the airlines have their policys and that they can't change them for everyone but try writing a letter. Who knows they may waive the change fee. It can't hurt to try to explain what you did and how you made the mistake but who knows maybe they will let you buy the more expensive tickets without the penalty fee? Its worth a shot. We had a problem with another airline a while back. I was very unsatisfied with what the person in the airport was able to do for us. Although the airport person was very nice he was unable to help us (He is the one that suggested we write ) I wrote a letter when we returned (I looked up names and address on the website) I received a very nice letter back and he was able to do a little something better for us. I was very happy and it made me have much more respect for the airline. I know people are going to say that the rules are there for a readon and I fully understand that but since you will be buying tickets at a higher price they are not really losing money. Good luck. I hope they are aboe to help you out.

 

[debden]

My son wanted to take a friend with him on our happy family reunion trip in May, so I looked up our flights to see if there were any more seats left. To my shock and dismay, I found out that I had booked the flights in opposite directions! FROM Orlando on 5/20 and back TO Orlando on 5/27. I've been making this trip for so long, I don't know how I did this. I made the reservations back in August. I called American immediately and they told me my $200.00 flights were now $400.00 and that to each ticket, I should add $100.00 for a change fee. So now the $200.00 flights were $500.00. I just couldn't believe they weren't willing to help me. They weren't willing to give me the August prices. They weren't willing to cut the fares $.01 because of my mistake, they weren't willing to waive the $100.00 change fee, and they weren't willing to extend the voucher validity. Because I made the reservations back in August, if I just wanted to cancel, I had to use the vouchers by this August. I can't believe their unwillingness to help me. I felt like they were filming a Capitol One commercial. I'm sure its their policy and I was the one who made the mistake, but to charge me $900.00 for a mistake? They've had my money since August. I'm freeing up seats on a now $400.00 flight. I've been feeling blue ever since Wednesday night when this happened. They did call back and offer to extend the voucher, so I grabbed it but I am still feeling so wounded. I booked on United. But I guess all airlines are the same. Does anyone know any big wigs at American that I should write to just to give them feedback? I sincerely believe that lack of customer service is one of the reasons that the airlines are crumbling. Or should I just accept responsibility that this was my fault and they have their rules? What do you think?

So sorry this happened to you! I book my reservations and my sisters families reservations all the time and I have nightmares about doing exactly what you did.Booking the wrong direction or the wrong date or putting in the wrong name,exc...exc...
I would take the above posters advice and write a letter to a higher up at American Airlines.It certainly couldn't hurt.
Debbie

 

[rigsby25]

Thank you all. I think I will try to write just to let them know how I feel. What's done is done now. I booked the May flights on United because their fares were less than American, and because I felt so badly about American after the call. If she would have extended the vouchers during the call, and I'm sure I wouldn't have had that feeling of "being punished", I would have re-booked right there and then. I know this is splitting hairs, but I feel that I was "correcting" the flight and not "changing" the flight. I feel better now after hearing your stories. I will be more careful in the future. SW flies out of a different airport. I wish we were closer to Midway but we're not. We're in the opposite direction. We were flying Spirit for a while, but they changed our Sunday return flight from 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm, and we have to be at work and school the next day, so we went to American. I'm sure all airlines are alike, but now I have a really bad taste in my mouth towards American. We'll see how United does. Thanks again for responding.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I know this is splitting hairs, but I feel that I was "correcting" the flight and not "changing" the flight.

If you had noticed the error immediately (or even within 24 hours) after seeing the confirmation in your browser or e-mail, I'm sure American would have allowed you to correct the error without a fee.

However, weeks or months later, I would be surprised if any airline would waive the fare rules. In this regard, United/Ted is just like American.

The only difference is that a few airlines, notably Southwest, have less restrictive fare rules regarding ticket changes on discounted fares.

I'm not saying you shouldn't ask for help from American. However, now that you've booked on United/Ted, you don't have a strong case. If you had changed your American flights to different flights on the same dates at essentially the times, with just the origin and destination reversed, it would have been clear that you were truly correcting an error. So maybe, just maybe, someone at American would have been willing to consider a refund of the change fee.

Under the current circumstances, for all practical purposes, you chose to cancel your tickets. You would be asking American not to charge you the rebooking fee that everyone else pays when applying the value of the nonrefundable tickets to a future booking. Or are you thinking of asking for a full refund for the nonrefundable tickets?

I hope I'm not coming across as having no sympathy. I would not be spending my time on these responses if I didn't want to help. However, the best way I can help is put this matter in perspective.

One more thing... Many nonrefundable tickets on American between Chicago and Florida have only a $50 change fee, not a $100 change fee as on most domestic routes. That's still a lot of money, but it's not quite as bad. See if you qualify for the $50 fee.

 

[Lewisc]

I might have tried to go higher up and attempted to get the change fee waived or maybe just have it charged against one ticket BUT you accepted their offer of extending your vouchers and booked your airfare with another airline. I would have tried a little harder before I booked with another airline.

I wouldn't waste my time any further. Horace made a good point, if you had gotten back to them in 24 hours they probably would have worked with you. One of the dangers in being our own travel agent is we're responsible for our own mistakes.

The airlines are crumbling because we demand fares that are too low. You got good customer service. The phone was answered, the person was polite, explained your options and even extended the expiration date of your vouchers. Customer service doesn't require that a company change their rules to correct a mistake.

 

[NancyIL]

I'm trying to understand this. If it would've cost you $900 more to get the right flights on American, I'm guessing you bought 3 tickets (3 x $200 more per ticket + 3 x $100 per ticket change fee), and the vouchers are worth $300 ($600 original cost of tickets - $300 change fees). So - instead of paying $900 more to American for a total of $1,500, your out-of-pocket costs are the original $600 (until you use the vouchers for $300) plus somewhat less than $1200 on United for 3 more tickets - right? And you still have to deal with American on a future trip or lose that credit...OY! I think that's a good example of "cutting off your nose to spite your face"!

It's a tough and very expensive lesson to learn, and I feel your pain...but I can't fault American Airlines.

 

[Lewisc]

I interperted the OP as implying he was able to book with United for around the original $200 fare so his out of pocket cost was $600 plus he might be able to use the vouchers in the future compared with $900 and no vouchers to use in the future.

American wanted $300 per passenger, $100 change fee plus $200 fare difference. I'm sure the OP was able to book a flight for less than $300 R/T.

I'm trying to understand this. If it would've cost you $900 more to get the right flights on American, I'm guessing you bought 3 tickets (3 x $200 more per ticket + 3 x $100 per ticket change fee), and the vouchers are worth $300 ($600 original cost of tickets - $300 change fees). So - instead of paying $900 more to American for a total of $1,500, your out-of-pocket costs are the original $600 (until you use the vouchers for $300) plus somewhat less than $1200 on United for 3 more tickets - right? And you still have to deal with American on a future trip or lose that credit...OY! I think that's a good example of "cutting off your nose to spite your face"!

It's a tough and very expensive lesson to learn, and I feel your pain...but I can't fault American Airlines.

 

[NancyIL]

I interperted the OP as implying he was able to book with United for around the original $200 fare so his out of pocket cost was $600 plus he might be able to use the vouchers in the future compared with $900 and no vouchers to use in the future.

American wanted $300 per passenger, $100 change fee plus $200 fare difference. I'm sure the OP was able to book a flight for less than $300 R/T.

The American fares jumped from $200 per person to $400. The OP said the United fares were less than on American - but I doubt they were a lot less. (If AA can charge $400 - United isn't going to be charging $295.) IF the OP uses the AA vouchers, the total cost will be less than if he/she rebooked on American. But until that time, the OP is out more money, and still has to deal with AA in the future.

 

[NancyIL]

Just checked United and American. If you just want lowest roundtrip fares between O'hare and MCO for May 20-27 - on TED it's $205.90 (change in Charlotte on way down) and $177.10 on American for non-stops! However - I don't know what airport the OP is departing from.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Just checked United and American. If you just want lowest roundtrip fares between O'hare and MCO for May 20-27 - on TED it's $205.90 (change in Charlotte on way down) and $177.10 on American for non-stops! However - I don't know what airport the OP is departing from.

Ted and American (AA) flights from Chicago to Orlando all use Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and Orlando International Airport (MCO).

In post #10 in this thread, the OP (rigsby25) posted that she is far from Chicago Midway Airport, so she books flights out of O'Hare.

If the OP only booked with United/Ted yesterday, she might still be able to cancel the United/Ted flights and get a refund.

I also looked at the AA fares between O'Hare and Orlando for May 20-27. Right now, the cheapest nonstop roundtrip is $158+taxes (but the times are awful). Other nonstop roundtrips are $178+taxes and $199+taxes. The taxes are $19.10.

 

[NancyIL]

The fact that one can get flights out of Chicago for ~ $200 - even if the flight times are awful - makes me wonder why the OP didn't question the $400 quote from AA. Guessing the $400 figure was for the exact same flights as before, and she was too shocked to ask about lower fares. Or maybe those fare routes just went on sale.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The fact that one can get flights out of Chicago for ~ $200 - even if the flight times are awful - makes me wonder why the OP didn't question the $400 quote from AA. Guessing the $400 figure was for the exact same flights as before, and she was too shocked to ask about lower fares. Or maybe those fare routes just went on sale.

Airfares between Chicago and Orlando go up and down like yo-yos. A lowest roundtrip fare can be $400 one day, $180 the next morning, and $300 that afternoon.

I've successfully paid under $200 roundtrip (usually around $178-198 including taxes) over the past few years. But with the airlines attempting to cover their fuel costs, I now consider $210 to be realistic for average times and $250 for flights that involve the beginning and end of school breaks in the Chicago area.

If the airfare is $400, I just wait until the airfare goes down. The only time that waiting is a bad idea is when the flights are starting to fill up, especially flights that involve the beginning and end of school breaks. Then it's sometimes best to grab what's available rather that watching the fare climb to over $1000.

 

[rigsby25]

Yes, they did offer me a flight that leaves at about 6 pm something and gets there at 10 something at night. That way, I would save 100.00 on plane fare, and still have to pay the 100.00 change fee, making this now 300.00, but lose a whole day of vacation. Same thing with stopping and changing planes. We are having a family reunion and people are coming in from California, West Virginia, etc., and we are all meeting and some people need rides from the airport etc. We went once on a Delta flight with a stop in Atlanta and after having spent the whole day waiting for planes and being scrunched up in little seats, we were so crabby and pooped by the time we got there at 7:00 pm at night! I swore never again. Everyone on this board has been so kind and helpful. I wish you all worked for American Airlines! We fly from O'hare and want an early nonstop when we go out and a mid day non stop when we come home. I know American has those flights, I just accidentally somehow booked in the wrong direction. Even when I get the confirmation, I would usually just look at the dates and the times. Even then I get confused because of the time changes. My daughter just booked her flights on United too, so that is 5 fares they lost because of this. I will use the vouchers for our trip in October. That is all we asked for originally was to extend the voucher from August to October. And I think then we will go with United unless something goes wrong with them.