AA flight change (7 hours change) only offering a voucher?

[klpca]

I tried reading Flyertalk to find an answer but I didn't find anything similar. I'll check here first before making any moves.

I was going out to Chicago in late April to see my aunt. I made the reservation in February. She just passed away. I figured that I would wait and see about traveling - I am hoping for a flight change or cancellation so that I could just get a refund. Lo and behold I get an email yesterday from Chase (used my CSR) and American has moved up my return flight 7 hours - from 8pm to 1pm. No way that I am keeping that change. But when I go to cancel, AA is only offering two choices - accept the change or get a voucher. I am already sitting on a $1400 voucher from AA that expires in Oct - and who knows if we will even be able to travel then - and the last thing that I need is another voucher.

Calling Chase or AA is a no go because of hold times. Is there another way to handle this that will result in an option for a refund or is AA just going to vouchers only because of the financial condition? Any guesses? It was only a couple hundred $$ so I should probably just let it go but it is annoying me that a refund was not one of my options.

 

[Luanne]

I tried reading Flyertalk to find an answer but I didn't find anything similar. I'll check here first before making any moves.

I was going out to Chicago in late April to see my aunt. I made the reservation in February. She just passed away. I figured that I would wait and see about traveling - I am hoping for a flight change or cancellation so that I could just get a refund. Lo and behold I get an email yesterday from Chase (used my CSR) and American has moved up my return flight 7 hours - from 8pm to 1pm. No way that I am keeping that change. But when I go to cancel, AA is only offering two choices - accept the change or get a voucher. I am already sitting on a $1400 voucher from AA that expires in Oct - and who knows if we will even be able to travel then - and the last thing that I need is another voucher.

Calling Chase or AA is a no go because of hold times. Is there another way to handle this that will result in an option for a refund or is AA just going to vouchers only because of the financial condition? Any guesses? It was only a couple hundred $$ so I should probably just let it go but it is annoying me that a refund was not one of my options.

Try contacting American Airlines on Facebook or Twitter. I've had great results with quick response for Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Hilton Hotel.

 

[SandyPGravel]

American Airlines has worked with me in the past. When IrMaria wreaked havoc on the Caribbean AA refunded my airfare before the flights were even cancelled. Last December I noticed my flights were changed by 4 hours and they let me change to completely different flights connecting in a different airport. Plus they have a great call back feature where you don't have to stay on hold. Just give CS a call.

 

[Passepartout]

Agree. Contact the airline. with the gigantic number of canceled flights, and airlines wanting Gov't to bail them out, they are wanting to simply give vouchers to paying passengers AND take money from the Gov't. FAA has told them, 'Uh-unh. If you want gov't assistance, make pax you've taken money from whole. You can't have both." Or words to that effect.

Good Luck!

Jim

 

[Karen G]

Parts of this article may be useful: https://thepointsguy.com/news/dot-to-airlines-refunds-are-not-optional-for-canceled-flights/

This statement sounds like it might apply to the OP's flight change: “The requirement to refund passengers includes refunding all unused segments of a single ticket when a carrier cancels or makes a significant change to one or more segment of the passenger’s itinerary, and the passenger chooses not to travel,” a DOT spokeswoman said in an email.

 

[klpca]

Thanks everyone. I'll try reaching out to someone - CSR or AA - and push this a bit, referencing the notice posted by @Karen G . That was what I needed. I knew that something had been said about this situation but I couldn't seem to get the correct result when searching. I'll update when I get some resolution in case someone else is in a similar situation.

 

[Laurie]

Try calling AA cust svc late at night. I did that just last night, after receiving an email yesterday entitled Schedule Change Notification - but saying one of my flights (international) was canceled and they couldn't rebook - however going into my acct they hadn't actually canceled, just showed an impossible itinerary (one flight leaving before the prior flight arrived). Website didn't function, showed too many users yada yada. Even so, refund instructions were unclear so I didn't really want to try that. My wait time was maybe 5 minutes, I was connected to a very helpful rep who said she would put in for my refund, and it would take 7-10 days to credit my cc. Now the flight has vanished from My Trips so at least I know she did something.

I *hope* this cc credit goes thru because this was almost $4k worth of flights(!) and we're not interested in a voucher! The directives on the AA page indicated you could cancel and get credit but have to rebook within 12 months of cancel date or ticket issue date, whichever is sooner. That would have meant we'd have to fly to Spain before Sept 10, which is how long ago I purchased tix, no way we could plan on that.

 

[Laurie]

Thanks everyone. I'll try reaching out to someone - CSR or AA - and push this a bit, referencing the notice posted by @Karen G . That was what I needed. I knew that something had been said about this situation but I couldn't seem to get the correct result when searching. I'll update when I get some resolution in case someone else is in a similar situation.

Here's the # I called late last night re above situation, prob just after midnight EDT: 800-541-3692 - this is from the Schedule Change email - I may have pressed option to change trip (#4?), can't remember for sure.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Our flight to JFK for this Friday was changed so many times, as Delta tends to do a lot. I understood the changes, but it was our out with CSR points to get the refund. A change of more than 1 hour is fully refundable. I was glad to NOT get a credit for Delta. I thought if I got a flight credit/voucher, I could use it for Maui. They were so much more expensive than all of the other airlines for Maui in February. It would have erased the value to less than zero of that voucher.

 

[rje]

Got through to AA at 6 this morning with no wait.

 

[Luanne]

Got through to AA at 6 this morning with no wait.

My sister said she called AA to rebook a flight today and had a very short wait time.

 

[mjm1]

Thanks everyone. I'll try reaching out to someone - CSR or AA - and push this a bit, referencing the notice posted by @Karen G . That was what I needed. I knew that something had been said about this situation but I couldn't seem to get the correct result when searching. I'll update when I get some resolution in case someone else is in a similar situation.

I spoke with a AA rep this afternoon after I discovered that our flight next month appeared to be cancelled. They had changed our flight by over 90 minutes according to the rep and that qualifies for a refund rather than a credit towards another flight. She cancelled it and told me to go to www.refunds.aa.com. Ignore the pop up notice about the virus and click on the link below for “refunds.” You enter your ticket number and last name and then go through a couple pages to complete your contact info etc. and then submit it. It was indicated within that process that we qualify for the refund. I printed each page to a pdf for proof. We actually used CUR points to pay for the flight, so I wanted a copy of everything to share with Chase, since the refund is going to go back to their MasterCard. Then they should refund our CUR points. Hopefully it goes smoothly.

Good luck with your process.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[klpca]

I spoke with a AA rep this afternoon after I discovered that our flight next month appeared to be cancelled. They had changed our flight by over 90 minutes according to the rep and that qualifies for a refund rather than a credit towards another flight. She cancelled it and told me to go to www.refunds.aa.com. Ignore the pop up notice about the virus and click on the link below for “refunds.” You enter your ticket number and last name and then go through a couple pages to complete your contact info etc. and then submit it. It was indicated within that process that we qualify for the refund. I printed each page to a pdf for proof. We actually used CUR points to pay for the flight, so I wanted a copy of everything to share with Chase, since the refund is going to go back to their MasterCard. Then they should refund our CUR points. Hopefully it goes smoothly.

Good luck with your process.

Best regards.

Mike

Did you cancel directly with AA or did you have to go through Chase? I paid cash but went through the CSR portal.

 

[mjm1]

Did you cancel directly with AA or did you have to go through Chase? I paid cash but went through the CSR portal.

I went through AA, but will have to follow up with Chase based on a prior experience. The last time I did this Chase asked me to forward information proving that the flight was cancelled and the airline had authorized a refund. Apparently the Chase reps can’t see that the airline issues a credit back the the AA MasterCard, so they need proof.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[klpca]

I went through AA, but will have to follow up with Chase based on a prior experience. The last time I did this Chase asked me to forward information proving that the flight was cancelled and the airline had authorized a refund. Apparently the Chase reps can’t see that the airline issues a credit back the the AA MasterCard, so they need proof.

Best regards.

Mike

Thank you!

 

[Talent312]

I also booked thru Chase UR, but actually asked Delta for a credit becuz I had
a combo of points + $$ + upgrades thru Delta, and may as well stick with Delta.

Where I live, whether I'm going to heaven or hell, I gotta change in Atlanta, first.

.

 

[SMHarman]

Looks like they extended tickets and vouchers.

 

[klpca]

Looks like they extended tickets and vouchers.

One of those Murphys Law things. My ticket expiration date is Oct 6th. But it's great to see that they are acknowledging that things may take some time to get back to normal.