WhamMax

Wondering where I should post for advice.


I have been told by AA that my round-trip international ticket is non-refundable (which I knew) and also non-changeable (which I did not know).

A member of my family was put into the ICU and I was hoping to make a change to the middle part of my trip-- I was informed by AA that because one of my flights is a code share with another airline, the flight cannot be modified.

I have requested written information regarding this policy, as it can't be found on their website and I don't recall it from my booking, but they have not responded.

Looking for a bit of advice. Thank you!

beckoa

Welcome to Flyertalk WhamMax,

As this is about an AA issued flight, we'll move this to the AA forum.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

Dave Noble

There are indeed fares that are non refundable and non changeable

There is no policy to refer to, it is simply the conditions that apply to some tickets - some are changeable, some changeable for a fee and some that are not changeable at all

If you have purchased such a ticket, then there is not much that you can do other than claim off of any travel insurance that you may have

What is the route, dates of travel and date the ticket was purchased?

nrr

It would be "nice" if one were informed UPFRONT of the semi draconian nature of such a ticket (and not be forced to read 3 pages of a tightly printed document).
When ones does nearly ANY transaction on AA.COM, one can't avoid the FULL page "pitch" to SELL you miles [at least the default is "no"].

rjw242

Sorry about your family member; best wishes for their recovery.

As already noted, some tickets are indeed non-changeable. However, a codeshare flight should have nothing to do with it (assuming it's AA-marketed), which suggests the phone agent might not know what s/he was talking about. It may be worth calling back to get a different agent.

akcae

Yes, for sure ask them to provide the fare rules concerning change/cancel options and fees for the tickets you purchased. This is where such rule for your particular trip would be spelled out.

The suggestion above regarding travel insurance is also a good one. Check with the credit card you used to purchase your tickets if they offer any type of travel insurance and you may be able to claim partial refund if you are in a covered situation.

Often1

OP - Sometimes the terminology throws off low-level employees. Call AA back, ask the same question again. Do not mention that you have already called and simply ask about making the change. If you get the same answer, ask where you can find the "fare rules".

In the meantime, if you would please provide the following information, people here might be able to help you:
1. In what country did you purchase your ticket?
2. Origin?
3. Destination?
4. What is the fare basis? (This will be a five-digit code following the origin and destination codes). For instance, if you are flying JFK-LHR, there will be a long list of what looks like gibberish at the bottom of your e-ticket receipt which will show "JFK-LHR XXXXX" where the 'XXXXX' is the fare basis.

There should also be language in the e-ticket receipt about whether and how the e-ticket can be changed.

Lastly, as others note, it may be easiest to call your travel insurer to determine how best to handle this. It may be that the insurance company will simply cover a new ticket.

Djokison

OP, you've received some good suggestions already. I definitely second the travel insurance route and calling AA and speak to a different agent just in case.

I have one question, though. Did you fly any part of the ticket yet? I've noticed that AA has some fares out there now that are not changeable until the first segment is flown. Depending on your situation, you might try to change it then.

ijgordon

There are also sometimes (often/always?) exceptions to penalties in the fare rules for death/illness of the traveler, the traveler's companion, or a family member (likely the first two, not sure about the third).

It would likely require documentation, but perhaps a route worth pursuing.

And I'll just add that AA.com's disclosure on penalties is HORRENDOUS. As mentioned, it's buried in pages and pages of difficult-to-read fare rules. Original poster - if you can't sort this out to your satisfaction, it may be worth filing an official complaint with the Dept. of Transportation. If nothing but to push the regulator to require more visibly disclose the key terms.

I recently purchased a flight on AirFrance.com, Delta operated outbound and AF on the return. It was VERY clear during booking exactly what the change fee and cancellation fee was for each leg.

Dave Noble

AA has a general exception when it comes to death , but not for illnesses

WAIVED FOR DEATH OF PASSENGER OR FAMILY MEMBER.

is the normal text in the penalties

akcae

It's nice of them to allow you to cancel the ticket if you die.

NDFan

I just found one of these when booking BCN-JFK-BCN for June. As the flights are five months away (and therefore the possibility of needing a change is more likely), I checked the fare rules while I had the booking on hold. As expected, it says €150 change fee.
But then I noticed that the return fare rules had a different code from the outbound (O instead of N) and found in the Penalties section: "CHANGES ANYTIME: CHANGES NOT PERMITTED". And because the most restrictive fare rules apply to the entire itinerary, this probably means that the outbound is not changeable either.
So I called the EXP desk to see if I could up-fare the return segment to the same as the outbound, but the agent insisted that the return IS changeable. She confirmed that the fare rule - OLN8D0Z1 - was the same one that I was looking at.
So I asked her to put a note in the record that either journey CAN be changed for a €150 fee, which she willingly did.
However, she could not email that to me, so there is no way that I can get that text in writing.
Just a warning to others that there are still some NON-CHANGEABLE fares out there, and there seems to be some inconsistency between the rules that we see, and the rules that the agents see.

pinniped

The only time I'm *aware* that I bought an unchangeable ticket from AA.com, they were pretty upfront about it: they used the terminology "Instant Purchase" fares and clearly stated no changes / no refunds. I was buying a $350-ish ORD-MXP R/T, so I kind of knew what I was getting into.

While I was happy that this fare existed and would buy one in the future, if they're slipping these terms and conditions into their "normal" ticket searches, that's a little shady.

I still think there's a possibility that the AAgent was saying he/she couldn't change it himself - not that it was an Instant Purchase / unchangeable fare. (Of course, there's also the possibility that it is such a fare and the OP is kind of hosed.)

Dave Noble

It is not true that the most restrictive rule will appliy. That is a popular mantra stated here, but quite untrue and the actual situation is purely based on what the fare rules states in changes/cancellations section

For example , on the OLX7V0T1 fare for BCN-JFK ( which is non changeable ), it states

With one way being changeable and the other not, that will allow one of the directiions to be changed. Regardess of what the agent may have said, I would not expect to be able to change the non changeable direction

This is nothing new nor shady. It iis not uncommon to get non changeable fares when originating outside North America

ijgordon

I've started to see that language about combining changeable and non-changeable fares, but I think it's relatively new (probably within the last year?). The "most restrictive rule" was pretty ubiquitous before that.