If you didn't agree with the phone fee then you should not have accepted it and booked the ticket. I don't see any justification for a dispute here. You received the services that you paid for. Just because you decided that you don't want to pay for the services doesn't mean that the charge is invalid. To me, this is a very sketchy way to go about things. Do you also dispute charges at your local restaurant after having enjoyed a meal there just because you think it should have been free?
I agree with this. Has nothing to do with whether the fee should be levied; I agree with most others who think it is bogus. However, it's your choice to make. If you agree to a fee and accept the related services, it is wrong to try to take the back door to avoiding payment by disputing with the credit card company.
Given AA's response, they clearly see things this way as well, as they have a right to.
LOL the first reply is my favourite..they dont even address the issue that i ask about haha..
Dear Mr.,
Thank you for your email to AAdvantageŽ Customer Service. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
We understand your objection to the $20 service charge applied to AAdvantage award and revenue tickets issued by our reservations offices, and the $30 service charge applied to all tickets issued at airports or AA Travel Centers. This type of charge is now an industry standard and allows us to offer full services as well as to keep our pricing competitive. Many airlines as well as travel agencies routinely charge $10 to $50 to issue tickets.
In most cases you can avoid service costs entirely by making your reservation and processing your ticket online at AA.comŽ. There is no service charge when you book and ticket your AAdvantage award ticket online at least 21 days prior to travel. And, there is no processing charge for booking and ticketing revenue travel online at AA.com.
We urge you to use AA.com for your ticketing needs whenever possible. On the other hand, if you prefer to receive more personalized service, then we hope you will continue to find value in purchasing tickets from our personnel.
I hope this explanation helps you understand our position. We are eager to regain your goodwill and your confidence in the AAdvantageŽ program and look forward to doing business with you again soon.
Regards,
XXX
AAdvantage Customer Service
American Airlines
Hi,
I recently made an award booking with AAdvantage customer service. At the end of the call I was assessed at $20 phone booking fee. I was told this fee is mandatory for all booking made over the phone. The issue I have with this is the fact that I could not have made this booking online even if i wanted too due to the use of one world partners in Europe. I have no problem with a phone booking fee for booking travel which could be done online. However, charging a fee for something that cannot be done online in the first place amounts to a hidden fee.
Can you please advise if anything is being done to address this issue?
This was my first redemption with AA and I have to admit it left a bit of a sour taste.
Thanks you for your time and I look forward to your response.
Regards,
Jason
Second Email and reply...
I think you misunderstood my question. The reason for my complaint is that there is no way I could have booked my reservation online even if I had wanted to.
I understand the ticketing process and would have gladly used AA.com if I could have but the option was not even available.
Please advise,
Thanks
Response..
Dear ,
At AAdvantageŽ Customer Service, we want to address all your concerns.
Thank you for responding to our most recent email.
We are sorry for your continued disappointment over the fact that American Airlines charges a $20 service charge. Please note, due to the greater complexity involved with booking and ticketing these reservations, AAdvantage Participant Airline Awards cannot be booked online at AA.comŽ.
Thank you for contacting us regarding this matter. If you have any other AAdvantage issues or questions, please do not hesitate to let us know.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nrr
While I didn't say that OP was justified in expecting a chargeback, the "protest" word might have more standing. The example with the waiter and the carpaccio is not good, since it is a consumable commodity once consumed it can't be undone--the fee can be reversed.
PS: Once I was working without a contract (for several years), the union advised us o sign every payroll check and add the words "under protest".
Huh ? The fee is for ticketing a reservation and is based on what the airline asserts is the cost of paying the ticket agent and maintaining the call center. The ticket was issued, so those costs can't be recouped by AA. Just like food can't be un-consumed, time and effort expended my a company in exchange for a service fee can't be un-expended.
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Not at all. What does protest have to do with this? You are paying for a service. If you don't want to pay for it, don't. If you agree to it, there is no grounds for dispute, despite all the protests in the world.
"Waiter, I want to order the carpaccio. However, I think that $17 is too high, so I'm paying that price under protest."
I don't think so.
The Aadvantage web pages including the PARTNER AWARD CHART mention nothing of paying any booking fees, implying that they no such fees need to be paid. The partner award charts' fine print is as follows:
AAdvantage flight awards are subject to, and the passenger is responsible for, the September 11th Security Fee, applicable departure taxes, federal inspection fees, passenger facility charges, and any other taxes and fees imposed by a government entity (U.S. or foreign), as well as any fees or surcharges (including fuel surcharges) imposed by the carrier.
As such, IMHO, it should be possible to redeem miles for partner award seats under these conditions without the imposition of any add'l fees not disclosed. Inasmuch that it is IMPOSSIBLE to book a partner award without calling and incurring a phone-booking fee, AA is making misleading and fraudulent claims about its AAdvantage program to most participants will not discover until AFTER they have earnestly acquired the miles necessary to redeem a partner award. Indeed, it would be a minor issue for AA to be forthrightly and boldly include "+$25 booking fee" on all award charts and in all literature and fine print to represent the terms of the offer accurately before people dedicate time and resources participating in the program.
Even though the fee was disclosed and agreed to prior to just prior to incurring it - the individual enrolled in AAdvantage and accumulated points and miles with no disclosure or understanding of additional fees required to actualize partner awards. Some would call this fraud.
Sounds like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.
The Aadvantage web pages including the PARTNER AWARD CHART mention nothing of paying any booking fees, implying that they no such fees need to be paid. The partner award charts' fine print is as follows:
AAdvantage flight awards are subject to, and the passenger is responsible for, the September 11th Security Fee, applicable departure taxes, federal inspection fees, passenger facility charges, and any other taxes and fees imposed by a government entity (U.S. or foreign), as well as any fees or surcharges (including fuel surcharges) imposed by the carrier.
As such, IMHO, it should be possible to redeem miles for partner award seats under these conditions without the imposition of any add'l fees not disclosed. Inasmuch that it is IMPOSSIBLE to book a partner award without calling and incurring a phone-booking fee, AA is making misleading and fraudulent claims about its AAdvantage program to most participants will not discover until AFTER they have earnestly acquired the miles necessary to redeem a partner award. Indeed, it would be a minor issue for AA to be forthrightly and boldly include "+$25 booking fee" on all award charts and in all literature and fine print to represent the terms of the offer accurately before people dedicate time and resources participating in the program.
Even though the fee was disclosed and agreed to prior to just prior to incurring it - the individual enrolled in AAdvantage and accumulated points and miles with no disclosure or understanding of additional fees required to actualize partner awards. Some would call this fraud.
Sounds like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.
Quote:
The Aadvantage web pages including the PARTNER AWARD CHART mention nothing of paying any booking fees, implying that they no such fees need to be paid.
AAdvantage Ticketing Service Charge
Ticketing Service Charge
(Waived for AAdvantage Executive PlatinumŽ members)
Ticketing Service Charge applies when ticketing via Reservations $25
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Re: Post 44 (Sounds like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen)
AAdvantage members can also read the AAdvantage Terms and Conditions
It says "or any other fee or surcharge (whether enacted by a governmental authority or otherwise) is the responsibility of the passenger and/or the AAdvantage member." http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pr...Conditions.jsp
Through the courtesy of the U.S. Department of Transportation, we've received a copy of the complaint that you filed with their office. We appreciate this opportunity to respond.
We can certainly appreciate your disappointment with the service charge that applies to tickets issued through our reservations offices and airport locations. At the same time, we understand that the charge is most objectionable when it is applied to transactions that absolutely cannot be booked online. Please allow me to explain that this type of service charge is fast becoming an industry standard and represents a way for us to continue to offer full services and keep our pricing competitive. Our current policy applies to any ticket purchases requiring interaction with a ticket agent (either by phone or in person).
Mr. XXXX, I have shared your comments with the appropriate personnel.
Customer feedback is very important to us as we continue to assess our products and services. We appreciate your input, and I hope that we are able to welcome you aboard American soon.
Its usurious and unethical to deny access to the flights in order to generate a fee for the airline. While I understand that you may reference an "industry standard " two or more wrongs dont make a right. This is just one in a series of bad experiences with AA that has caused us to pull our business.
My last flight with you was 75 minutes late due to AA not having a crew at ORD to fly an MD80 ? I wrote to you and received a dissertation about airline operations ? I really only want to get where I'm going. As long as we're on industry standards, for a smaller delay due to weather other airlines send a proactive email and award bonus miles instead of explaining how hard it is to run an airline.
Yes, AA should compensate you for bad weather and AMEX should help you circumvent fees. I would say just good riddance, but I personally hope that all continue to pay (869 included here) so that I may continue to enjoy AA's superior, US-based customer service agents' efforts.
If you are, in fact, adamant about switching airlines, I can recommend more than one alternative airline that will charge you the same fees and provide inferior service. You might like it though because their non-US agents will give you vouchers and miles for complaining, which sounds right up your alley.
On second thought, just go. I'd rather AA's employees not have to deal with you.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AA
Please allow me to explain that this type of service charge is fast becoming an industry standard
So? Does the fact that it's a standard for girls in Afghanistan not to be schooled make it right? I can't believe someone at AA wrote what is in effect an insult to the intelligence of its customers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AA
and represents a way for us to continue to offer full services.
Ok, we must all be idiots. Full service = being able to do the transaction online fee-free. The fact that AA makes money by not providing full service very much reduces the incentive to provide such service (manager to boss: we should spend $50,000 allow full booking capabilities on AA.com. Boss: what's the impact? Manager: we would be losing $500,000 in net earnings on phone ticketing fees a year. Boss: DON'T DO IT [disclaimer: example is for illustrative purposes only]). Note that of the $25, about $20 is full profit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AA
and keep our pricing competitive.
Whatever.
As far as PR goes, this is pretty pathetic. I am hopeful that as the DOT sees more complaints, it will finally act just like it did with the fees that AA placed on customers to redeem IDB vouchers.
I'd rather AA's employees not have to deal with you.
Why do you even bother reading FT? Half the posts on here are about people's complaints/problems/issues about the airline. I even saw one thread complaining that "first class" isn't printed on his BP. Apparently, customers aren't allowed to give feedback or let companies know that they are engaging in practices that are making customers angry? I thought OP's emails to customer service were right on point and adequately called attention to AA's BS answer. If by "not hav[ing] to deal with you" you mean try to explain their logicless actions, this could be solved a much simpler way. Instead of saying goodbye to the customers that disagree with it, AA could stop the practice in its entirety. This would also result in AA employees not having to "deal" with OP, but without losing the ticket revenue which pays for their salaries.
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Not really going to join the discussion about some of these issues - but alternatives include, if one travels sufficiently, using an AMEX Platinum card, which one can enroll in their program to return up to $200 p.a. of airline fees, such as telephone booking and baggage charges.
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I've been following this thread with much interest as someone who uses most of my AA miles for C tickets on partner airlines...and here's my 2 cents:
1) I would not challenge the fees through my credit card, BUT
2) I do think these fees are an unfair practice and I have complained countless times to the DOT in the (somewhat vain) hope they will ban them or at least institute an investigation. Why?
Because it's one thing to charge a fee when I can accomplish something online but choose to call an agent but it's another thing to charge me a fee when I am given no choice but to call AA. I find this practice even more galling when AA's partners allow me to do similar bookings online (for instance on ba.com, using ba miles, I just booked a complicated multi-city itinerary on Lan all online for free) but AA doesn't have the capability. That just tells me that AA has chosen not to allow online capability just so they can collect the fees.
Why do you even bother reading FT? Half the posts on here are about people's complaints/problems/issues about the airline. I even saw one thread complaining that "first class" isn't printed on his BP. Apparently, customers aren't allowed to give feedback or let companies know that they are engaging in practices that are making customers angry? I thought OP's emails to customer service were right on point and adequately called attention to AA's BS answer. If by "not hav[ing] to deal with you" you mean try to explain their logicless actions, this could be solved a much simpler way. Instead of saying goodbye to the customers that disagree with it, AA could stop the practice in its entirety. This would also result in AA employees not having to "deal" with OP, but without losing the ticket revenue which pays for their salaries.
Right. I did not comment on emails to AA. In my opinion, disputing a charge with cc company that is not a mistake or fraud is a crime. Denying AA payment for rendering a service is theft, is it not? Feel free to tell them you disagree with their charge if you would like.
Now do you agree with OP that AA should shower you with free miles and other gifts when bad weather delays your flight? Give me a break. AA does a pretty damn outstanding job with customer service for most of us who fly with them regularly and so if you think the grass is greener elsewhere, please go. (It isn't)
? The fee is for ticketing a reservation and is based on what the airline asserts is the cost of paying the ticket agent and maintaining the call center. The ticket was issued, so those costs can't be recouped by AA. Just like food can't be un-consumed, time and effort expended my a company in exchange for a service fee can't be un-expended.
