Programs: AA(no status but high scorer!), QF, WN and BA, SPG and Hyatt, Midwest Express
Posts: 862
Cost for getting an old summary seems high
I emailed aa.com b/c I'd forgotten a detail about a flown leg in July 2007.
I asked if it was possible to look back that far. I got the following
We appreciate your recent email to AAdvantage Customer Service.
Since AAdvantage account summaries are available in different formats
depending on how old the summary is, here's a recap of your options:
0-6 MONTHS: Summaries for the last six months are available on AA.com.
Here's how to access your AAdvantage account information:
1) Go to www.aa.com and login with your AAdvantage number and password.
2) In the 'View My Miles' section on the home page, click 'View All.'
3) Current activity will be displayed, and you can select to view
previous summaries from the drop-down box at the top of the screen.
7 - 18 MONTHS: If you require a summary older than 6 months, we offer
reprints for $50 per account, per request, regardless of the number
requested at one time.
OLDER THAN 18 MONTHS: Historic account activity information is available
for approximately the past 2-3 years and includes all mileage earning
and redemption activity (please note, travel award itinerary information
is not available). The cost is $75 and turnaround time is 5-7 business
days. To pay the $75 fee, please reply with your credit card number and
the name and expiration date on the credit card. If you prefer, you may
FAX us your credit card payment information (along with a copy of this
email) to the attention of AAdvantage Audits & Historical Records at
817-963-7820.
Thank you for participating in the AAdvantage program. We appreciate
your business.
Is it me or does that sound a bit unreasonable? I really dont know. I thought it as a bit of a high price but I've nothing to compare it to.
As others have pointed out it's probably not unreasonable, but it's definitely more than I would want to pay (without a very compelling reason) to see an old AAdvantage summary.
__________________ "When you have nothing to say, call the other guy an AApologist and hope nobody notices your deficiency."
Maybe I can understand the older than 18 months, but telling me that 6-18 months old data is already on tape backup in a far away storage facility is ridiculous.
Sure they have moved the data to backup servers which might not interact with aa.com anymore, but there should be no manual labor costs involved. oh, im sorry, the cost of a few clicks to point to another server and entering an AAdvantage number counts as labor costs.
Its a ripoff! They know there must be some compelling reason for you to want those records and most likely you are going to pay if you really need it.
In fact, this is something I recently was informed of by the records custodian at AA. Material as old as 18 months is actually retrieved and printed out by an outsourced vendor. AA has to pay, so the customer has to to pay; I doubt their margin is very high.
Prior to that, screen prints are available - currently as far back as through 2005 (that will become 2006 next year.) For information prior to that, it is probably even more expensive, as you are talking about digging out microfiche and printing out the panes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vrbaba
Maybe I can understand the older than 18 months, but telling me that 6-18 months old data is already on tape backup in a far away storage facility is ridiculous.
Sure they have moved the data to backup servers which might not interact with aa.com anymore, but there should be no manual labor costs involved. oh, im sorry, the cost of a few clicks to point to another server and entering an AAdvantage number counts as labor costs.
Its a ripoff! They know there must be some compelling reason for you to want those records and most likely you are going to pay if you really need it.
__________________ Lend a hand up with Kiva; far more than a hand out.
Programs: aa exp 1MM, alaska air, united, hhonors gold, spg gold
Posts: 684
I have been able to get reports back to 18 months without charge by asking the aagent to read me the data line by line and then writing it down quickly on a pad of paper. Only one statement per call seemed to be lthe limit of their patience.
That sounds like the answer to the OP's lament - call and do one month, if the flight isn't there, call and do the next. I'd imagine that should cover one July 2007 flight?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pixpixpix
I have been able to get reports back to 18 months without charge by asking the aagent to read me the data line by line and then writing it down quickly on a pad of paper. Only one statement per call seemed to be lthe limit of their patience.
__________________ Lend a hand up with Kiva; far more than a hand out.
If the AAgents can pull up activity prior to six months on AA.com, why can't they just print that out? (i.e., why is there a need for an outside vendor for that type of transaction)
In fact, this is something I recently was informed of by the records custodian at AA. Material as old as 18 months is actually retrieved and printed out by an outsourced vendor. AA has to pay, so the customer has to to pay; I doubt their margin is very high.
Prior to that, screen prints are available - currently as far back as through 2005 (that will become 2006 next year.) For information prior to that, it is probably even more expensive, as you are talking about digging out microfiche and printing out the panes.
They store it on microfiche? That would be a waste of space.
I have been able to get reports back to 18 months without charge by asking the aagent to read me the data line by line and then writing it down quickly on a pad of paper.
This above idea should get you what you want.
I'm a custodian of records for a large company. We do charge hefty fees to a) discourage unnecessary requests and b) to cover costs.
If you need this info for a court case you can quote a statute in your state; most states have limits on fees for production of records (cost per page, etc)
aa should consider archiving "current" data in a better way; so that in 3 years (say) when a request for info is made it should be easier to retrieve.
[I use g-mail (from Google) and right now my storage space for mail is 6.5 gigs + and counting (upward). (they even suggest never deleting a message, with so much storage space available.) memory space is now very cheap, so archiving should not be a problem.]
Does anyone else find it strange that AA would even suggest to send them your CC info via email? Granted, they give the fax option, but I don't think I have ever seen a suggestion to use an unsecure means for CC info from as large an enterprise as AA is.
). (they even suggest never deleting a message, with so much storage space available.) memory space is now very cheap, so archiving should not be a problem.]
Granted, they give the fax option, but I don't think I have ever seen a suggestion to use an unsecure means for CC info from as large an enterprise as AA is.
