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[PREM FARE GONE] AA: GIG/GRU- multiple locations (HKG/LAX/MIA/SFO ETC) ~$200 Y ~$360

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Old Aug 31, 2015, 9:17 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: footastic
Sequence of events:

American Airlines (AA) Brazil website misprices revenue tickets in initial calculation on purchase page. Repricing the same reservation by changing billing country resulted in the correct price, even when reverting to Brazil.

Vast majority of tickets appear to have gone unticketed for ~1 week. It appears that tickets were issued manually, not automatically.

AA states repeatedly and to several outlets that they will unconditionally honor all fares.

AA begins cancelling tickets. Subsequently, they send out cancellation emails implying that the "country of residence" was misrepresented. Of course, this is not the case, as AA never actually asks for the "country of residence" but the billing address which includes the country of the billing address.

Since AA repeatedly and publicly stated that they would unconditionally honor the tickets, even when specifically asked about it, many purchasers relied upon AA's representations and made non-refundable plans. DoT regulations require airlines to reimburse purchasers who relied upon mistake fares to make non-refundable plans. It may be worth writing into the US Department of Transportation (DoT) to complain about AA's handling of the situation and ask for compensation even without having non-refundable reservations, because AA went to great lengths to assure purchasers that tickets would be unconditionally honored.

DoT air travel complaint form: http://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm

DoT air travel complaint mailing address:
Aviation Consumer Protection Division, C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590

DoT air travel complain phone line information:
You may call the ACPD 24 hours a day at 202-366-2220 (TTY 202-366-0511) to record your complaint. Calls are returned Monday through Friday, generally between 7:30 am and 5:00 pm Eastern time.

As mentioned by classyflyer and posted by pb9997, if your flight had some kind of legal nexus within Brazil, their consumer protections should apply to your ticket. Here is the contact information for the relevant consumer protection agencies within Brazil. Please be clear in your communication and REMEMBER TO SUBMIT YOUR COMMUNICATIONS IN PORTUGESE.

To translate your communications before submitting them:
http://translate.google.com

www.reclameaqui.com.br
Quote from pb9997: "This site is known to be the most popular, most viewed upon by companies who care about reputation; Though not official, it has proven to be the most respected by consumers and corporations, who may delay answers on their own channels but do take care to have teams focused on answering for this public site. Information written, from both parties, is public."

www.consumidor.gov.br
Quote again from pb9997: "This is the official PROCON site where consumers and companies present their complaints and arguments. It is official, additional care ought to be taken.

I would highly suggest following the order presented; With the first site the company has room to assess impact, prepare an amiable answer and protect their public reputation.

On the second site... well, it's official and what is written by both parties is the basis to act afterwards in a court of law. Ideally the complaint presented should have the Law that explains why a consumer has been impacted and the expected remedy, according [sic] to the Law."

As of 9/8/15 - Individuals who had tickets cancelled in the first round (8/28) have yet to see refunds post to credit cards.

Feel free to update this Wiki with more complete information.
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[PREM FARE GONE] AA: GIG/GRU- multiple locations (HKG/LAX/MIA/SFO ETC) ~$200 Y ~$360

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Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:19 pm
  #46  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: New York / Shanghai / Taipei
Posts: 119
Site seems to be down for me.
nyczreklis is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:22 pm
  #47  
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 517
I'm on the brazilian site (thanks to the instructions earlier on how to bypass the error message), but I just get "sensible" pricing (e.g. 25K BRL to HKG)
Morgo is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:26 pm
  #48  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
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Originally Posted by Morgo
I'm on the brazilian site (thanks to the instructions earlier on how to bypass the error message), but I just get "sensible" pricing (e.g. 25K BRL to HKG)
Ditto here
FlyerJT is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:27 pm
  #49  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: NYC-YUL-CDG-SVO
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Posts: 160
It does work ex USA, just got a JFK-GIG for 1.3K BRL. Ticket still pending though. (Also Paid with Canadian CC, no problem just keep country of residence as Brazil)
Chuvash is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:39 pm
  #50  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
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Seems that I cannot book it with my US-based CC
FlyerJT is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:41 pm
  #51  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Kansas City - MCI
Programs: AA Platinum-to-be, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 107
I can get to the Brazil AA site, but the currency is locked into $USD. Anybody know how to change it to Brazil currency?
spartan301 is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:41 pm
  #52  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K, ex-AA EXP, ex-UA 1K
Posts: 707
The fares I'm finding are ridiculous. It seems like quite literally ANY trip ex-GRU/GIG is discounted something like 90%. GRU-PVG (which, amazingly, can be done entirely on AA metal and with only one short layover) is US$730. GRU-SYD (more complicated...) is under $900.

Now if they could only be ticketed... (and I haven't gotten so much as an email stating that a reservation is pending, let alone a bona fide ticket).
kirker is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:42 pm
  #53  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: TUS, SEA, OTP, OMR
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Originally Posted by Morgo
I'm on the brazilian site (thanks to the instructions earlier on how to bypass the error message), but I just get "sensible" pricing (e.g. 25K BRL to HKG)
Correct
WhIteSidE is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:42 pm
  #54  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat
Posts: 281
Originally Posted by spartan301
I can get to the Brazil AA site, but the currency is locked into $USD. Anybody know how to change it to Brazil currency?
try going to advanced search and changing your country of residence to Brazil
moseslin is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:45 pm
  #55  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: New York / Shanghai / Taipei
Posts: 119
This is not going to ticket. I don't even see a temp charge on my CC.
nyczreklis is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:46 pm
  #56  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat
Posts: 281
Originally Posted by nyczreklis
This is not going to ticket. I don't even see a temp charge on my CC.
yeah probably not. at least it brought a little bit of excitement for an hour
moseslin is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:47 pm
  #57  
 
Join Date: May 2015
Programs: BAEC, AAdvantage, AMEX Plat
Posts: 108
I managed to book JFK - DFW - HKG - DFW - JFK for ~ $600 using this technique too. Temp charge went through despite US CC and Brazil as billing country. Ticket pending.

Looks like I am all set with vacays next year!
chintanshah123 is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:49 pm
  #58  
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Join Date: May 2001
Location: is everything...but...
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I have 8 now, first booked over four hours ago.. all ticket pending..
flipside is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:50 pm
  #59  
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AA will be emboldened by the recent DKK-currency issue where the DT found in favor of UA, and will be canceling any tickets that do happen to get issued. this much you can be sure. however, there are some very attractive offers and it's a fun error to mess around with!
PV_Premier is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2015, 12:55 pm
  #60  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Location independent
Programs: AA PlatPro, Asiana Diamond, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 287
Originally Posted by nyczreklis
This is not going to ticket. I don't even see a temp charge on my CC.
Finally got the reservation... but, now, same here. No pending charges. I put this about <5% chance of going through + earning miles.
FlyerJT is offline  


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