blackpaper

I was ticketed to travel in two First class seats tomorrow from Boston to Pittsburgh on US Airways metal. Within 24 hours of departure, my flight was cancelled due to schedule change and I was re-accommodated (after calling) to 2 economy seats on an earlier flight. I was told that I should call back after travel to get refunds for not flying in first. Does anyone know what I can expect? I paid $303 for a first class ticket (economy was $204) and the other seat I booked with 18,000 Avios.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Who changed the Avios-booked ticket, US or BA? If US, I would not count on getting any refund of Avios: US cannot credit anything to your BAEC account.

blackpaper

Oh no... US changed the Avios booked ticket. This is upsetting.

Often1

DOT rules require US to refund you the fare difference. That includes for FFP tickets paid for with such as avios.

The cash refund will likely be the difference between what you paid and the best Coach ticket available now. That is currently $244. Thus, you will likely see a $59 refund. You will need to send in a webform request.

As to the avios ticket, US can't refund avios as it doesn't have them to give. You could make the request of BA and have a slog on your hands.

A consideration here if you now live in BOS and collect or intend to earn on AA, is to ask US for some reasonable # of miles or alternatively a certificate for some reasonable $ amount useable on AA (US says goodbye on 10/17).

US will also likely make some smallish customer service gesture here. That could be a small certificate or miles as well.

blackpaper

Is submitting the webform for refund/credit my best bet for max compensation or should I make some calls to US and BA's Avios desk?

Often1

Webforms. This stuff has to be calculated and nobody is going to do that on a call. Time is money as well, so you have to decide how much time you want to invest in sitting on hold for $59, when you can have it for the cost of an email/webform.

Do understand that it's going to take ages. Don't expect results in <60 days, particularly given impending end of US.

phlwookie

This has me a bit curious. I assume this was due to a mechanical, crew or weather delay? I've never seen US push through an actual schedule change within 24 hours of a flight.

blackpaper

The lady on the phone just said "schedule change". Here's the flight info: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AWE4638

It's very stressful for me to deal with this as I'm traveling with a one year old. We were all set for an easy afternoon flight in the two bulkhead seats in first. Now, we're back in coach on an early morning flight with no assigned seats..... I actually expect stuff like this to happen on US Airways. I've avoided them for years and will be happy to do so again once I burn through all my American miles.

phlwookie

Looks like it was due to a crew availability issue, and I'm guessing "schedule change" was an oversimplification of an operational issue by the phone agent:

The reasons for that can vary - crew out of place due to weather or other disruption, sickness, etc. In this case, the flight was operated by American Eagle carrier Republic Airways, but obviously AA/US handles booking and reaccomodation.

Statistically, US has actually been running a better operation than AA for some time, but they generally held back fewer first class seats until day of departure so this can happen. However, it'll all be a most point in 20 days, when US will functionally cease to exist and all flights will be operated on AA systems, policies and procedures.

Often1

If it's stressful, forget about dealing with the refund and customer service gesture until you are back home. Unless you need the credit immediately, it will still be there. I would, however, do this on or before 10/16, as AA takes over as the operating entity on 10/17, and it is wholly unclear how all the pending stuff will shake out. My guess is that there will be slight delays as emails change and the like, but who knows.

blackpaper

Got $72 back from being involuntarily downgraded from first to coach on us airways Boston to Pittsburgh flight. Took 1.5 weeks to get a response after filling in the webform. I think the result is fair.