I base my belief on others' having had the fees waived in similar circumstances, and that often persistence is what pays off when dealing with AA.
"I showed her our boarding passes for ORD-HNL and HNL-OGG that showed First Class, she said it didn't come up in her computer" sometimes doesn't mean much when dealing with American Eagle agents. In fact it doesn't stipulate what came up - the upgrade, for example.
Dealing with bureaucrats who say what this one did often also means "I really never looked", or "I can't be bothered to look" or even, "it's not in the computer where I know where to look" or "AA hasn't taken the time to update their information - again". (In my country of origin, it could even mean "provide me with an in$entive to look harder".)
Persecuting this with AA, the OP will possibly get a definitive answer, and quite possibly some kind of satisfaction IMO. Walking away from it I can guarantee the OP is out $220.
Originally Posted by
Andriyko
But what do you base your belief on? If it were BA I'd agree but it says nowhere on AA website that the most generous allowance apply. Had I been the check-in agent I'd have applied the same logic. I am not saying it is right (I personally think that it is wrong) but Id' read the rules as they are - a person presents themselves for check-in in discount Y, there is no "most generous allowance" rule, and the agent charges according to the first segment. Moreover, I would not want to override the "computer says no" thingy as an agent without much authority. I guess the best way is to contact AA for an official explanation.