Last month I had booked and paid for an American Airlines return ticket from NYC to Montreal on Nov 2nd, with return from Montreal to NYC on Nov 4th (non refundable tariff). Due to Hurricane-related disruptions, I did not take the outgoing flight from NYC to Montreal on Nov 2nd, as I was in San Fran and decided to take an alternative route into Montreal (via Delta) which did not go through NYC. But I still expected to take the return leg of the journey from Montreal to NYC on Nov 4th with my AA ticket nonetheless.

As I arrived at the airport in Montreal on the day of my return (Nov 4th), AA did not allow me to take my return flight, claiming my ticket status was "NOGO" as I had not boarded the outgoing flight from NYC to Montreal two days prior (even though I had duly booked and paid for this flight). As such they requested I pay CAD 499 (+40 booking fee) to re-purchase the very same flight again at the airport (MTL to JFK, flight AA 4444). No refund was offered on my original booking, or my subsequent re-purchase of the same flight, with no better explaination on their part. The check in staff was visibly apologetic and embarassed by the situation, but they could not override the system, and the manager on duty ostensibly refused to talk to me.

Once on the plane, it turns out that the flight was in fact half empty (including the 9A seat I was technically booked on my original flight was empty).

I think I deserve a refund on my re-purchase of the same ticket as AA's request I pay again for the flight had no legal or economic validity. I would really appreciate if anyone here could help me understand what my rights might be or if I am getting it wrong somewhere.

In a legal sense, I believe the AA claim has no standing since I had purchased a return flight and nowhere in the fine prints of the ticket confirmation email from AA it said that by failing to board on the outgoing flight I would have forfeited also my return flight. In fact, the email showed an assigned seat number of 9A on my return flight from Montreal and a ticket number, and I was never subsequently contacted by AA (whether by email, phone or post) to advise that my flight status had been altered in any way.

But most importantly in an economic sense the AA's request that I buy a new ticket was illogical. Why would I have to repurchase a flight I had already booked and paid for, particularly as as it turns out that the flight was indeed half empty. What can justifiably be the economic loss that AA may argue it had incurred?

And finally, from a customer service perspective, AA's request was frankly abysmal, particularly so in light of the complete lack of sympathy for a NY-based traveller who had already been affected by extensive disruption as a result of the recent hurricane. How is so, that passengers need to show flexibility and patience, whereas airlines don't need to stand by the same standards?

I am thinking about escalating the matter with competent customer protection bodies and airline regulators in the US. I would want another fellow traveller to experience a similar mishap.

Any suggestions on how to tackle this with customer protection agencies and American Airlines would be much appreciated.