Date January 7, 2017
AAdvantage Status Gold + 3 with no status
Fare class
- Gold (me) in F (paid)
- 2 with no status in award F on one PNR
- 1 with no status in award F on a 2nd PNR.
What happened All PNRs were standalone SJU-CLT-MCI one-way.
SJU-CLT operated normally. CLT-MCI canceled due to missing crew. Rebooked following day, the 3 award seats in F and my paid seat in Y. Gate supervisor confirmed everyone on the flight was entitled to overnight accommodations paid by AA, but they had no hotel vouchers. Supervisor said "you can book your own, but contract rate is $74/nt. so don't go over that." I specifically asked "Can I do $150/nt with 4 pax on 3 PNRs in one room?" Gate supervisor confirmed yes - just note that in the reimbursement request. So I booked a nearby Residence Inn for around $150.
Compensation
- Through AA's normal ticket refund process, a small amount of cash refund for the CLT-MCI downgrade on my paid ticket. I've read here that downgrades are always smaller than you think because they just look at full-Y or something similar. Although this seems unfair, I know it's a battle not worth fighting.
- Through Customer Relations, $74 for the hotel, even though I fully explained that there were 4 people in the room in both my email and on the receipt.
- Also through Customer Relations, $600 in eVouchers, $150 per traveler (not sure if this means they must be ticketed in their names - been a while since I've used these on AA)
Comments
- I didn't even ask for the eVouchers. Obviously, that was a surprise and maybe I should just accept what's been given me and move on.
- I'm mildly annoyed about the hotel. It sounds like I would have been reimbursed for at least three (maybe four?) $74 rooms if I'd booked some crappy motel. I thought booking a single room for 3 PNRs / 4 pax was a win-win: cheaper for AA, and this was a brand-new RI that we really liked. Total cost about $37 per person. Half of their contract rate.
I'm leaning towards just moving on with my life since I *will* use the vouchers, but wondering if anyone else thinks it's a little unfair that AA just ignored part of the cash reimbursement that they themselves promised, and that are wholly reasonable and well within their typical standards.
UPDATE: I actually responded to their last email, asking about the hotel expense. They stated, rather curtly, that it is a hard and fast rule of $74 per room, and any voluntary decision on the part of passengers to stay more than 1 person per room was at our own expense. They did not address the fact that their own gate agent told a very direct and purposeful lie to me when I clearly and unambiguously asked her about being reimbursed for a room capable of sleeping 4 people that was approximately double their contract rate. On one hand, I relearned the lesson I should known before: the airline is your adversary, and it is not compelled to play fairly or tell the truth. And I learned one new lesson: stay at the gate until I have four hotel vouchers in hand (one per traveler), even if our intent is likely to only sleep in the "best" one or two rooms.
Last edited by pinniped; Feb 2, 2017 at 9:53 am