doug4523

So I was wondering if anyone knew how this would work since I can't find this scenario on any blogs, etc. My father in law had a $1000 travel voucher which he couldn't use so he gifted it to us. We decided on a nonstop PHL-CDG flight for September (booked 2/28/20) and the flights are in our names of course. Since then, AA has added a JFK connection to both departure and returning. From what I understand, doing that made us eligible for a "refund". Since it was originally booked with a credit, I am aware we wouldn't get any cash or anything. But I was wondering the logistics/best way to go about changing this since it seems unlikely we will be able to go to Paris in September. If we went the refund route, would we just get a new voucher with a 1 year expiration date for the $1000? Would it be in the form of 2 $500 vouchers since that was the cost of each flight, and one voucher would be in my name and one in my wifes name? Or would the voucher be reissued to my father in law since it was paid for with a voucher in his name? He still would let us use it again I'm sure, so we aren't trying to keep it from him, but it would be much more convenient if we didn't need him to rebook.

Since we aren't able to get an actual refund, does it even make sense to go the refund route? Should we just cancel the trip and rebook for travel by 12/31/2021 per the current policy for all trips through September? We would still like to go to Paris at some point I think. Do we gain/lose any flexibility though by going one option vs the other? This is a dumb question, but when AA says you can change your flight once for travel by 12/31/2021, does that mean you can only change the date of travel, or can you change your itinerary completely with a new destination, etc? Basically, does cancelling your flight under this policy essentially just give you a credit to use toward any future flight up until 12/31/2021? Sorry for all the questions but it's so hard figuring some basic things like this for me.