Originally Posted by
nomad420
Let me clarify. I cancelled the flight as the routing was crazy but indeed I did initially book the flight in F... my bad but I thought all flights to KOA were routing through HNL. AFTER booking I found direct flights did indeed exsist into KOA from SFO although limited and with UA. The initial funds DID NOT come from my wallet by my AS card. They said the something about the class of F ticket required only a refund to my wallet NOT to the original form of payment, in my case the AS CC. A bit surprised but it is what it is and now I probably have something approaching $4K of funds in my wallet and with AS cut backs about the only place they now fly directly to for me is SEA. Also, and I must admit it is of some concern, IF they fold I doubt I'll ever see a dime of the "wallet" funds.
Since you initiated the cancellation, your only option is to have the ticket "value" credited to your wallet unless you purchased a fully refundable F fare which would be refunded to your CC.
If AS had significantly changed your flight times or cancelled a segment, you could have canceled the itinerary and received a refund to your CC.
Flight availability to the Islands is very limited because of the 14-day self-quarentine requirement for all passengers arriving in Hawaii. While September 1st was given as a date that passengers arriving with a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours would be exempt from the 14-day self-quarentine requirement, community spread is on the rise and hospital resources are under pressure. It is very likely that the plan for pre-arrival testing will be pushed back further until things stabilize and improve locally.
Since you can cancel AS flights right up to departure, you could have waited to see if an AS initiated change or cancellation would have favoured you in getting a refund. The worst case scenario would be where you are today.
If HI pushes back pre-testing arrival as it appears they will, flight schedules and frequencies will be changed again. With this scenario, I would be more concerned about UA canceling your flight than not being able to use AS wallet funds in the future.
James.
EDIT: If HI goes back to a lockdown, there won't be any intra-island flights. That would mean your itinerary would not allow HNL-KOA and could be canceled and refunded to the original form of payment.