Originally Posted by
sxpsxpsxp
My experience with refunds for award tickets and fees have been that refunds are automatic and virtually instantaneous, at least as far as the miles are concerned. The taxes are refunded within a few days. This is for tickets booked with AA miles on AA metal.
Originally Posted by
MissJ
Wow, I'm really glad I read this thread. I cancelled a trip (booked with miles) last week and haven't seen the fees or the miles refunded. I filled out the form and hope to get them both back soon. Not really excited about having to call and be on hold for who knows how long if not. It's been years since I cancelled anything with AA, Delta always just does this automatically - as you mentioned.
Miles are supposed to be reinstated without having to request it. That said, it doesn’t always happen that way. If I correctly understand the cancellation message that you get, it may not be automatic if you cancel within 2 days of the flight, or some short-in period they mention. But that’s not consistent either. I cancelled 3 trips recently - one within a day, not checked in, the miles redeposited immediately. The other two were checked in and cancelled day of. No automatic miles reinstatement. Unclear whether being checked in has anything to do with it, if I remember correctly, I had another a few weeks back where the miles came back without having to ask.
When that happens, I just tweet AA, mention miles didn’t come back as expected and can they kindly assist, which they do. Saves the hassle of filling out the form and it’s pretty quick too.