RealHJ

I've spent over 10 hours on this over the last two days, and I am looking for any help on is what I am trying to do even possible, or is AA so insensitive to its customers' needs and illogical that it's pointless to try any further. I never thought that any airline reservations could be worse than DL, but now it seems like AA really takes the prize for that. (That is not a good thing.)

Basically, due to an AA flight cancellation an award I have for June no longer works - I can't really drive or swim from ORD to HEL! Three agents, 1-2 hours on the phone each, have been unable to find any alternate itineary, within +/- 1 day, that is not at least 5 or 6 flights, one or two tight connections, transfer from LGA to JFK (mad dash to make a <2h connection), one or two overnights (need to get hotel), and three days + three nights total travel time, vs. the earlier two nights + one day only on three flights (no overnight hotel, no long connection), all but last connecting AY flight on proper lie-flat seating (it's a J award) where I can sleep. Now what I am offered is double travel time, almost all in domestic F seating, own transportation between airports, need to get a hotel for a night of travelling (or two). Better options are out there, but AA Revenue Management won't open up the seats for those. All three agents have tried, they could get me on a LAX-LHR AA flight that only had F seats open (and is the only option that is then somewhat better, 4 flights and some 13 hours longer than original travel time (depart 13 hours earlier, arrive same time), still requiring an overnight expensive airport hotel though also), but, RevMgmnt won't let them book those for the J award. Each time they've been turned down, and neither they nor two levels above have found anything else that works. So, only things on the table are some 24+ (usually about 36) hours longer travel time (leave well over a day earlier to arrive at the same time, or leave around same time, arrive nearly two days later) 5 or 6 flight (that is one way, just outbound) options.

Now, I have spent quite a few hours searching and have found much more logical routing: timing works out, availability is there (well, until they killed it - put flight in reservation, then took it out, but, of course, it didn't go back to inventory and now can't get it from AY anymore), shorter flying distance (vs. trans Pacific and trans Atlantic crossing two oceans, is crossing just half an ocean: only 1/2 of Pacific puddle-jump), comparable to original: 3 total flights, with 2 long ones being both angled lie-flat, etc. But, AA absolutely will refuse to use the more logical routing of HNL-KIX-HEL (or, now that that is no longer available as they killed it by taking it and removing it by mistake, and AY won't put it back in inventory, HNL-KIX-HKG-SIN-HEL), insisting that it must cross two oceans, can't be just crossing 1/2 an ocean. Now I understand that AA has these highly illogical routing rules and forces one to fly a longer way to fly more on AA's own flights. But, in case of their own flight cancellation AND three agents + their supervisors + one more level up managers, no one finding any even remotely workable options (ones that are found, RevMgmt won't open up the inventory on AA), shouldn't they be able to simply reticket it without repricing it? And here it's not even all in J; I am voluntarily downgrading to Y for the first half of the flights, and am not even asking for any mile difference back for that. To do this shorter and more logical routing, most comparable to original, and downgraded to 1/2 Y and only 1/2 J for longer flights, AA wants nearly double miles of the original award. I've never heard of an airline charging more miles to reaccommodate a passenger due to their own flight cancellation! Even DL will then just make space available (on any of its own flights) and reticket it, without any fare recalc.. Is AA really this bad and just, almost literaly, spits in face of their customers like this and just suggets to cancel it, as they are not interested in rebooking a customer due to their own flight cancellation?

(sorry for the long rant!)

brp

Not usually. Sorry it seems to be happening to you in this case.

Cheers.

paseom2

Sorry to hear about the trouble, and it seems like you are just unlucky. I have not had similar issues with AA, and actually they have been more than accommodating when a schedule change requires re-booking. As you were taking HNL-ORD-HEL, I think this was an AA award? Was it J saver or aanytime?

It does seem like the AA agents have found alternate options for you, just not ones that you have found satisfactory. You don't say when your award is, but I assume it is relatively soon or during peak travel times based on the lack of additional availability. I am sorry, but I don't take any issue with AA not opening F availability for you on a J award. Could you take Y and waitlist for J?

The pulling of the AY TPAC flight isn't something AA can control, this is AY's doing.

If you have already explored utilizing an all-partner award or a oneworld award (JL, CX, etc) and the routings are better, I am afraid the only option is to take the best offering AA has at the moment and keep a lookout for a better option in the meantime. You also could cancel the award and have AA redeposit the miles and taxes and find new flights yourself.

Best of luck.

RealHJ

Cancel and keep looking for something to open up in June is not realistic. It's quite unlikely that anything (all the segments, that is) will.

And paying for J but being downgraded to Y, well, unless I get some real and hefty compensation, that is not an option. Usually companies upgrade customer if they can't get what they paid for, I never heard of downgrading - that is a PR nightmare waiting to happen. Also I need to arrive in the morning for a full day, so it's sort of important for me to be on proper lie-flat seat planes for the two overnight flights out. That is why I booked the routing that I did, specifically that.

I guess I didn't make my question clear. So really then in such cases AA will always insist on repricing the ticket, they will not do what most other airlines do and just put you in alternate flights (their own, opening up availability if need be, or other OW/partner airlines, only if available) and just reticket w/o a reprice? (As of course if they do a reprice, the most direct routing (HNL-NRT/KIX/NGO-HEL) costs a lot more.)

I guess that's the difference between EXP and no status treatment? Any secrets or ways to get better treatment (not being an AA EXP), or no real way? Just asking...

Austinrunner

Call back and have the agent "appeal" revenue management's decision. An appeal is an entirely different animal than simply asking again. Good luck.

And it would help us help you if you would condense your post into just 2 things: what you had and what you want now.

RealHJ

Aaah... thank you. That's the term and process I was looking for. For a moment I was, while not happy, at least content with the +13 hours longer flying time routing (though still adding +13 hours to a flight, due to their flight cancellation, isn't some compensation due?), but when that fell through and they came back with >+24 hour flying time options, that really was not good. I just can't take that much time away from work!

Austinrunner

It's weird that the magic word "appeal" has to be used. But it works, as has been reported several times on this forum in the last few weeks.

And don't underestimate the ability of Flyertalk members to solve your problem when the AA agents appear incapable of doing so. We often come up with solutions that AA will accept.

Upgraded!

Also consider routing via DFW an/or MAD.

Upgraded!

Unless OP is referring to the domestic flight in from HNL, which has no J.

RealHJ

Oh I did, and so did the agents. Via MAD it was 5 (or was it 6, I forgot now) flights 3 days, 3 nights travel nightmare experience. That is the best that they suggested, after RevMgmnt turned down the other better options. Some short connections (such as a mad dash LGA to JFK), some overnight ones (need hotel). I think it was HNL-DFW-LGA/JFK-MAD-LHR-HEL-xxx. Total 6 flights.

I looked at AA route map, looked at schedules in KVS Tool and looked at all the possible combinations. That is how 11am-7pm of my Sunday went. I pride myself in being better than any airline agent I've come accross to come up with creative - and valid, within fare rules (for SkyTeam at least, don't know OW/AA that well) routing. Issue is: need to get to HEL by 8:30am to make connection. That is what makes it difficult.

dstan

Great to know, thank you for posting! ^

RealHJ

I guess to restate my question then. Would "appeal" be what I should use to request the more direct HNL-Japan-HEL routing (though now may need to be HNL-KIX-HKG-HEL or HNL-KIX-HKG-SIN-HEL, now that the AA agent messed up and got the one AY seat KIX-HEL removed from inventory, even though it wasn't booked)? Is there any chance for that to be allowed (w/o a reprice)? It is shorter, and the only thing even remotely comparable to the original routing.

Is it better to write it in than call? (Though AA, from my experience, is horrendously slow - 2 weeks or so! - in responding to e-mails, unlike other airlines who can be as fast as 5-15 minutes in case of DL (one good thing about DL is truly superb and very speedy online CS)... and if they take that long here, by then even what is still available now may be gone. But still, much easier to write it in than explain by phone, and play the phone lottery of "you never know how helpful of an agent you'll get.")

Upgraded!

Did you have them check LAX-MAD on IB? Perhaps they didn't look at partner award availability, though it sounds like they did. There is also the TN LAX-CDG flight, though I don't know what a CDG-HEL connection on AY looks like.

Also, I believe the reason the price was doubling by doing this as a transpacific is that it is being changed from an AA/all partner award to a oneworld award.

hillrider

Weird. Reaccommodation is one of the things that AA absolutely excels at and is commendable for doing right.

RealHJ

May be I am just unlucky. As in all three (helpful) agents getting less-than-helpful supervisors and escalations staff... though with the rather limited OneWorld network, reaccommodation can be hard, as when one flight is cancelled often there are few if any alternatives w/o increasing travel time substantically. I also had the first agent tell me how hard it is in cases like this, as she "has practically nothing to work with" (AA has a small and rapidly shrinking fight network, and when other OW airlines are N/A then there's not much that can be done); she told me that I should see her screen - "there's nothing to work with there!" And I guess AA won't, esp. for award tix, reaccommodate one on a non-OW airline.