JonNYC

twitter is by far best suggestion

lobo411

The rules are the rules. All of us have stories where the rules left us smiling or left us frowning. When I broke my leg and had to lose $150 of a $300 ticket purchased on a grad student's annual income of $4000 10 years ago, I didn't whine about it. The rules were the rules, and my horrible misfortune was nobody's problem but my own.

Mulder

This. Maybe proactively include a copy of the death certificate. Much less stressful than trying to get the fee waived upfront, particularly if the supervisor you spoke with noted their denial of your initial request.

I wouldn't get my hopes up—especially given AA's recent elimination of bereavement/medical emergency fares—but I think it's reasonable to state your case.

My condolences.

adambrock

But once it was a Y/B fare could he then change the date of travel?

869

Sorry for your loss, 1AAFlyer. I concur on reaching out to the twitter team at AA as well as calling again. Assuming the same fare was available on both dates, AA definitely should have changed for you.

More importantly, AA should reinstate bereavement fares.

vasantn

Yep. See my post upthread.

AFAIK the restrictions of the original fare still apply, unless the change fee is paid. But I can't swear to that.

relangford

When my son died in 2012, I was told it would take several weeks for the death certificate to be generated. This delay could make refund, etc. less likely.

TTTTroll

Just a lowly kettle had something similar happen. called aa told agent I made mistake, off 1 day, he said since it was not long after booking he could change for only fare difference.

nzpilot

So sorry for your loss 1AAFlyer.
V frustrating circumstances. Regardless of formal policy, it would seem to me that common sense might lead to a waiver. Yes, if I were in the decision circuit, the 4MM Exp would make a diff to me. No company should want to alienate their loyal customer in a time of distress. To those saying none of this makes a diff, and suck it up, yikes. World class organizations can do better. Those implying AA is not a world class org, perhaps you are right....

swajames

But it absolutely is common sense to show some compassion and flexibility in circumstances such as those encountered by the OP, and even more so if the OP is a flyer with demonstrable loyalty and considerable spend.

It makes zero business sense to piss off such a customer over $200 or so. None at all.

JDiver

It indeed is good business sense says "give the guy a break", but the new AA is getting stricter and more penurious on this issue. Mr. Bentel and Twitter have been mentioned; they are worth giving a try, the latter (being easiest) first.

But hey, I am EXP (over ten years) 5MM plus - and honestly it only means I had some spend, lots of class of service, elite status and promo bonus miles; I'll bet my helix / Eagles rating ain't that high.

On UA OTOH, it would mean a lot and then some - they only have counted Base / butt in seat miles for a long time, unlike AA (fortunately, for many of us).

LTRS

This is similar to why I quit AA. Got notification my father was in hospital and expected to die soon. Had 30 min to book flight and 1 hr to airport. After 3m+ butt in seat miles and 7 yrs of EXP PLUS many employee EXPs for which I paid AA couldn't have cared less. Cost 4k for me and spouse domestically. He died, I flew back and never booked another paid flight (and won't). I will use my 1.5 award miles but they won't see another dime from me.

Business ExtrAA rep actually called me and asked why we weren't using them anymore. So apparently they cared but not enough to accommodate me when I needed it. I told her loyalty needs to work BOTH ways.

Dave Noble

Not providing any help in this situation seems very disappointing, but would view this as greatly different to the OP's situation where it is really just a case of booking the wrong flight

Austinrunner

I do not understand all this talk about "loyalty" to/from AA. It's just a profit seeking corporation, not a family member or friend.

vasantn

This. ^

Also, there are very few regular members on this board who cannot afford either a last-minute ticket or an AAnytime award. Most of us have friends who would front us the miles in an emergency. It's either worth that expenditure to you to be by the side of a loved one, or it isn't.

(I run my own business so I have a different perspective. However, I'm not really as callous as I sound and, in fact, I just made an exception for someone yesterday in a case that did not involve anything near as serious as a death in the family. It cost me $2K. But I get sob stories all the time in my business and even when I do choose to be flexible, my gut reaction is: "I'm sorry for your misfortune, but how did I get elected to share in your financial burden? If I had a problem and came to you, a total stranger, for financial help; would you give it to me?")

Were I in a similar situation, I would appreciate help from AA but would certainly not expect it or view it as an entitlement.