Almost ready to quit AA [denied change on restricted fare]
 

I booked a $224 fare from lag- phi for my mother's memorial service. I admit that I booked the wrong date...by 1 day. I have explained that I booked this at my mother's death and I made a MISTAKE. I asked AA to waive the $200 change fee for this $224 fare. Even a supervisor would not waive the fee. I have more than 4m miles flown and I have just about had it. Suggestions anyone?

Maybe a nudge with something like Twitter? In rare occurrences, I know people who got their credit card company to give some customer support with issues like this.

Good luck and condolences.

Almost ready to quit AA
 

MM status honestly should have nothing to do with the change policies of the fare. However, if you upfare it to full flexible, then you can technically cancel it...?

This. "Touting" lifetime miles doesn't help the situation at all.

I'm sorry for your loss. It is understandable that you would make an error in such a circumstance. I would suggest you explain the situation to the agent, fully own your mistake and acknowledge your understanding that you are asking for a huge favor, and not mention your 4MM. If you get a sympathetic agent, consider it a gift horse. If not, consider it an expensive mistake. ;)

Will AA allow you to cancel it and fully refund it upon supplying them with a death certificate? I had an award ticket booked the day of my mother's service. I was able to avoid the cancellation penalty by doing the above.

Hmmm...while technically possible, this would not be looked upon kindly by corporate.

Look. You bought a dirt cheap fare and you knew the rules. Now you made a mistake and you're mad AA is not bailing you out. Why not write it off as a learning experience and rebook for the day you need at the $200 change fee? It's really not that bad a fare on short notice even with the change fee added...my condolences btw.

Sorry for your loss. This isn't meant to be harsh, just fact.

I've had two incidents this year in which I had to eat the loss of personal travel on dirt cheap tickets such as this. AA isn't a social judge and I shouldn't be stuck with a fee when someone else is not.

Those were my own doing, yes I was angry in the moment, but I realized immediately that those were the rules, I made the decisions and I live with them.

If you switch from AA to UA or DL, the rules aren't any different over there.

I don't believe this is possible. Otherwise everyone would be doing it. The nonrefundable dollar amount always remains nonrefundable.

Sorry for your recent loss.

Calling and booking a ticket usually results in a more expensive, but flexible fare (discussed in the Consolidated AA Forum about compassion and bereavement fares). Hanging up and calling again (unless a note has been appended to the PNR) might also result in a waiver.

Honestly, relying on "xMM" status and saying "I've flown x million miles" won't result in much sympathy from agents or Flyertalkers, because we all know it's probably mostly miles earned on credit cards, bonus miles, etc. on AA; it comes across to many of us as unnecessarily "DYKWIA". If you have actually flown over 4 million miles, I stand in awe; if you have earned over 4 million miles, I'd not use that metric to impress AA employees; they can look up your data quickly enough and have algorithms in place to calculate high value to the airline.

Good luck with your quest. Maybe try snailmail to:

Sean Bentel
Director of Customer Relations
PO Box 619612 Maildrop 2400
Dallas Fort Worth Airport
TX 75261-9612

As American Airlines and US Airways are still operating as distinct airlines, this question is being moved to the appropriate pre-merger airline forum.

Please note the sticky at the top of the consolidated thread which is titled Welcome to the New American Airlines Forum! PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING. With all of the changes about, it is important to know where to post, and reading that thread before posting (as the title suggests ) will help get you in the right place.

~Moderator

I'd write a polite email to Doug Parker or Scott Kirby explaining you are a loyal customer, EXP with over 4 million miles. In booking a flight to attend your mother's funeral you mistakenly booked the ticket on the wrong day. You had contacted reservations to explain this, would be happy to provide any proof needed, but would certainly appreciate waiver of the $200 fee which you were told was not possible. I would add you enjoy your AA experience and are happy to see its resurgence, and add a 'thanks in advance' for your consideration and assistance. Make sure to include your AAdvantage number and record locator, and see what happens.

I would not threaten that you are leaving AA and I would not let snarky FT responses bother you.

Perhaps accept that you made a mistake and , like most people have to, accept it. It isn't AA's fault that you booked the wrong date

Sometimes good business sense requires businesses to treat the rules as guidelines. For an EXP, it's in AA's best interests to help out. It's not DYKWIA to make the amount of business you give to AA a factor in the conversation - it's entirely germane. In cases like this, common sense ought to prevail over rules. Rules are there to be followed, until it makes sense that it doesn't. Cases like this, to me, fall into that category.

I understand that you must have been under tremendous stress and emotionally strained, to the point where a minor error like this is very conceivable. I mean, you just lost your mother, which for most people is quite literally the most important person in their life; please accept my condolences.

The pre-Arpey AA would have understood: you're loyal to them, and they use common sense in situations like this.

I was treated with similar coldness and indifference when my father passed away a few years and had to make some changes, and faced the same cold wall of no waivers, no favors.

I learned the hard way that my goodwill was wasted, and corporate AA is simply not there when you need them the most. AA still has lots of pockets of exceptional and emphatic people that earn my continued business (mostly AAngels), but as an organization they no longer have any goodwill from me; rather, I see them as the frigid faceless entity they are.

I am afraid that just as I learned this at the death of my father, you learned it at the death of your mother. Going out of the way to fly AA does not get you anything other than the rapidly depreciating miles of the AAdvantage program and the elite benefits, so plan accordingly in the future.