sunil

I'm sharing this so that other can perhaps avoid this horrible situation.

I decided to use AA.com for the first time purchase a biz class seat for travel JFK-NRT for business, after having several good experiences of buying discount coach seats. I got JFK-LAX-NRT and return for $7800. Now I checked the fare rules for the first 3 segments segments, and it stated no restrictions on refunds. My travel plans changed and I needed to go to a different part of the planet. I called AA to refund, and the agent and I both GAG when I hear the fare is non refundable because one of the segments on the return LAX-JFK was a discounted first class fare and thus making the entire ticket non-refundable. Its been a rough night, and after spending several hours pleading my case, I'm going to try and get some sleep. I'm not sure how I'm going to explain this to the boss.

rbAA

I had a similar situation, though much less costly, when I bought a coach ticket, economy without restrictions. It seems that aa.com wants to do you a favor and charge you less money, even though the selection is made for "without restrictions," which to me would mean refundable. The ticket was refunded by an airport ticketing agent, as she was able to determine that I expected a fully refundable ticket, either she took my word or checked the record.

chicagorich

Well--doesn't non-refundable mean that if you change plans--AA hits you with a change fee and then you get a credit to use on another itinerary?


From the AA web site:

Q: I purchased a nonrefundable ticket, but my travel plans changed. Can I get a refund?

A: No, nonrefundable tickets for domestic itineraries (except Puerto Rico) cannot be refunded.

For nonrefundable tickets issued on or after August 19, 2003, the itinerary must be cancelled before the ticketed departure time of the first unused coupon, or the ticket has no value. Changes are subject to certain restrictions and fees


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I am not sure what the change fee is for AA international these days, but international change fees are usually higher than domestic.

Although it doesn't specifically say it, my memory is that as long as you cancel the intinerary before the travel date--you can use the value of the ticket minus the change fee for another ticket on AA for the same traveler.

EDIT:

I pulled this off of the Adelamn Travel website for airline rufund policies dated 3/26/2004



American Airlines

Paper Ticket Fee:

$50.00 Agency must charge a $50.00 fee as an MCO to all US/Canada point of sale transactions that qualify for an electronic ticket but the customer chooses a paper ticket. This includes voids, refunds, and exchanges. This fee does not apply to off-line paper ticketing unless other airlines in the itinerary have interline agreements with AA. Also, effective May 12, 2003, American Airlines will discontinue the ability for Travel Agencies to print an e-ticket to paper. Starting May 1, American Airlines ticketing locations will discontinue printing paper tickets for itineraries that are e-ticket eligible. Effective 5/1/03

Waiver Policy:

American will no longer allow waivers on published fare rules including but not limited to:

Minimum/maximum stay
Advance purchase fare rules.

This is a newly issued policy and may not be applicable in all situations. Effective 8/27/02

Non-Refundable Ticket Policy:

Effective for travel on or after August 19, 2003, travelers with non-refundable tickets (that allow changes) will have a year from the original ticket issue date to reschedule without losing the value of their tickets. The original reservations must be canceled prior to the scheduled departure time. This is applicable to domestic and international reservations.
Effective 8/19/03

Standby Policy:

Effective Saturday Oct 4, 2003, passengers will now be free to stand-by on any earlier/later same day flight without an add/collect or change fee. Please note, only those published fares with -FS- in the fare basis code will be allowed to fly stand-by. Effective 10/4/03
Refundable Discount Fares Standby Policy: The stand by policy for refundable discount fares for travel within the U.S., U.S. to Canada, U.S. to Caribbean will apply only to earlier or later flights for the day that the customer is ticketed. Standby will not be permitted to any other day. Refundable discount fares included, but are not limited to BAP7, BAP3, HAP7, K26, KR26, B26 fares. A standby fee will not be collected.


Fees to Europe:

American Airlines increased the change fee from $150.00USD to $200.00USD for non-refundable fares from the U.S. to Europe. In addition, fares with a cancel fee will now be $200.00USD.



..

Rasalon

I recently purchased a fare from DXB to ORD in business that was $6800 and one of the segments was an I fare. Had some ridiculous policy on it ($500 cancellation fee, $250 change fee?) I guess with their crappy J product, the only way for AA to make money now is to catch people unawares.

BenK

Did you ask for a refundable fare on aa.com? It seems that, if you did, the airline should be obligated to allow you to change it. It also seems that they ought to change it even if they are not legally obligated because the odds are they will lose a customer who is willing to pay to the tune of $7,800.

nrr

In most cases on domestic tickets there is a $100 fee if you don't travel on your original route; they credit your "account" less $100, and the balance can be used for a future flight. Since your non-refundable part is domestic, shouldn't you be eligible for only the $100 penalty?
Does any expert know if the balance must be used on a single future flight or can it be "worked down" over several future flights?

pauleeepaul

Once you use the ticket against a fare in the original traveler's name and deal with the change fee (sometimes they make you pay it separately, sometimes it can be deducted against the value of the ticket), you receive a voucher good for the balance of the value of the first ticket. That voucher can be used for travel for anyone, not just the original traveler, which can make life a little easier.

To the OP, I would take a very aggressive approach with AA about getting a refund. The concept of an $8,000 ticket that isn't refundable is absurd. Even with a fair amount of travel if you won't be taking another premium class international trip soon you will be working that voucher off for a long time to come.

nrr

[QUOTE=pauleeepaul]Once you use the ticket against a fare in the original traveler's name and deal with the change fee (sometimes they make you pay it separately, sometimes it can be deducted against the value of the ticket), you receive a voucher good for the balance of the value of the first ticket. That voucher can be used for travel for anyone, not just the original traveler, which can make life a little easier.

I recently had a RT flight between JFK and SFO which I "cancelled", they credited me with all but $100. I called a few weeks later, gave them the ticket number and they credited the balance toward a JFK-LHR RT. I did not "physically" receive a vocuher; perhaps the credit is an electronic voucher?

sunil

I'm still in shock over this. I do intend to fight this, but boy its eating into alot of the time that I hoped to use for more constructive endevours. Suffice to say I'm never booking biz travel on AA.com again. My boss and travel mgr flipped when I told them . They are looking into it, and are pretty upset with AA over this (thankfully not at me).

ramondo

That's pretty nasty the way they mix up those fares as if they're helping you. I make it a habit of calling anyway. Even if I'm sure I lob a call in just to get it in their words. Then I ask their name and their location so I can verify what they said. I sometimes speak with a supervisor if I'm having trouble communicating what I want. Sometimes I even find a better fare with an agent then I do on aa.com. And you're right, their j class product is in much need of serious overhaul!
Best, Ramondo

wideman

Normally I'd say that the OP should have read the Fare Rules, etc., but this strikes me as being a different case.

This is a business class ticket, and it's virtually the same price (within $200-$300) of a fully-refundable business class ticket. I don't know whether or not AA was trying to be deceptive, but it seems to me that AA should have made it very clear on the web site that the $7,400 business-class ticket was non-refundable.

Hard to imagine that anyone would choose to pay $7,400 for a non-ref ticket when a fully-refundable/fully-changeable ticket is available for about $7,600 -- unless, that is, the lack of info on AA.com made it much more unlikely that they'd make an informed decision.

izzik

The information was in the Fare Rules for the last leg, I'm sure. The OP didn't check that, so I don't see where the fault is on AA's behalf. Booking full-fare Biz and First class tickets on AA.com is somewhat problematic because there is only one option for "business" and "first class", whereas coach has more selections to pick from ("Y with restrictions", "Y without restrictions", "full-fare Y"). How is the website supposed to know that the user wants a full-fare biz ticket, instead of discounted biz? In that case, a phone call to reservations would be more precise.

djcrooks

I purchased a business class ticket to Dom. Rep. a while back on aa.com. When I made the reservation I selected "Business Class" and "Search by Fare". The price was around $2200. I booked it, and called (for some reason I don't remember) before actually ticketing it and while on the phone I asked, just to be sure, if it was unrestricted. Turns out it was NON-REFUNDABLE because, the computer system booked the Eagle feeder flights in discounted economy since they do not offer business class. Fortunately, it was caught, and corrected. The fully unrestricted fare was barely higher.

djcrooks

Don't be so sure. Very often, when I book tickets on aa.com and click on "View Fare Rules", I receive an error message telling me that the fare rules are not available. Yes, I know that means, Buyer Beware and Call, but they really need to get it fixed. I asked web services about this and they tried to tell me it was due to my complex itineraries. What?? I usually fly to San Juan, Santo Domingo, Quito, etc. Nothing extraordinary and almost never with any carrier other than AA involved.

r3guru

If aa.com implied that this was an unrestricted ticket, and aa have refused to credit you, I suggest you call your credit card issuer and dispute the charges.