ismann

I thought I'd turn to the experts to interpret AA's 240/80 rule for me before I call up the PLT line. I redeemed two J class awards JFK-GYE on LAN for travel in April. It turns out that I now don't want the tickets, so I was expecting to pay the $125 fee to have the miles redeposited. However, when I just checked the itinerary online it tells me there's been a schedule change.

Original itinerary (from confirmation email):
539 NEW YORK JFK FRI 18APR 10:20 AM GUAYAQUIL 5:00 PM U
538 GUAYAQUIL SUN 27APR 2:10 PM NEW YORK JFK 8:40 PM U

Current itinerary (aa.com):
539 JFK New York Apr 18, 2008 10:20 AM GYE Guayaquil Apr 18, 2008 04:00 PM U
538 GYE Guayaquil Apr 27, 2008 02:10 PM JFK New York Apr 27, 2008 09:30 PM U

So it looks like the flight down there is actually arriving an hour earlier than scheduled, but the real change is that my return flight arrives 50 minutes later than scheduled. According to aa.com, this would seem to fall in the <90 minute category where *only* a refund to voucher is allowed. My question to you guys is - what does that mean for an award? Can I redeposit without paying a fee?

brp

Worth a try, but likely not because the magnitude of the change is not great enough.

Cheers.

ricktoronto

I think you will find that the flights arrive and leave the same times they used to except for a DST change in there. Which happens in March in 2008 and the computers still have the old last Sunday rules just like 2007.

1020 a.m. in NY is going to be 920 a.m. in Ecuador and 210 p.m. in Ecuador will be 310 p.m in NYC on those dates.

The bright side is they gain 10 minutes on the return trip. 50 minutes vs. an hour differential.

TACA actually adjusts its times outbound from here to maintain the arrival times in their hub and adjust the arrival time here vs. change the departure time in their hub as they don't observe DST. AA should do the same.

ismann

Just got off the phone with AA, and the agent was able to reinstate the miles with no fee charged. The change was in fact due to DST, but there was enough of a difference on the return to warrant a refund.

After checking with his supervisor, the agent told me that this case was "borderline" and that they wouldn't have done it if it had been a small, 5-10 minute change. Not sure why the rule wasn't more specific, but it's a pretty good reason to always wait for a schedule change before canceling a ticket.

bts09

Good to know! and glad it worked out for you.

mvoight

That is something I don't understand about AA. Since the time changes are known well in advance, why doesn't AA use the correct time when they first put the flights into the schedule?

brp

You really think it's that easy for them to get their legacy software to incorporate changes in the DST rules? This is AA we're talking about

Cheers.

slomike

I would guess that it has to do with the fact that DST is now happening earlier. I believe there was a chance that we would switch back to the old dates after 2008 if things didn't work out well. AA may have decided to avoid changing their system if there was a chance they would have to unchange it in 2009.

-Mike

AndyAA

So on the day of a DST switch, do you resubmit an upgrade exactly 3, 4, or 5 hours in advance in order to jump the queue and get a confirmed upgrade?

mvoight

I don't buy it.
The OP is flying in April after the first Sunday
Before 2007, the first Sunday in April started DST
Now, it is the second Sunday in March.

In either scenarios, the OPs trips would be during US DST.

ismann

And it just cost them my $125! I'm not complaining...

dglewis76

Thanks OP.
After seeing your post, I decided to cancel a trip to Lima in May, which we were going to cancel anyway but just did not yet. I'd realized that they changed the schedule for me too.
I called and cancelled and have the miles redeposited to my account.
Thanks for saving me money :-)

JY1024

Glad you were able to get your miles back!

Whenever I've had minor schedule changes to my AAward tickets (between 30 min to 90 min), they've always been very accomodating, either allowing me to cancel or rebook on a flight that previously already sold out of award seats.

AAaLot

My experience is that even a 10 minute change is enough to cancel or to ask for exceptions. I like this of AA.