writetorich

I had thought that a schedule change on an international award ticket allowed for the redeposit an an award without the reinstatement fee.

I called AA and they said "it had to be 90 minutes or more" to qualify for fee waiver.

The change is 30 some odd minutes.

I'm certainly not seeking a waiver/favor from AA. I am not taking the trip.

BUT, I would like to avail myself of all the passenger protections of AA's own conditions of tariffs that AA unilaterally writes and imposes.

Is this an Addvantage program rule issue or a condition of tariffs rule issue?
Would a revenue tix be refundable?

Years ago, I remember that ANY change -- no matter how minor--on a revenue domestic ticket made a cheapie non refundable tix , fully refundable to original form of payment.

That liberal policy was never a customer service exception, rather AA own written contract , conditions of tariffs specifically allowed for this.

So short version, According to AA's own written rules do I need to cough up $150 bucks?

Thanks for your replies and time.

JDiver

Short version: it generally can't hurt to try calling again.

hillrider

Well, AA's unilaterally-imposed 'conditions of carriage' which you had to accept by "adhesion" state:Translated into English, it means that AA doesn't have to do anything about taking you to your destination when it said it would, and when it doesn't do so you're contractually on your own and you must pay for all expenses etc. And it doesn't have to reimburse you anything for schedule changes. If there's a 30 minute / 90 minute or whatever policy, it's not part of the contract.

I personally believe that we as customers and citizens should have more protections and transparency, at least like those of the EU, so I encourage you to take your time to write your Congressperson: there's been a push to try to get US citizens some legal protection (see www.flyersrights.org/billofrights.html), and this effort would benefit GREATLY from additional direct voter pressure.

MIKESILV

Is the change on a AA operated flight? .. makes a world of difference.

mike

mvoight

AA rules don't support the belief that you are entitled to a free redeposit for "any" schedule change. In fact, the odds are really bad, if booked far in advance, that ther might be some schedule change. I suspect the issue in this case is more of changing your mind about the tickets, and looking for an out, versus a major inconvenience caused by the 30 minute difference. Of course, you didn't supply any details on how the change affects you, so the reason for wanting the redeposit can only be guessed.

That said, I had a free redeposit on a partner award (LAN Peru), due to a 30 or so minute schedule change. That was the last flight of the day, and I explained to the agent that original flight was really a bit tight, due to the scheduled end of a tour that had been pre-booked. As the original time was already tight, an 30 minute earlier departure was not possible for us. And, since it was the last flight of the day,and we did not want a next day booking.
YMMV...but the EXP agent handled this quite nicely. Of course, the rewards were only 10K per person.

3Cforme

U.S. flyers do have such protections, and had them long before EU 261/2004 was put into place. The Department of Transportation's Aviation Consumer Protection and Enforcement body has rules, and pursues violations with consent orders, regarding change of carrier, change of schedule, and added stops/changes to non-stop/direct itineraries.

The DOT isn't going to be impressed with the OP's argument that a 30-minute schedule change allows him to cancel or deposit miles. AA's 90-minute rule sounds fair to me (and I thinks that's CO's present rule, as well).

I won't suggest that current DOT protections are generous, but to imply that U.S. flyers have nothing but the Contract of Carriage is mistaken or disingenuous.

mvoight

Agreed. Overprotection is not the goal of the DOT. Requiring any schedule change to entitle the passenger a full refund, is not a very sound goal. For example, say airport AAA has work going on, so the airline adds 10 minutes to the schedule, in an effort to be more accurate in its gate to gate times.
I don't think this is something they should be penalized for, by forcing them to give refunds.

richarddd

Is the 90 minute policy documented anywhere? The $150 fee is on aa.com, but I can't find anything about 90 minute schedule changes.

writetorich

"I suspect the issue in this case is more of changing your mind about the tickets, and looking for an out, versus a major inconvenience caused by the 30 minute difference."


Absolutely, I readily concede that this IS the case.

I Now have no intention of taking this booked 10 months ago Itn, even if the schedule had not changed. ( ten months ago, I was planning to take trip)

But do I need to cough up $150-

writetorich

I am upset about not taking this trip. It was a First class on the A 380 going over and FIRST on the 747 returning. Sydney to JFK on Quantas First with a stop in LAX


Oh and it was a stopover and onward to Ackland , before the one way devaluation!

Oh well gotta earn a living!

TerryK

FYI, UA policy is 2 hours or more for a refund, you got a better deal with AA with 90 minutes.

MIKESILV

Whats with the shouting?
It not as if you posted that info here before.
However as I supected and perhaps confirmed by the obvious non-response this was a partner award flight which AA really has no control over .
Nice of you to leave the most pertinent facts out essentially wasting other posters' time.

Not much here more to discuss... just pay the $150 if you want your miles back... end of story.
BTW your attitude wont ganer much sympathy here but I suspect you dont much care anyway

mike

mvoight

This was the reason I indicated this was not something that DOT needed to get involved with. The airlines need some flexibility in scheduling, as well as the ability to offload standbys (another thread) for operational reasons.

I figure in these kinds of fees into the overall cost of the ticket.
If I paid no change fees in 99/100 trips, then $1.50 per trip, in my mind, is a non-issue. I count it lucky when I can avoid fees I expect to pay, like when my daughter had to fly somewhere at the last minute, when we were getting ready to return to CA after our NYC trip. I called AA to indicate she wouldn't be on the flight, and they said they would refund the fare due to heavy delays due to weather.

SocietyFlyGirl

Why did you yell at us?

And is the 30 minute change stopping you from taking the flights? If it's not stopping you from taking the flights, why aren't you?

If the 30 minute change means an illegal connection, then maybe AA would be more amenable to a free redeposit of miles. Of course, if you yell at them like you did at us, maybe that's why they said "no."

brp

Of course it would be silly for the DOT to be involved with this. Still, the company will use its rules against us when they work that way. If we can get a rule to work in our favor, why not try it? If I had to cancel a trip, I'd sure hold out for a schedule change before doing so.

Cheers.