Jul 29, 2014, 10:17 am
Last edit by: JDiver
Hayes, USDOT and AA: "fictitious bookings" and checking upgrade space
This new thread consolidates a number of pages of posts regarding AA's confiscation of 60,000 miles from Joel Hayes. AA says Hayes made "fictitious" "bookings" when he ran web searches on AA.COM. Hayes says he was only running searches and never requested that any itinerary be put on hold or any inventory reserved.
Link to PDF of USDOT Order of Didmissal of Mr. Hayes' complaint against AA 14 Dec 2016. C/o AndyAA.
[/quote]In our view, it was not a deceptive practice for American to determine that these actions had “all the hallmarks” of a fraudulent attempt to obtain an upgrade and to take adverse action without warning him. Even if American was mistaken about Mr. Hayes’ true motives, this fact standing alone would not rise to the level of a deceptive practice.
We see no basis for questioning the methods by which American’s corporate security department determined that Mr. Hayes’ practice of repeatedly accessing the website’s reservations features so close to the date of departure was designed to hold or block seats. In so concluding, we pass no judgment on whether we believe that Mr. Hayes was in fact intending to misuse the system. Because we have found no evidence of unfair or deceptive practices with respect to American’s fraud-detection methods, we dismiss that element of the complaint.[/quote]
Link to Joel Hayes - Complaint Against American Airlines Inc. (US DOT, on regulations.gov)
The original Account audit / fraud issues - Busted selling miles / SWU / VIP, etc (consolidated) can be found here.
Hayes, USDOT and AA: "fictitious bookings" and checking for upgrade space
Feb 15, 2017, 7:29 pm
#391
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Using "google flight search", I can see pricing for longer periods than AA.com shows; google flights in many instances has found AA flights which I could NOT find directly on AA.com. EXPERT FLYER can give me "in-depth" flt info I can't get elsewhere.
Mar 5, 2018, 6:09 am
#392
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Bridport, Dorset
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Sure, he didn't press "hold" or "purchase," but so what? He was clearly making a "booking" which removed the seats from inventory for some period of time, even if less than the 24 hours that AA permits legitimate purchasers to hold reservations. That might account for the 28 fictitious bookings in those four days.
Airlines acting like governments. It's a bit odd.