BradleyMarie

Howdy all,

I’ve got a bit of a conundrum I could use some advice on.

I was booked on a flight from Chicago to Lima via Miami, however, because of a mechanical issue, my flight from Chicago to Miami was delayed long enough that I missed the last flight for the day to Lima.

When I arrived on the ground in Miami, I was told at the rebooking center that all the hotels the airline contracted there with were booked out, but that I had the option of booking my own accommodations and submitting the recipes online for reimbursement afterwards. When I asked him how much was acceptable to spend, he said anything between 200 and 300 dollars was fine. I ended up staying in the only room I could find in one of the airport hotels for about $220.

Now I'm back in the United States and I've learned that I was given bad information by the gate agent. According to the customer service representatives I've worked with, they can only reimburse me with "a check for $79.00 for reimbursement at our contract rate, a $200.00 eVoucher, or 10,000 bonus miles." This is pretty far short of what I was told by the gate agent. It’s also very upsetting to me as had I been informed of this policy originally I probably would have elected to stay in the airport and not spend any money. I feel like I was misled.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to what I can do to get my complaint to the right people? I seem to have hit a wall with the airline, and my credit card company wasn’t willing to do anything about it either.

Thanks.

ThreeJulietTango

I've heard agents promise hotel reimbursement before but always took it with a grain of salt. So is $79 what they reimburse everybody?

I can't imagine the airline reimbursing $200-$300 when it's usually easy enough to find rooms around MIA for less than $150.

1KHI

Probably nothing they can do in the AA side anymore, they might be able to increase the amount of the voucher after complaining, but that's about it.

Might be worth checking at your cc coverage again, Many US credit card now come with coverage for trip interruption (chase sapphire, Citi prestige, AA executive platinum, etc.).

ont

Of course, you didn't ask the GA who okey'd your getting your own hotel to put anything in writing, did you? If you remember the GA's name, you can at least put that in the request, so that she can confirm that she indeed okey'd it.

Where there any independent witnesses? If there were, you may try the small claims court. If not, then there is no proof, only your word, and AA is not gonna give you anything above the amounts in their guidelines.

If there is a high chance you'd fly them again, choose $200 voucher. This way, you're only $20 short. . .

BradleyMarie

It was truthfully the cheapest (and only) room I could find around the airport. I was traveling on December 26, and I guess a lot of people were leaving for cruises the following day. I have to imagine that would have inflated the price of the room.

I was going to look into using my CC insurance. Not sure if it qualifies as an interruption or not since I made it to my destination and completed the trip.

LovePrunes

I am SHOCKED anyone would quote a number so high. If you're US-based, you probably know that hotels AA puts people in for mechanicals or for volunteering are CRAPPY hotels. $79 sounds about right for the kinds of hotels we've had reported here on FT from people posting their experience. It MIGHT get you a Ramada or Best Western but rarerly anything like a Marriott or Hyatt or Hilton.

If you're not from the US, just realize AA is CHEAP!

I would never book a room that expensive and expect AA to pay even $100 without having something in writing from them. Hopefully you got some nice shampoo or something from the hotel to make it worthwhile. Sorry it happened.

ThreeJulietTango

The odds of having a gate agent putting anything in writing are extremely slim, if at all possible. Plus I believe there's language in the CoC that states that it overrides anything an agent might give you.

arollins

Take it with your credit card insurance. This is considered travel disruption. As a side note, most US airlines will never put anyone in $200 - $300 hotel rooms. They have contractual rates that are far less than that figure. Another thing you could have asked is for a distress traveler rate, but that is after the fact.

ont

That's only for changes to the CoC.

Here, there was no change (no new legal obligations) - AA was obligated to provide "reasonable overnight accommodations" under the CoC anyway. GA merely (mis)informed OP about the amount of reimbursement. Now, I don't know whether $220 is reasonable for MIA. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

jordyn

Your only real recourse is to either ask AA again or sue in small claims court. They are obliged to provide "reasonable" hotel accommodations in this situation, so if this was the only option you'd have an argument that it is reasonable, especially given the advice of the AAgent. Whether or not it's worth your time to take them to court is a separate question, but given that you'd have been willing to sleep overnight in the airport as an alternative, it seems reasonable to think it might be.

Then again, as others suggest, going the voucher route minimizes your loss if you're likely to actually use it.

MSPeconomist

To me, taking the $200 voucher (assuming that you'll be flying AA within the next year) and paying $20 net to stay in a decent hotel rather than the one an airline is likely to give you would be a good use of the money.

BTW, if you didn't get any meal vouchers, you should also be able to request reimbursement for reasonable F&B expenses (dinner and breakfast, possibly lunch too depending on the flight schedule).

For such issues, most airlines are more generous to elites and those with expensive/premium cabin (confirmed, paid) tickets. MX delays are treated more generously than WX, where the CoC might say that nothing is due, but again exceptions are made for elites and those who have paid a lot for the ticket.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

From Post #5:

"I was going to look into using my CC insurance. Not sure if it qualifies as an interruption or not since I made it to my destination and completed the trip."

If the OP's credit card has Trip Delay coverage, that insurance might well reimburse the difference between what the OP paid for lodging (and meals), and the $79 that AA has offered.

BradleyMarie

Thanks for the input everyone.

I'm going to follow up with my CC tomorrow, but I'm not optimistic. My read of the policy says I don't have any insurance for delays. Just for interruption or cancellation. Additionally, I realized now that I booked the flight and hotel room on separate cards :/

I'm probably going to end up just taking the voucher. Based on the input of you all, it sounds like it's my best option. The filling fees for small claims court in my state are low, but I can't imagine I'd stand much of a chance if it's just my word versus theirs. My only hope in that case would be if they wanted to settle before the hearing began, though I'm not sure how likely such a scenario is. Plus, I just don't like the idea of using the courts in general.

Maybe if someone from AA is reading, they'll take pity

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

"My read of the policy says I don't have any insurance for delays."

What type of credit card?

MSPeconomist

I think the OP's situation would qualify as a trip interruption, but these terms should be defined in any travel insurance policy.