BA4EVER

I just ran into a very unpleasant situation with the AA ExPlat desk, (who graciously take my calls as a OWE.)

I booked two J tickets ex-Spain, (different itineraries,) early this year that I subsequently canceled after clearly discussing with two separate ExPlat agents on two separate calls the remaining validity of the ticket. In both cases they assured me that less a small change fee, the tickets would remain valid for one year and could be used either on ex-Spain or wholly domestic itineraries.

Having just called the ExPlat desk to use said tickets, I was told that they in fact had no further validity whatsoever, and that the other agents were misinformed, which the agent I spoke with casually dismissed by saying, "Well, we have a lot of new people."

I've been a frequent flier for twenty years, and while I don't dive into the minutiae of the fare rules, (other than the basics of change fee, cancellation, etc...,) every time I buy a ticket, I do expect that if I talk to an elite-desk agent and very clearly get a description of what can and cannot be done with the ticket if I take a certain action, that it will be both correct and honored.

I've submitted a complaint form to AA, but was wondering if anyone here has any other suggestions for resolving this. I know they record all the calls, so those conversations must be on record somewhere.

Dallas49er

Clearly a case for HUACA-Hang up, and call again

erik123

What was the itinerary and fare basis?

JonNYC

Depends, as some of the initial information given to OP was clearly faulty:

Mark_T

I wouldn't depend on recordings from some months ago still being available if indeed the call was recorded in the first place.

Were the tickets cancelled before taking the first flight on the ticket?

Were you told that they now had no value at all, or just that they could not be applied to flights that did not originate in Spain?

BA4EVER

They were canceled before taking the first flights. Obviously I wouldn't have bothered calling in to cancel a non-refundable ticket....I would have just no-showed if I didn't intend to use it.....so hopefully they can apply some logic here.

Was told they have no value at all.

bmchris

You don't mention if you reviewed the condition of the ticket. Did you review those before talking to the first agents? Did the agents contradict what the conditions of the ticket were? Or did you just go by what the agents said?

For such a significant amount, I would advise people to check the ticket conditions as well, and not just trust the word of mouth of the agent. Sure you can ask them to clarify, but clearly they could be wrong as well. The clarification question may just alert them to pull up and check themselves.

BA4EVER

She put me on hold and supposedly spoke to someone very senior in revenue management who backed her up.

Understood, but how many people really have the time and understanding to do this? I knew the ticket was non-refundable, and changeable against a fee. Beyond that I would expect to rely on an ExPlat agent. With a standard agent, maybe I would have been more diligent.

JonNYC

What is the new routing you are trying to use these tickets for?

BA4EVER

Was trying to use on domestic F itineraries, which the agents I originally spoke with said was possible. I'd be perfectly happy if they re-instated just ex-Spain and will use them at some point, (though a validity extension would be nice as I would not have waited this long had I known I couldn't use them as planned.)

JonNYC

They cannot be used domestically. And they won't extend the validity period.

What is the exact reason they are giving you for not allowing you to use them ex-Spain?

BA4EVER

Her exact words were that these tickets were, "You use them or you lose them." We didn't dig too much deeper at that point as she wasn't being helpful. I asked specifically to clarify if they could be used again ex-Spain and was given a firm no.

zrs70

This can often be a dangerous thing. We want to escalate. But when we do, it's not uncommon for the supervisor to back up the agent - and to put a note in he record, making it much harder for any future agent to do anything.

BA4EVER

I didn't ask her to escalate. She said she needed to send it down.

To be clear, she didn't have an issue with validity until after she came back on the line. She sent them down as a routine measure from what I understood.

3Cforme

AA has been known to sell (even in business cabin) completely non-changeable, non-refundable, use-them-or-lose-them tickets for departures out of the U.K. These conditions are stated in the fare rules. Perhaps you bought such tickets ex-Spain?