AAExecPlatFlier

I believe the new PNR will be created from whomever is "dividend off". Agent could select either name. But the one being divided off is the one that gets the new pnr.

ijgordon

If you say so.

As a four segment journey, there should have been one e-ticket (number) for the companion, with four coupons. It's not exactly clear what happened, but I don't believe the OP's language (with respect) saying "but when my friend showed up at ARN to take his flight, BA had no ticket under his name and showed that it had been canceled and not rebooked" is necessarily precise about the use of the word "ticket". You don't re-book a ticket. You re-book a reservation. You re-issue a ticket. You also don't cancel a ticket. You cancel a reservation, and refund a ticket. Now normally if the e-ticket coupon somehow got dropped from the reservation, that should be a relatively easy fix at the airport. I suspect somehow the reservation got cancelled as well, and with neither a confirmed reservation nor an e-ticket BA wasn't in the helping mood.

Often1

This.

While the goal here is not to berate the OP, the simple fact is that precise terms really matter and everything in the OP, including the thread title is imprecise. For all we know, the EXP agent whom OP accuses of making an error, did not make an error and some entirely different glitch occurred. That is why being judgmental without facts is unhelpful.

The point here is that at some time, the friend had a ticket and a reservation ARN-LHR-IAD. At some later time, he did not at least have an ARN-LHR segment. But, apparemtly (subject to confirmation by OP), the friend was able to continue on the final segment LHR-IAD. If that is the case, only one cancellation occurred and it did not affect the final segment, which is unusual.

If what AA says is true, e.g. it did not cancel or change the friend's ticket, then BA loused up. Chargebacks and small claims may not be effective here and despite the fact that suing everybody is a thing in major litigation, it can be very unhelpful in small claims.

The starting point here is with BA. It did not show a ticketed reservation for the friend. Why not? Was there ever a ticketed reservation (perhaps this was doomed from the start) or does BA show a cancellation? If so, over to AA.

As for the prevention side of these things, it is essential for travelers, especially experienced travelers such as OP, to be proactive. Check your e-tickets (not PNR's) regularly on both carriers' websites. If you make a change, go in and make certain that both tickets and reservations are still intact. Keep a file of PDF's which can be readily printed out if necessary.

Writing to AA is best done through the website. Paper is handled at pretty much any address and will simply be forwarded to customer service and scanned into the same database. May just take a lot longer.

For the moment, OP has a complaint pending. This is not something which can be answered overnight. It will take research and may well take 6-8 weeks. It would be better if AA followed up, even with an automated email, saying so, but the reality here is that OP isn't looking for a quick apology for the thread count in the hot towels.

ijgordon

The problem is -- and this is how I could see it playing out, especially if there really was some sort of IT glitch -- is that BA will say that AA cancelled the reservation and AA will say that they didn't. Where does that leave the OP? Quite possibly in small claims court where a judge can assign blame based on evidence that OP probably couldn't even get without serving. (And blame might end up being shared with the passenger for not checking the rez and not trying to problem solve more aggressively).

Agree that pax need to be diligent in an electronic age where bits and bytes can just vanish. May end up being a (somewhat) expensive lesson.

And yes, this will likely takes weeks to resolve.

MrAndy1369

This thread/situation is a perfect example as to why AA and UA's opaque approach to customer service is a bad thing (i.e., email/write in only to Customer Care; no calling option). DL is the only one of the big 3 that still offers the option for all customers (regardless of status) to call Corporate Customer Care. Having customers call CS right there on the spot to an empowered agent can really cut through the red tape.

Add to that the ~1500 character limit... AA really makes it hard for customers to reach Customer Care. My two cents.

Andriyko

But the coupon just does not drop off on its own. The agent must have done something to the companion's ticket/reservation, even though they should not have had to. It is easy to fix when the ticket is on the operating airline's stock which was not the case here.

policomm

Bingo!
Sorry for the lack of update, been a crazy week (totally unrelated to this). Anyways AA and BA both acknowledge something messed up happened but disagree on how/why. AA seems willing to refund their change fee, because no one can deny that the requested change never occurred, but I'd prefer to wait and fight it out until the bitter end on this one. Will post an update when I know more but as others have mentioned it will probably be weeks/months ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ijgordon

Ask for a refund of the change fee and a $1000 (or whatever the right number is) travel voucher, and perhaps settle for $750 on the latter. Your friend eats the rest as punishment for not checking his reservation, attempting OLCI, or trying harder to sort it out at the airport.
Thanks for the update, good luck, and keep us posted!