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ARCHIVE: Questions for 2018 about, guide to, listing of, compensation

Old Jan 12, 2018, 4:29 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: JDiver
The 2019 compensation master thread is here.
Questions about, guide to, and listing of, compensation (2018, master thread)

Welcome to the "2018 Guide to, and listing of, compensation" thread!

NOTE: If compensation is not generated automatically (occasionally, it will), you will want to contact American Airlines Customer Relations. See Contacting American Airlines Customer Relations & Complaint, Issues (master thread).

In keeping with tradition, we'd like to ask members to report their compensation in the following format:

  • Date
  • AAdvantage Status
  • Fare class
  • What happened
  • Compensation
  • Comments
Please, do NOT post names of non-management employees, in accordance with FlyerTalk TOS (q#69) "Respect the privacy of non-management travel service employees by not referring to them by name."

JGR01 has created a spreadsheet parsing posts in this thread from 2003-2007, available for download here

AA's official policy regarding compensation for delays, cancellations, and diversions is as follows (thanks to tom911 for posting):
DELAYS, CANCELLATIONS AND DIVERSIONS

American Airlines will provide customers at the airport and onboard an affected aircraft with timely and frequent updates regarding known delays, cancellations and diversions and will strive to provide the best available information concerning the duration of delays and to the extent available, the flight's anticipated departure time.

We are not responsible for any special, incidental or consequential damages if we do not meet this commitment.

When cancellations and major delays are experienced, you will be rerouted on our next flight with available seats. If the delay or cancellation was caused by events within our control and we do not get you to your final destination on the expected arrival day, we will provide reasonable overnight accommodations, subject to availability.

In extreme circumstances, it is possible that a flight will cancel while on the ground in the city to which it was diverted. When this happens you will be rerouted on the next American flight with available seats, or in some circumstances on another airline or some other alternative means of transportation. If we are unable to reroute you, reasonable overnight accommodations will be provided by American, subject to availability.

American will provide amenities for delayed passengers, necessary to maintain the safety and/or welfare of certain passengers such as customers with disabilities, unaccompanied children, the elderly or others to whom such amenities will be furnished consistent with special needs and/or circumstances.
The U. S. Department of Transportation's official policy regarding compensation for delays or cancellations is as follows (thanks to hillrider for posting):
Contrary to the belief of some, airlines are not required to compensate passengers for damages when flights are delayed or canceled. Compensation is required by law only when you are bumped from a flight that is oversold. Airlines almost always refuse to pay passengers for financial losses resulting from a delayed flight. If the purpose of your trip is to close a potentially lucrative business deal, to give a speech or lecture, to attend a family function, or to be present at any time-sensitive event, you might want to allow a little extra time and take an earlier flight. In other words, airline delays and cancellations are not unusual, and defensive planning is a good idea when time is your most important consideration.
Flights to/from/within Europe carry specific compensation rights, as outlined at: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passen.../en/index.html

Also see (FT) EC261 / EC 261/2004 complaints, compensation and AA (master thread)

(The other compensation threads are archived and closed, but can easily be accessed for reading here:

2017 Questions about, guide to, and listing of, compensation (consolidated)

2016 Questions about, guide to, and listing of, compensation (consolidated)

2015 Questions about, guide to, listing of, compensation (consolidated - archived)

2014 Questions about, guide to, listing of, compensation (consolidated - archived)

2013 Questions about, guide to, and listing of compensation (archived)

Guide to, and listing of, compensation (2012 - archived)

Guide to, and listing of, compensation (2003 - 2011 archived)

AA Forum Moderator Team
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ARCHIVE: Questions for 2018 about, guide to, listing of, compensation

Old Jun 16, 2018, 2:50 pm
  #76  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: BNA/SAN
Programs: DL PM 1.5 MM , Hilton Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 754
16 May 2018, Plat, Business

Had some Alaska miles expiring so booked a one way SAN to MSY. SAN to to STL was Alaska, STL - DFW - MSY was American.
Got to St Louis fine with a 2 hour layover, American flight for the trip STL - DFW suffered 3 hour mechanical delay causing me to miss my connection in Dallas (luckily my hotel in New Orleans waived the no-show after I called them). Put up in a run down Days Inn around midnight, having to catch a 5AM shuttle back to the airport. Arrived in MSY early morning unable to check into my hotel for 4 hours.

Biggest problem to me was that there was zero communications at the gate in St Louis unless you stood in a long line to talk to the GA. Second biggest problem was the huge line in Dallas waiting for hotel arrangements that took over an hour to process.

Sent in an email via the AA website. Didn't expect a reply as it was an Alaska award flight but got a nice email back and 10,000 miles for my trouble. Would have settled for just the email but appreciated the miles.
Seabilly is offline  
Old Jun 19, 2018, 3:08 pm
  #77  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: UA 1K and PP, AA PPro (3MM, former CK), Marriott Ambassador and LTT, Uber One
Posts: 1,342
  • Date: 17 June 2018
  • AAdvantage Status: CK
  • Fare class: Refundable coach, upgraded to first
  • What happened: waited on catering ~40 minutes past scheduled departure at DFW, ultimately left without catering; 1 bag of ice for plane, no meals, some BoB snacks from prior flight, restricted soft drinks and alcohol
  • Compensation: 2000 miles automatically deposited the morning after
  • Comments: I'm not going to make a scene out of this, but this seems to me to be low compensation...flt didn't arrive until after 2300, which at our destination, meant almost no restaurants open (nothing in airport AFAIK)

Last edited by ikwia; Jun 19, 2018 at 11:13 pm
ikwia is offline  
Old Jun 19, 2018, 8:06 pm
  #78  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Long Island, NY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Explorist, Marriott Gold
Posts: 717
Question BCN-ORD diverted to IND.

AA 41 on June 18th from BCN to ORD:
  • Due to bad weather in ORD, the plane was in hold patterns for 90 min then got diverted to IND to refuel.
  • Landed in ORD at 10.22pm (instead of 6.15pm). Missed connection to LGA and had to book a hotel in ORD.
  • EXP, Y ticket upgraded to J (miles & copay)
Should I ask for compensation (given it was weather-related, I assume they will deny)?
zip10001 is offline  
Old Jun 19, 2018, 8:12 pm
  #79  
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,546
Originally Posted by zip10001
AA 41 on June 18th from BCN to ORD:
  • Due to bad weather in ORD, the plane was in hold patterns for 90 min then got diverted to IND to refuel.
  • Landed in ORD at 10.22pm (instead of 6.15pm). Missed connection to LGA and had to book a hotel in ORD.
  • EXP, Y ticket upgraded to J (miles & copay)
Should I ask for compensation (given it was weather-related, I assume they will deny)?
I don't see that the airline did anything wrong. Yes, you might get something just because they want to keep a high-status customer happy, but personally I'd only ask if there was something the airline could have done to prevent it. I remember years ago pretty much assuming I'd have at least one flight cancelled or seriously delayed per summer due to bad weather in the midwest.
redtop43 is offline  
Old Jun 28, 2018, 8:25 pm
  #80  
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
Programs: AA EXP/MM, DL GM, UA Platinum, HH DIA, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 33,857
  • Date: June 19-20, 2018
  • AAdvantage Status: Platinum
  • Fare class: Coach (O), Upgraded to First
  • What happened: RDU-MCI r/t. Outbound PHL-MCI delayed two hours after a mechanical issue broke the first plane forcing them to find another. Gate agent wandered off for a half hour leaving us with no updates. Inbound MCI-DCA cancelled the night before, I was auto-rebooked MCI-CLT-RDU losing one of my upgrades. It got me in an hour later which was going to mess up my day so I tried calling. Due to the PSA issues there was a two hour wait for an agent.
  • Compensation: 15,000 miles after I wrote in
  • Comments: Pretty generous for a $225 round trip ticket
CMK10 is offline  
Old Jun 29, 2018, 4:18 pm
  #81  
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 3
  • Date: 6/16/18
  • AAdvantage Status: Platinum Pro
  • Fare Class: Coach, upgraded to first
  • What happened: STL to PHX was supposed to depart at 7:44 AM. Mechanical issues originally only delayed it until 9 AM. Ended up departing at 11:21 AM. No updated departure time was given until 8:54 AM, when departure was pushed to 9:30. At 9:30, it was pushed to 10:30, at 10:40 it was pushed to 11 (rolling 30 minute increment delays, basically). No food or drinks offered. Final delay time was 3 hrs 37 minutes.
  • Compensation: They proactively reached out and gave me 5,000 miles. I wrote in saying that it seemed low given that people get 15,000 miles for non-functional IFE (in retrospect, I was a little pushy about this part). They offered an additional 5,000 miles or $200 voucher.
  • Comments: Even with the asking for more, still feels low. Am I off-base on this or did I do ok? Also took them a week to respond to my complaint, I was told I should be receiving a response in 48-72 business hours. What gives?
AdditionalScreening is offline  
Old Jun 29, 2018, 6:33 pm
  #82  
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: LAX
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 179
Originally Posted by AdditionalScreening
  • Date: 6/16/18
  • AAdvantage Status: Platinum Pro
  • Fare Class: Coach, upgraded to first
  • What happened: STL to PHX was supposed to depart at 7:44 AM. Mechanical issues originally only delayed it until 9 AM. Ended up departing at 11:21 AM. No updated departure time was given until 8:54 AM, when departure was pushed to 9:30. At 9:30, it was pushed to 10:30, at 10:40 it was pushed to 11 (rolling 30 minute increment delays, basically). No food or drinks offered. Final delay time was 3 hrs 37 minutes.
  • Compensation: They proactively reached out and gave me 5,000 miles. I wrote in saying that it seemed low given that people get 15,000 miles for non-functional IFE (in retrospect, I was a little pushy about this part). They offered an additional 5,000 miles or $200 voucher.
  • Comments: Even with the asking for more, still feels low. Am I off-base on this or did I do ok? Also took them a week to respond to my complaint, I was told I should be receiving a response in 48-72 business hours. What gives?
I'd take the $200 voucher any day. Seems generous. No way 5,000 miles are worth that much.
dciolli is offline  
Old Jul 1, 2018, 6:05 am
  #83  
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Omaha
Programs: AA Life Plat 4mm, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,452
PHL-BUD
June 27
Platinum 2 Award seats in J
We were seated, fuse problem asked to deplane.
New aircraft brought out, landed 4.25 hours late. We ended up missing a tour which was fairly expensive.
I emailed customer service and haven’t heard but it’s only been 3 days.
Anybody have an idea what they will offer?
kmandrew is offline  
Old Jul 1, 2018, 10:03 am
  #84  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: SNA
Posts: 928
Originally Posted by kmandrew
PHL-BUD
June 27
Platinum 2 Award seats in J
We were seated, fuse problem asked to deplane.
New aircraft brought out, landed 4.25 hours late. We ended up missing a tour which was fairly expensive.
I emailed customer service and haven’t heard but it’s only been 3 days.
Anybody have an idea what they will offer?


Was the tour the sole purpose of your trip? If so, you can look into a full refund under Trip in Vain provisions.
pmblinn is offline  
Old Jul 1, 2018, 12:49 pm
  #85  
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Manhattan Beach, California
Programs: BMI Diamond Club Gold forever
Posts: 6,350
I had a diversion on BWI-DFW-(SEA) about two weeks ago where we landed in OKC because DFW was closed. Ultimately sat on the plane for 90-120 minutes in OKC during which time i bookee myself a hotel and refundable Delta flight the next morning. AA failed miserbly to rebook me and the next mroning I learned there was nothing that entire day home apart from OKC-ORD-SEA flight I had found, but then declined due to weather issues in ORD that would have had another misconnect there.

I went into the airport in OKC the next morning and they were very apologetic and said there were no options at all that day. So I told them about my Delta reservation and said I was really feeling let down by AA. Aparently this got entered into some system and I got a phone call and a huge apology as well as 50k miles deposited into my account and a refund of the unflown DFW-SEA segment as compensation. I just booked my nanny on our trip to Spain this summer so that effectively makes one way of her biz ticket free which is nice. Not bad for not even really complaining.
stephem is offline  
Old Jul 1, 2018, 4:20 pm
  #86  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro, Hilton Silver, Marriott Titanium Elite, AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 130
Date: 1 July 2018
AAdvantage Status: PLAT
Fare class: Y, , upgraded to J
What happened: DFW-ORD - first flight 1258 11:45 am (788) cancelled. Unknown reason why/none given. Special section added at 12:00 pm 9247 DFW-ORD (752). Departure delayed to 12:15, 12:25, and 12:40 due to the need to conduct cabin security screening and cleaning due to first flight of the day for the aircraft. Aircraft was at the gate at 11:30 am. My flight ORD-TOL was due to depart at 3:19. We arrived at 3:07. I hoofed it from K16 to G7, arriving after the door was closed but the aircraft still at the gate. That flight departed at 3:16, 3 mins early. (Yes, I know the 10 min before rule) I am now scheduled for a 9:55 departure to Toledo, with a midnight arrival, essentially 6+ hours delayed, due to "Cabin security check." following the essential switch from a 787 to a 757. Now I'm in Chicago and the weather is terrible. Worried I'm going to get cancelled tonight (CRJ) and they're going to claim "WEATHER" when ultimately it was their failure to get me from DFW-ORD in a timely manner. They've managed to lose my bag as well. The lie flat was pretty sweet though...and I wish AA would get rid of the seatback monitors and install those tablet holders fleet-wide.
Compensation: Unknown, haven't asked yet.
Comments:

What do you all think? Yes, this is a business trip, and it is important I am there tomorrow morning. There's a reason I left at 9:00 am from Austin to get to Toledo. I could have taken later flights, but figured I might have issues. AA didn't disappoint. Cabin crew DFW-ORD was amazing though...I, and several others of us, in FC handed over recognition chits.
MikeShores is offline  
Old Jul 1, 2018, 10:29 pm
  #87  
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Omaha
Programs: AA Life Plat 4mm, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,452
Originally Posted by pmblinn
Was the tour the sole purpose of your trip? If so, you can look into a full refund under Trip in Vain provisions.
no, all we lost was a day tour. The room wasnt going to be ready at 9:30 so we booked a 12-6 tour to fill some time. Is there a set rule for an over 4 hour international flight delay originating in the US? AAs price is around $6k for a one way.
kmandrew is offline  
Old Jul 1, 2018, 10:33 pm
  #88  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: SNA
Posts: 928
Originally Posted by kmandrew

no, all we lost was a day tour. The room wasnt going to be ready at 9:30 so we booked a 12-6 tour to fill some time. Is there a set rule for an over 4 hour international flight delay originating in the US? AAs price is around $6k for a one way.
Unfortunately no set rules for US carriers. Argue rationally.
pmblinn is offline  
Old Jul 3, 2018, 1:37 pm
  #89  
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Omaha
Programs: AA Life Plat 4mm, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,452
Originally Posted by pmblinn
Unfortunately no set rules for US carriers. Argue rationally.
OK, I sent an email a couple of days ago and received an acknowledgment but that is all. We are in the middle of Germany so will let it go until we get back. If they offered 10k miles each Id be happy.
kmandrew is offline  
Old Jul 4, 2018, 2:18 pm
  #90  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro, Hilton Silver, Marriott Titanium Elite, AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 130
Ultimately, my CRJ flight had a malfunctioning lav that pushed depature to 11:00 pm. They deferred the lav and shut off the water (rendering it inop) and we taxied to the runway. They had a caution light come on they couldn't reset and we returned to the terminal. (This flight was never affected ny weather delays...purely mechanicals) At midnight they pushed the departure to 7:45 am and AA provided a hotel (The Country Inn and Suites ->>>READ ROACH MOTEL...probably one of the most awful motels I have ever stayed in). Wasn't able to get checked in until after 3:00 am, then had time for a shower and 2 hour nap before traipsing back to O'Hare for the departure. Landed in Toledo about 10:30 am...a 17 hour delay. They sent an apology email moments after landing and credited account with 10,000 miles. Given the length of delay and incurring hotel and car rental fees (cancelled after midnight, both charged for the night) of $150 and $75 respectively, as well as a lost 1/2 day of consulting fees ($750) I think this is a fairly low compensation offer. Would I have any recourse to get this increased? Initially when I reached out to the Twitter team, they rebuffed me an said they were sorry delays due to ATC and airport congestion happen. When I (snarkily in my opinion) replied with the reasons for cancellations and delays, they simply said to wait until my trip was complete.
MikeShores is offline  

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