s0ssos

Are those terms translated into Japanese, as the OP used the Japanese site?
If not, that seems grounds for a refund (or lawsuit in American terms)

I see nomiiiii looked it up. Was that in English or Japanese?
I think the language of the country must take precedence if there are any differences (I've seen this on CX, when they say English overrules Chinese), and for Japan that would be Japanese by default.

mcrw00

JDiver

At a point in the purchase cycle, you are presented with a clickable link that says “Detailed fare rules”. Though some belittle those of us who actually take the time to look over those, I do, and I copy or print them to a PDF. Because I need to know what I’m actually purchasing, because I want to know what I might have to claim from my annual travel Insurance cancellation and interruption policy, and because I occasionally need to push back on an agent who misinterprets my fare rules. And because non-US sites can indeed sell nonchangeable fares.

I’m not blaming anyone, I’m merely saying what I do, given I’ve been flying seven decades and am a defensive flyer. There are some kinds of surprises I don’t like.

ashill

I think this is very useful advice, and I do the same thing with AA because I know that this is one way in which they are unreasonable (and unusually unreasonable even for the airline industry, I think). But I also think it's unreasonable of airlines to expect consumers to do so. It's totally reasonable for a consumer to expect a) clear disclosure of unusually-restrictive conditions and b) the ability to find the rules associated with a ticket after purchase.

JDiver

Agree wholeheartedly. But it is what it is, not what I want it to be, and AA often seems tone deaf to consumers. The valid complaint about AA and its lack of transparency in these issues has been made by many over the years, but AA hasn’t made significant changes in this regard.

AlwaysAisle

Sorry to hear about you frustrated situation. However, I fly several times a year between the U.S. East Coast and Japan. Past 3 - 4 years fare you paid is about the cheapest fare you can find on the U.S. East Coast and Japan on any airlines, not just AA. I often saw ticket purchase of less than a month before the travel or non-low season travel where cheapest fare can be around $2,000.

I do understand that $1,370 is no cheap amount, even for me. But for the U.S. East Coast to Japan travel $1,370 can be at cheapest end and often it is most restricted fare. Sounds like you do travel between the U.S. and Japan frequently. I suggest go to air booking site, such as Travelocity, and get some good sense of cheapest air fare between the U.S. and Japan on any airlines. Then when you buy a ticket to Japan you will have some sense that you are likely buying cheapest fare available which comes with most restricted condition.

s0ssos

$1370 isn't a cheap fare for Japan. It used to be pricier than the rest of Asia but it is now about the same.

I did a search on the Japanese version of the Japanese AA page and the results were exactly the same. How long ago was this "Japan-only" fare people speak of?

rjw242

So what kind of response would be helpful in your opinion? Encouraging the OP to waste time and money fighting it? Writing long screeds about how the world should be different than it is? Empty expressions of sympathy?

Seems to me that "lesson learned, here's how you avoid this next time" is by far the most useful and actionable advice that can be offered in situations like these.

mcrw00

I started seeing r/t ex-Japan fares for under $1000 on the Japanese website beginning early 2017, and bought and flew several up to January this year. It's possible that whatever pricing campaign was going on then has now ended, as I also did not notice any such special fares when I priced a trip for fall a couple of weeks ago.

MarkOK

.

yesssss. Exactly. I have tried making sense of AAs ticket rules and its complete jibberish unless one is well versed in AAs special stink of non-communication. And, even then, AA writes stuff wrong [thinking of how they misstate bag fee rules on code share flights]. I'd be surprised too if I bought a discount main cabin fare and its rules were somehow extra special deep in some fine print.

Gig103

Good information but what a shame. I get it, from a liability standpoint AA is protected because they display a small link on the last page (after passenger information is entered) to the fare rules, but I am sympathetic to OP because I wouldn't expect policies of a US-based company to vary based on the point of sale. I could see if I was buying from JAL or BA to be subject to their change/cancel policies, but wouldn't expect AA to vary by region. I guess that's naive. It only came to me when I was trying to figure out why OP was told no changes.

Gig103

Educating the OP like Dave Noble did is the most helpful response. My sympathy is genuine and while 'empty expressions' aren't needed, neither is posting in a thread.

The comment about "did you read the T&C?" however is snide and unhelpful - it's akin to someone going on an Apple forum and saying "Did you read all 6800 words of the iTunes T&C?" when someone is having trouble with an app or their iOS. We're supposed to be a community that exists to assist each other. Plus, as I've commented on in another thread, the CoC is not offered up until the very end of the purchase (after all information has been entered), and it's hard or impossible to find a copy once it's purchased, so you can't even go back and review it later if you don't print it.

But now I've ventured into OMNI, I feel.

mcrw00

ckx2

Don't worry OP. I've had issues trying to change a "H" fared ticket ex Japan, with AA claiming that no changes are permitted because the POS was Japan

Dave Noble

Seems very likely. Unless the person forced the site into another region, the default will be the Japan site - the OP confirmed it was purchased in Japan and was a r/t from Tokyo to New York