raehl311

I'm not frustrated at the agent's response. I don't believe AA's practice meets its advertised policy, nor common sense.

ijgordon

Dividing by two is not difficult. @:-)

Often1

If the agent said that this was due to the BE fare, the agent was simply wrong. But, the functional answer was correct so OP was in no was "hosed" by the BE fare (which he chose to purchase in the first place).

Rather than characterizing the contract you agreed to, why not simply rely on its simple plain English meaning. It states:

We will refund a non-refundable ticket (or the value of the unused segment of your trip) to the original form of payment if
. . . . .

• We cancel your flight

No limitation on BE fares and no odd language. AA did exactly what it promised to do and that is, incidentally, no different than what AA and UA promise as well.

ijgordon

Sorry, that makes no sense. If he flies the return, then they need to refund the value of the unused segment of his trip, which was the outbound MSP-DFW leg. Seems quite straightforward to me, notwithstanding what an agent says at the time. @:-)

SamOF

Often1

On the facts of this one, OP did not fly any segment of the ticket. He was entitled to cancel the ticket for a full refund of the ticket (no unflown segments). Had he flown the first segment and had the return cancelled, he could have asked for a refund of just the return (BE or not). But, what OP's contract did not provide for was for OP to mix-and-match which segments he chooses to fly.

Those who have received partial refunds for the situation sought by OP are the beneficiaries of what amounts to a waiver or customer service gesture.

HofstraJet

AndyAA

The CoC wording is a bit more clear as it directly links not flying the canceled segment with refunding everything that is remaining on the ticket., which for the outbound flight, would be the entire ticket.

SamOF

Hard disagree. The OP is not the one "mixing and matching" here—AA cancelled the first segment of the ticket, and definitely is not contractually entitled to cancel the return segment because they cancelled the first segment.

As I read the contract (and as I very strongly suspect the DOT or any judge would), the OP has the right to fly the non-cancelled segments and receive a refund for the cancelled segments.

FlyingEgghead

No, I have bought a one-way in BE, and BE routinely comes up in one-way searches.

Dave Noble

Given that AA's conditions of carriage seems to explicitly state that it will provide a full refund only, seems that it is contractually entitled to

ijgordon

justhere

Where are you seeing that the CoC states the customer has the right to fly the non-cancelled segments and receive a refund for the cancelled segments?

Or are you seeing "If you decide not to fly because of a flight cancellation or a major delay, you can request a refund for the remaining ticket value and related optional fees." and interpreting that to mean the customer has a right to fly the non-cancelled segments?

SamOF

There's just nothing in the CoC that states that AA can cancel return segments because the customer didn't fly an outbound segment that was nonexistent due to a cancellation by AA.

And if the customer flies the return, the unused segments that are contractually obligated to be refunded are the outbound.

justhere

There's also nothing in the CoC that states that AA can cancel the return segments because the ice cream machine at McDonald's wasn't working. You are conflating two different parts of the CoC.

It does say that AA can cancel the return if you don't fly the previous segments.
It does say that in the event of a cancellation, AA will rebook you on the next available flight. It also says if you decide not to fly, the remaining ticket value will be refunded.

So in this case, flight was cancelled and pax was rebooked resulting in a complete itinerary once again. As a complete itinerary if you don't fly a segment, the remaining segments can be cancelled.

When a flight is cancelled on an itinerary the flight is at one of two points in the itinerary. At the beginning or during. If you decide you want a refund due to the cancellation you would, as outlined in the CoC, be eligible for a refund for any unused/unflown segments. If the flight is at the beginning, it would be a full refund. If during, it would be for the remaining segments.

In this case, the flight was at the beginning so a full refund, which is what AA offered. And that lines up exactly with what the CoC says. Two choices. Fly or refund. There is no option in the CoC to "chose which segments of the itinerary you want to fly and which ones you don't and we'll refund the ones you don't". Certainly as a customer service gesture AA can and I'm sure does this on occasion for whatever reason. But it's not listed as a remedy in the CoC.