chuck1

Call #1
Last night I got notice that today's AA173 LHR-RDU was cancelled due to mechanical problems.
I called the EXP desk as the timings on their MIA protection email connection weren't going to work.
I asked for a UA connection via EWR as AA had no J class (my ticket was purchased I class) on any other flight that was convenient. Either too early too late.
The agent agreed and called UA.
She came back after a few minutes and said the hold times were too long and she couldn't wait.
I offered to conference in the 1K desk with UA as I thought the wait would be better.
She agreed and I called and they talked through what they needed to do. At one point, while UA had us on hold completing the booking, she told me if it took them too much longer she was going to have to release the call.
The United rep came back in the nick of time and gave the locator and we hung up. I stayed on with the AA EXP rep who explained she was going to prepare the ticket and send it over to UA.
Shortly she came back and said the UA record locator was wrong and she couldn't complete the transaction. I offered to call UA back and she said she had spent enough time on this call and couldn't allocate any more time and she was going to put an AA flight back in as protection even though I told her this wasn't acceptable.

Call #2
I call back and explained the situation. This rep is horrified and agrees to fix the situation. She works on it and says the ticket is all set on the queue for reissue. She is surprised it didn't go through instantly but tells me they are backed up so give it 30 minutes.

Call #3
I call back as the ticket still shows pending when I check it on united.com with the record locator. This time a gentleman tells me I have the wrong United locator and gives me another one. I ask him how this is possible and he says I must have made a duplicate but in any case assures me nothing more needs to be done. I can just go to UA check in and all is well. I know this simply isn't true. It takes more than AA just calling UA and/or booking a UA flight in their system and just showing up at UA and getting a BP. They have to process something and send it over electronically but if he doesn't even know that there is no point in engaging with this fellow.

Before I call back I enter the new UA locator this fellow gave me and indeed there is a dupe. That leads to me getting the 1K desk back on the line and conferencing in AA with...

Call #4
This time I get a gem who knows what she is doing. She tells me agent #1 did call UA and book the record correctly. However, she did not manually put in the segments with the UA record locator. When I talked to the agent on call #2 , she actively sold new UA flights (rather than showing them passively confirmed with UA with the record locator) thus generating the duplicate.
That is why the e-ticket never processed. This agent, along with UA on the phone, cleared up the dupe, processed the INVOL e-ticket while I waited. UA confirmed all looked good and I was able to check in.

It only took this EXP/6MM 90 minutes to get this done and only because I've had industry training and knew what I was doing.

Someone else would have had to fight it out this morning at the ticket counter with delay and confusion.

Ugh. Buyer beware.

ijgordon

chuck1

And by the way, can one claim AA miles and EU261/2004?
AA173 was due into RDU at 3:20pm and UA3432 at 6:40pm.

JJeffrey

Definitely call AAdvantage Customer Service when you get back and request ORC, this should be no problem.

As to EC261, I *think* your delay has to be over 4 hours for a flight like LHR-RDU, however I would post your details in the EC261 thread below and I'm sure the experts will chime in.

GUIDE: EC261 / EC 261/2004 “EU” complaints, compensation and AA

Dave Noble

No it doesn't

This was a cancelled flight, not a delayed flight

With a cancelled flight, compensation is due as long as
either
had to depart 1 hour early
or
arrived at destination > 2hours after scheduled

if the arrival time is >2 hours and not more than 4 hours, the compensation will be reduced by 50%

JDiver

Though I’ve had some ticket endorsements go easily, I’ve found there’s a number of agents who are clueless and may not understand the entire process. I’ve been left hanging between AA, which had endorsed my ticket, and AS or other airlines, which tell me the ticket has not been fully and properly endorsed, requiring further steps to sort out before I was boarded.

chuck1

It's amazing to me that cancelled flights requiring endorsements and reissues to other carriers can't be properly covered in training.
I still find it antiquated that AA has to call. It seems in this age of direct connect or direct access that AA's SABRE system can't access last seat availability on other carriers eliminating the need to call and have them book the flights.
Is that just a reservation/over the phone requirement? Can the airport book in their system and endorse/send a ticket over directly or do they have to call too?

TechMarauder

chuck1

I asked the agent if they incentivized for getting people to take AA rather than OAL in the event of mechanical and crew delays.
She assured me that was not the case.

Surface Interval

Recommend this as well. You are likely due compensation, but details would be needed to be sure.

Often1

E-FIM's don't work particularly better in the other direction. While one might think that in 2019, this should be a matter of a few keystrokes, neither UA nor AA (nor others) focus on this. While it does not help OP because this was done on the phone, if you are at the airport, the best approach is to have the sending carrier, AA in this case, issue a paper FIM which you cart over to the receiving carrier, UA in this case. Just like an old paper ticket. Just years too late.

Whether OP is due compensation under EC 261/2004 depends on the time at which his flight was originally scheduled to arrive at RDU (or other final ticketed destination) and the time at which the rebooked flight actually arrived (based on the time at least one cabin door was opened and available for passenger use). Comp will be EUR 0, 300, or 600 depending on the length of the delay. Best to get that nailed down before making the claim.

chuck1

Here is the information.
AA173, the cancelled flight, was due to arrive RDU at 3:20pm.

The protected flight - UA3432 was scheduled to arrive 6:40pm.
It actually landed at 6:26pm (on) and parked at 6:34pm (in).

Therefore, the delay, according to my calculations, is 3 hours 14 minutes.

Dave Noble

It is based on scheduled arrival time , so is 3hrs 20 - this doesn't matter though , the compensation is the same

That would afford compensation of EUR300