AA Penalty for Selling My AA Miles
Aug 14, 2019, 8:27 am
#61
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Brighton. UK
Programs: BA Gold / VS /IHG Diamond & Ambassador
Posts: 14,203
I am going to contest the email and prove she is my aunt.
I did post the AD on CL and had people reach out to me but no sale ever went thru.
My ad on CL stated 300K miles for sale, because I had more and I was struggling to get tickets for my travel so I deiced to see if I can sell and get my money back for what I paid for. I know they linked me thru my number because my ad did have my number posted and then with the timing me booking a ticket for my aunt for next year just collided thinking I sold my miles
I did post the AD on CL and had people reach out to me but no sale ever went thru.
My ad on CL stated 300K miles for sale, because I had more and I was struggling to get tickets for my travel so I deiced to see if I can sell and get my money back for what I paid for. I know they linked me thru my number because my ad did have my number posted and then with the timing me booking a ticket for my aunt for next year just collided thinking I sold my miles
Aug 14, 2019, 8:27 am
#62
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
That phrase follows AA saying that any future violation will result in the account being closed and OP also mentions having 450K miles in total whereas AA only penalised OP by cancelling the 300K advertised. That leads me to believe that AA has already been lenient by revenue protection standards.
Aug 14, 2019, 8:27 am
#63
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: Once a somebody now a nobody
Posts: 518
The OP says his number was listed in the CL ad. That's basically doing the work for AA Corp Security. Seems AA Corp Security works a bit like the movie Minority Report. They convict you based on your future crimes 
But all in all I think AA is being very reasonable. We've seen many accounts over the years lost completely. While it's an expensive lesson to learn, 300k is better than 450k.
But all in all I think AA is being very reasonable. We've seen many accounts over the years lost completely. While it's an expensive lesson to learn, 300k is better than 450k.
Aug 14, 2019, 8:51 am
#64
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AA LT Gold
Posts: 3,646
The fact is that you posted an ad on craigslist and you showed intent by exchanging communication with potential buyers.
That you ended up not selling the miles to anyone is irrelevant. You still went against the T&Cs.
It will be also interesting if you post the WHOLE email that AA sent you, not just the last paragraph.
Aug 14, 2019, 8:55 am
#65
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
It does not matter if it is your real aunt or not.
The fact is that you posted an ad on craigslist and you showed intent by exchanging communication with potential buyers.
That you ended up not selling the miles to anyone is irrelevant. You still went against the T&Cs.
It will be also interesting if you post the WHOLE email that AA sent you, not just the last paragraph.
The fact is that you posted an ad on craigslist and you showed intent by exchanging communication with potential buyers.
That you ended up not selling the miles to anyone is irrelevant. You still went against the T&Cs.
It will be also interesting if you post the WHOLE email that AA sent you, not just the last paragraph.
Aug 14, 2019, 8:57 am
#66
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AA LT Gold
Posts: 3,646
Craigslist uses email relay so when you communicate with a buyer/seller through your regular email account you don' see each other's email addresses.
craigslist has implemented 2-way email relay to help stop spam and scams.
When replying to a post you'll see an address like:
[email protected] rg
When answering an email you'll see an address like:
[email protected]. org
Use your email program as you normally would.
When replying to a post you'll see an address like:
[email protected] rg
When answering an email you'll see an address like:
[email protected]. org
Use your email program as you normally would.
Aug 14, 2019, 9:02 am
#67
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AA LT Gold
Posts: 3,646
I will leave that to JonNYC to answer but it seems to me that if the OP was not asked to proof that the aunt is real, then AA already has decided they don't care about that.
Aug 14, 2019, 9:06 am
#68
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 6,436
Many posts wonder if his "aunt" is really his aunt. So far as I know, you can use your miles to buy tickets for anyone, relative or not, so long as you don't receive compensation. Many people hear have used miles for others who are not relatives and never had a problem. Lack of compensation may be more likely for a relative, but if the relative paid anything you're still in violation.
Advertising on CL violates the rules. Cancelling the ticket seems the easiest way for AA to get the miles back, however innocent the aunt ticket may have been.
Whether AA will show some mercy due to never actually selling on CL (even though the ad is a violation) is not clear to me (unlikely if there are other undisclosed issues). JonNYC, any insight on this (assuming no other issues)?
Advertising on CL violates the rules. Cancelling the ticket seems the easiest way for AA to get the miles back, however innocent the aunt ticket may have been.
Whether AA will show some mercy due to never actually selling on CL (even though the ad is a violation) is not clear to me (unlikely if there are other undisclosed issues). JonNYC, any insight on this (assuming no other issues)?
Aug 14, 2019, 9:09 am
#69
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: KHOU/KIAH
Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 11,268
Based on third party observations on the master thread, it seems that AS Corp Security/fraud department is reasonable if you spare them the ......... Come clean, stop it and they appear to have met some posters halfway. Tell tall tales or aggressively react and they seem to get the bellows out to stoke the coals they are raking the poster over.
Aug 14, 2019, 9:09 am
#70
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
The issue has nothing to do with the OP’s aunt. One can gift award tickets to anyone. But if AA contacted Auntie, inquired and was told “I reimbursed / paid him...” it’s game over.
Aug 14, 2019, 9:12 am
#71
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
The aunt is irrelevant. Tell AA they tried to sell the miles, didn't know it was against rules, ultimately used them for a family member, they never intended to break the rules and we're just trying to find a way to recoup the money they'd spent buying them which was a poor decision and cost them a lot of $$$ mea culpa, so sorry, etc. Ask them if they could at a minimum reinstate the aunt's ticket (assuming it was like 50k-150k miles) and volunteer to forfeit the rest. Worst case they say no, best case the full 300k is returned.
Aug 14, 2019, 9:12 am
#72
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Here and there
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,551
Interesting. Had not considered that AA would contact the recipient, but of course that's a possibility.
Aug 14, 2019, 9:15 am
#73
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: SAN
Programs: AA CK, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 839
You and I wouldn’t do this but plenty of people buy miles when they go on sale with the intention of using them “someday.” I only buy to top off if I’ve already selected an award flight for which I’m short.
Aug 14, 2019, 9:16 am
#74
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Aug 14, 2019, 9:29 am
#75
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
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