AA ignores oneworld protection when mech causes delay
Sep 2, 2019, 7:06 pm
#31
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Sep 2, 2019, 7:35 pm
#33
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Sep 2, 2019, 8:07 pm
#34
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Sep 2, 2019, 9:48 pm
#35
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What amount of buffer would you have done? The turnaround in DBV was apparently 3 days, and what good would CC insurance have made (the issue was a misconnect to a separate ticket; CC insurance wouldn't cover such a "flat tire" situation)? I do agree, however, that there were amateurish mistakes made, but mainly waiting too long to try to get rerouted and being too trusting in AA's competence. Mike should have tried to reroute through LAX as soon as the mechanical was announced—perhaps even buying a separate ticket to HNL and dealing with AA afterwards. Especially since he was connecting to an international ticket.
Last edited by flyingeph12; Sep 2, 2019 at 9:53 pm Reason: Grammar
Sep 3, 2019, 2:58 am
#36
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Unfortunately, while he was in the right trying to get American to comply with their policy, this is definitely the type of thing that causes American to change its policy.
if he had a ticket to Chicago and a separate ticket from Chicago to Dubrovnik this would never have been an issue. What created the issue here is someone doing something so obviously stupid and to people at American look like a scam of some type. The intent of the policy is there should be some logical connecting point even if separate tickets.
if he had a ticket to Chicago and a separate ticket from Chicago to Dubrovnik this would never have been an issue. What created the issue here is someone doing something so obviously stupid and to people at American look like a scam of some type. The intent of the policy is there should be some logical connecting point even if separate tickets.
Sep 3, 2019, 3:23 am
#37
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What amount of buffer would you have done? The turnaround in DBV was apparently 3 days, and what good would CC insurance have made (the issue was a misconnect to a separate ticket; CC insurance wouldn't cover such a "flat tire" situation)? I do agree, however, that there were amateurish mistakes made, but mainly waiting too long to try to get rerouted and being too trusting in AA's competence. Mike should have tried to reroute through LAX as soon as the mechanical was announced—perhaps even buying a separate ticket to HNL and dealing with AA afterwards. Especially since he was connecting to an international ticket.
Sep 3, 2019, 3:56 am
#38
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Surely the AA policy guidelines to agents selling AA tickets , for changing its tickets can only apply to tickets purchsed from AA for AA fares. Neither ticket was purchased from AA - one was purchased from BA and the other from IB. The BA ticket was a BA fare ( using Avios ) and BA fare rules
Sep 3, 2019, 3:59 am
#40
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No - because AA did not sell the 1st ticket and so would not allow refund of that ticket - that would have been between the passenger and BA
Sep 3, 2019, 4:39 am
#41
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The routing that OMAAT took (basically a 180 degree turn), and the risks accepted because of the policy’s existence, would seem to encourage AA to discontinue the policy or add another restriction that a non-constructed fare needs to exist somewhere on a OW carrier for the entire trip. I’m not trying to apologize for AA but I also hate hearing about people taking advantage of a system in ways that could ruin things for everyone else.
Exactly my thoughts when reading the post. People taking unnecessary advantage of a generous policy such as this and then complaining about it (AA did offer to get the person to their destination albeit after their return, but that's all they were supposed to do according the posted rules, using same connecting points) AA will eventually discontinue this policy and then we will all be screwed.
If every time a business offers a USP, are we not to take advantage of it for fear of "ruin things for everyone else" or "we will all be screwed"? Then no-one can enjoy it.
Sep 3, 2019, 5:53 am
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I disagree that use of a policy/practice in plain sight should be discouraged. Even when not offered by competitors ("generous").
If every time a business offers a USP, are we not to take advantage of it for fear of "ruin things for everyone else" or "we will all be screwed"? Then no-one can enjoy it.
If every time a business offers a USP, are we not to take advantage of it for fear of "ruin things for everyone else" or "we will all be screwed"? Then no-one can enjoy it.
this reminds me of the stories we'd see on priority pass inviting multiple people into the restaurant before Amex pulled the benefit. 99% of people were using inappropriately but the social media from the 1% killed it for all of us. I'm disappointed lucky would post a complaint from such a stupid itinerary. Particularly since I'm confident American would actually have allowed him to fly Honolulu to Dubrovnik after he arrived in Honolulu.
Sep 3, 2019, 6:25 am
#43
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Mike not Lucky, despite appearing on the OMAAT blog.
Sep 3, 2019, 6:31 am
#44
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P.S. not that I think Mike is blameless. The one day turn at Dubrovnik was too aggressive. I do that sometimes but I would have to accept it may lead to trip in vain.
At one point AA did offer to route him to Dubrovnik. That's the be all and end all of their obligations. The fact it causes a no-show for next sector after stopover isn't AA's responsibility (couldn't Mike rebook?).
At one point AA did offer to route him to Dubrovnik. That's the be all and end all of their obligations. The fact it causes a no-show for next sector after stopover isn't AA's responsibility (couldn't Mike rebook?).
Sep 3, 2019, 6:37 am
#45
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Given it was on IB stock, I wouldn't want to deal with IB. However, I would have let AA rebook me first and reissue the ticket. Maybe it would reissue as 001 stock given they would likely have to take control of it.
If the ticket even reissued, then one would bring up the "hey, but my return now is before I arrive" and they would have to fix that. Or maybe the ticket wouldn't even reissue given the arrival was after the departure, and then maybe they would take another look at the outbound routing, etc. Basically, make the return AA's problem in their face so they have to deal with it (while playing stupid - I find playing stupid with phone agents fixes problems easier because usually they are stupid too. Acting too "smart" makes them doubt you or think you're trying to pull something).
This passenger PAID for multiple tickets. It doesn't matter to AA if he stays at the destination for 1 hour or 1 year - in fact, staying there for less time arguably brings them more revenue.
This passenger was not trying to take advantage of ANYTHING. If AA had delivered on its obligations, he would have had a perfect trip and AA/oneworld would have been compensated for multiple tickets to get to DBV. Believing anything else is just drinking too much kool aid.
People taking unnecessary advantage of a generous policy such as this and then complaining about it (AA did offer to get the person to their destination albeit after their return, but that's all they were supposed to do according the posted rules, using same connecting points) AA will eventually discontinue this policy and then we will all be screwed.
The policy is not generous whatsoever. If it was generous, it would allow through checking and bag fee waivers like DL offers. If it was generous, it wouldn't require something as draconian as rebooking via the SAME connecting points, when its peak summertime and flights are carrying very high loads.
This traveler wanted to get to their final destination. They book more than one ticket to do it. They did it all on oneworld when they could have picked other carriers, precisely because this protection policy exists! How do you not understand the additional revenue a policy like this brings in for the alliance?
The insane thing is how long it took AA to even recognize and apply this "generous policy." Then, once they did, they didn't seem to apply any common sense to it to realize, we already wasted two days providing embarrassing customer service; can we try to get this person there as FAST as possible? Nope. The braindead person working the itinerary thought it was appropriate to rebook an outbound that arrived after the return, without proposing a fix to the return or anything.
When the passenger had to bring up the return to AA, they just washed their hands of it. I don't even have the words to express at how angry I would be over such incompetence and awful customer service.