Feb 27, 20, 12:59 pm

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

Last edit by: dstan

For tickets purchased Wednesday, April 8, 2020 or after, see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...020-after.html

More changes: Saturday, March 14, 2020, 10:40 PM .

Official announcement from American Airlines: http://news.aa.com/news/news-details...3/default.aspx
American Airlines Announces Additional Schedule Changes in Response to Customer Demand Related to COVID-19

NOTE: also see AA Waiving Change Fees for Travel Purchased March 1 - May 31 (Coronavirus)

Current AA Travel Waivers for COVID-19

(information current as of April 15, 2020)
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/travel-alerts.jsp

All Pre-May 31 Bookings (announced 4/7) - change fees waived, tickets booked on/before May 31, travel Mar 1–Sep 30, rebooked travel start by Dec 31, 2021

Previous AA Travel Waivers for COVID-19

(Previous travel waivers require rebooked travel to start by the earlier of the stated date OR the 12-month validity of the original ticket)

South Pacific - change fees waived, tickets booked on/before March 16, travel March 16–May 31, rebooked travel start by Dec 31
Canada, Caribbean, Central and South America - change fees waived, tickets booked on/before March 17, travel March 16–May 31, rebooked travel start by Dec 31
Europe and the Middle East (announced 3/12, expanded to Middle East) - change fees waived, tickets booked on/before March 11, travel March 11–May 31, rebooked travel start by Dec 31
All Pre-March 1 Bookings (announced 3/9, extended 3/20) - change fees waived, tickets booked on/before March 1, travel March 11–May 31 ~~April 30~~, rebooked travel start by Dec 31
All March 1–March 30 Bookings (announced 3/1 , extended 3/5, extended 4/7) - change fees waived, tickets booked March 1–April 30 (originally March 16, then March 30), travel Mar 1, 2020–Jan 30, 2021, rebooked travel complete within 12-month ticket validity
Italy - refund or change fees waived, tickets booked on/before Feb 27, travel Feb 27–Apr 24, rebooked travel Feb 27–June 30
South Korea (ICN) - refund or change fees waived, tickets booked on/before Feb 24, travel Feb 24–May 1, rebooked travel Feb 24–June 30
Hong Kong (HKG) - refund or change fees waived, tickets booked on/before Jan 28, travel Jan 28–July 1, rebooked travel Jan 28–Aug 31
China (PEK, PVG) - refund or change fees waived, tickets booked on/before Jan 24, travel Jan 24–Oct 23, rebooked travel Feb 1–Dec 31
Wuhan, China (WUH) - refund only, tickets booked on/before Jan 23, travel Jan 23–Mar 31

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This thread is dedicated to discussion and questions pertaining to changing travel on AA motivated by COVID-19 novel Coronavirus but not covered by AA travel alerts or waivers.

For those destinations covered by AA Coronavirus-related travel alerts and waivers see Coronavirus COVID-19 AA paid & award China et al cancel / change / questions

Link to AA travel alerts

Link to thread AA schedule changes - free flight change / cancellation / refund (consolidated)

Link to thread AA 2020 schedule adjustments / changes due to coronavirus

AA agents have occasionally allowed passengers with booked travel wishing to cancel because of Coronavirus concerns to cancel without fees, but this is not AA official policy. Possible reasons:
Events, meetings, etc. you were to attend have been cancelled due to Coronavirus concerns, so your trip would be in vain.
You have documentable health conditions that your doctor feels are sufficient to cancel travel plans.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
New General Change Fee Waiver (released ≈April 7-15)

Quote:

No change fee if you bought your ticket before May 31, 2020

Information current as of April 15, 2020

If you're traveling to / through / from:

All cities served by American

The change fee is waived if you:

Booked an American Airlines flight
Bought your ticket on or before May 31, 2020
Are scheduled to travel March 1 - September 30, 2020
Can travel on or before December 31, 2021

Keep in mind, you may owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

Change your trip or cancel and rebook later

You’re allowed to make changes to your trip once. You can change it now, or cancel and rebook later.

Keep in mind:

Travel must be completed on or before December 31, 2021. The change fee will be waived but you may still owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

New Change Fee waiver for South Pacific (released ≈March 20?)

Quote:

Novel Coronavirus - South Pacific

Information current as of March 20, 2020

If you're traveling to / through / from airports in:

Australia

The change fee is waived if you:

Booked an American Airlines flight
Bought your ticket on or before March 16, 2020
Are scheduled to travel March 16 - May 31, 2020
Can travel March 16 - December 31, 2020 or within 1 year of date the ticket was issued, whichever is earlier.

Keep in mind, you may owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

Change your trip or cancel and rebook later

You’re allowed to make changes to your trip once. You can change it now, or cancel and rebook later.

Keep in mind:

Travel must start by December 31, 2020 or within 1 year of date the ticket was issued, whichever is earlier.
The change fee will be waived but you may still owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

Change or cancel online

Here's how:

Find your trip
If your trip is eligible, you'll see 'Change trip' or ‘Cancel trip’ in the top toolbar

Find your trip

We’ll send an email that includes your ticket number after you cancel your trip. Keep this handy so you can refer to it when you call to rebook.

Call to rebook

After you cancel your trip online, please call Reservations when you’re ready to rebook. You’ll need:

Your ticket number (American tickets have a 13-digit number that begins with ’001’)
Your 6-character confirmation (also called a ‘Record Locator’)

New Change Fee waiver for Canada, Caribbean, .Central and South America (released ≈March 20?)

Quote:

Novel Coronavirus - Canada, Caribbean, Central and South America

Information current as of March 20, 2020

If you're traveling to / through / from airports in these countries:

Argentina
Aruba
Brazil
Canada
Cayman Islands
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Guyana
Panama
Peru
St. Maarten
Uruguay

The change fee is waived if you:

Booked an American Airlines flight
Bought your ticket on or before March 17, 2020
Are scheduled to travel March 16 - May 31, 2020
Can travel March 16 - December 31, 2020 or within 1 year of date the ticket was issued, whichever is earlier.

Keep in mind, you may owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

Change your trip or cancel and rebook later

You’re allowed to make changes to your trip once. You can change it now, or cancel and rebook later.

Keep in mind:

Travel must start by December 31, 2020 or within 1 year of date the ticket was issued, whichever is earlier.
The change fee will be waived but you may still owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

Change or cancel online

Here's how:

Find your trip
If your trip is eligible, you'll see 'Change trip' or ‘Cancel trip’ in the top toolbar

Find your trip

We’ll send an email that includes your ticket number after you cancel your trip. Keep this handy so you can refer to it when you call to rebook.

Call to rebook

After you cancel your trip online, please call Reservations when you’re ready to rebook. You’ll need:

Your ticket number (American tickets have a 13-digit number that begins with ’001’)
Your 6-character confirmation (also called a ‘Record Locator’)

New Change Fee waiver for Europe (released March 12, expanded to Middle East)

Quote:

Novel Coronavirus - Europe and the Middle East

Information current as of March 20, 2020

If you're traveling to / through / from airports in these countries:

Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
UK

The change fee is waived if you:

Booked an American Airlines flight
Bought your ticket on or before March 16, 2020
Are scheduled to travel March 11 - May 31, 2020
Can travel March 11 - December 31, 2020 or within 1 year of date the ticket was issued, whichever is earlier.

Keep in mind, you may owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

Change your trip or cancel and rebook later

You’re allowed to make changes to your trip once. You can change it now, or cancel and rebook later.

Keep in mind:

Travel must start by December 31, 2020 or within 1 year of date the ticket was issued, whichever is earlier.
The change fee will be waived but you may still owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

Change or cancel online

Here's how:

Find your trip
If your trip is eligible, you'll see 'Change trip' or ‘Cancel trip’ in the top toolbar

Find your trip

We’ll send an email that includes your ticket number after you cancel your trip. Keep this handy so you can refer to it when you call to rebook.

Call to rebook

Please call Reservations when you’re ready to rebook. You’ll need:

Your ticket number (American tickets have a 13-digit number that begins with ’001’)
Your 6-character confirmation (also called a ‘Record Locator’)

Change Fee Waiver for Flights Booked before March 1, 2020 for travel March 1 – May 31 (extended March 20)
~~Change Fee Waiver for Flights Booked before March 1, 2020 for travel March 10 – April 30 (released March 9)~~

Quote:

No change fee if you bought your ticket before March 1 Expand Information current as of March 20, 2020

If you're traveling to / through / from:

All cities served by American

The change fee is waived if you:

Booked an American Airlines flight
Bought your ticket on or before March 1, 2020
Are scheduled to travel March 1 - May 31, 2020
Can travel March 1 - December 31, 2020 or within 1 year of date the ticket was issued, whichever is earlier

Keep in mind, you may owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

Change your trip or cancel and rebook later

You’re allowed to make changes to your trip once. You can change it now, or cancel and rebook later.

Keep in mind:

Travel must start by December 31, 2020 or within 1 year of date the ticket was issued, whichever is earlier.
The change fee will be waived but you may still owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

Change or cancel online

Here's how:

Find your trip
If your trip is eligible, you'll see 'Change trip' or ‘Cancel trip’ in the top toolbar

Find your trip

We’ll send an email that includes your ticket number after you cancel your trip. Keep this handy so you can refer to it when you call to rebook.

Call to rebook

After you cancel your trip online, please call Reservations when you’re ready to rebook. You’ll need:

Your ticket number (American tickets have a 13-digit number that begins with ’001’)
Your 6-character confirmation (also called a ‘Record Locator’)

• AA Award Travel - Per multiple first-hand accounts (including by dstan), under the above General Travel Waiver, AA Award Travel booked before March 1 for travel between March 1, 2020 – April 30, 2020 can be canceled for a full refund of all fees and taxes paid AND free redeposit of miles (reinstatement fee waived).

Change Fee Waiver for Flights Booked between March 1, 2020–March 30, 2020 (extended 3/5)
~~Change Fee Waiver for Flights Booked between March 1, 2020–March 16, 2020 (original 3/1)~~
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...conditions.jsp

Quote:

Terms and conditions

If you purchased a ticket on American Airlines between March 1, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. CT and March 31, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. CT, you may change your flight once without paying a change fee. Tickets must be purchased for travel between March 1, 2020 and January 30, 2021.

Exception policy

We will waive the change fee only on published Non-Refundable Fare tickets.
Tickets must be purchased between March 1, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. CT and March 31, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. CT, with original travel between March 1, 2020 and January 30, 2021.
Changes must be made prior to the departure of your original flight.
New travel must be completed within 1 year of original ticket issue date.
Any difference in fare will apply.
Change your trip online or by calling Reservations.

Contact Reservations

This waiver is valid only for tickets issued on American Airlines ticket stock. Tickets can be identified by a 13-digit ticket number beginning with American Airlines code ’001’. Tickets issued by other airlines with a different carrier code (ticket numbers not beginning with ‘001’) are subject to the waiver policy of that airline.

This policy excludes bookings through AAdvantage® award tickets.

American Airlines Vacations packages purchased between March 1, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. CT and March 31, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. CT, also qualify for the one-time change fee waiver. Changes must be made prior to the departure of your original flight. Any difference in fare or hotel rate will apply.

Contact American Airlines Vacations
Updated: March 9, 2020

AA Trip Cancellation & Coronavirus: Discussion & Questions

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Feb 28, 20, 6:02 pm

#91

AAir_head

Join Date: Dec 2006

Location: Washington DC Metro Area

Posts: 1,066

Quote:

Originally Posted by aamilesslave

It's the right decision

“right” and “reasonable” do not always overlap

cheers!

Feb 28, 20, 6:20 pm

#92

iplaybass

Join Date: Aug 2011

Location: St. Louis, MO, USA

Programs: AA Gold, Mariott Gold Elite, UA Silver, Lowly kettle across DL, Hyatt, ATK, IHG.

Posts: 727

My company has banned all non-essential travel as of today. On the hook for a SFO trip in May.

Feb 28, 20, 7:16 pm

#93

abk

Join Date: Sep 2007

Location: stl

Programs: AA LT Plat/8.1mm now with 1350 miles left in my account and proud of it.. SPG LT Titanium.

Posts: 2,990

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamOF

Could you cancel just the hotel then see what happens? I have a hard time imagining that your cancelled room with get snapped up between now and your trip.

I prepaid a beach hotel in CA for March with a 3 day opportunity to cancel. When I paid in January I got one of the last rooms. I looked last night and every room category but one is now available and all at a lower cost than I paid and this is generally a very popular and high demand hotel. I will wait awhile and then cancel and decide if I want to rebook.

Feb 29, 20, 12:43 pm

#94

jimmyz1

Join Date: Jul 2011

Posts: 124

We have a 7 day trip planned to Paris in 2 weeks (flying AA)- taking the family and our 78 year old mother in law (please no bad jokes). I have to decide by March 7th if I want to get our Airbnb refund. Any thoughts- I would hate for any of us to get sick in a foreign country

Feb 29, 20, 12:53 pm

#95

GTITAN

Join Date: Mar 2005

Location: CLT

Programs: AA EP, AA AC

Posts: 4,267

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyz1

Yeah it is a personal call hard to make. What I would suggest is if you go, make sure you have travel insurance so if medical attention is needed, that it would apply. Keeping you and all travelers in my prayers (for little they may be worth).

Safe Travels

Feb 29, 20, 1:30 pm

#96

dwugson

Join Date: Jul 2013

Programs: AA MM, AA EXP; OW Emerald, EK silver

Posts: 835

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyz1

Regardless of the choice you make for yourself a 78 yo is at significantly higher risk of developing complications from Covid-19. Furthermore one of the clusters in France is near CDG airport. When are you going? - can you cancel the Airbnb and then rebook should conditions change?

Feb 29, 20, 1:35 pm

#97

richarddd

Join Date: Dec 2003

Location: NYC

Posts: 6,056

Quote:

Originally Posted by AAir_head

I'll be going to Italy in the next few months along with several family members--several are freaking out, but there's really not good cause to be overly alarmed yet. Even for Italy, State and CDC are advising only increased/enhanced precautions as of today.

Safe travels!

Two days later: Warning - Level 3, Avoid Nonessential Travel—Widespread Community Transmission
Level 3, Avoid Nonessential T

AeRoSpaceman likes this.

Feb 29, 20, 5:48 pm

#98

GetSetJetSet

Suspended

Join Date: Dec 2009

Location: En Route

Programs: Many

Posts: 6,799

Quote:

Originally Posted by richarddd

Two days later: Warning - Level 3, Avoid Nonessential Travel—Widespread Community Transmission
Level 3, Avoid Nonessential T

That's the problem, this moves fast. A "safe" destination could land you in quarantine two weeks later.

Feb 29, 20, 8:00 pm

#99

AAir_head

Join Date: Dec 2006

Location: Washington DC Metro Area

Posts: 1,066

Quote:

Originally Posted by richarddd

Two days later: Warning - Level 3, Avoid Nonessential Travel—Widespread Community Transmission
Level 3, Avoid Nonessential T

Quote:

Originally Posted by GetSetJetSet

That's the problem, this moves fast. A "safe" destination could land you in quarantine two weeks later.

Imagine where we’ll be in a couple months... yeah, I don’t know either.

Not time to do anything rash yet.

Feb 29, 20, 9:49 pm

#100

Hoc

Join Date: Apr 2002

Location: San Juan Capistrano, CA

Programs: Bonvoy Titanium, Hilton Diamond, AA 2.5 MM, United Gold, Hyatt Globalist

Posts: 2,451

We have an award ticket to Venice on Mar. 20, booked through AA miles on BA. Return is from FLR, booked on Iberia and AA on April 4. Anybody know if I would have to pay the $150 redeposit fee if I cancel? Or is there a waiver in place that would cover me?

Mar 1, 20, 5:05 am

#101

boerne

Join Date: Jun 2011

Location: I 35 south bound, finally stopped

Programs: AA EXP, LT Plt, 4mm, *A GLD, burned out medical provider, executing our estate plan

Posts: 1,612

Travel waiver is out to March 15, but at the rate disease is being reported in Italy if you wait until Monday or Tuesday they will most likely extend it like they did for HKG. It qualifies as a pandemic now based upon the crazed reactions politicians are having. From what I have observed, the crisis committees or whatever they are called, have tended to huddle Monday AM then changes are made. Also Fridays have been announcement days like UA did last Friday. I just do a search for news updates especially for the countries where we are headed in late March. Link to AA travel alerts below. Mods should the name be changed on threads to reflect the international naming? A: On February 11, 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, charged with naming new viruses, named the novel coronavirus, first identified in Wuhan, China, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, shortened to SARS-CoV-2.

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/travel-alerts.jsp

Mar 1, 20, 10:53 am

#102

BLG

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: SBA & LAX

Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, BA Lifetime Blue, Marriott Gold, and many others

Posts: 1,152

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyz1

As of a few hours ago there was an announcement that the Louvre is being closed because of the virus. I would guess that means other things will be closed as well. Aside from the other issues that we all are wrestling with, you might find any number of places you want to go will be closed.

Last edited by BLG; Mar 1, 20 at 11:11 am

Mar 1, 20, 11:29 am

#103

ecgz88

Join Date: May 2009

Posts: 706

My Etihad AUH-ICN May flight change from A380 TO 787 overnight, change from First to Business, so what to do next?

since I book BCN-AUH on a separate ticket call AA will they waive the cancel/change fee for both or it's YMMV?, or just wait hope Etihad will switch back the plane again?

Mar 1, 20, 11:33 am

#104

jimmyz1

Join Date: Jul 2011

Posts: 124

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLG

That did it! I can cancel the Airbnb without penalty- now to argue with AA

Mar 1, 20, 1:07 pm

#105

GetSetJetSet

Suspended

Join Date: Dec 2009

Location: En Route

Programs: Many

Posts: 6,799

I am supposed to fly to Paris on Mar. 10th. At this point if AA offer a waiver I'll cancel and stay in NYC. I would LOVE LX to also offer me a waiver on CDG-ZRH-CDG and I already cancelled my hotel in St. Moritz, but i'll eat that one if I have to. Would prefer not to eat 2x TATLs. With France over 100 cases, what will it take to get a waiver in the next 10 days? Does it seem we need a level 4 designation?

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Show Printable Version

Email this Page