AA changed my flights
 

Question:
AA changed the flights that I booked 2 weeks ago for 9/24/20 with a return 9/29/20. MCO - PHX - RDM. Originally there were 2 flights on 9/24 to choose from. My flights #2015 & 2982 are no longer on the books for that date. The afternoon flight from MCO to PHX is also gone. In it's place is #321 which results in a 6 1/2 hour layover. I am understanding in the current pandemic situation, but my gripe is they changed my flights and if I bought the ticket NOW, it would have cost me $30 less. I now have to pay my pet sitter for another visit since now instead of landing at 4:33 pm, I land at 8:47 pm.

I called customer service for an explanation and they told me where to send an email. Is it unreasonable to be asking for a price adjustment or something, especially since they made the change?

As this change was rather significant, you should be able to get a refund for you current flight. Then you can just book it again at the lower price.

You have asked the wrong question about the right thing. There is no such thing as a "price adjustment."

All of the following can be done online:
1. Purchase a new ticket, presumably for $30 less than the old ticket.
2. Cancel the old ticket.
3. Request a refund.

You are entitled to #3 because your flights were cancelled. You should do #1 first because you are then assured that the cheaper price is still available when you do it.

However, the cancellations entitle you to a refund

So they have been emailing me today. Three of my 4 flights have technically been cancelled. I made a comment to her to that effect and asked about getting a refund. When I booked the flight on 7/26/20, the total cost was $357.20. I used the "credit" from my original flight from MCO to SNA, as the convention I was supposed to go to at the end of August was cancelled. I did buy insurance when I purchased that original ticket back in March.

I see the flights on United are better and cheaper.

You bought the insurance ? Why ? More than ever you do not need it. And it has COVID loop holes for the insurance to not pay

Actually, doing number 1 might be a problem as they already have a ticket for the flights, as it sound like the flights which are $30 less are the flights AA has booked them on.
So, it seems they would have to cancel first, before rebooking the same flights for $30 less. Maybe a call to AA would have a nice agent able to property credit them for the fare difference as they were put on a lower cost booking.

mvoight you mean because they changed my flights on 9/24/20 from Economy code "O" to the new flights that day that are economy code "N?"
The return flights on 9/29/20 are still "O."

My experience with AA is that while it has efficient software to detect duplicate and "impossible" bookings, that the software does a sweep rather than a block. E.g., you can book whatever you want, but it will be found out in due course. If you book a new ticket and then relatively quickly cancel the original ticket, it is unlikely that the software catches it.

If it were to become a problem, e.g., the system blocked OP from purchasing a new ticket, one would then have to call in and have an agent handle the transaction.

Either way, if the $30 cheaper fare remains available today, OP would bet out $30 better off. On the other hand, if he wants to book UA and then cancel AA, that is fine too. Same sequence. Don't cancel the original ticket until you know that the fare for the second ticket remains.

I think part of my problem is that the original flight I booked back in March was for 8/26-9/1/20. I was going to a convention in Anaheim that was finally cancelled in late June. I went to PHL on an emergency trip in mid-June, if I had been able to use this ticket then I would have.

So since I can't go to Anaheim (Disneyland isn't open either), I decided to change the flight to go visit her in Bend, OR. I don't think the option was open for me to get a refund on July 26 when I cancelled the original flight I had MCO to SNA for 8/26-9/1/20.

I have been furloughed for 4 months and just went back to work this past weekend. So that $30 will help this girl out!

With a schedule change like that, you can ask for a full refund. I had a similar situation with an interesting result. I was supposed to go to a conference - also in Anaheim - that was set for March. That conference was cancelled. The purchased ticket (purchased in January) was a First class ticket with a fair amount of value on it - about $1,000. Owing to COVID, I was able to use the free cancel feature even though the flights themselves were not cancelled. The cancelled amount was applied as an e-voucher that is good for one year. The conference was reschedule for late August. I used the value of the e-voucher to buy a new ticket for the rescheduled conference (with a little residual value left as the new ticket was $900).

About a month ago, the conference was cancelled again. And, about two weeks ago, AA instituted some significant schedule changes that took my itinerary from a 7:00 pm departure to a 1:00 pm departure and was forcing me to overnight on my own dime. That was no bueno and I called AA res to either rebook me or to cancel. AA said no other viable options were available and offered to cancel the ticket for free. I accepted.

The interesting part is that even though the itinerary was purchased using a voucher, the original credit card information was still in the system and because this was now a cancellation related to an AA schedule change, AA refunded the purchased amount NOT as a voucher but as a refund to my credit card that was used to book the ORIGINAL ticket purchased in January.

I sent another email to AA from their website and they now were telling me that I could cancel and request a refund if their schedule changes resulted in departure time change of 4 hours or more. All 4 of my flights MCO-PHX-RDM were changed: 4 hrs 2 minutes, 8 hrs 15 minutes, 3 minutes, and 4 hrs 11 minutes. So I called, the flights were cancelled and the agent told me how to request a refund to my cc. Like you, the ticket for September was a covid-19 change from the original August trip.
I rebooked on United that takes me MCO-DEN-RDM and I now get in late afternoon on my return again, so now extra $$ for the pet sitter. AND THE TICKET WAS CHEAPER! This gal is happy!

Exactly. They should refund the price difference

I've just encountered a similar situation: discovered a trip booked in early Feb (before all the madness) for a mid-Sep trip has been completely rebooked due to schedule changes. 2 hours earlier on the outbound (forces a day off from work) and 4.5 hours earlier on the return (truncates a half-day on the back end of the trip). The flights for both the outbound and return legs have been removed from the AA schedule, so clearly were cancelled--we did not receive a cancellation notice, however. I previously thought the change had to be 6 hours or more to trigger full refund, but can't find a reference. Where's the greater than 4 hour reference?

Thanks!

Just have the new cheaper trip almost ready to book in one tab, then click cancel in your account on the original trip on a separate tab, then book the new trip in the first tab. Once that goes through, go to the refund site and request a refund on your original trip. No muss, no fuss.

AAir_head it was in the email I got from AA Customer Relations:
Per our schedule change policy, if you do not accept the schedule change and meet the criteria's below, then you would be entitled to a full refund of your ticket once your reservation is canceled by our Reservation's Office.

The following is our policy in regards to schedule changes as stated in our "Conditions of Carriage" at https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-ser...f-carriage.jsp.

Non-refundable tickets

We don't refund cash for non-refundable tickets. But if you cancel your trip before departure, you can use the value of your ticket toward future travel on American. You'll need to rebook and travel within 1 year and pay a change fee plus any difference in fare.

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

• You cancel within 24 hours of booking (and booked at least 2 days before departure).
  
• We cancel your flight and you do not accept the rebooking
  
• We make a schedule change that results in a change of more than 4 hours to your departure time and you do not accept the rebooking
  
• A passenger or their travel companion dies. (Supporting paperwork is required)
  
• Military orders require you to cancel your trip. (Supporting paperwork is required)
  

If our schedule change does not work for you, our Reservations Department can assist in finding and booking a flight that meets your needs. They can be reached at 1-800-433-7300. If you choose not to accept the schedule change, then you would need to cancel your reservation and request a refund.