USFlyerUS

Did you cancel the re-booked flights the next day before departure? Or no show?

Sinead2000

Not sure if booking through a 3rd party makes a difference here, as American took over the ticket once the transaction took place. i.e. billed by American. Have purchased through Expedia more times than I can recall without incident.

I did send out a correspondence through Twitter. Thanks.

Sinead2000

When we got to the agent to inquire after our flight was cancelled, and indicated that a flight the next day was unacceptable, she kept saying "Then you want to cancel the flight?". I kept reiterating that American had cancelled our flight, not us. Again, she kept saying "So you want to cancel your flight?" and I said "No, AA cancelled the flight". We had a very short turnaround to try to book on another airline.

USFlyerUS

Did you actually cancel the NEW flights?

USFlyerUS

Also, I assume this was AA1545 on 31-JUL. That was the last AA flight of the day out of SRQ to DFW. There was a later flight to CLT (can't tell if it was booked full though), but that would have gotten you to CLT too late to take the last flight to LAS.

Sinead2000

I suppose this is semantics here, because we never agreed to the new flight. When I got to the desk to inquire about the cancelled flight, she indicated we were on the next day flight. I indicated we never agreed to that. There were other AA flights that could have connected to LAS same day, but they were reportedly full. These fights were due to depart BEFORE our original flight. We were at the airport 6 hours in advance of our flight as we had to drop off car rental.

My understanding has been that if a flight is cancelled by the airline and that rescheduling can't happen in a reasonable time-frame (i.e. rebooked on a completely different day) that a refund should follow.

USFlyerUS

Correct. However, I have a feeling the reason Expedia can't handle this -- they should be able to -- is that somehow the ticket got re-issued through all of this or you were flagged as a no show. Expedia should handle the refund. If they can't, they should be able to contact AA to resolve the matter. That's what you pay a TA to do for you. Otherwise, just book directly with the carrier.

Sinead2000

Thanks USFlyerUS . I will await my 'call back' from AA. I don't even have our boarding passes for the original flight as the ticket agent took them from us and ripped them to shreds.

wetrat0

Yes, this is THE most cut and dried situation for a refund. However, what the other poster is asking is whether the next day flight that you didn't want was cancelled. It sounds like you got in an argument over semantics with the phone agent but the answer should have been "yes I want to cancel the ticket". Expedia may need to see that the ticket is canceled before they can issue the refund.

With that said, I'd try to get Expedia to get AA on the phone with you on a conference rather than just accepting that they cannot do anything. They sold you the ticket so they are the ones who have to issue the refund.

If all else fails go to CC dispute. It should be straightforward. I disputed a charge for a cancelled flight early in COVID shutdowns when the travel agent wanted to argue the ticket was not refundable but they had cancelled the flight. But you should exhaust options with Expedia first as they'll stop talking to you once you initiate a dispute.

wetrat0

To put it more succinctly: when the first segment was canceled, your options at that point were to (a) accept the rebooked itinerary or (b) cancel the itinerary. Only option (b) leads to a refund. If you somehow ended up with (a) because of a misunderstanding with the AA agent, you likely got marked as a no show, which means your ticket has no value, and this would be blocking Expedia from giving you a refund

Sinead2000

Thanks, wetrat0. Although semantics, the next day flight is listed as "cancelled", so the agent at SRQ cancelled the ticket.

wetrat0

In that case the refund should be pretty simple... My advice would be keep trying before resorting to CC dispute (since they're not saying they are denying you the refund just that they can't execute it for some reason)

Sinead2000

I just checked the email from Expedia indicating that the flight was cancelled, and it lists both original and rescheduled fights as cancelled. The email is from Saturday, July 31 (original flight day). So definitely, the SRQ agent cancelled the rescheduled flight. Thanks again.

Kacee

Of the majors, AA is the least likely to interline to another carrier and the most likely to treat its customers disrespectfully.

Sinead2000

Kaceeso far this is proving to be true!