AA cancelled my flight just a few hours before flight...
 

Hello,
My husband and I were supposed to fly from SRQ-DFW-LAS on July 31. We checked in at the airport and checked one bag ($30US). About an hour later, AA cancelled the flight, citing "no crew". Without consultation they booked me on a flight the next day. I told the desk that I did not agree to the change and requested either a) she put us on a later same day flight, or b) issue a refund, or c) put us on another carrier (i.e. Delta or Southwest who had same day flights to LAS). The woman at the desk told me the only way to get to get to LAS was to purchase another flight from another carrier.

Needing to get to LAS that day, I went to the Delta counter. When I explained the situation, the Delta agent told me to tell AA to "send the ticket over" or something to that effect. I told this to the AA agent, who told me my ticket was nonrefundable and that she wouldn't do that because I wasn't a first class passenger. Long story short...she was very rude (so much so in fact, that another AA agent came out from behind the desk later to apologize to me for her colleague's conduct). We retrieved our bag and purchased tickets on Delta.

We are out the value of our ticket, the $30US fee for the checked bag, and one of our seat selections. For some reason, AA refunded one of the seat selection fees.

If you've read this far...thank you! I know that to phone AA, I will be on hold for a very long time, so I am wondering if someone can give me some advice as to what my options are. I cannot believe that my only option was to accept another flight on a completely different day. Any assistance you can provide is greatly appreciated (btw- I booked the ticket through Expedia.)

Thanks very much in advance,

Sinead

You are owed a refund of your fare and bag for sure. Not sure why they denied that.

God forbid AA has to open their wallet to pay another carrier :rolleyes:

Agreed, all your charges should be fully refunded. I would also complain about the AAgent that refused to send the ticket to DL. Nonrefundable or not, F or Y, AA should still be able to accommodate you on DL given they weren't able to get you there the same day.

Don't waste your time calling AA. You should request a refund through Expedia, they are the ones who sold you the ticket. "The flight was cancelled" is enough reason to get a refund, the other details don't matter.

Deleted

Thanks very much for your responses. Unfortunately, Expedia is no help at all as they say "American took over your ticket". Absolutely no help. I will try to call American. I've sent American an email but really would prefer to speak with an agent.

Credit card dispute.

yep. Time to call your CC company. OP did their diligence. They approached both AA and expedia and both blamed each other.

if you have twitter.. AA team their can be very helpful... at least in making progress...

And a DOT complaint.

Thanks again. I've put through the online request for a refund, but it is coming up as a $26.48 refund for what appears to be the next day flight. I've sent an email to AA, and have phoned (they are supposed to call me back in 4 and a half hours). SOOOO frustrating. @Kacee, by DOT do you mean Department of Transportation?

I am concerned because the agent kept saying "So you want to cancel your flight" which was in relation to the next day flight. I kept reiterating "no, YOU cancelled our flight".

Thanks again....

...and I have to say, I just love the support on this forum! Thank you.

Yes. Failure to provide a refund after canceling a flight is a violation of DOT regulations.

File an Air Travel Complaint

Lesson learned never book your ticket through a 3rd party website because this is what happens. Another thing if crew availability was "weather related" (if AA says so) AA will not put you on another carrier. You either accept what they give you, find an alternative routing and request that routing or ask for a full refund.

It might not be right but this is air travel 2021. And other airlines will do same. A price comes with those $59 fares. You're on your own.