TTmex

Hi. Currently on board MIA to ORD after our AA MEX to MIA (same ticket) arrived late on the gate and then immigration made it impossible to get through due to systems issues and sheer weight of numbers. We were booked on next available flight but downgraded J to Y. Can anyone enlighten me on what compensation is due for the downgrade and how to claim? We had a 2.55 minute connection and still wasn't enough.


Thanks in adv.

jhalapin

I believe that you are entitled to the difference between the J fare you paid and the full Y fare. You should receive a trip credit for it and it should be automatic. If not call.

You could have waited for the next flight with J availability, but given cancellations recently...that may have been longer than you wanted to wait.

If this was a problem AA created then I would think they would throw you some miles. Unfortunately it's a you problem...

Of course I could be totally wrong....

YMMV

TTmex

Thanks for the reply. My understanding is the COC were to fly in J. My ticket was in J to Chicago via Miami, not just to Miami. AA were unable to fulfil that contract. I'm not interested in AA miles as I have OWE from BA. But let's see what happens. They couldn't even offer J on later flights.

Appreciate the info.

FAA1996

These situation sucks, it's happened to me twice in the last couple of months. When it happens they will gladly put you on the next flight with J availability, but this might be the same day, next day, or even a few days later. If you want to get home soner they will offer to put you on the next flight but it's usually in Y. If you accept the next flight in Y you're due a difference in the cost of J vs Y which is usually a ridiculous amount (think $40 or so) because of the way it's calculated. In your case this is what you're due, not sure what your looking for, but you won't get anything other than a few goodwill miles or a travel voucher if you complain.

USFlyerUS

What type of J ticket were you on? Advance purchase, non-refundable J? Or full fare J? Depending on the fares, you may get nothing to a lot -- just depends what you actually paid for.

ijgordon

I don't think AA has a pre-defined (and published) policy on how they calculate fare differentials. Last time I checked the CoC on this (a few years ago probably), it says you are entitled to "an appropriate refund" which is obviously vague.

There are a few options, requiring either advance planning or ExpertFlyer.
I always make it a practice to take a screen shot of the price of my itinerary in Y vs. J when paying for J, at the time of booking. It's often possible to determine this after the fact, with the original fare basis code and an ExpertFlyer subscription.
You can also use EF to determine the difference between the lowest Y and lowest J fares published for your travel dates on the date you purchased your ticket, or on the date of the flight.
You can then request a refund of the fare difference, pro-rated based on the mileage of the sector you were downgraded on vs. the entire journey.

You do NOT want AA to calculate the fare difference between what you paid and the full/walk-up fare on the date of travel, because that's apples and oranges and would often result in a minimal or even zero/negative refund. So do your best to get ahead of them.

DataPlumber

You will get the fare difference back to your form of payment for the downgraded leg, and it happens in under a week automatically, IME.

Stripe

Part of the problem on AA is they fill almost all J seats by the day of departure with upgrades. You'll generally see one seat open at best, unless there is simply no one else to upgrade. It's great for the elites to get their upgrades in advance but it often leaves those who actually paid for the front cabin out in the cold if there are any IRROPs. I wish they were less aggressive with the upgrades, but I buy F/J more often these days and would appreciate some flexibility on the day of departure.

Of course I understand that premium cabins can get sold out with paying pax, but that is still the exception.

Kacee

That's not the analysis. It counts as a voluntary downgrade, because you could have waited for a flight that had seats in J. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the AA agents at MIA did not explain this correctly, as their goal is to simply move you along.

Uzzar

This has been going on since about June of 2020 when AA cut flights drastically. There is no extra capacity in Y, much less J, to account for any extra passengers on many flight routes, whether due to weather, IRROPS, or passenger choice. In the unfortunate situation due to a cancellation, weather, or maintenance, the best choice is to take the next flight out, regardless of cabin class. AA has you over a barrel, and will take full advantage of their position. Good luck getting anything even close to what you would consider adequate compensation.

Colin

in situations like this, i find it interesting to ask the original poster what exactly he’d do for the customer if he ran the airline? be very specific.

kick other confirmed J passengers out?
refund 50% of the one way fare?
a free hotel until next flight in J.

RK23

As a customer, I would just want the difference between J and Y on the date of purchase. This has happened to me before where I will pay $200 for a one way J instead of $100 for a Y seat and then there is an equipment swap to a smaller plane with no J. Then they reprice tickets and Y tickets are now sold for $180 so if you call in, they will say best they can do is $20 fare difference instead of the fare difference at time of purchase.

I know they might not have the systems to be able to determine that, but that would be a huge improvement in customer experience.

enviroian

Didn’t an AA employee recently tell another poster in a similar situation that “all segments are treated equally?”
yeah sure.

Lomapaseo

you forgot to add, give a $200 credit on top of the fare difference for the disappointment

ORDflyer92

Which Y fare though? AA sells so many fare classes this question is impossible to answer, especially since full fare Y usually costs more than discount J. Also, a good amount of paid J flyers are paid by their employer, so they don't care about the refund.

My suggestion would be to offer some real compensation - travel vouchers, AC passes (or upgrade AC members to the FL for the day), 500 mile upgrades, or a good amount of award miles (I've never been offered more than 2500 for IRROPS, which is pathetic).