erik123

OP flew in Y and should be reimbursed.

USFlyerUS

Yes, sorry. Either way, I think it's a stretch. He chose the self help option instead of working with AA to fix it. If OP presses it enough, AA may choose to do something, but I think it's an uphill climb to get a walk up fare reimbursed. It's similar to how AA (and other airlines) won't reimburse travelers who rent their own cars, book their own train tickets, or book on other carriers during IRROPS.

WeekendTraveler

OP: before filing a lawsuit, get the ticket terms of carriage or whatever the boilerplate language that the airline includes on all tickets (both airlines). They might say the "jurisdiction" where any lawsuits need to be filed, if arbitration is required and what hoops you may have to jump through in order to get your lawsuit properly filed and not thrown out due to noncompliance with those terms. I would be prepared to act quickly since those terms (or applicable law) may put a time limit over how long you have to file a lawsuit.

The AA ones seem to be the ones below PLUS any boilerplate that was on your ticket receipt, and there might be more, and Quatar's rules might also apply.

Conditions of carriage − Support − American Airlines (aa.com)

HkCaGu

When AA can't fix it in time (hours long wait), the OP has given AA the chance. Now the claim is AA abandoned him in a faraway foreign country with a powerless foreign airline. People don't really visit Malé.

beachfan

weren’t there two people involved? You would send your wife on her way without you?

VegasGambler

He was reimbursed for his J ticket that he didn't use. He flew in Y on the Y ticket that he purchased. So there's no reimbursement due for that.

I think that the real question is whether OP acted reasonably in buying the Y ticket, and whether the cost of that ticket should be reimbursed by the airline (as damages, caused by their mistake). There's also the question of which airline made the mistake.

SamOF

He did try to work with AA! AA just hadn't hired enough agents to answer his call in a timely manner.

USFlyerUS

I just think it's an uphill battle. I'd instead ask for a customer service gesture of some sort -- voucher, etc. At a certain point, one has to decide how much to fight given the chances of winning are not guaranteed and may take dozens of hours, call backs, emails, letters + attorneys, court fees, discovery, filings, etc.

And, yes, I would have waited to speak with AA and then submitted reimbursement for a hotel. I wouldn't have resorted to self help by buying another ticket, even if I were traveling with others. This thread illustrates the reason I wouldn't. One extra night in a hotel room is, to me, a lot less stress than what it will take to be reimbursed in this situation, if the OP gets reimbursed at all.

SamOF

This is all absolutely a good point, but is very different than the point you were making earlier—which is that AA isn't on the hook because the OP didn't wait to speak with them. It may be more trouble than it's worth for the OP to be made whole; that doesn't mean that AA is in the right here.

USFlyerUS

I still think AA isn't on the hook for the ticket he bought without letting AA fix the underlying issue. However, if one fights enough, AA might pay something to get the issue to go away. My point is it's not worth doing that, to me. I would have waited for AA to fix the issue so it could provide the service I paid for and then dealt with the fallout from that (hotel, etc.).

I guess I don't see much of a difference between this and if AA had cancelled my flight due to maintenance or bumped me due to equipment change. If I chose to buy a ticket on another carrier rather than waiting for AA to rebook me, all I would have expected is a refund of my original ticket on AA, which the OP got. I would never expect AA to both refund the original ticket and cover the cost of my new ticket on another carrier.

And all of this leads me back to asking for a customer service credit/voucher instead. I'd ask for a $500 or $1,000 voucher and call it a day.

SamOF

The difference is the contract you sign with AA when you buy a ticket. There's a specific section of the contract that says exactly what you say here—in the event of a flight cancellation, here's what happens. The contract explicitly covers your options and AA's responsibilities (refund or rebook). If AA breached that part of the contract, which would mean refusing to refund your ticket or rebook you after a flight cancellation, you might be able to buy a new ticket to mitigate the damages.

There's no analogous section of the contract saying that if AA simply fails to provide the product it sold you, these are your limited options. That's just a failure by AA to meet their responsibilities under the contract.

beachfan

Based on the incredible scrum I once had transiting AUH (Etihaf F was supposed to escort us but didn’t), no way I’d go separate from my wife transiting in the UAE.

She is petite, I’m the opposite. I had to barge my way through, she would never have made it.

I could just see one person stuck in MLE, another in DOH. Double trouble.

USFlyerUS

I'm looking forward to seeing how this gets resolved. I'm just not convinced the OP is due anything other than a refund of his ticket, which he got. If he can get more, I'll be pleasantly surprised. If there's specific contract language that says he's due more if one party fails to deliver, I'm happy to review that too and amend my opinion.

I stand by my recommendation that it may be more time, stress, and cost effective to ask for a customer service voucher than to keep fighting what will likely be a long, uphill fight with no guarantee of success.

WeekendTraveler

I'm not a litigator, but I would think that the OP could claim that AA committed a tort by screwing up the ticket, and thus could make a claim for damages beyond what the conditions of carriage specify. But I would still thoroughly review all conditions of carriage of both airlines before taking action.

Dave Noble

There is no reason at all why there would be any issue for the one person to transit on their own - using an argument that an airport in another country had an issue on a trip makes no sense, Might just as well argue not to transit at GAtwick due to issues that occurred in Amsterdam

If the passengers are both independant adults, then no reason why one would not be able to travel without the other.