bimmerfreak0

So essentially a month ago aa cancelled our rdu to mia flight at 9pm (flight was 6am next morning)(second leg was to CUR [Curacao]). Our trip was a Thursday to Monday, dawn to midnight type thing. Maximize a parents only trip because between 4 kids and two full time.jobs, there's a lot to juggle. They attempted to get us on RIC to MIA but that flight got cancelled at 12:15am (now less than 6 hours). At that point, it was impossible to drive to MIA and AA only solution was to fly Saturday (yes somehow every other flight was sold out). So we had to cancel and find a new destination (Cancun) with Delta and that trip was "fine" especially given that delta didn't screw me on the price given the lack of notice, but I was handed a $400 cancellation fee from the hotel for obvious reasons. I paid that bill as it wasn't their fault. Fast forward to this morning and AA's formal response to not only a ruined trip and the stress of finding something literally last minute and $400 in monetary loss was a MASSIVE 7500 miles. Is there any other recourse? I used my chase Sapphire reserve but the trip was cancelled by aa for non weather issues. ATC overbooked and AA just gave up from multiple airports. I'm flabbergasted that it's just 7500 miles (essentially $75). Any suggestions on what to do or do I just take it up the tailpipe?

enviroian

When was the trip? If just now did you contact AA a month ago when they first canceled the RDU-MIA flight for other options?

Goin-2-AA

God is great.
Insurance is good.
People are crazy.

PHL

Are you sure it was a non-weather reason? I believe ATC congestion is something out of AA's control, in which case no refund would be given (same with hotel/meal compensation). In general, it's in AA's best interest to get their aircraft where they're scheduled to go because of downstream delays, cancellation and passenger trip disruptions so I don't know that AA just 'gave up', as opposed to they simply could not fly the trip due to ATC congestion. There could have been crew time outs, as well.

There are other reasons that AA would still not reimburse you, but the key is finding out the specific cause of the cancelation(s) that caused you to miss the flights. This is documented in AA's system and if it were within the past few days it could be looked up on ExpertFlyer. At a minimum, if you chose to cancel your trip (and then flew Delta to a. different destination), you would at least be owed a full flight credit for future travel assuming you didn't purchase basic economy.

You may or may not have seen the news in the past weeks that all the airlines are facing all sorts of issues causing delays and cancelations with staffing being the biggest culprit at the moment. It's going to get worse before it gets better, but I read that bookings after 9/15 have fallen off a cliff, meaning there should be some relief in a few months.

bimmerfreak0

We called at 930pm (night before the trip) and were given no options out of rdu until Saturday. I found a flight at 6am from Richmond that would have landed at the same time. Not optimal but I was willing. We got booked at around 1145pm. 1215am (30 minutes later) they cancelled that flight. I called again and they said all early morning flights from dca, Tampa, Richmond, Raleigh, Dallas and Charlotte were cancelled due to flight over bookings at MIA. it made it impossible to get to MIA.

enviroian

When was the trip? How much time lapsed between AA's cancellation notice and the commencement of your trip?

SeaLuggageLover

I also received 7500 miles after a flight was canceled due to weather and I spent $360 for the cheapest hotel room I could find at the last minute in NYC. This may be their standard gesture for irrops due to weather. If you believe your flight was canceled for another reason, I'd definitely call or email again to fight for reimbursement.

USFlyerUS

I'm not entirely sure what "cancelled due to flight over bookings at MIA" means. However, if all of these flights were cancelled due to ATC flow issues, ground stops, etc., AA will claim it's not responsible given those were outside its control. 7,500 miles and refund of your ticket may likely be all you will get.

formeraa

At the end of the day, we have very few consumer protections for canceled or seriously delayed flights in the U.S. Under most circumstances, the airline only has to refund your ticket price. Travel Insurance is the way to go in the future, if you want to be reimbursed for expenses.

bimmerfreak0

Departure was for June 9th, 2022 at 615am (give or take). Their cancellation notice was 930pm the night beforehand (about 9 hours notice).

MSPeconomist

I'm confused. OP is owed, as a matter of federal (DOT) regulation, a full refund (not just AA credits for future flights) of the full price paid for the plane tickets. Has this been received?

The 7500 RDMs are a customer service gesture, not a refund and not compensation.

Airlines generally refuse to reimburse other costs (except for hotel and meals when someone is stranded overnight due to a fault of the airline) associated with IROPs. I would not expect AA to pay the OP $400 for the hotel cancellation fee, although OP might have been able to convince the hotel not to charge the fee on a refundable reservation if the OP had called as soon as the flights were cancelled to cancel the room and talked (probably later) to someone in authority at the hotel such as a front desk manager.

bimmerfreak0

You are correct. Aa did issue a refund. It took over a week to get it back. I get what everyone is saying but the flight was cancelled because aa booked too many planes for mia at that time frame and I had to suffer the consequences. I guess I should be grateful I got $75 in miles man alive.

Hope nobody on this thread or otherwise gets upset when aa cancels their flight at midnight basically with no options since apparently that's not only par for the course but actually generous.

PHL

I misunderstood the overall timeline in the initial post. bimmerfreak0 as long as you got full refund back to form of payment for the trip AA canceled and couldn't find suitable alternate routing, there's little else owed to you for any other costs you incurred. 7500 is paltry, but it's probably the best you'll get from them for the inconvenience. That's basically the same across all airlines. Hope you at least made the best of it on your alternate last minute destination to Cancun.

upinsmoke

It sucks to have a vacation not end up like you planned. It sounds like AA made you whole as far as the flights, plus threw some paltry miles at you for the disruption caused. AA has really screwed up with their staffing in the past two years, and us travelers are having to deal with the consequences. Most airlines (and airports) have, to be fair, but that's not a valid excuse.

For the non-refundable hotel fees, the Chase Sapphire should have covered you, but you had 20 days from the time that the disruption happened to file a claim with them. Not sure if you went that route.

enviroian

Yeah you got stiffed. I would be livid.