AA ticket value after cancelling
 

I’ve got a RT LAX to LHR on AA booked in discounted econ, not basic, not sure of exact fare class. Confirmed SWU upgrade on outbound, expect inbound will be last min or none so will have an alternative the next day, award in biz, that I can cancel without too much of a fee.

if I cancel the inbound after taking the outbound does the ticket have flight credit value? Assume not 50% could be less or more if any. Or would it have no value? If would have a flight credit could it be used on a domestic flight.

I had similar situation... EU - US - EU in Business. I flew the EU-US and want to change the return. The credit I have is $1499 but the Exec Plat desk told me that in order to use the return, the leg would be treated as a one way and I could use the $1499 credit towards $14,000 one way ticket in business. The credit can only be used for International between either the original city and anywhere in EU or to the arrival city from anywhere in the US.

So basically for me, the credit is worthless. I ended up purchasing another r/t in business for $3200 and hopefully I'll be able to use the return.

So if my ticket is currently LAX to LHR RT, The credit could only be used for either LAX to EU/UK OR LHR to anywhere in US?

If you are treated the same way I was, yes :(

Without knowing the exact fare purchased it is hard to say for certain, however looking at AA's fares, I think that you may get some credit

Looking at one way fares for October the lowest ones on EF show
O : $386
Q : $520
N : $565
S : $655
V : $790

with lowest r/t fares showing as

O : $151
Q : $300
N : $350
S : $450
V : $600

All of these r/t fares are cheaper than the equivalent o/w fares. There are $200 surcharge and $200 additional taxes on r/t vs one way.
With around $220 additional fare component , would seem that might get around $180 residual

You would only be able to use this for US originating travel

Using 9/25 - 10/2 as a sample roundtrip, the $824 total fare breakdown at the cheapest economy class (O) that's not basic economy (B):

Fare 1: Carrier AA OLX7T1M5 LAX to LON (rules)
Passenger type ADT, ROUND-TRIP fare, booking code O
Covers LAX-LHR (Economy)
$75.50

Fare 2: Carrier AA OLW7T1M5 LON to LAX (rules)
Passenger type ADT, ROUND-TRIP fare, booking code O
Covers LHR-LAX (Economy)
$125.50


United States Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee (AY) $5.60
Carrier-imposed surcharge (YR) $400.00
US International Departure Tax (US) $39.40
US Passenger Facility Charge (XF) $4.50
United States APHIS Passenger Fee Passengers (XA) $3.96
United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge Departures (UB) $64.50
United States Customs User Fee (YC) $6.11
United Kingdom Air Passenger Duty APD (GB) $96.60
United States Immigration User Fee (XY) $7.00
Subtotal per passenger $828.67
Number of passengers x1
Subtotal for 1 adult $828.67
Fare Construction (can be useful to travel agents)
LAX AA LON M 75.50OLX7T1M5 AA LAX M 125.50OLW7T1M5 NUC 201.00 END ROE 1.00 XT 6.11YC 7.00XY 3.96XA 39.40US 5.60AY 96.60GB 64.50UB 400.00YR 4.50XF LAX4.50

As you see, the outbound has a $75 base fare, with the return having $125 so if there was to be a credit given, you'd have to take into account that one leg may be priced lower than the other.

But also keep in mind in my example that LAX-LHR one way in O comes to $615 total, which is only about $200 less than the roundtrip.

Fare for 1 adult $615.80

This ticket is non-refundable.
Fare 1: Carrier AA OLX7T4M5 LAX to LON (rules) Passenger type ADT, ONE-WAY-ONLY fare, booking code O

Covers LAX-LHR (Economy)
$386.00
United States Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee (AY) $5.60
Carrier-imposed surcharge (YR) $200.00
US International Departure Tax (US) $19.70
US Passenger Facility Charge (XF) $4.50
Subtotal per passenger $615.80
Number of passengers x1
Subtotal for 1 adult $615.80
Fare Construction (can be useful to travel agents)
LAX AA LON M 386.00OLX7T4M5 NUC 386.00 END ROE 1.00 XT 19.70US 5.60AY 200.00YR 4.50XF LAX4.50

If you're calling to change a trip in progress from RT to OW, they would likely reprice you based on the one way trip you took and price it accordingly. The truth is nobody here can tell you just how much you'll get as credit, if any. When you call, the customer service rep will have to kick it over the fare desk and put you on hold for sometime while they calculate it.

Really depends on the specific fare you purchased. If it was two one-ways combined, then the return will have value even if you voluntarily cancel the return.

If it was a round-trip fare, it will have no value if you voluntarily cancel other than moving to new dates on the return. You can probably swap return to/from cities as long as it transatlantic (so no you can't use it on domestic-only). If your return ends up being involuntarily cancelled, approximately 50% of the value can be refunded.

It is unlikely to be 2 x one way fares since the lowest one way fare is a Y fare at $2027 plus taxes/charges
With the fare rules listed for AAs r/t fares, this seems not to be in line with the fare rules

Not quite sure if we are talking about same thing or different thing. The quoted section would mean if changes are made after departure, the flown outbound get repriced as well using the historical fares in effect. So if OP dropped the return, the flown outbound get repriced as if it was initially booked as a one way rendering the remaining (return) flight coupons having effectively zero value if the lowest historical one way is a Y fare.

For LAX-LHR , as per the OP's routing - if the person held a O class r/t ticket and then changed to one way, the fare used to compare with would be the historical one way O fare - of which there is a fare od $151 - both plus taxes and charges

Subject to that being the valid O fare ( e.g. weekend vs midweek etc )

There isapproximately an additional $200 taxes for the r/t ticket plus and additional $200 carrier surcharge
$151 + $200 + $200 = $551 vs $386

This gives a residual value when changing the r/t ticket to o/w of $551 - $386 = $165

My point on why it is v unlikely to have been 2 x one way fares is that AA has no discounted one way fares from London to Los Angeles

My original booking was in S on return. I can’t locate my email when I changed it sometime back. Is there anyway on app to see fare class?

I have a backup points trip on Iberia, booked as RT, regrettably. But, want to use the AA ticket and SWUs. Last year I’m dealing with SWU. With my outbound confirmed I’m hopeful for return but without a backup plan I’d risk econ, not flying that way for 12 hours. If I’d been smart and booked oneways on Iberia problem solved. So looking now for backups, lots of points checking everything, Turkish at 115k seems best, plus $300 taxes, ouch. Basically if I get a backup and last minute no upgrade I’ll cancel the return and try to get something out of it.

So if I don’t get a back up return option I’ll just cancel the whole AA trip and fly Iberia. Wifes .....ing that they require masks and no pre check on outbound(surprised Iberia hasn’t joined).