Comical refund after disaster trip
 

Had a flight last week HOU-DFW-LEX-DFW-HOU.

On the outbound:

1. HOU-DFW was delayed from 4:15 PM to 10 PM and then to 6 AM due to maintenance (aircraft finally departed 39 hours late)
2. AA had no options to get me anywhere close until the following afternoon. Asked if AA would rebook me to a nearby airport on UA, they said no.
3. Took an uber to IAH and booked myself on UA. Called AA and canceled the outbound.
4. Arrived 4 hours late, having to spend $ on a new flight, taxi between airports, new rental car

On the return:

1. LEX-DFW is delayed due to MX resulting in a planned overnight.
2. Rebooked myself on LEX-ORD-IAH, was downgraded to Y from paid J on LEX-ORD.

Submitted for a refund given that I didn't fly half the flights and got downgraded on 1 of the segments. AA gave me $45, which was about 6% of the ticket total.

Even for AA, this is an insultingly low number given the disaster trip they caused. Thus far, all the premium talk and communication is lip service. Yes, they now tell you WHY the aircraft was delayed (MX etc.) but they still do 20 minute rolling delays.

At some point, I'm the idiot for continuing to spend money here.

Respond back and they will increase their offer. You also need to be very specific in what you are asking for (e.g. full refund for outbound, downgrade compensation on the return). Look up what the downgrade comp should be, AA has a policy for that which you can highlight.

I'm also confused if these were separate tickets, were you able to cancel the outbound while keeping the return on the same record locator?

FYI - It's possible that the response was entirely AI with no human review. When you respond, an AA employee is likely reading and responding and you will be able to tell based on the quality of the response.

I believe I just read somewhere that AA now gives even less on downgrades

Ugh. I agree - it's pretty clear what we're dealing with at AA: lots of lip service and a very genuine middle finger to the customers that keep them (barely) solvent.

It's deteriorating fast also. Two summers ago, I had incredible service from AA - once trying to get out of DCA and the other out of JFK; I was booked on backups for my backup flights, offered routings on other carriers, etc. They've gotten me on LH premium economy coming home from Europe, and tried getting me on ANA in J a few months ago when my inbound to HND was delayed (I chose not to, as their J cabin was full, but they tried). These experiences are very few and far between now.

Personally, I've moved most of my flying to B6 in/out of NYC and to DL and AS for all my shorter flights out west, where I can often book right into F for the cost of Y on AA. I'll still qualify for EP or PP largely by hotel spend. I do like to accumulate AAdvantage miles and retain OWE, but doing so by flying on AA is history for me.

I also only book one way itineraries, as it seems to help "quarantine" problems like this when they arise.

Let us know how it goes...

I submitted this through the refunds portal and put details. Didn't get even an AI response, just an email with the refund. Will write to AA CR. The return posted as 535 + 910 = 1445 base miles. At 5 miles/$, that is $289 in fare. My expectation is the other half is refunded.

This was a single ticket. As the outbound was so delayed, AA allowed me to drop the outbound segments and keep the return.

40% now. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...downgrade.html

It's quite incredible as to how bad their operations are. 2 out of the last 14 flights have been on time. I like OWE as well, but it's getting harder and harder to keep showing up late places.

I'm 10k miles away from 1 million BIS, so aiming to hit that. Afterwards, need to look into a UA or WN status match. Going all the way around given that UA's Parker/Isom equivalent named Smisek is what chased me from CO/UA to AA in the first place.

Yup. I'm riding it out as long as I can requalify with hotel stays and the occasional trip on AA (I'll keep flying the 321T while it's around). When the day comes that I won't hit EP or at least OWE, I'll match to UA/DL...then the other...then maybe AS or BA. And by that point, AA will have either gotten their act together or acquired by Frontier or something.

This is a prime example of where I'd just book what I needed on UA (or whatever) and deal with it later.
Give AA one chance, then go DOT on them while filing against your travel insurance.

Submitted to AA CR for the following:

1. 50% refund of the total fare (submitted what posted as justification)
2. Downgrade refund for the segment
3. Approx $300 for incidentals which included rental car changes, gas, meals, wifi.

https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/mil...tus-match.html
https://www.southwest.com/rapid-rewa.../status-match/

Please let us know what they come back to you with. Will be good as a data point for others in the future.

This is a perfect example of why the US needs a UK261/EC261 compensation scheme. It's the only way the airlines can be truly held to account when they screw up. We seemed to be moving in that direction in the prior administration but no more.

How dare you promulgate such socialist ideals - this is 'Murica durmmit!

Wow that's terrible!

I'm also confused about how you were able to fly home. Did you have them clean up the itin or was it so screwed up it let you check in at LEX? Obviously you could've bought a 2nd walk up fare on UA but hindsight is 20/20. I'd have kept my "orig" itin too!

Update-

AA offered me

1. 25k miles
2. A refund of the first part of the ticket - apparently they didnt process all of the refund
3. An offer of meals incidentals. Apparently as I "chose" to fly elsewhere, transport isnt counted.

im going to call BS on #3 and push back. I did not choose willingly to cancel and book elsewhere, AA's insane delay and refusal to offer reasonable alternatives was.

Meanwhile, my streak is now 4/18 for on time or reasonably on time. Im delayed, which led to a 10 minute connection in DFW (and skylink is down). GA was an absolute ... trying to force a checked bag. I pushed through and lo and behold, my bag is above 1D/F.

On the upside, the crew on both flights today have been absolutely excellent.

Good they offered more given the situation. However, trying to get them to pay for another carrier when you rebook yourself is a stretch. If AA puts you on another carrier then it is different (I had that happen once). As to the 4 of 18 streak, that was about my success rate 2 years ago and wrote them many times for compensation. I also strongly criticized the rolling 20 minute delay tactic as it prevented me from making earlier decisions had I known the rolling delays would have ended up moving from 9pm to the next day 7am.

I am happy to say (knock on wood) they have been about time for virtually every flight this year I have taken.