Oct 28, 2015, 12:22 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
AA schedule changes - free flight change / cancellation / refund
The latest change policy may be read here (Thanks to MRP Alert for resource link.)
The above link appears to be broken. The latest change policy, as of June 13, 2023, can be found here.
As of March 2022:
NOTE: The Detailed Fare Rules for your ticket(s) details refundability, etc. You can read (and print to PDF, etc.) before you purchase. Regardless of fare title (Refundable, Flexible, etc.) you should read these prior to purchase.
Older posts may be read here.
The latest change policy may be read here (Thanks to MRP Alert for resource link.)
The above link appears to be broken. The latest change policy, as of June 13, 2023, can be found here.
As of March 2022:
- Limited changes allowed if schedule change is 60 minutes or less.
- More flexibility if schedule change is 61 minutes or more.
- Refunds on non-refundable fares typically require a schedule change of 241 minutes or more.
NOTE: The Detailed Fare Rules for your ticket(s) details refundability, etc. You can read (and print to PDF, etc.) before you purchase. Regardless of fare title (Refundable, Flexible, etc.) you should read these prior to purchase.
beachfan has shared:
I believe if it's an equipment swap, to a less desirable plane (I.e, 777 to 738) then yes, full refund, otherwise it's 120 minutes. One Mile at a Time blog covered this and referred to the contract of carriage (or whatever the linked document is called; it's titled general rules).
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...irplane-change
International Tariff (March 2023)
International General Rules
I believe if it's an equipment swap, to a less desirable plane (I.e, 777 to 738) then yes, full refund, otherwise it's 120 minutes. One Mile at a Time blog covered this and referred to the contract of carriage (or whatever the linked document is called; it's titled general rules).
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...irplane-change
International Tariff (March 2023)
International General Rules
Code:
SCHEDULE CHANGE IN THE EVENT, AFTER TICKET ISSUANCE, SCHEDULE CHANGES ARE MADE BY AA THAT: (I) AFFECT A PASSENGER'S DEPARTURE AND/OR ARRIVAL BY 2 OR MORE HOURS; (II) RESULT IN THE ADDITION OF AN INTERMEDIATE STOP ON THE PASSENGER'S ITINERARY; (III) RESULT IN A SUBSTITUTION OF EQUIPMENT NOT ACCEPTABLE TO THE PASSENGER; OR (IV) IF A CANCELLATION OR A CHANGE IN EITHER AIR OR TOUR ITINERARY IS INITIATED EITHER BY AA OR IT'S TOUR OPERATORS WHICH IS UNACCEPTABLE TO THE PASSENGER, THE PASSENGER WILL HAVE THE OPTION OF CANCELLING WITHOUT PENALTY, OR REROUTING ON DIFFERENT FLIGHTS TO/FROM THE SAME OR DIFFERENT DESTINATION. HOWEVER, THE PASSENGER MUST PAY ANY ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS RESULTING FROM THE REROUTING.
AA schedule changes - flight change / cancellation / refund policy (consolidated)
Nov 18, 2021, 7:02 pm
#1051
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: C1, C1.5 C2
Programs: aa ua dl jb starwood marriott hyatt
Posts: 442
Nov 18, 2021, 7:03 pm
#1052
Join Date: Sep 2020
Programs: AA EXP, BA Gold, VS Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,948
Nov 19, 2021, 7:01 am
#1053
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,486
Or just call AA, unfortunately it is still rather common for points not to go back automatically in some cases, a phone agent can typically move things along.
Nov 19, 2021, 8:09 am
#1054
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: C1, C1.5 C2
Programs: aa ua dl jb starwood marriott hyatt
Posts: 442
Fourth time on chat on AA website did it. Rep said points would drop in 72 hours. They already did.
Call lines were over 3 hours. Did learn the flight credit is the taxes and fees paid that one is supposed
to be able to use on a future flight but haven't tested it.
Call lines were over 3 hours. Did learn the flight credit is the taxes and fees paid that one is supposed
to be able to use on a future flight but haven't tested it.
Nov 19, 2021, 8:38 am
#1055
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Manhattan Beach, California
Programs: BMI Diamond Club Gold forever
Posts: 6,367
We had surprising luck with a Dec 2021 itinerary SEA-AMM/LCA-SEA originally booked with multiple extra connections and multiple overnights in both directions. But that was how we got Saaver biz for 5. Over time both outbound and return completely exploded due to segments being cancelled or retimed. We did have a few instances where the changes were 5-10 minutes shy of allowing the complete reroute and the computers/agents kept rebuilding preposterously complex routings to preserve the connections.
We now have SEA-LHR and LHR-SEA in both directions and best connections possible. Definitely pays to go with those horrendous saaver options that aa.com displays, especially during times where so many scheduling changes will occur.
We now have SEA-LHR and LHR-SEA in both directions and best connections possible. Definitely pays to go with those horrendous saaver options that aa.com displays, especially during times where so many scheduling changes will occur.
Nov 19, 2021, 9:02 am
#1056
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,353
Especially if AA changed/canceled flights, the taxes/fees should be refunded to your credit card or other form of payment, not a flight credit. Even on a voluntary redeposit, most airlines (UA I know for sure) refund those directly. You may need to press again to get that fixed.
Nov 19, 2021, 12:51 pm
#1057
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: The FT AA forum, until it no longer wants me.
Programs: CK or bust
Posts: 1,913
Taxes and carrier imposed fees on a award redemption are never returned as a flight credit and are always issued to the original form of payment.
Nov 19, 2021, 12:55 pm
#1058
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
Especially if AA changed/canceled flights, the taxes/fees should be refunded to your credit card or other form of payment, not a flight credit. Even on a voluntary redeposit, most airlines (UA I know for sure) refund those directly. You may need to press again to get that fixed.
Nov 19, 2021, 1:54 pm
#1059
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,551
This seems like a reasonable place to mention that Amex Travel is extremely difficult to deal with in regard to cancelled itineraries. If you have an itin that qualifies for a refund you can probably get it, but if you want to cancel and use the residual funds for another itin, it could be difficult, and triply difficult if you don't use the entire ticket value in booking a single trip. If you have serious concerns that you might eventually want to muck around with a trip, don't book with Amex. This isn't necessarily true if you will be OK with the rebooking. I booked LAS-DFW-PHL (booking the connection because the first leg was a 788 and I like the lie-flats) and LAS-DFW was cancelled, and they rebooked me on a nonstop which fortunately was around the same time.
Nov 19, 2021, 6:13 pm
#1061
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: C1, C1.5 C2
Programs: aa ua dl jb starwood marriott hyatt
Posts: 442
Maybe used to be that way but was given taxes and fees back as a flight credit. Was told when I have to pay taxes and fees for new award travel to apply flight credit to it. Will see how that works out when I rebook.
Nov 19, 2021, 6:56 pm
#1062
Join Date: Sep 2020
Programs: AA EXP, BA Gold, VS Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,948
I don’t think you can apply flight credits to award bookings?
Nov 20, 2021, 6:45 am
#1063
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: The FT AA forum, until it no longer wants me.
Programs: CK or bust
Posts: 1,913
Taxes and fees for award redemptions of any kind are always credited back to the original form of payment (you can easily verify this by asking any agent) and you would then need to pay for taxes and fees in a new redemption so the agent wasn't wrong on that count.
You may see a "no value" flight credit in your AA wallet while the actual award redemption taxes/fees refund is being processed but versus other flight credits that have a dollar value associated with them, it will no value and will automatically disappear once the refund is processed on AA's end.
Last edited by enpremiere; Nov 20, 2021 at 6:47 pm Reason: Clarification
Nov 20, 2021, 6:46 am
#1064
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: The FT AA forum, until it no longer wants me.
Programs: CK or bust
Posts: 1,913
Nov 20, 2021, 6:47 am
#1065
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: The FT AA forum, until it no longer wants me.
Programs: CK or bust
Posts: 1,913
Especially if AA changed/canceled flights, the taxes/fees should be refunded to your credit card or other form of payment, not a flight credit. Even on a voluntary redeposit, most airlines (UA I know for sure) refund those directly. You may need to press again to get that fixed.
The flight credit that you might see will show no value as it's a placeholder for the taxes and fees that will be refunded and disappears on its own once the actual refund is processed. Otherwise that would be a pretty big screwup on the agent's apart (and that system can't actually issue refunds that way anyway so if it really was an outlier case this involved a group higher than front line reservations and that still wasn't the correct procedure regardless).
Last edited by enpremiere; Nov 20, 2021 at 6:48 pm Reason: Second thought