AA schedule changes - flight change / cancellation / refund policy (consolidated)
 

Basically, I booked a business class trip (Non-refundable) in October (on the AA website) of last year, which over the space of around two months changed six times by which point did not resemble my original booking in the slightest (Included a 8 hour stop in LHR), and as there were no other options, I received a refund.

I then used this refund to buy another business class flight (again, on the AA website), which again in the three weeks since booking has changed four times. My main problem is that I am returning via JFK on a BA flight that I have only just noticed is a sleeper service, as when booking via the AA website it does not warn you or have any reference to the fact that it is a sleeper service (unlike the BA website), which I feel is somewhat underhand (I will be arriving via a transcon service meaning it is unlikely I will have much time if any; to eat in the lounge). Also, I have recently been alerted by the Myflights app that the flight (BA114) has been switched from a 747 to a 772 4 class, which only has the one larger business class cabin (I had picked the 747 for the reason that as I suffer from crowd based anxiety, I would prefer to be away from larger groups of people, and so either the UD or smaller forward cabin would be better suited for me). There is also a third problem that I happen to have a 32 min layover in PHX, which I don't feel is enough (although AA states that it should be).

So my question is, are these factors sufficient to ask for a refund, and is it likely that I will be hit with fees?

There are no factors sufficient to ask for a refund. You just ask.

If you can share with us the flight times you bought and the flight times you've currently got booked, it would be much easier to determine whether you'd have grounds for a refund. ShortDog's response is a bit reductive without knowing the extent of the schedule changes.

Although I agree the OP is somewhat incomprehensible, as-is, this answer makes no sense-- there are specific parameters.

I think the point was that you can always ask. There are parameters for AA to regularly grant this request, but you can always get lucky.

Back to OP's question, you can ask, but it doesn't sound likely that you will get the answer you like. As other posters suggested, do post your flights but

* MCT is MCT, if AA think you can make the connection in 32 minutes then they won't refund your booking for that

* you're booking a class of service, not a particular seat or aircraft. If you cannot fly on a BA 777 in club, then better not book a BA long-haul flights - equipment swaps do happen on a regular basis. I'm sure they will just refer you to conditions of carriage or whatever.

Let me be extremely clear: if the OP's schedule changed sufficiently, a refund is in order. Not "regularly", not "lucky", but due to the customer according to AA's own policies. An aircraft change isn't enough to trigger it, nor is just a short connection, but the overall schedule change could push the OP into refund territory, and the actual flight times would be needed to know this. Of course if someone asks for something that's not owed within the rules someone could extend a courtesy, but to my mind the question to be answered here is whether a refund is due under AA's own rules.

A change in operating carrier (including between different commuter carriers) is also grounds for being entitled to a full refund. It's a DOT rule.

Sorry about that my thought process started somewhere and went the longest way possible. As for the flight times;

Original Booking: 1:36PM IAD-CLT-LAX-DEN 11:29PM.
Replaced with: 9:20AM IAD-CLT-DEN 1:36PM

I was unhappy with that replacement as I will be in crystal city, so I thought that getting to IAD could be a problem early in the morning. I phoned up to ask if there was anything later (there wasn't, so I asked about DCA of which I was told there were a couple, but I would have to pay. During that phone call, the lady put the phone down midway through. The next day I discovered that my booking had changed as follows;

12:10PM DCA-DFW-DEN 4:45PM

I have to admit I was somewhat irritated that she had changed the routing when she was only supposed to be checking it. Equally, all the replacement routes are at least £300 cheaper to buy as opposed to what I had originally paid for, but when I phoned up the first time I was told I couldn't get any money refunded until after the flights.

As the OP identified a change from a 747 to a 4-class 777, I'm assuming these are BA flights as AA does not operate the 747 and BA 777s are 4-classes (F, J, PE, Y) while AA 77s are either F/J/Y (don't think MCE is considered a 4th class) or J/Y.

Wait... am I missing something or was the original request about international travel?

In any event, the change you were initially faced with in the post I quoted above would have allowed a refund, however it depends on whether they count the change that was made to leave from DCA to be a voluntary reroute which you'd accepted. If you never said "yes" to those flights, then I think you've an argument to make that you reject this option and would like a refund as they can't get you to DEN within 2 hours of your initial flights, but again I'm a bit confused about which flights we're discussing (which may well be my fault).

I'm totally confused too. The OP stated in #1:

The last post from the OP doesn't reference any BA flights OR a layover in PHX. So I'm not sure what question we're supposed to be helping with.... :confused:

You are not missing anything ;) , I merely left out the segments that have not changed as of yet.

As I was simply asking if it would be possible to change (so that I would not have to wait in Denver with a suitcase), I never said yes, nor did I give them permission to change it. I suppose I did phone up afterwards to confirm that the PHX connection was legal and may have also confirmed that the IAD had changed to DCA(and expressed some annoyance in that it had changed without my permission, although the representative failed to acknowledge that point).

To clear this up I will include All of the flights ( Sorry If I miss one, there are a few)

7:20AM BRU-LHR-IAD 1:45PM
The following day12:10PM DCA-DFW-DEN 4:45PM
The following week 6AM DEN-PHX(MCT)-LAX-JFK(777 and Sleeper service points)-LHR-DUB 1PM(+1)

I suspect it's unlikely AA will make a schedule change solely because of an equipment change or a modified meal service (IME, even on the overnight LAX-LHR on AA, J service is different than the daytime LHR-LAX flight).

The contract of carriage is to get you from your origin to your destination. If you're concerned about equipment changes, perhaps it's best to book pricier refundable fares that you can change based on your travel requirements.

To my mind this comes down to how delayed you are at your destination: in this case it's DEN, so if they can't get you to DEN within 2 hours of when you'd booked without forcing you to leave earlier than you initially booked, you should be able to request a refund. As MSPeconomist also pointed out, if they changed the operating carrier on you, and cannot get you back to the originally booked operating carrier without putting you more than 2 hours late, you should also be entitled to a refund. I hope this helps.