Last edit by: footastic
Sequence of events:
American Airlines (AA) Brazil website misprices revenue tickets in initial calculation on purchase page. Repricing the same reservation by changing billing country resulted in the correct price, even when reverting to Brazil.
Vast majority of tickets appear to have gone unticketed for ~1 week. It appears that tickets were issued manually, not automatically.
AA states repeatedly and to several outlets that they will unconditionally honor all fares.
AA begins cancelling tickets. Subsequently, they send out cancellation emails implying that the "country of residence" was misrepresented. Of course, this is not the case, as AA never actually asks for the "country of residence" but the billing address which includes the country of the billing address.
Since AA repeatedly and publicly stated that they would unconditionally honor the tickets, even when specifically asked about it, many purchasers relied upon AA's representations and made non-refundable plans. DoT regulations require airlines to reimburse purchasers who relied upon mistake fares to make non-refundable plans. It may be worth writing into the US Department of Transportation (DoT) to complain about AA's handling of the situation and ask for compensation even without having non-refundable reservations, because AA went to great lengths to assure purchasers that tickets would be unconditionally honored.
DoT air travel complaint form: http://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm
DoT air travel complaint mailing address:
Aviation Consumer Protection Division, C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590
DoT air travel complain phone line information:
You may call the ACPD 24 hours a day at 202-366-2220 (TTY 202-366-0511) to record your complaint. Calls are returned Monday through Friday, generally between 7:30 am and 5:00 pm Eastern time.
As mentioned by classyflyer and posted by pb9997, if your flight had some kind of legal nexus within Brazil, their consumer protections should apply to your ticket. Here is the contact information for the relevant consumer protection agencies within Brazil. Please be clear in your communication and REMEMBER TO SUBMIT YOUR COMMUNICATIONS IN PORTUGESE.
To translate your communications before submitting them:
http://translate.google.com
www.reclameaqui.com.br
Quote from pb9997: "This site is known to be the most popular, most viewed upon by companies who care about reputation; Though not official, it has proven to be the most respected by consumers and corporations, who may delay answers on their own channels but do take care to have teams focused on answering for this public site. Information written, from both parties, is public."
www.consumidor.gov.br
Quote again from pb9997: "This is the official PROCON site where consumers and companies present their complaints and arguments. It is official, additional care ought to be taken.
I would highly suggest following the order presented; With the first site the company has room to assess impact, prepare an amiable answer and protect their public reputation.
On the second site... well, it's official and what is written by both parties is the basis to act afterwards in a court of law. Ideally the complaint presented should have the Law that explains why a consumer has been impacted and the expected remedy, according [sic] to the Law."
As of 9/8/15 - Individuals who had tickets cancelled in the first round (8/28) have yet to see refunds post to credit cards.
Feel free to update this Wiki with more complete information.
American Airlines (AA) Brazil website misprices revenue tickets in initial calculation on purchase page. Repricing the same reservation by changing billing country resulted in the correct price, even when reverting to Brazil.
Vast majority of tickets appear to have gone unticketed for ~1 week. It appears that tickets were issued manually, not automatically.
AA states repeatedly and to several outlets that they will unconditionally honor all fares.
AA begins cancelling tickets. Subsequently, they send out cancellation emails implying that the "country of residence" was misrepresented. Of course, this is not the case, as AA never actually asks for the "country of residence" but the billing address which includes the country of the billing address.
Since AA repeatedly and publicly stated that they would unconditionally honor the tickets, even when specifically asked about it, many purchasers relied upon AA's representations and made non-refundable plans. DoT regulations require airlines to reimburse purchasers who relied upon mistake fares to make non-refundable plans. It may be worth writing into the US Department of Transportation (DoT) to complain about AA's handling of the situation and ask for compensation even without having non-refundable reservations, because AA went to great lengths to assure purchasers that tickets would be unconditionally honored.
DoT air travel complaint form: http://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm
DoT air travel complaint mailing address:
Aviation Consumer Protection Division, C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590
DoT air travel complain phone line information:
You may call the ACPD 24 hours a day at 202-366-2220 (TTY 202-366-0511) to record your complaint. Calls are returned Monday through Friday, generally between 7:30 am and 5:00 pm Eastern time.
As mentioned by classyflyer and posted by pb9997, if your flight had some kind of legal nexus within Brazil, their consumer protections should apply to your ticket. Here is the contact information for the relevant consumer protection agencies within Brazil. Please be clear in your communication and REMEMBER TO SUBMIT YOUR COMMUNICATIONS IN PORTUGESE.
To translate your communications before submitting them:
http://translate.google.com
www.reclameaqui.com.br
Quote from pb9997: "This site is known to be the most popular, most viewed upon by companies who care about reputation; Though not official, it has proven to be the most respected by consumers and corporations, who may delay answers on their own channels but do take care to have teams focused on answering for this public site. Information written, from both parties, is public."
www.consumidor.gov.br
Quote again from pb9997: "This is the official PROCON site where consumers and companies present their complaints and arguments. It is official, additional care ought to be taken.
I would highly suggest following the order presented; With the first site the company has room to assess impact, prepare an amiable answer and protect their public reputation.
On the second site... well, it's official and what is written by both parties is the basis to act afterwards in a court of law. Ideally the complaint presented should have the Law that explains why a consumer has been impacted and the expected remedy, according [sic] to the Law."
As of 9/8/15 - Individuals who had tickets cancelled in the first round (8/28) have yet to see refunds post to credit cards.
Feel free to update this Wiki with more complete information.
[PREM FARE GONE] AA: GIG/GRU- multiple locations (HKG/LAX/MIA/SFO ETC) ~$200 Y ~$360
#376
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: LGA/EWR/JFK
Programs: AA EXP, Amex Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 311
#377
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: BRU, AMS
Programs: Miles & More, FlyingBlue, Iberia Plus Gold
Posts: 485
Nothing ticketed here. Little shocked about this one. I was so convinced it would not go through I didn't spend proper time using this.
Oh man .. had I know. This and the CLP version.
Anyway I am waiting for a SEA-HNL-SEA in A and a GIG-JFK-HKG in refundable J on the CX codeshare...
Oh man .. had I know. This and the CLP version.
Anyway I am waiting for a SEA-HNL-SEA in A and a GIG-JFK-HKG in refundable J on the CX codeshare...
#379
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
Programs: AA EXP BA Gold, TK Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AS 100K, QR PLT, SAS Gold, IHG Spire, AMR
Posts: 5,899
My AA Aviator Mastercard flagged my 3 booking charges for possible fraud. I see them all on my account as temporary authorizations, but can someone tell me if I need to call AA to ensure these get pushed through? And could it be AA in the US or do I have to call AA Brazil?
You should really call your credit card company.
#380
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
Programs: AA EXP BA Gold, TK Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AS 100K, QR PLT, SAS Gold, IHG Spire, AMR
Posts: 5,899
As happy as we all are about this and are spending a ton of time figuring our what itn will be ticketed next, can you all consider spending 5 minutes using social media and play this up for AA?
Let them know that we appreciate their decision. We are big on complaining, but this is HUGE deal and AA is truly being a good guy here. Let them know that this will have a positive impact on loyalty and future, regular fare bookings.
We should support and encourage the behavior we want to see again in the future, not only from AA but also from other carriers.
LX screwed many of us with the RGN deal, UA screwed all of us with the Great Dane deal and AA honored this worldwide sale ^^^
Let them know that we appreciate their decision. We are big on complaining, but this is HUGE deal and AA is truly being a good guy here. Let them know that this will have a positive impact on loyalty and future, regular fare bookings.
We should support and encourage the behavior we want to see again in the future, not only from AA but also from other carriers.
LX screwed many of us with the RGN deal, UA screwed all of us with the Great Dane deal and AA honored this worldwide sale ^^^
#381
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,852
As happy as we all are about this and are spending a ton of time figuring our what itn will be ticketed next, can you all consider spending 5 minutes using social media and play this up for AA?
Let them know that we appreciate their decision. We are big on complaining, but this is HUGE deal and AA is truly being a good guy here. Let them know that this will have a positive impact on loyalty and future, regular fare bookings.
We should support and encourage the behavior we want to see again in the future, not only from AA but also from other carriers.
LX screwed many of us with the RGN deal, UA screwed all of us with the Great Dane deal and AA honored this worldwide sale ^^^
Let them know that we appreciate their decision. We are big on complaining, but this is HUGE deal and AA is truly being a good guy here. Let them know that this will have a positive impact on loyalty and future, regular fare bookings.
We should support and encourage the behavior we want to see again in the future, not only from AA but also from other carriers.
LX screwed many of us with the RGN deal, UA screwed all of us with the Great Dane deal and AA honored this worldwide sale ^^^
#382
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: madam's organ
Posts: 269
Delta- yep already done, and I am planning on switching from ua whenever possible (partially because I just flew through dfw and the amex lounge is great).
On the other hand I'm still not ticketed on an 8 leg 4 stopover combo of aa,cx,jl first. But my fingers are crossed since it's not till middle of next year and my guess one of the more convoluted itins.
On the other hand I'm still not ticketed on an 8 leg 4 stopover combo of aa,cx,jl first. But my fingers are crossed since it's not till middle of next year and my guess one of the more convoluted itins.
Last edited by citsfo; Aug 22, 2015 at 6:55 am
#383
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: is everything...but...
Programs: dont matter anymore...
Posts: 3,019
As happy as we all are about this and are spending a ton of time figuring our what itn will be ticketed next, can you all consider spending 5 minutes using social media and play this up for AA?
Let them know that we appreciate their decision. We are big on complaining, but this is HUGE deal and AA is truly being a good guy here. Let them know that this will have a positive impact on loyalty and future, regular fare bookings.
Let them know that we appreciate their decision. We are big on complaining, but this is HUGE deal and AA is truly being a good guy here. Let them know that this will have a positive impact on loyalty and future, regular fare bookings.
I'm still shocked AA honored this Ex-US considering the recent United fiasco.
#384
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BOS
Posts: 107
Quite upset. I had a flight scheduled for this morning. Ticket was pending as of last night. I called AA and they said they would honor the fare but couldnt take payment over the phone. They said as long as I go to an agent during check in they will be able to take payment to process the BRL fare. Show up to the airport this morning and the agent refused to help. Called customer service and they said they will not honor this as it needs to be purchased with a Brazilian address in Brazil. On purchased I used a US credit card and put Brazil as country of residence. No charges.
#385
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
Programs: AA EXP BA Gold, TK Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AS 100K, QR PLT, SAS Gold, IHG Spire, AMR
Posts: 5,899
#386
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Springfield, VA
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, AA EXP, Alaska MVP 75
Posts: 436
Exactly, and I don't even know if they were under Brazilian law since tickets were not issued but put on hold (plus, I'm not a Brazilian lawyer). Also remember we typically moan about airlines even when they do something allowed by law so please be nice and give them kudos for coming through.
Well done AA!! ^^
Well done AA!! ^^
#387
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Midwest
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 401
Exactly, and I don't even know if they were under Brazilian law since tickets were not issued but put on hold (plus, I'm not a Brazilian lawyer). Also remember we typically moan about airlines even when they do something allowed by law so please be nice and give them kudos for coming through.
Well done AA!! ^^
Well done AA!! ^^
I only booked two, both still pending ex-USA. Used Brazillian address (same as on my US credit card billing)
#389
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVP 75K, DL Diamond, LH SEN, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 2,360
#390
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062