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[PREM FARE GONE] AA: GIG/GRU- multiple locations (HKG/LAX/MIA/SFO ETC) ~$200 Y ~$360

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Old Aug 31, 2015, 9:17 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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.
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[PREM FARE GONE] AA: GIG/GRU- multiple locations (HKG/LAX/MIA/SFO ETC) ~$200 Y ~$360

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Old Aug 22, 2015, 6:13 am
  #376  
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: LGA/EWR/JFK
Programs: AA EXP, Amex Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 311
Originally Posted by sinus
Anyone with "Ticket pending" tried to call to issue it immediately? I'm struggling, to call or not to call...
Unless your flights are booked for the next few days, there is no need to call.
DLinYUL is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2015, 6:30 am
  #377  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: BRU, AMS
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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...
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Old Aug 22, 2015, 6:32 am
  #378  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,852
Originally Posted by DLinYUL
Alright. All mine have ticketed, including GRU-JFK-HKG in AA/CX F.
Nice!

Last edited by mlqsko; Aug 22, 2015 at 6:51 am
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Old Aug 22, 2015, 6:34 am
  #379  
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
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Posts: 5,899
Originally Posted by DLinYUL
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.
Deltahater is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2015, 6:38 am
  #380  
 
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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 ^^^
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Old Aug 22, 2015, 6:45 am
  #381  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,852
Originally Posted by Deltahater
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 ^^^
Umm, AA had no choice here as per the post about the BR transportation regulations?
mlqsko is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2015, 6:46 am
  #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.

Last edited by citsfo; Aug 22, 2015 at 6:55 am
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Old Aug 22, 2015, 6:52 am
  #383  
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Join Date: May 2001
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Originally Posted by Deltahater
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.
+1

I'm still shocked AA honored this Ex-US considering the recent United fiasco.
flipside is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2015, 6:53 am
  #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.
patriots12 is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2015, 7:03 am
  #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
Originally Posted by mlqsko
Umm, AA had no choice here as per the post about the BR transportation regulations?
AA was under no obligation to honor ex-USA tickets.
Deltahater is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2015, 7:08 am
  #386  
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Springfield, VA
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, AA EXP, Alaska MVP 75
Posts: 436
Originally Posted by Deltahater
AA was under no obligation to honor ex-USA tickets.
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!! ^^
amiras is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2015, 7:17 am
  #387  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Midwest
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Posts: 401
Originally Posted by amiras
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!! ^^
I'll say well done when mine are ticketed, and even then, I'll temper my "AA" enthusiasm as I'll consider this their peace offering after giving me a broken first class seat to SCL a few weeks ago (would go lay flat nor fully upright...it was awful) that they did not make right.

I only booked two, both still pending ex-USA. Used Brazillian address (same as on my US credit card billing)
thepaul500 is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2015, 8:15 am
  #388  
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP/2mm, SPG Gold
Posts: 424
Has anyone tried to evip the J fares into F? I want to do this on a ex-USA one, but worried they will cancel it or flag it as non-miles-earning even though it is ticketed.
emcat is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2015, 8:19 am
  #389  
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVP 75K, DL Diamond, LH SEN, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 2,360
Originally Posted by emcat
Has anyone tried to evip the J fares into F? I want to do this on a ex-USA one, but worried they will cancel it or flag it as non-miles-earning even though it is ticketed.
Yes. Already flew the outbound with no issues.
BryanIAH is offline  
Old Aug 22, 2015, 8:28 am
  #390  
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Join Date: Aug 2011
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Originally Posted by mlqsko
We need more transport regulations like the Brazilian ones!

Congrats all.
Brazilian regulations on almost everything are EXTREMELY friendly to the average consumer.
TheBOSman is offline  


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