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
#1051
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Springfield, VA
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, AA EXP, Alaska MVP 75
Posts: 436
#1053
#1054
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Springfield, VA
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, AA EXP, Alaska MVP 75
Posts: 436
Just called and the agent told me the cancellation was due to a currency conversion issue. Then put me on hold and changed the story and said it was due to paying with a US CC on the Brazilian AA site. After that, he hung up on me. Great.
#1055
I think calling is not worth it at this point.. Theres not really a consistent explaination. If its a mistake why honor for limited folks.. if its a conversion issue they might open themselves up to lawsuits. AA has to clearly define this (the note regarding cancellations is not even consistent with what they are saying on the phone now)
I guess one of my 4 rez is safe -
CC- Corprate
Brazilian - Address
Other 3 (cancelled ones)
CC - personal US
Brazilian - Address (on my card profiles as a secondary address)
I guess one of my 4 rez is safe -
CC- Corprate
Brazilian - Address
Other 3 (cancelled ones)
CC - personal US
Brazilian - Address (on my card profiles as a secondary address)
#1057
Join Date: May 2015
Programs: BAEC, AAdvantage, AMEX Plat
Posts: 108
My 2x itineraries are still showing up as ticketed. One touches Brazil; both paid with US CC with a US address and country = Brazil.
Is anyone else still in the same boat, or should I assume that AA forgot about canceling mine and pop open a bottle of champagne?
Is anyone else still in the same boat, or should I assume that AA forgot about canceling mine and pop open a bottle of champagne?
#1058
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: ATL
Posts: 127
However, mine took quite a while to ticket (about 3-4 days) so for now I'm leaving the champagne corked and operating under the assumption they're cancelling in the order they were ticketed, and that mine will be up pretty soon.
Has anybody been cancelled the past couple days?
#1059
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York
Programs: AA EXP - 2MM, NYC-MetroCard,
Posts: 207
I'm in a similar boat...only 1 itinerary though, never touches Brazil. Paid the same method you used, and still showing ticketed.
However, mine took quite a while to ticket (about 3-4 days) so for now I'm leaving the champagne corked and operating under the assumption they're cancelling in the order they were ticketed, and that mine will be up pretty soon.
Has anybody been cancelled the past couple days?
However, mine took quite a while to ticket (about 3-4 days) so for now I'm leaving the champagne corked and operating under the assumption they're cancelling in the order they were ticketed, and that mine will be up pretty soon.
Has anybody been cancelled the past couple days?
#1061
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: ATL
Posts: 127
#1062
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 845
Same here, both my tickets alive, even though AA started to cancel tickets about a week ago.
I dont know how much longer I should wait, as I get closer to departure and need to book hotels for my stay.
EDIT: Also AA charged my twice for one of my tickets. I want to call back to solve that and get the money back, however dont know if I mess up something if I do that.
#1063
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: ATL
Posts: 127
Same here, both my tickets alive, even though AA started to cancel tickets about a week ago.
I dont know how much longer I should wait, as I get closer to departure and need to book hotels for my stay.
EDIT: Also AA charged my twice for one of my tickets. I want to call back to solve that and get the money back, however dont know if I mess up something if I do that.
I dont know how much longer I should wait, as I get closer to departure and need to book hotels for my stay.
EDIT: Also AA charged my twice for one of my tickets. I want to call back to solve that and get the money back, however dont know if I mess up something if I do that.
If you do end up calling AA, please post back and let us know if interaction with them messed up anything on your itinerary.
Last edited by TravelingFitzMe; Sep 3, 2015 at 8:48 am
#1064
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,047
Same here, both my tickets alive, even though AA started to cancel tickets about a week ago.
I dont know how much longer I should wait, as I get closer to departure and need to book hotels for my stay.
EDIT: Also AA charged my twice for one of my tickets. I want to call back to solve that and get the money back, however dont know if I mess up something if I do that.
I dont know how much longer I should wait, as I get closer to departure and need to book hotels for my stay.
EDIT: Also AA charged my twice for one of my tickets. I want to call back to solve that and get the money back, however dont know if I mess up something if I do that.
#1065
Join Date: May 2015
Programs: BAEC, AAdvantage, AMEX Plat
Posts: 108
I am pretty sure this theory is wrong. A friend of mine booked two itineraries after I did mine. Both were the exact same as mine - same dates, flights and class of travel. He got a cancellation email 4 days ago. My itineraries are still alive.
I have to add lap infants to both my flights. At this rate, I'ma wait out September and try to add the infant in October. First flight is not until Feb. If my itineraries survive until then, I am hoping we might be okay.
Has anyone had any cancellation emails come through this week? It seems that a ton of people got it around Friday and the weekend, but I haven't seen anyone get any cancellations since Monday.
I have to add lap infants to both my flights. At this rate, I'ma wait out September and try to add the infant in October. First flight is not until Feb. If my itineraries survive until then, I am hoping we might be okay.
Has anyone had any cancellation emails come through this week? It seems that a ton of people got it around Friday and the weekend, but I haven't seen anyone get any cancellations since Monday.