Passenger rights when a xONEx segment is cancelled
 

I’m currently midway through a DONE3, issued on CX stock. In October, AA canceled a late-December segment on which I had a confirmed ticketed reservation. Alternative flights were unsatisfactory to me. Notably, AA’s cancellation was part of ad hoc holiday schedule adjustments – cutting unpopular flights during winter holidays. So this is a classic context of cancellation for the carrier’s convenience (profit!), not weather, mechanical, etc.

I’m trying to figure out what my rights are. Clearly I can reissue to a different routing. Probably I can convince CX to waive the usual reissue fee.

On an ordinary paid ticket, I’ve always been of the view that a schedule change with no reasonable alternative (e.g. no alternative within 2 hours) or flight cancellation entitles a passenger to a refund to the original form of payment. For an entirely unused ticket, the refund would be for the full purchase price. For a partially-used ticket, I believe I’ve always received pro-rated tickets (refund in proportion to the distance of segments flown). But it’s hard to find a source of authority that requires this outcome.

The xONEx rules don’t say anything on point. The xONEx rules include provisions for cancellations, but only speak to cancellations a customer requests.

The Cathay Conditions of Carriage say: “If, after you purchase your Ticket, we make a significant change to the scheduled flight time, which is not acceptable to you, and we are unable to book you on an alternate flight which is acceptable to you, you will be entitled to a refund in accordance with Article 11.” (section 10.1) That sounds promising. But then within the section on involuntary refunds, 11.2.2 says “if a portion of the Ticket has been used, the refund will be not less than the difference between the fare paid and the applicable fare for travel between the points for which the Ticket has been used.” I’ve flown roughly 2/3 of the DONE3, and there is no single “applicable fare” for the flights I’ve flown. Assemble an “applicable fare” out of point-to-point full fares and obviously the cost would be well more than the full amount charged for the entire DONE3. On the other hand, Cathay says the refund will be “not less than” that amount (zero), but it could be more, and indeed in my view it absolutely should be more.

Has anyone here faced such a question? Thoughts on passengers’ rights in this situation? I know it would be easiest to reissue to a different routing, but I’d like to explore my other options -- and if a cancellation with pro-rated refund is among my options, as provided by law and/or contract, that's something I'l want to think about. Of course I’ll shortly be inquiring with Cathay, but I’d like to be well prepared for that discussion.

I think that you've got a problem. First, from your quote from the Conditions of Carriage above, note the "we" used (highlighted in red). CX hasn't made any changes to the flight schedule. That might get them out of liability. Second, if they charge you regular fares for the flights you've flown, that could easily exceed the entire DONE3 fare, depending on routing, etc.

Not sure what to say, other than that you do seem to have an interesting problem.

I've had flights canceled midway through an XONEX and just got re-accommodated with a re-issue, and also received original routing mileage credit if the new mileage was less than previously.

I'd be surprised if CX would see this as grounds for any kind of refund, although you certainly should have any taxes and/or fuel fines previously paid refunded. And I'm not enough of an expert on various tariff conventions to know if any "rights" come into play; frankly I'd doubt it. I seem to recall that there were a lot of XONEX pax in a similar pickle a few years ago when CX scrubbed all their flights into CMB during the troubles in Sri Lanka. I don't remember anyone getting refunds in that case, but a wander through the FT archives might be productive.

My experience

I had CX-issued XONEX including MX's YYZ-MEX segment.
As you all know, that flight was canceled.
CX offered altnative AA's YYZ-DFW-MEX flights without change fee.
I don't know that altnative routing can be over 16 segments limit.

Yes it can

On our LONE4 in 2008/2009 we were booked on QF's BOM-SYD flight, and QF ceased flying it a few months before we due to fly it

QF booked us onto BOM-xSIN-SYD, which meant we had 17 segments on our RTW and 5 of those segments were now in Asia - all at no charge to us

My recent DONE4 had an AA flight reschedule (not cancellation) make a connection impossible. No refund but I was able to reroute at no cost. I was not permitted to exceed 16 segments though.

I had an LONE4 in 2008 issued by QF. One of the last flights was to be NRT-MEL. After ticket issue, but before departure, QF canned the NRT-MEL route. I was rerouted through SYD and had 17 sectors as a result. That changed the e-ticket to a paper ticket.

(and then during the trip, issues in BKK with riots and airport shutdowns caused another reroute and a second reissue back to an e-ticket).

You can't book more then 16 sectors or more then the permitted sectors per area but if the airline changes something, they can and do ignore any ticket rules in order to re-accommodate.

+1. I flew a DONE3 with 17 segments as a result of airline cancellation & re-route.

Thanks for all the experiences. I completely credit what you've described as typical carrier actions -- what a carrier or issuer will offer -- when there is a flight cancellation or significant schedule change. No doubt a reissue -- even with a 17th segment if needed -- is what they tend to encourage.

But is that truly a passenger's only option? The Cathay COC language I quoted does seem to provide for a refund in case of significant schedule change. AA offers a similar statement ("schedule change unacceptable to customer"). And I am certain that when AA has made unacceptable schedule changes on my prior tickets, partially used, I have received pro rata refunds. I'd still like to find some authority saying that Cathay must offer such a refund, if a passenger so requests.

Thanks for these thoughts, Dr. HFH. My initial views here:

"We" should include the ticketing airline's partners, vendors, and service partners. Cathay acted on their behalf when it sold me this ticket. As an alliance member and codeshare partner, AA has a particularly strong relationship with Cathay.

Point-to-point full fares are, in my view, an unreasonable basis for calculating a fare difference. For one, the ticket I booked had additional restrictions not present on full fares -- for example, lower booking inventory, restricting on routing, reissue fee, etc. Furthermore, using full fares is manifestly unjust: After my first long-haul segment, Cathay would be able to argue that the full fare for that single segment exceeded the amount I had paid -- such that, on the reasoning you proposed, Cathay and its partners could cancel all my further flights without my being entitled to any refund at all. In my view, this demonstrates why the proposed approach of calculating a fare difference using full fares is inappropriate and impermissible, in the case of a cancellation due to schedule change / carrier cancellation. (Clearly cancellations at a customer's request are quite a different matter, and not what we're discussing here.)

I certainly see your point. I think that this is actually an interesting problem. (I'm a litigator.) However, I doubt that a sales agent would be responsible for the actions of the party whom it represented. An analogous situation might be if you booked a hotel through a travel agency and the hotel overbooked. The hotel has responsibility, but I doubt that the agency does. On the other hand, I also see this as not so clear cut. Please let us know what action(s) you take, if any, and your progress.

Even if the issuing carriers CoC says something, you're still bound by the fare rules.

But this refers to the refund due if the passenger cancels the ticket after commencement of journey - it doesn't really clarify the OP's situation where the carrier cancels a confirmed segment. But equally I have no answer.

The airline has cancelled a sector and a rerouted journey has been offered

An actually cancellation of the ticket would have to be initiated by the passenger and , depending on how much of journey has been undertaken already , once a fare for the actual journey undertaken is calculated could find that there is not much of a refund due

What you have not disclosed is what the segment cancelled is and what AA offered you.
Did you suggest any re route that was acceptable to you ?
How long after October were you aware of the change ? [that's 3 months ago]

AA should be able to reissue. Only before the first flight do you need to deal with the ticket issuer only