Brazilgirl

All is good! My hubby was attending the conference , getting up before 7 every morning .....while I was in the lovely Soniat House Hotel on Frette linens , getting up whenever I desired. Then I would go out for some nice shopping and sightseeing , lunch at NOLA's best , while he was in a packed auditorium til 6 pm.

I got the better end of the deal.

Yes , TAM owes me the difference between a fare in First and Coach. That is what I expect .

Brazilgirl

End of the story...Tam gave me 21,000 of my 70,000 points back. Not a good result in my book. Am going to fly out of GRU next week and will visit the TAM store to see if I can do better personally.

iztok

You got GRU-CLT-MSY 5274 mi for 70k in C.

CLT-MSY (651 miles) was downgraded to Y) (12% of the miles).

You got 30% of your miles back.

How is that not good result?

Brazilgirl

Because the 70,000 miles used in the award ticket was only for the CLT/MSY portion of the trip. GRU/ CLT was a separate award ticket.

LowlyDLsilver

Curious if the 70K for the CLT-MSY was round trip - if so, you did pretty well as each leg is worth 35.

Brazilgirl

No , one way....i actually got my husband's ticket using UA miles for 25K in First. Much better deal than TAM's 70K. But the fare was $1200 one way at the time due to conference , so I used miles ( I had a surplas).

Biggie Fries

Well, this did happen on US, even if it is being "adjudicated" by AA, so rather than start another thread, I shall post here ....

Over the years I have read woeful tales about involuntary downgrades. At the risk of overgeneralizing, many have to do with being bounced from F after having been upgraded based on status. Some are on points. There is at least one prolific poster who is quick to remind us that, "Hey, if you want to fly in F [or in J], buy an F [or J] ticket.

So let's talk about a J fare purchased with cash money. Plane swap. For whatever reason, I draw short straw and fly TATL in back. Goodness knows I do that often enough -- it's not the end of the world. Life moves on.

How does US/AA construct what happened:

• We choose aircraft based on what is best for the fleet and the system on a given day.
• Sometimes this can result in fewer F or J seats than planned.
• We will downgrade some folks to accommodate, based on something that may be known via talk boards, but isn't really the traveler's business.
• If you were downgraded because we had problems, that is your problem now, not ours. Moreover, we now state that you actually bought an Economy ticket.
• The price you paid for that Economy ticket is what we think it is, not what it was when you made your unfortunate decision (from your perspective) to give us money at the Envoy rate instead. The difference between what you paid us for Envoy and what we are reconstructing as your Economy fare is what we will give you back. If you ask. Otherwise, we won't give you that very tiny sum. (Just be glad you didn't pay more for that Envoy ticket!)
• And since it is now priced out as Economy, goodbye to the bonus RDMs and EQPs that we were flogging at time of purchase of a higher-class ticket.

Far be it from me to say that they can't do this ... they are doing this, my missives notwithstanding. No need to point me to the T&C. I have now googled and read around the internet. I'm not the first here, nor will I be the last. It ain't personal.

So, caveat emptor, forewarned is forearmed, and all that. I am rethinking ever putting any of my own money at risk again with a J or F purchase. Not to get back at US or AA. Just to lessen the prospect of being legally dispossessed.

Dave Noble

As far as transatlantic goes - if downgraded on a flight from Europe, you are entitled to compensation of 75% of the amount paid for the ticket, so there is quite a disincentive to the airline to downgrade on those routes

Biggie Fries

Absolutely right. Alas -- well, not alas, I like to go to Europe! -- I was headed in that direction.

I get that they have to downgrade someone. I've adjusted to the fact that that someone, in this case, was me. I'm kind of amazed -- I guess I am naive that way -- that they don't make some effort to make you whole. They just keep dissing you. Or, in this case, me.