Web specials/fares hold different rules than normal American Airlines Advantage award redemptions. But when the carrier cancels them, do they have a duty to re-book them?
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American Airlines Cancelled Our Trip
By far my best redemption ever was a trip to Hong Kong on American Airlines 777-300ER in business class for 90,000 points roundtrip. We were set to fly in August. The fare was a web special and it made a case for picking up a new American Airlines credit card given that the normal rate (and nearly unbookable on the rate due to the popularity of the route) is 140,000 miles roundtrip in business class.
American Airlines won’t be flying the route during the period and called to cancel the tickets.
No Options Given
When the American Airlines number came up on my phone I was anxious as I had just written a post on the carrier and it’s not the first time American PR has reached out over the weekend to “clarify” a position. The Executive Platinum desk informed me that the flight was not offered and they were cancelling the tickets. I asked if there were re-booking options and the rep indicated the only procedure would be to refund the points and taxes as it was a web special.
We were a few weeks out from the trip but given the state of world affairs, we hadn’t secured additional transportation beyond Hong Kong. In the past, we have flown many different carriers (often purchased for cash) out of Hong Kong to nearby destinations. In most situations, we would have added on flights to Bangkok, Sanya, China, or Laos. Some of those carriers may not have been so understanding about our change of plans.
***UPDATE*** Several readers have pointed out that passengers are only permitted to transit Hong Kong on the same PNR. However, that would not have changed our issue had we tagged on flights from Hong Kong to the same ticket. The issue wouldn’t be different.
Should They Have Offered to Re-Book?
Everything is fluid in the time of COVID-19. That’s understandable. However, it’s not as if the route is no longer offered or couldn’t have been honored by another carrier. Cancelling the flight, even a web special in the current environment does not free the airline from honoring their obligations. The airline has/had options to honor the same origin and destination on the same date through routing on American Airlines and partners.
While Executive Platinum members can cancel and refund web fares without fees, what about all those that booked that didn’t hold status? What about those that would have had to pay American a fee to cancel and redeposit just an hour before the call went out, while American can cancel at will with no similar repercussions from the customer? And what if I had booked onward travel from Hong Kong or a non-refundable accommodation? Wouldn’t American have to offer me either reimbursement for those expenses or accommodate my family on other flights to fulfill the rest of the trip?
Conclusion
I’m fortunate to be an Executive Platinum member and had the ability to cancel penalty-free at any point in time, but many others don’t share the same privilege. I was also careful not to book anything we couldn’t cancel, but others may have done so. When American cancels a flight and offers a refund for their portion, that’s in line with their legal obligations and they did so. However, the carrier should also be obligated to cover non-refundable elements, re-book for the future or on another carrier without any additional remuneration from the inconvenienced customer.
What do you think? Should American Airlines have re-booked my family or offered options? What would you do if you found yourself in a similar situation?
This happened to me last year on Delta. Two weeks before departure, they canceled all service to my destination in the Bahamas and said refunding the miles was the only option. I asked how they would refund all my nonrefundable expenses related to the trip, and after speaking to a supervisor they purchased flights for me on Silver Air from FLL. It was the right thing to do, but maybe this is a whole new world now. Can you even transit through HKG now on separate tickets?
Interesting story, and yes, connections are permitted even without being on the same PNR.
In order to transit HKG, it must be on the same PNR (air ticket)
From HKIA website https://www.hongkongairport.com/en/important-notice/index.page?noticeid=1523424631510-3
“From 15 June 2020, passengers can use HKIA for transit/transfer on flights operated by different airlines under the same air ticket, provided that the passengers have checked through at the origin port with their boarding passes printed and baggage tagged-through to the final destination. Passengers should also confirm in advance that they are able to enter the final destination. Please check with airlines for details. “
I will correct the post. Thank you. Any thoughts on whether they have a further obligation assuming the tag flight was on a connected PNR?
I had a very frustrating similar experience with AA just a couple of days ago. I am also Executive Platinum..
I had in late Janusry, before COVID, booked a long haul with AA in August from LAX via London LHR, motivated by burning through my systemwide upgrades that would have expired in January. The upgrades were clearable and cleared at booking
I realized on my app that my outbound was now going via Dallas and that I didn’t have a return flight. When I called to check what’s as going on, I was informed that the routes are changing. Fair enough, new world out there. The agent offered to put us on British Airways in business on the way back, but with a slight change in schedule. If I accepted the change later voluntarily canceled, I would only be given vouchers back. If I did not accept, I still had en out to cancel the entire trip with a full refund since AA couldn’t get me to my destinations on timr.
I call back later to accept the flight change, but the new agent says that they absolutely cannot put me in British Airways business since the business seat was a SWU. Since normally one cannot use SWUs on partner carriers, my reaction was that maybe the first agent was confused and I accepted what the new agent said. She would only be able to put me in coach with British Airways as a means of getting back. Since this altered my motivation for the trip, I said I’ll call back again.
I call back again, having researched alternate routings and ready to cancel, and the new agent says that they can put me in British Airways business because of two reasons. 1. The SWU was already cleared at booking, and 2. I’m taking the next available flight. This makes sense. They sell me over a year a bunch of tickets enticed my getting SWUs, and the SWUs incentivize buying additional tickets to spend them on. Why would they not honor the SWU that a trip was planned and booked around. Because this entailed five more days at my destination, I said I’ll call back after confirming I can be accommodated.
I call back again to confirm the ticket proposed to me on the prior call, and the new agent says they cannot put us in British Airways business. I laid out the entire rationale for what the prior agent said, and that this is the fourth time calling and Everytime I’m being told something new. Doesn’t work out. I call two more times and they all refuse to honor the cleared SWU.
I give up, not a good use of my time to fight this battle. I cancel for a refund and rebook premium economy on a competitor. Still am not sure what my rights were.
Protip – whenever an agent offers to do something they *maybe* shouldn’t be doing, don’t say you will call back. Have them do it right then and there. You should have learned your lesson after the second call….
FYI – AA’s only responsibility was getting you to HKG. Had you booked onward travel, that would not have been their problem. Sometimes you *MAY* find a sympathetic agent, but all you did was book on AA to HKG, and that’s all they had a responsibility for.
Yes there responsibility was to get him to HKG. So what happens if they say we can’t get you there or we had decided that we won’t rebook you.
At that point AA has to start picking up some pieces. As they clearly broke the contract from there side and saying we aren’t responible for anything else wouldn’t fly in no other business.
Just had something similar happen. Booked flights to Roatan back in March for travel in August. (This weekend). Roatan is still closed for travel for anybody. Was offered to change flight within 7 days of the original travel date, which is infeasible. AA would not let me change it to a date in the future when there is still scheduled flights and the potential of the destination being open for travel. Second occurrence of this the past few months. Also exp here too.
It seems rather petty of them.
Wait, what was your plan? HK is still denying non-residents entry and everything that I’ve seen says that you can only transit if your flights are on the same ticket.
American might have not let you on the plane even if they hadn’t canceled the flight.
@Sco- I investigated further and the same PNR must be used and will update the post. Unfortunately, that doesn’t solve a number of issues. If I had met the requirements for transit, the problem would have been the same (new itinerary replacement and non-refundable costs at the destination.) The question remains, are they no longer responsible for my out-of-pocket costs if they fail to honor the contract?
I have myself and the family booked on a web special ord – lax – Syd in December in biz. I recently checked the tickets and the Sydney leg is cancelled. Probably hard for us to go to Sydney with the quarantine but for interests sake do they have some sort of obligation to fly us via hk or Tokyo on Cathay or jal? In the past a booking between a and b on an award meant the airline had to find an alternative routing.
No there is no duty to rebook nor are there consequential damages. Read the CoC. As many on FT will tell you, sometimes you get screwed. You can either buy another ticket or cancel your trip.