DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: I’m an American Airlines frequent flier, and I recently booked an award ticket with Japan Airlines, an American partner. The flight was from New Delhi to Haneda Airport, then on to San Francisco.
A couple of days before my flight, I called American Airlines to upgrade the Japan-to-United-States leg of my trip to business class. Unfortunately, the agent canceled my entire ticket without telling me. I got off the phone thinking that my ticket was still valid.
When I contacted Japan Airlines the day before my flight to check on my vegetarian meal, a representative told me that there was no reservation for me. I called American Airlines and spoke with a supervisor, who reviewed the notes of my call. She said the agent had written that I had canceled my flight. This, of course, was not true.
The supervisor tried to find me a ticket, but the only one available was a full-fare business class ticket for $3,548. I booked the ticket, but I would like American Airlines to refund it, since this was their mistake. A few months ago, American Airlines promised to review my request, but it hasn’t gotten back to me and no longer responds to my emails. Can you help?
— Satrupa Kagel, Taos, New Mexico
ANSWER: American Airlines shouldn’t have canceled your ticket, and it should have quickly refunded the extra money you had to spend.
But why didn’t it? In reviewing your correspondence with the airline, I can find no obvious reason. By the way, great job on keeping all the emails. Those are your key to a fast resolution.
There was one minor problem, which is that the emails you sent contained some all-uppercase statements. (This is considered yelling online.) American’s agents, who have some discretion in deciding which cases get prioritized, might have been put off by those statements.
But still, they shouldn’t have been. The agents should not have stopped responding to your messages and emails when you used the assigned case number. There was no written evidence that American had promised to refund your fare.
By the way, you can find the names, numbers and email addresses of all the American Airlines customer service executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. A brief, polite email to one of them might have prompted another review of your case. It looks like you tried to reach out to the executives, but didn’t get an answer.
This brings me to the main takeaway for the rest of us: American should have found a way of fixing this without you having to pay another cent. You should never pay for a ticket or a hotel room in the hope that the travel company will refund you. It probably won’t.
But not for you in this case! I reached out to American Airlines on your behalf. A representative called you and said the reason for the lack of response was a “high turnover” in the customer service department. (I can only imagine.) You received a full refund for your ticket and your miles — a great resolution.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.
(c) 2024 Christopher Elliott
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