Dear Travel Troubleshooters: I am a frequent flyer of American Airlines and recently booked an award ticket on their American partner, Japan Airlines. The flight was from New Delhi to Haneda Airport and then on to San Francisco. Christopher Elliott, Travel Troubleshooter
A few days before my flight, I called American Airlines to get an upgrade to business class for my trip from Japan to the United States. Unfortunately, the agent canceled all my tickets without telling me anything. I hung up thinking the ticket was still valid.
When I contacted Japan Airlines the day before my flight to confirm the vegetarian meal, the representative told me there were no reservations. I called American Airlines and talked to my boss, who reviewed my notes from the call. She said the agency wrote that I canceled the flight. Of course, this was not true.
My boss tried to help me find a ticket, but the only one available was a full-fare business class ticket for $3,548. I booked a flight ticket, but it was American Airlines’ mistake and I would like a refund. A few months ago, American Airlines promised to consider my request, but they never responded and stopped responding to my emails. Can you help me?
— Satrupa Kagel, Taos, New Mexico
Answer: American Airlines should not have canceled your ticket and should have immediately refunded the extra money you had to spend.
But why didn’t we do that? After checking our communications with the airline, we found no obvious reason. By the way, storing all your emails can be a pain. These are the keys to a quick resolution.
There was one small problem. The email I sent contained a statement in all caps. (This is considered online ranting.) American Airlines representatives, who have some discretion in deciding which cases to prioritize, may have been offended by these statements.
But still, it wasn’t meant to be. Agents never stopped responding to messages or emails when using the assigned case number. There was no written evidence that American Airlines promised to refund the fare.
By the way, you can find the names, numbers, and email addresses of all of American Airlines’ customer service executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. If one of them sends you a short, polite email, it might be enough to make them reconsider your case. Apparently they tried to contact executives, but did not receive a response.
Here’s the takeaway for the rest of us. That Americans should have found a way to solve this problem without paying another penny. Never pay for a flight or hotel room expecting the travel company to refund your money. Probably not.
But that’s not the case in this case. We have contacted American Airlines on your behalf. A representative called and said the reason for the lack of response was due to “high turnover” in the customer service department. (I can only imagine.) I received a full refund for my ticket and miles. That’s a great solution.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve problems. Email chris@elliott.org or contact elliottadvocacy.org/help/ for assistance.
(c) 2024 Christopher Elliott
Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
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First Published: September 30, 2024 4:15am
