AA account locked

[aus_flyer]

My AA account has been locked. Anyone ever had this happen to them?

I've called and been transferred from one person to another, now only to be told that the "security team" is closed for the day.

It wasn't locked yesterday. Very annoying!

 

[burmans]

No

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It’s not unheard of for AA to lock accounts if they suspect activity which might be in contravention of their rules. This could be anything from hidden city ticketing to redeeming flights for other people to redeeming for ‘high risk’ flights (departures from countries where FF fraud is more common).

Anything you can think of that might have triggered this?

 

[aus_flyer]

Got to the bottom of it. Security breach. All sorted now.

 

[aleaf]

It’s not unheard of for AA to lock accounts if they suspect activity which might be in contravention of their rules. This could be anything from hidden city ticketing to redeeming flights for other people to redeeming for ‘high risk’ flights (departures from countries where FF fraud is more common).

Anything you can think of that might have triggered this?

@MEL_Traveller, when you say redeeming flights for other people might be one of the activities in contravention of AA rules...

I have a family member with some AA miles to burn who wants to book a ticket for me. This is allowed, right? Relative lives in US, I'm in Aus. Plan is to use their miles to book a round trip for me to visit.

Suddenly you've made me nervous.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

@MEL_Traveller, when you say redeeming flights for other people might be one of the activities in contravention of AA rules...

I have a family member with some AA miles to burn who wants to book a ticket for me. This is allowed, right? Relative lives in US, I'm in Aus. Plan is to use their miles to book a round trip for me to visit.

Suddenly you've made me nervous.

It all just ‘depends’. There must be thousands of transactions you describe happening each day. But reports of account suspensions are rare.

But there is a strict ‘no selling or bartering’ policy with AA and other US carriers. There was one case where a guy had his account locked because he bought the airfares for a friend, while the friend paid for the accommodation on a trip they were taking together. It was deemed ‘bartering’. But even that was probably easily resolved if the friend had said ‘nope, i’m not giving anything back’!

It really would depend on how often your family friend is redeeming for other people, and what the activity on their account looked like. If it’s just regular activity, nothing to be worried about!

 

[burmans]

@MEL_Traveller, when you say redeeming flights for other people might be one of the activities in contravention of AA rules...

I have a family member with some AA miles to burn who wants to book a ticket for me. This is allowed, right? Relative lives in US, I'm in Aus. Plan is to use their miles to book a round trip for me to visit.

Suddenly you've made me nervous.

So if someone asked 'why would they do that', do you have a good answer? If yes, probably no problem but be aware this may happen.

 

[aleaf]

Okay, feeling a bit better now. It's definitely not a selling or bartering situation. Pretty straightforward - relative wants to see me and is happy to use her miles to get me over there.

She started reading the fine print on using miles to book a ticket for someone else or vouchers or some-such and became concerned that I was required to be a US resident which was causing even more anxiety.

Thanks for the quick replies.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Okay, feeling a bit better now. It's definitely not a selling or bartering situation. Pretty straightforward - relative wants to see me and is happy to use her miles to get me over there.

She started reading the fine print on using miles to book a ticket for someone else or vouchers or some-such and became concerned that I was required to be a US resident which was causing even more anxiety.

Thanks for the quick replies.

No residency requirements