AA Botched Redemption

[dfcatch]

Well - after having only nice things to say about AA - they have botched the mother of all cluster$&@"s.

SWMBO was booked on a U redemption MEL-LAX-YYZ with the MEL-LAX (QF93) booked in X as there was no U available.

Day before flight U class opened up on QF25 MEL-AKL-LAX, called AA to change the flights - no problem, all confirmed.

Up at OMG'o'clock to head to MEL for QF25, voicemail from AA "problem with your booking".

AA had booked QF25 as two segments, which was rejected by the QF system (has to be booked as one - MEL-LAX).

Apparently - in an effort to fix it, some AA agent then changed the first leg back to X, and of course couldn't get U back.

In 2 hours of calls back and forth, at one point AA completely deleted the QF25 booking and replaced it with QF93 (in X), and didn't tell me, until I called to speak to them again and the agent revealed that those were the booking details.

Reluctantly - AA finally called their QF "liaison" to try to get QF permission to reticket the previously confirmed U booking, but QF unsurprisingly said bad luck.

What's worse is that I had booked a platinum request redemption to join her to AKL, which obviously I had to cancel.

And even worse than that - in the 24 hours she had moved from QF93 in X to QF25 in U, 80K had been snapped up by someone else.

So the end result being back on QF93 in X, paying for a U redemption, losing the coveted 80K seat, being stuck with an almost full whY (but not quite full enough), an obscene amount of long distance charges, cancelled flight penalties for myself, and of course a very distressed SWMBO which does nothing for my blood pressure.

I have to say that the QF F checkin and F lounge staff were great in doing everything possible to assist, but QF SYD were not prepared to budge a millimeter.

Not technically their fault - but disappointed they wouldn't allow AA to fix the ticketing on an already permitted redemption.

Now - a few deep breaths and time to rip AA a new .......

 

[drron]

I have heard this a couple of times when you change an Aaward booking on QF.
Happened to us in reverse.We were on a QF award.Our AA flight from CDG was cancelled due to what else but a general strike.So QF cancelled our tickets as thir computer told them we had missed our flights.The AA agent at CDG in that situation was wonderful.It took 2 hours but we were sent to the AC whilst she worked on it.she then came to the AC with the new tickets-it was our second last paper ticket journey.

So yes yours was definitely an AA screw up but QF doesn't seem to take the alliance thing too seriously IMHO.

 

[dfcatch]

Thanks drron.

Me being upset yesterday is the understatement of the century.

Luckily QF staff did everything they could to help. At one stage the F checkin staff said "just leave your bags here, go have a coffee and relax in the domestic lounge for 30 mins and we'll see if we can sort anything."

I wouldn't have cared so much if it was me flying (or even both of us flying), but SWMBO by herself long haul is a different story.

I don't even think the AA agents copped it too bad from me... At one stage I think i just said to them (after 55 mins calling the US) "what I am supposed to do now?, what would you do if you were me?"

The response was something like "I would write a very strong complaint to AA customer service, but Sir, I know that does nothing to help your situation now".

 

[drron]

So both sides need a lesson on the meaning of Alliance!
Yes an email ASAP-does take longer to answer those than a compliment though-human nature I guess.

 

[dfcatch]

So both sides need a lesson on the meaning of Alliance!
Yes an email ASAP-does take longer to answer those than a compliment though-human nature I guess.

Yes, that will happen tonight. I wanted to wait until SWMBO was safely in YYZ so AA couldn't screw up anything else.

The most frustrating thing was that we also had QF15, 11, and 7 all as U class options!

It was definitely a lesson in humility for me. I have a lot more empathy now for those people in the airport sitting on the floor with their head in their hands and a completely dejected look on their face.

Even the eggs bene and the Tatt didn't help as much as I hoped

 

[NM]

Ouch! What a disaster. I would be writing to AAdvantage seeking some amount of compensation, and I am usually the last person to go down that path when dissatisfied. I think your starting point is a refund of the difference between the I that you paid and the X that was rebooked after U was cancelled.

AAdvantage are usually pretty good at dumping a swag of moles into your account as a good-will gesture when they have screwed up. Not that it fixes the original issue, but it can help reduce a little of the angst you are quite rightly feeling about a very poor service experience.

 

[dfcatch]

Ouch! What a disaster. I would be writing to AAdvantage seeking some amount of compensation, and I am usually the last person to go down that path when dissatisfied. I think your starting point is a refund of the difference between the I that you paid and the X that was rebooked after U was cancelled.

AAdvantage are usually pretty good at dumping a swag of moles into your account as a good-will gesture when they have screwed up. Not that it fixes the original issue, but it can help reduce a little of the angst you are quite rightly feeling about a very poor service experience.

Thanks NM - I was thinking along the same lines.

Funny thing is - I would have happily paid a premium to AA at that moment if it would have resulted in a fix.

I've also written to QF hoping that in the circumstances they may waive the cancellation/change fees on my flights (that I was going to accompany her on) that I obviously had to cancel. As I said to the F Check-in lady when she asked me what I wanted to do when QF25 started boarding - "Well I'm not going to travel on QF25 and leave SWMBO sitting here in limbo".....

I know sometimes we do things around here that might be considered "too clever by half", and I'm always happy to wear the inconvenience of a JQ30 being cancelled or similar (which also happened yesterday), but it's unbelievable how defeated you feel when standing at the airport at 5am, being told on the phone that:

1/ Your reservation has a problem,
2/ You have been booked into a different class than it showed yesterday,
3/ Oh - you've been completely cancelled on that flight;
4/ Sorry - you can't travel today, no, your not going to make that wedding tomorrow in YYZ
5/ There's nothing we can do
6/ Your booking is a different flight now
7/ There's nothing we can do
8/ Oh - I guess if you insist - we CAN call QF and ask
9/ QF said no - there's nothing we can do (aka go away)

I've always been very good at dealing with travel "issues", but it's very humbling how helpless these situations can make you feel.

Thanks guys for the support - it's a big help.

 

[serfty]

...
AAdvantage are usually pretty good at dumping a swag of moles into your account as a good-will gesture when they have screwed up. ...

Are moles permitted into Australia? I thought there's be some sort of Quarantine/Regulation.

 

[straitman]

NM's famous spelling strikes again

 

[dfcatch]

UPDATE:

SWMBO just landed in YYZ (AA kept the LAX-YYZ portion in U).

Apparently the AA check-in girl at LAX T4 asked "That's strange - Why didn't you travel in Business from Australia?".

When SWMBO explained it - the agent was furious (with AA) and said that she hopes AA provides a free Business flight as compensation.

At the very least - it does make one feel a bit better when all the frontline staff concur that the stuff-up is plain wrong.

I might wander over to FT and see if I can track down the AA rep........

 

[MrJetset]

Must be a QF thing, because I changed several BA and IB redemptions using AA miles, and even within a 24 hour window of the flight, AA called the BA liaison to release the seats we were originally supposed to travel in.

 

[anat0l]

Must be a QF thing, because I changed several BA and IB redemptions using AA miles, and even within a 24 hour window of the flight, AA called the BA liaison to release the seats we were originally supposed to travel in.

Well it's not QF's fault that the AAgents in the first place made the stuff up in attempting to book what the OP wanted. QF being obliging would be a favour to the incompetent AA rather than to the innocent customer in this case.

You must've got lucky with AA, particularly as your situation was requested by you directly. The OP thought they had a valid booking; the "change" in the last frantic hours was not voluntary, not simple and certainly not their (the OP's) fault!

Hope the OP gets something out of the situation, if at least an apology although something tangible is probably in order.

For the OP, I suppose your only last playing card if that wedding was imperative would've been to try travel insurance and booking a last minute ticket. The travel insurance company may not accept airline incompetence (instead of mechanical or weather reasons) as a valid reason, though.

 

[MrJetset]

Well it's not QF's fault that the AAgents in the first place made the stuff up in attempting to book what the OP wanted. QF being obliging would be a favour to the incompetent AA rather than to the innocent customer in this case.

You must've got lucky with AA, particularly as your situation was requested by you directly. The OP thought they had a valid booking; the "change" in the last frantic hours was not voluntary, not simple and certainly not their (the OP's) fault!

Hope the OP gets something out of the situation, if at least an apology although something tangible is probably in order.

For the OP, I suppose your only last playing card if that wedding was imperative would've been to try travel insurance and booking a last minute ticket. The travel insurance company may not accept airline incompetence (instead of mechanical or weather reasons) as a valid reason, though.

I meant AA, perhaps, not fully comprehending QF ticketing? With BA and IB they knew they had to contact both airlines directly while I was on the phone and they made the change.

That said, I made a change through BA You First, and they forget to ticket it, so it all depends on the agent.

 

[dfcatch]

Thanks everyone for their advice.

AA's complaint system is limited to 1500 characters and received no response on how to file the comprehensive complaint.

So have dispatched a hardcopy via post and sent copies to the relevant division execs to ensure it gets the attention required.

Will report back in due course.

 

[drron]

I must say I never cease to be amazed at the knowledge of Dave Noble when he answered you on FT.My CRAFT is way too far advanced to ever take in as much as he does.

 

[dfcatch]

I must say I never cease to be amazed at the knowledge of Dave Noble when he answered you on FT.My CRAFT is way too far advanced to ever take in as much as he does.

It amazes me that Dave Noble can figure out the root of the problem in 2 mins, yet professional booking agents have no clue....

He was most helpful in arming me with what I need to know for when AA does respond.

 

[dfcatch]

UPDATE FROM QF:

I had a call back from QF Customer Care today who were extremely helpful, sympathetic and apologetic at the whole drama.

The agent I spoke with spent a significant period going through the whole history of the booking ascertaining what went wrong etc.

In Summary (from QF):

- AA should have known to book QF25 as single segment MEL-LAX in U class.

- AA should have left the booking as is (when the QF system rejected it), and then called QF at that point as QF Revenue Management (or alternate contacts if middle of night, including airport in morning close to departure time***) could have combined the booking into a single segment so that the e-ticket would revalidate/reissue correctly.

- QF's perspective is that QF would not have had any problem in allowing AA to "fix" the booking, but that AA had apparently failed to contact QF correctly or in time.

- QF has happily and voluntarily agreed to fully refund my additional flights (to accompany SWMBO on the original plan) without any points/$$ penalties.

- QF will pass on my complimentary feedback to the frontline staff concerned.

- QF again apologised that it didn't work out - as they saw no reason why it couldn't have been fixed if AA had have simply called in the first instance


Understandably - given it wasn't QF's fault - I'm very grateful for QF's willingness to try and make things better after the fact.

Credit where it's due



*** QF stated that "there are other areas/departments that could have handled it if during the middle of the night when Revenue Management were unavailable. AA could have contacted QF via the OneWorld Help Desk, or they could have contacted the departments directly if they chose. If it ever happens again, direct AA to contact the OneWorld Help Desk."

 

[QF WP]

I trust you are going to forward a copy of this QF phone call summary to AA for their CS training (particularly the ones that right royally stuffed it up).

 

[dfcatch]

I trust you are going to forward a copy of this QF phone call summary to AA for their CS training (particularly the ones that right royally stuffed it up).

Yes Lindsay - absolutely.

Although I thought I may wait until I get the first response from AA, and see what they say first.

 

[QF WP]

Nice idea, see if AA's assessment is truthful that the blame lies at their feet...if it doesn't then trump them with the QF data