Extracting a refund from AA - how difficult will it be?

[Febs]

Hi all,

Following on from my recent thread about my DONE4 and having to add on an extra $1,300 flight...


On the DFW-MTY sector, when I arrived at LAX I ended up being confirmed in J (not part of the DONE4, extra $1,300) on an 8:20pm flight, and waitlisted in D (part of the DONE4, no extra $$$) on the 5:20pm flight. When I got to DFW I went to the gate for the 5:20pm flight and was handed a boarding pass for economy (Y) shortly before boarding. My luggage had been sent through to this flight from Sydney too.

So effectively I "checked in" to the additional-cost 8:20pm flight, but never boarded the flight, as I took an earlier flight (which formed part of the DONE4 and cost me no extra).

How difficult are AA going to be in refunding the $1,300? My TA is handling it all, but I'm curious. She says that because I checked-in, AA will give me grief about refunding the money. Surely because I didn't actually use the service (which they can confirm by looking at the passenger list for the 5:20pm flight, and the fact that I still have a complete boarding pass for the 8:20pm flight), they'll have to refund the money right?

Would really appreciate any experience in this area.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Dave Noble]

It really depends on the rules of the fare paid. If a fully flexible one, I would expect that you would be ok. If it has restrictions such as needing to be cancelled before departure time, then you may have issues

Dave

 

[Febs]

It really depends on the rules of the fare paid. If a fully flexible one, I would expect that you would be ok. If it has restrictions such as needing to be cancelled before departure time, then you may have issues

Thanks Dave. It was a J fare - fully flexible/cancellable (with no penalty) etc...

The only problem I see is the fact that I checked into the flight. Still, the fact that I didn't actually use the service I paid for, in my mind, means I should get a refund.

Cheers,
- Febs.