Your thoughts on missed first class flight and SC allocation and refund.

[Daver6]

Firstly, if this post should be in the AA section, I apologise.

Secondly, not contacted AA as after opinions.

My wife had a F flight from Baltimore to PHX with a change of aircraft in DFW. At DFW, the connecting flight was delayed with constant gate changes being updated in the screen in the Admirals Lounge. When it eventually said to board, she went to the relevant gate, only to find it had switched again. Gates were far enough apart that she missed the connecting flight.

AA were good enough to put her on the next flight, but they only had a seat in Y, which she accepted.

That second sector from DFW -> PHX was credited to her QFF account at the discount Y earning rate for SC and FF points.

My thoughts are that the missed flight was not entirely her fault due to late board updates etc.

Should she still have earnt points and SC at the F rate as that is what she paid for? If not, should be be entitled to a partial refund for taking Y over F?

Thoughts and opinions?

Thanks

David

 

[docjames]

I'll start by asking what fare was she on (paid F fare or a YUPP?). Reason being, a YUPP if it gets changed technically they can seat you in Y (you only go "UPP" if there's J/F seats available).

If she paid F and got Y, i'd be seeking refund and/or claiming "original routing credit" for the F SCs from QF.

 

[serfty]

If she was in F class rather than A class or P class, then there may be some refund available.

However, if it was an "instant upgrade" fare then there's no recompense.

I suggest though, that a claim be put in for "Original Routing Credit" given the uncertainty and changeability of the gate that caused the problem.

Send an email explaining the situation along with a scan of the BP and a copy of the original e-ticket email to frequent_flyer([SUP]a[/SUP][SUB]t[/SUB])Qantas.com.au.

 

[Daver6]

Thanks for the comments for far.

I'm not familiar with YUPP. She booked online and paid upfront for a F fare. Ie, it wasn't conditional on space or anything.

Will confirm that booking class was F and not A or P (what are those anyway?).

Thanks

 

[NM]

A tough lesson to learn regarding AA boarding and lounge use. No boarding announcement are made and AA always state that passengers should be at the gate lounge at least 30 mins prior to departure. This is why I don't wait in the AA lounge until the flight shows as "boarding" on the monitors. This comes from experience and I understand how someone familiar with Aussie travel and not familiar with traveling with AA in USA can be caught out.

As mentioned previously, she may be able to request Original Routing Credit from QFF. If she missed the flight through arriving late from the lounge (even with last minute gate changes involved) then its unlikely any fare refund/compensation will be due. If she had mis-connected due to the late arrival of the inbound flight, then there may be some refund available depending on the fare rules for the actual fare purchased. But if she was offered a later flight in F or the next flight in Y, and chose the earlier Y option, then its going to be treated as voluntary reaccommodation and unlikely to receive any refund.

 

[dajop]

I'd try for original routing credit, but don't necessarily expect positive outcome if on A or P fare.

The thing is in the US, you really can't hang around the lounge too long like in Australia. You really need to be at the gate. I remember once I was actually sitting at an adjacent gate (but couldn't see my departing gate with shops in the middle), and heard an announcement that boarding would commence in 20 mins time. Less than 10 mins later they paged me ... the flight had boarded already (in fact they'd already closed the door, no-one left at the gate). I asked about the announcement and they replied "Oh, yeah, we decided to board early". Of course there were still people in the airbridge though getting their luggage tagged as it was regional jet

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I have flown AA a few times in the US & the first thing we do after going through the TSA checkpoint is look for our departure gate then head to the lounge.

If you need to put carryon in the overhead lockers be at the gate 45 minutes prior. I have found that if we get to the gate at minus 30 boarding is usually well underway & the F Cabin is almost always fully boarded.

As the others have mentioned already, give the original routing credit a go as you may be in luck.

 

[serfty]

Thanks for the comments for far.

I'm not familiar with YUPP. She booked online and paid upfront for a F fare. Ie, it wasn't conditional on space or anything.

Will confirm that booking class was F and not A or P (what are those anyway?).

Thanks

For more information on YUPP/KUPP or "Instant Upgrade" type fares, see here:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ogram/how-research-book-aa-instant-42433.html

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-advantage/good-sc-earning-value-ex-8840.html

 

[Red Roo]

Hi Daver6,

While I am not able to influence this directly I can point you in the right direction.
To have this assessed your wife will need to contact the Service Centre on 13 11 31.
If possible please also provide the booking reference or ticket number for the original booking.

Cheers,
Red Roo

 

[Daver6]

Thank you Red Roo for being so quick to respond and getting it sorted out for me (well the wife) Big thumbs up.