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American changed my flights

Posted by (Detroit, MI) on

My trip to Spain was leaving on a Saturday in October, Returning to Detroit two weeks later on a Saturday in October. American Airline kept the times of the day the same but changed the day my first set of flights leaves, to Sunday, the day after I was supposed to leave. I haven't figured out whether I will try cancelling my whole trip or just try changing the starting and ending dates. American's current policy is:

If you're traveling to / through / from: All cities served by American, the change fee is waived if you:
- Booked an American Airlines flight [Yes, obviously]
- Bought your ticket on or before April 7, 2020 [yes]
- Are scheduled to travel March 1 - September 30, 2020 [No. My trip is in October, so it looks like the change fee would still apply to me if I try changing my trip, even if I try using their change of my flight dates as my excuse to change my trip]
- Can travel on or before December 31, 2021

[In theory, the end of December would be a good time to travel but only because my boss always takes a vacation at that time and closes the office, causing us to have to use up scarce vacation time. I strongly dislike the idea of traveling to Spain at the end of December because I expect the sites to be closed on Christmas and New Years day, meaning two wasted days sitting in a hotel and/or roaming the streets. I may be willing to change my trip to March or April]

More from American: Keep in mind, you may owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip.

I think as of now I am getting screwed and I haven't figured out what to do about it yet. Not traveling on a Saturday is a wasted day when I can't travel or work.

Posted by
7049 posts

That is a major change so you are eligible for a full refund - full stop (I just got one myself for a Delta domestic flight). You won't have to worry about any change fees or vouchers (but the way, other legacy airlines have waived any change fees in an effort to persuade people to rebook - check if that's the case with AA as well). I bet there is a decent chance you can rebook the whole trip for much less than you originally paid since you booked so far in advance and probably at a much higher price than you can get now. I would jump at the chance to cancel outright and get my money back. In worst case, you can rebook later...although that's your choice if you believe your trip will go on as planned.

Posted by
7808 posts

When the airline changes the date of the flight to something you don't want you have the option to get a full refund.
They may not tell you that though. I have had this happen but had enough flexibility that I did not go with the refund since it was such a cheap flight.

And southern Spain is not that bad on New Years Day you can go to the beach. Seville was pretty lively when I was there New Years day 2019 it was 70 degrees

This is a common occurrence even in normal times when you book plane tickets far in advance

Posted by
985 posts

I misread the message I saw (likely), or the airline changed their mind and/or the staff realized they made a typo and deleted the message I saw (possible but less believable). I called the airline and sooner than expected, somebody answered: they made only one minor change: my 3rd flight on my way to Andalucia is leaving one hour later than originally planned. An extra hour of waiting in Madrid is not worth caring about. They didn't change the travel dates.

Which is separate from whether they end up having to cancel or change my flights later if the pandemic doesn't improve, and/or I still have to make sure my hotels will be still in business, the sights will still be open, and so on, otherwise I'll still have to change or cancel my trip.

Posted by
2745 posts

REMOVED Quote and "Shill" information, but decided to leave this warning

There is no cheap airfare fairy and these cheap "business class" guys are generally selling miles. Which is against the terms of EVERY airline so when the airline figures it out (and they do) and cancels your ticket "too bad, so sad"

No Delta, AA and other airlines are NOT giving these guys legit deals you can't find!

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