American Air ticket refunds?

[ChinchillaWhiplash]

Had a family medical emergency and had to cancel our planned Spring Break trip. Went through the AA.com web site and filed a refund request. Checked on status and it lists the 1st flight of a total of 4 (1st leaving home, 2nd connecting flight to final destination, 3rd departure flight from destination, 4th connection flight back home). Do I need to do the request for all 4 flights? Kind of a pain if I do since it is for 4 people. Anyone have any experience with AA and going through this process?

[Silk McCue]

I’d call customer service to ask them or start typing.

Cheers

[GG1273]

Had a family medical emergency and had to cancel our planned Spring Break trip. Went through the AA.com web site and filed a refund request. Checked on status and it lists the 1st flight of a total of 4 (1st leaving home, 2nd connecting flight to final destination, 3rd departure flight from destination, 4th connection flight back home). Do I need to do the request for all 4 flights? Kind of a pain if I do since it is for 4 people. Anyone have any experience with AA and going through this process?

Can always pop over to FlyerTalk and ask for suggestions, free sign up. People on the site are generally helpful

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/america ... ntage-733/

[seawolf21]

Had a family medical emergency and had to cancel our planned Spring Break trip. Went through the AA.com web site and filed a refund request. Checked on status and it lists the 1st flight of a total of 4 (1st leaving home, 2nd connecting flight to final destination, 3rd departure flight from destination, 4th connection flight back home). Do I need to do the request for all 4 flights? Kind of a pain if I do since it is for 4 people. Anyone have any experience with AA and going through this process?

You are requesting thru this website? Only should need ticket number.
https://prefunds.aa.com/refunds

But unless your fare is refundable, a family emergency does not make a non-refundable fare refundable.

[ChinchillaWhiplash]

Had a family medical emergency and had to cancel our planned Spring Break trip. Went through the AA.com web site and filed a refund request. Checked on status and it lists the 1st flight of a total of 4 (1st leaving home, 2nd connecting flight to final destination, 3rd departure flight from destination, 4th connection flight back home). Do I need to do the request for all 4 flights? Kind of a pain if I do since it is for 4 people. Anyone have any experience with AA and going through this process?

You are requesting thru this website? Only should need ticket number.
https://prefunds.aa.com/refunds

But unless your fare is refundable, a family emergency does not make a non-refundable fare refundable.

Yes, that is the address used. I have no idea if they are refundable. One of the ticket holders (our child and a minor) had to be air lifted to a city 6 hrs drive away and was in the ICU for 5 days and hospitalised a total of 12. Not discharged until after our flight left. If they don’t refund, I will be pretty ticked off

[MishkaWorries]

Had a family medical emergency and had to cancel our planned Spring Break trip. Went through the AA.com web site and filed a refund request. Checked on status and it lists the 1st flight of a total of 4 (1st leaving home, 2nd connecting flight to final destination, 3rd departure flight from destination, 4th connection flight back home). Do I need to do the request for all 4 flights? Kind of a pain if I do since it is for 4 people. Anyone have any experience with AA and going through this process?

You are requesting thru this website? Only should need ticket number.
https://prefunds.aa.com/refunds

But unless your fare is refundable, a family emergency does not make a non-refundable fare refundable.

Yes, that is the address used. I have no idea if they are refundable. One of the ticket holders (our child and a minor) had to be air lifted to a city 6 hrs drive away and was in the ICU for 5 days and hospitalised a total of 12. Not discharged until after our flight left. If they don’t refund, I will be pretty ticked off

Call American customer service. Most flights I see offer change of schedule for no fee now.

Did you have travel insurance? That situation would have been covered, for sure. If not, check the credit card you used and see if they have travel insurance.

If the ticket was nonrefundable, it's not the airlines fault if they refuse to give you a refund or credit.

[dukeblue219]

Yes, that is the address used. I have no idea if they are refundable. One of the ticket holders (our child and a minor) had to be air lifted to a city 6 hrs drive away and was in the ICU for 5 days and hospitalised a total of 12. Not discharged until after our flight left. If they don’t refund, I will be pretty ticked off

If you don't know, they probably weren't refundable. You have to go out of your way to buy them and they usually cost a LOT more than non refundable, more than even non-refundable first class tickets. HOWEVER, in the COVID era most airlines including AA have eliminated change fees. If you booked after August 31 2020 and cancelled before departure (as opposed to no-show) you should get credit for what you paid towards future travel. If you booked their cheapest fares (Basic Economy) I think youre totally out of luck.

[seawolf21]

Had a family medical emergency and had to cancel our planned Spring Break trip. Went through the AA.com web site and filed a refund request. Checked on status and it lists the 1st flight of a total of 4 (1st leaving home, 2nd connecting flight to final destination, 3rd departure flight from destination, 4th connection flight back home). Do I need to do the request for all 4 flights? Kind of a pain if I do since it is for 4 people. Anyone have any experience with AA and going through this process?

You are requesting thru this website? Only should need ticket number.
https://prefunds.aa.com/refunds

But unless your fare is refundable, a family emergency does not make a non-refundable fare refundable.

Yes, that is the address used. I have no idea if they are refundable. One of the ticket holders (our child and a minor) had to be air lifted to a city 6 hrs drive away and was in the ICU for 5 days and hospitalised a total of 12. Not discharged until after our flight left. If they don’t refund, I will be pretty ticked off

If you are saying that you didn’t cancel the reservation and simply no show, you better call AA. Most fares are cancel reservation before departure or no value. Any non-policy refund probably would have to go customer service. Try Twitter as well for guidance.

[River in Sight]

I agree with the advice to call AA as soon as possible. If you didn’t cancel before departure, by the book all value is lost. Your best bet is to find a sympathetic agent who would make an exception. If you don’t find a sympathetic agent, remember the first rule of FlyerTalk: Hang Up, Call Again. Don’t make a stink with anyone who might notate your record that you’re not entitled to a refund.

If you did cancel before departure, all the value will be available for future use, tho likely not refundable.

[ChinchillaWhiplash]

Wanted to post an update. I cancelled the flights before I left to drive to the children’s hospital. Then sent the refund request with a physician’s note when we got back home 10 days later. American Air said the tickets were non refundable, but did give us credits. Happy with the results and our child has made a miraculous recovery. Hope that we will use the credits and plan another family vacation this summer.

[Silk McCue]

Wanted to post an update. I cancelled the flights before I left to drive to the children’s hospital. Then sent the refund request with a physician’s note when we got back home 10 days later. American Air said the tickets were non refundable, but did give us credits. Happy with the results and our child has made a miraculous recovery. Hope that we will use the credits and plan another family vacation this summer.

Wonderful, wonderful report on your child! Priceless.

Glad that AA did the right thing by you.

Cheers

[dbr]

Wanted to post an update. I cancelled the flights before I left to drive to the children’s hospital. Then sent the refund request with a physician’s note when we got back home 10 days later. American Air said the tickets were non refundable, but did give us credits. Happy with the results and our child has made a miraculous recovery. Hope that we will use the credits and plan another family vacation this summer.

Excellent. It is worthwhile noting the technical difference between an actual refund and granting credit for a future flight. Hence refundable does not mean absolute loss of your payment. Hopefully they did not assess any change fees due to the medical circumstances. Both refund/credit and change fee are often misunderstood with air tickets.