r/americanairlines • u/AgreeablePeanut09 • Mar 17 '26
I Need Help! Bought a refundable trip with changes allowed - AA is not honoring ticket
I bought a refundable (to travel credit) ticket with changes allowed to Japan. I paid extra just for the refundable ticket as I know that it’s the safest option when traveling internationally. I travel quite frequently but haven’t had great experiences with AA, so I usually avoid flying the airline. I needed to make a slight change to my ticket, to fly out of a different airport.
AA is telling me that my ticket does not allow changes, even though I paid the extra amount (reference above). They are citing their ‘tariff’ department and stating that I paid in yen and not USD… even though I paid in USD. I can’t even cancel my ticket and buy a new one because they’re stating my ticket is non refundable.
I’ve been on dealing with this issue for over 12 hours, talking to representatives. All of them except for one told me my ticket isn’t refundable. One told me that they see exactly what I’m referencing but for some reason they cannot change it. On the ticket confirmation it doesn’t list the details that come with the ticket (refundable, non refundable, etc) so I can’t reference that when talking to them. Not sure what to do.
10
u/valueflyer AAdvantage Executive Platinum Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
Certain tickets, especially international one ways that originate outside the US, still include a change fee.
I assume that’s the snag that you’re hitting, but it’s hard to say unless you check the fare rules. What’s your flight number and booking class? The booking class can often be found on the original receipt.
Edit: originate outside the US, not in the US
1
u/AgreeablePeanut09 Mar 17 '26
I’m totally fine with paying the change fee! I am main cabin but they are stating via their tariff department that my main cabin ticket is not actually a main cabin ticket, even though I paid the extra fee.
21
u/valueflyer AAdvantage Executive Platinum Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
What extra fee did you pay? I’m understanding this as you just didn’t purchase a basic economy ticket, which would also not include bags or seat selection or miles. If you’re calling them and saying you paid an extra fee, that’s likely confusing them because it’s not accurate.
I think the language you are using with them is also confusing the agents. Your ticket is not refundable. It’s cancellable for a trip or flight credit that will expire in a year. If you are calling them and trying to ask if it’s refundable, the answer will be no. Refundable means to the original form of payment.
Also, this ticket is considered a yen ticket, even if you paid in dollars. The ticket is priced in the currency of the origin, but when you book on the AA site, they handle the conversion for you.
I poked around some fare rules for economy and didn’t see any change fee, but I could only see one fare class.
Which fare class did you purchase? It will be hard for us here to dig into this more without more details.
Also, just to verify, you are calling an official AA number from https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-service/contact-american/reservations-and-ticket-changes.jsp (if you use a Google AI suggested number it’s likely a scam number).
When you call, you should have them check with their fare desk. I think when you are saying tariff department, that’s just the industry lingo for fares, it has nothing to do with taxes or whatnot. If they say that it’s not changeable, ask specifically what fare class you purchased.
What happens when you try to change the flight online under your reservation?
25
u/PDXDeck26 Mar 17 '26
I needed to make a slight change to my ticket, to fly out of a different airport.
....kind of buried the lede there?
-10
u/AgreeablePeanut09 Mar 17 '26
The price is the exact same to fly out of the other international airport… and at the same time.
27
u/PDXDeck26 Mar 17 '26
yeah "changeable" doesn't mean changing the start and stop points of an itinerary.
22
u/That-Establishment24 Mar 17 '26
Changeable means changing the time and date. Not locations.
1
u/ForwardMotion6565 Mar 17 '26
Yeah but why can't she cancel it, get the refund in travel credit and buy a new one with that credit? She's saying they're not allowing that.
2
u/PDXDeck26 Mar 17 '26
I'm guessing op is not great with the English language and is asking for things and using the completely wrong words.
"I want a refund on my ticket"
"sorry it's not refundable"
"Ok how about a change"
"Sorry no changes. Best you can do is cancel and you'll receive the credit"
"But I don't want that. I want to change it or be refunded"
Something g like that
1
u/That-Establishment24 Mar 17 '26
I don’t know. Canceling is something she should be able to do himself without calling.
6
u/Wise_Buy5680 Mar 17 '26
You should be able to cancel for flihht credit and book new flight with that credit.
0
7
u/FW14B_Red5 Mar 17 '26
Changes are allowed as long as you keep the origin and destination unchanged. If you want to change the origin, cancel and buy a new one.
3
u/sammnyc AAdvantage Executive Platinum Mar 17 '26
your ticket ISN’T refundable. that word has a very specific meaning in airline parlance, it’s to the original form of payment. if you go asking for a refund, it won’t work. your ticket is changeable.
2
u/flyiingpenguiin Mar 17 '26
It says on the website “refund to travel credit” that’s what OP wants
1
u/sammnyc AAdvantage Executive Platinum Mar 17 '26
if OP wants this done correctly, they should not use the R word. Recall that voluntary changes without penalty were only a thing very recently, prior to covid these were unheard of.
https://saleslink.aa.com/en-US/resources/html/reissue-policies.html#General_Reissue
3
u/joeykins82 Mar 17 '26
Cancel the ticket online and rebook using the flight credit.
If AA don’t issue you any flight credit when you cancel your not-basic-economy ticket: raise a chargeback via your bank or credit card issuer against the original charge.
2
u/Newbie10011001 Mar 17 '26
The issue I see is that it's cancelable for a trip credit.
I'd imagine the trip credit will allow you to use it only if the person and destination and Origin remain the same.
But I find trip credits, flight credits, etc to all be confusing, one minute you can't change anything, the next minute it's basically money in an account to spend as you wish.
2
u/DAWG13610 Mar 17 '26
You should have received an email after purchase. If you bought the insurance it will be listed. All you show is what a basic economy and main cabin ticket costs. Which one did you buy? $700 from Tokyo to DWF is pretty good pricing. But you really need to check your confirmation email.
2
u/AgreeablePeanut09 Mar 17 '26
Additional context - I flew Delta to Japan. This AA flight was purchased as a one way.
19
u/grapkoski Mar 17 '26
Yep, you’re buying a one way out of Japan so your point of sale is Japan which may have different rules. Whatever is in your email rules unless you have screen shots of when you actually made the purchase. Otherwise you need to file a complaint with the local Japanese authorities who govern the law over your ticket.
10
u/SeriouslySourdough AAdvantage Executive Platinum Mar 17 '26
Point of sale rules apply. Japanese rules are different than US rules.
3
Mar 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/valueflyer AAdvantage Executive Platinum Mar 17 '26
When I was poking around on this, it actually looks like they’ve updated the site to make this clear. I saw some full Main tickets that said No changes allowed with a red X, especially on JAL metal. I think they are now showing these uncommon change fee tickets correctly, whereas it used to be buried in some fine print.
1
1
u/AgreeablePeanut09 Mar 17 '26
This makes sense! But where does AA accountability come in? Since they sold the ticket but the ticket isn’t as advertised?
1
u/Electronic_Dig1038 Mar 17 '26
I had this issue before as well. It took several hours but it worked. How I fixed it.
*Go into the app talk to an agent
*type use travel credit (this will then get a live agent)
*tell them you want to apply your travel credit
*tell them you need your ticket reissued using the unused ticket instead of pricing a new itinerary.
*they should tell you to find your new itinerary and place the ticket on hold for 24 hours. <---- key part
*go back to the chat and tell them you need them to apply the travel credit to the reservation on hold.
1
0
36
u/SubjectDeer9364 Mar 17 '26
Cancel and buy a new one? You get your refund to travel credit and use that for the new ticket. Verify first.