coopspa

Last night I bought (non-refundable)tickets from AA online. In my haste I checked the made sure the departure times were good for me but didn't look at the arrival times. Lo and behold, when I really looked at the flight info this morning I noticed a 4 hour layover at DFW. I checked, and if I had really looked I would have noticed that there were two flights that left earlier (55 min. or 2 hour layover). So, I called the AA number and asked how much it would cost to change my flight to one of those options. The woman checked, did her computer thing, put me on hold and came back and said my flight had been changed to the earlier flight and they would send an email to confirm. WHAT?! I said thanks and hung up.

So, did I just end up with a really nice ticket agent or is there some 24 hour rule about changing without a fee? Don't get me wrong , I am very pleased, just confused. Anyone know what happened?

AAFrequentFlyer

It was a knowledgable agent that did her job right.

Even though you did "purchase" the ticket, it has not been "ticketed". Until it's actually ticketed (believe it or not, it's still done by a human), it's very possible to change or even cancel the ticket with the right agent.

The above example has nothing to do with a 24 hour hold (perhaps you should try it next time ), as www.AA.com guarantees the fare for 24 hours. That way you could go back, look at the res, and if you missed something during the initial res, it's just easier for the agent to change it.

AAFrequentFlyer

Forgot to mention -

Actual "ticketing" can happen in few hours and as long as few weeks, depending on how far out your trip is

I made two reservations in November and December about 3 week ago and only the December res has been "ticketed". The November res is still showing "purchased", so in effect I could cancel the non-refundable res few weeks later without any penalty.

coopspa

Thank you FrequntFlyer, good to know!

tully

I was very pleased with AA recently. I purchased a few weeks ago a ticket to San Jose, Costa Rica for $621. Just for kicks I checked the fares last week and saw the same flights for $71 less. I called AA and asked what would be the penalty & would it be worth it to get the lower fare. She out me on hold then came back and said they would issue me a $71 voucher to use on AA. I was fine with this, but was really surprised the next day to see that I had actually been issed a $71 credit on my debit/credit card.

Gardyloo

IMO AA really has some excellent reps, more it seems than most other airlines. And AAFF knows all about this, but if you're ever fortunate enough to be able to interact with the Executive Platinum agents at AA (special desk for EXP elites) you'll never, ever want to go back. Remarkably competent and pleasant people. Just got off the phone with one of them while I was firming up a complicated award booking - she sorted it out, answered some semi-tough questions, and had me good to go in minutes. I compare the experience to that from a certain London-based airline not owned by a bearded one, whose N. American agents run the gamut from okay to no way. AA's seats may not be the best but their agents sure are.

P_M

AA has some great reps, but let me tell you of a good experience w/BA.

Several years ago, before the days of on-line booking, British Airways gave me a 12-hour layover in London on my trip to Greece. The agent told me this was the only routing available to Athens. I was most unhappy with this, but in those days my budget was very tight and the price was good so I reluctantly accepted these terms.

A couple of days later I called again to request a window seat. When the agent pulled up my reservation, he asked why I booked this routing with such a long layover. I told him I wasn't happy about this, but this is what they gave me saying this is all that's available. He informed me that I could have gone a different route with a much shorter layover in London. My ticket was non-changeable but he offered to ask his supervisor if they can make an exception, based on the fact that the agent who booked it was mistaken to tell me that a 12 hour layover is necessary. After several minutes of holding the phone, he came back and told me it was taken care of. I was very impressed with his service and quite relieved to avoid that long layover.

Seamus

I am decidedly NOT a fan of AA but it is encouraging to hear that their customer service is improving. Being a committed Continental flyer, i have been spoiled by the excellent, efficient, and pleasant service of the OnePass elite agents.

allanc

I am fan of AA-domestic. They are always my very first choice. Have done eight AA flights in the last 2 months, all but one on time...great service from check-in to arrival. I usually do web check in but on those occasions when I have had to go through the agent - service has been great. Does not suprise me that the AA phone agent would do this-this has been my experience as well. In contrast, I no longer fly the 'friendly skys'...even if it means a little incovenience or paying a slightly higher fare. I have experienced their telephone agents, their in flight service, and their customer service agents a little too often for comfort.

AAFrequentFlyer

Improving?

AA has probably the best customer service out of all the legacy airlines. I've been flying AA since 2001 and outside an occasional hiccup here or there, the AA CSR has been great to exceptional.

CSR is all in-house. It's not outsourced to any national or (the worse) international company.

You may not like some of the policies but that has nothing to do with CSRs. If on occasion they say no, it's because of the companies policy, not because they are bad.

Neopolitan

I can't tell you the number of times AA customer service has come through for me. It's why I don't even bother to check other airlines. I'm sooooo happy with them.

annikany

I would also like to say that I have received excellent customer service from AA as well. On my last flight with them in 2005 our plane had a mechanical problem and would be late leaving SNA and we would miss our connecting flight (ORD) to SYR. I expressed how I did not wish to wait in ORD over night for the next morning flight to SYR and would prefer to leave the next day if possible. It was fine with them and they even paid for our hotel in SNA for the night.
The best part was we were informed of the delay right at check in. There were no false pretenses about what was happening. That is great customer service!
Annika