lori

Yesterday I was told by an American Airlines rep, that I was lucky to be able to change my flight to a nonstop overseas flight, due to the heavy load of people booking air tickets. They wanted me to pay an additional 150.00 each ticket to make a change. Do the phone reps live on another planet? Any comments?

NoneOfMyBiz...

No, the just read and apply fare rules for the ticket you bought. You should do the same thing. If you got away without paying the fee, you got a gift.

Sarah

Funny They do live on another planet it's called let's make back the difference on you planet.

Lori

Flew American today and the plane was overbooked--some of the standby folks did not get on. Don't count on the planes being empty. With some of the flights being cancelled, some of them are filling up.

Gretchen

The cost for changing a trans-atlantic flight is $150--always has been. Perhaps you should check your planetary address.

lori

Given the circumstances of flight nowdays, American has been waiving the 150.00 charge. They actually will give you the difference back from the price you originally paid for the ticket, and what the fare is selling for now, not as a travel voucher, but credit on c/card. My comment was about the amount of people traveling and booking flights. From the messages on this board, I think 60-70% of the people are cancelling, or at least silent on this board if they're booking....

Bob

Yes American has been waiving the fee. But that was only for a given period of time. This was all stated on their web site. We had to change a return flight from Boston but the fee was waived because we made the change with in the 2 week time period after the 11th.

MHS

Saw bottom banner on CNN News this am (pre 7:30am Eastern) that Spain's tourism bookings were down by 30%. That suggests there is a reduction in actual numbers travelling. However, reduction of total number of planes could produce over-booking anyway.

anon

I wouldn't get on an AA flight for Free.This last incident with the mental illness patient not even being charged with anything is the last straw.Noone who cannot be held accountable for their own actions should be allowed to endanger the safety of others on public transportation.At least an accompanying Adult should have to bear the consequences of this fiasco.

Dick

Anon, please get your facts straight before running off. <BR> <BR>According the the Chicago Tribune, the passenger is being charged by the FBI with a felony. I can't quite remember the exact wording of the charge, but it is serious. Frankly, I think the guy is lucky to still be breathing. <BR> <BR>Another great example of people coming together when the chips are on the table. <BR> <BR>Dick

barb

Anon, Do us a favor. Don't fly American, or any other airline. I wouldn't want you near me on a flight! <BR>Unfortunatly someone else will have to take up for you, as it now is apparent we will not stand for this. It is just unfortunate we can't count you "in". <BR>Your loss. <BR> <BR>

Beth

I have been on 2 roundtrip flights since 9-11 and both have been completely full! I am a prestige award member for certain airlines and can sometimes get bumped to first class on underbooked flights or get stand by for earlier flights, have not been able to since Sept 11 because flights are too full. Yes many people are canceling, but give me a break, planes are not flying around half empty. airlines are cutting their number flights by up to 40% on some airlines. They then rearrange peoples itinerary and put them on different flights so there are fewer flights for the fewer people making the flights FULL! Most companies who were waiving certain fees were only doing so through Sept. 30 that is no longer the case.

Jeannette

American Airlines was looking to cancel several of its less profitable routes even before the terrorist attack. Now, they have. For example, they permanently cancelled my direct flight from LA to Paris. They rebooked me on a stopover through New York. However, because of cancelled routes, there were more people on fewer planes. On the way back to the U.S. yesterday, the American flight from Paris to NYC was fairly full. The flight from JFK to LAX was full in coach and business. Had we not made the connection to our domestic flight (leaving every hour) to LAX, we would have had to wait for 3 hours as the next flight was overbooked and the following flight 2 hours later was cancelled. So, I think air traffic is getting back to "normal" levels.

x

We had tickets booked for middle of November on American. I have been calling every two weeks since 9/11 to check whether or not our flights had been cancelled. Sure enough I called yesterday and they had been cancelled. Long story short, we were offered alternate flights but the number of connections went from zero to two. Extremely inconvenient, however, we took them without argument or requests for discounts because, well, just because. Hopefully we'll be able to get on those flights and make it to our final destination without problem, and on time.

xxx

AA doesn't seem to be so friendly these days. I too am in a similar situation. Once booked, flight has dropped dramatically in price. Refund? Hardly, I was told I needed to pay 150.00 to rebook the ticket at a lower price. I don't want to rebook, just refund like promised.

lori

AA isn't so friendly now....Guess they just want us to play their game.After calling about their refund for lower fare, I had to speak to 2 different supervisors. At first they said the difference was 150.00, so the ticket change fee "washed" with the savings. Ah, but the change in fare was considerable more than the 150.00 per ticket. More like 295.00 per ticket. Be persistant. We should have to subsidize both sides.