However, according to its contract with flyers, AA has the option to strand passengers in just this way. While they worked on finding another way home, flyers had to cover their own meals, transportation and lodging costs out of pocket.Īmerican Airlines would likely avoid creating such a high-profile story, if only for PR purposes. As required by their Contract of Carriage, Sun Country refunded passengers the return portion of their flights. After a blizzard caused the cancellation of two flights, Sun Country Airlines opted not to operate rescue flights, stranding 250 passengers in Mexico. That may sound far fetched, but a similar situation played out in 2018. To get home, you’d be left needing to buy a one-way international ticket-which is likely to be a lot more than $100-or use points and miles to save the day. In this case, American Airlines can simply refund you $100 and leave you stranded in Cabo. However, when it’s time to return to the U.S., mechanical issues lead to the cancellation of your American Airlines flight home. Say you book a $200 round-trip flight to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This policy now allows American Airlines to legally strand you at a destination and/or force you to book last-minute flights to get where you need to go. This may seem reasonable, but it can be a huge pain in practice. If we or our airline partner fails to operate or delays your arrival more than 4 hours, our sole obligation is to refund the remaining ticket value and any optional fees according to our involuntary refunds policy. However, going forward, American Airlines clarifies that it only owes travelers a refund of the unflown portion of their ticket: In these cases, American Airlines has generally rebooked travelers on later flights-including on partner airlines and sometimes even competitors. Perhaps the most notable change is to American’s responsibilities when there’s a cancellation or delay of more than four hours. What American Airlines Owes You for Cancellations or Delays With these changes, American aligns its policies closer to low-cost airlines like Spirit and Frontier than fellow legacy carriers Delta and United. However, it’s important for flyers to understand these policies when choosing an airline, as they determine how you’re treated when things don’t go as planned.Īmerican’s latest changes strip away travel protections that flyers may expect when flying a full-service airline. Understandably, no one wants to actually read through the terms and conditions when booking a flight. Yes, I realize that’s a remarkably boring phrase. This week, American Airlines changed the legal contract that flyers agree to when booking a ticket.
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