Refunds within 24hrs of booking AA, JetBlue

[thinfool]

1. Booking on JetBlue....plans changed so I cancelled within 24 hrs. No charge ever appeared on CC statement. No further action needed.

 

2. Booking on AA...plans changed so I cancelled within 24 hrs. All charges appeared on CC statement. So I learned today that, even though I cancelled electronically thru the AA website, that I must actually request a refund, individually, for each ticket bought. Silly me, I thought it would be as easy as JetBlue had been.

 

3. Now I get to wonder how long the AA refund department will take. Have they improved from a year to two ago when reports were that 90-180 days were possible?

[zdcatc12]

 

2. Booking on AA...plans changed so I cancelled within 24 hrs. All charges appeared on CC statement. So I learned today that, even though I cancelled electronically thru the AA website, that I must actually request a refund, individually, for each ticket bought. Silly me, I thought it would be as easy as JetBlue had been.

 

 

Be careful on this one, at present time since AA allows a 24 hr hold on a ticket, they do not have the 24 hr refund rule if the hold was in effect. It may depend on if you had the ticket on hold first.

[CruiserBruce]

I think the 24 hour hold/cancel procedure is federal law...came in the "Bill of Rights" legislation for travelers.

[zdcatc12]

I think the 24 hour hold/cancel procedure is federal law...came in the "Bill of Rights" legislation for travelers.

 

Right, but it is either/or. If the airline offers one, they don't need to offer the other. AA used the hold in lieu of the cancel. The last paragraph is the important one. Here is the explanation:

 

While the regulations seem fairly straightforward, it should be noted that airlines are not required to offer both of the options, just one of them. That’s where things can get tricky, especially in the case of American Airlines.

 

Unlike nearly all the other domestic airlines which subscribe to the policy of allowing a passenger to purchase a flight and make changes within 24 hours at no charge, American only allows customers to hold their seat and fare for 24 hours without payment.

 

Customers who pay for the fare without selecting the hold option will not be able to cancel or change their flight during the subsequent 24-hour period free of charge.

Edited September 29, 2016 by zdcatc12
Clarification

[thinfool]

Right, but it is either/or. If the airline offers one, they don't need to offer the other. AA used the hold in lieu of the cancel. The last paragraph is the important one. Here is the explanation:

 

While the regulations seem fairly straightforward, it should be noted that airlines are not required to offer both of the options, just one of them. That’s where things can get tricky, especially in the case of American Airlines.

 

Unlike nearly all the other domestic airlines which subscribe to the policy of allowing a passenger to purchase a flight and make changes within 24 hours at no charge, American only allows customers to hold their seat and fare for 24 hours without payment.

 

Customers who pay for the fare without selecting the hold option will not be able to cancel or change their flight during the subsequent 24-hour period free of charge.

 

The HOLD option went away about 6 month ago. Now everyone gets a refund...and my research says it is supposed to be within 7 days of filing a completed application for refund.

[zdcatc12]

The HOLD option went away about 6 month ago. Now everyone gets a refund...and my research says it is supposed to be within 7 days of filing a completed application for refund.

 

My research says no it didn't. I just did a mock booking when I saw this post and the hold feature was still available. You might try a mock booking for your flight that you cancelled and see if it is an option. I wasn't trying to be snarky with you, I was just informing you of something that could have happened.

Edited September 29, 2016 by zdcatc12

[FlyerTalker]

There's both. A bunch of blog posts if you google 24 hours American Airlines.

[fbgd]

The HOLD option went away about 6 month ago. Now everyone gets a refund...and my research says it is supposed to be within 7 days of filing a completed application for refund.

 

No it didn't. I used it last week.