In early June, American announced that it would tighten up its flexible booking policy and start to exclude basic economy and AAdvantage award tickets. Of the “big three” U.S. carriers, American was the only one to place such restrictions on tickets. However, American has since quietly backtracked on this and is now once again offering free changes for basic economy tickets.
Passengers can’t change the weather. But what happens when there are airline schedule changes to a traveler’s schedule months or weeks before take-off? Or an airline cancellation of a scheduled flight?
Recently, we were faced with COVID-19 that forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Often, the weather forces a change in a flight or air traffic operations mean flight cancellations. Passengers are normally left holding the bag. But, in some flight-cancellation situations, the passenger is in command of their own fate. Travelers need to know that they have options provided through the contract of carriage and DOT regulations.
These rules affect all domestic airlines as well as all foreign airlines that fly in and out of the US. These last four months were a perfect example of airlines charging for flights and then canceling them. DOT rules and contract clauses required the airlines to refund the money that passengers paid for airfares and ancillary fees.
When an American airline's flight change policy a passenger’s itinerary, the passenger can decide whether or not to accept those changes. Plus, some airlines spell out their rules in case of delays during travel. Of course, at the last minute, getting an advanced purchase airfare refunded and then paying a full, last-minute airfare is not a real option. But, for some, it may be the only option, depending on flight availability on your original airline.
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