An American Airlines AAdvantage member redeemed 60,000 miles to travel from Okinawa to Tokyo to Los Angeles. This cost her 60,000 miles. She was bringing her baby with her as a lap infant, and that’s not free – generally for international travel the cost is 10% of a paid ticket, plus applicable taxes.
When she called American to book the infant fare (“INF”) she was quoted $386. She expected that, so she paid up. However she was also charged $3,674 for an additional paid ticket for herself at the same time. Oops!
- She saw this on the confirmation email and rang up American. They acknoledged right away that this was wrong, and she says that they promised a refund within 5-7 business days.
- She also wrote to customer service, and received an apology the next day, noting they were working to reverse the charge.
- No refund came after 7 business days, so she followed up. She reports being told that she needed to wait longer. She says she followed up several more times.
She went to travel on May 28. At check-in with Japan Airlines in Okinawa, she suspected she might has a problem. She asked the agent to check her in only on the award ticket, and leave the revenue ticket untouched. That request was not well-understood (or easy to understand, for that matter).
After the flight she called American, since she’d still never received her refund and American was improperly holding onto more than $3,600 of hers. The agent told her that indeed, JAL checked her in using the paid ticket… and this would mean things were going to take longer.
And, she says, they told her look “Ameircan Airlines is a really big company with a lot of customers and we can’t get to everyone immediately.” (It had been about four weeks at this point.) She also says they hung up on her.
She’s gone back and forth over the past two months, and now she says American told her they will not refund the $3,600 because Japan Airlines had billed American for the ticket – and that American would no longer respond to her.
Still waiting for my $3,674.11 @AmericanAir #travelscam #pointsandmiles #consumerRights @thepointsguy @garyleff pic.twitter.com/yxLzjUZTX1
— Kathryn (@Kathryn58698209) July 28, 2025
The passenger tagged me with her story on Twitter. I reached out to American Airlines, and they got back to me: “We are working now to fully refund this customer.”
It shouldn’t have taken this kind of escalation or this many months, but once she cut through the clutter of customer service the airline appeared to get it and is handling it.
You’re a good man to try to help here, Gary. Hope AA will sort this out for her soon. You’re absolutely right that it should not take this much extra effort to get things fixed.
The entire problem is that IT SHOULD NOT TAKE MEDIA ATTENTION to get a competent answer!
I understand having an issue getting quality responses. But recall the article the other day about DL honoring their customer service’s commitments to provide refund/hotel/w/e even if they give incorrect information? THAT IS WHAT AA SHOULD BE DOING. Once the error has been acknowledged, they should be working their butts off to get to the customer’s desired outcome. Anything less is not customer service, but self-service.
AA customer (dis)service is an abomination. I’m still waiting for a response from 2023.
This does make one wonder how often things like this happen. Some years ago my wife ordered an expensive new phone from our carrier The big delivery company apparently gave it to a random person in the street who signed for it. So they said it had been dropped off and the phone company said it wasn’t their problem…this went on for weeks until our son contacted a vice president he knew in the carrier’s company. Otherwise it would never have been resolved without a lawsuit.
@Retired Lawyer — If you’re having issues, especially with all your expertise, imagine what the average consumer is dealing with; they’re probably just giving up, which is what these companies would prefer. I long for the days that we will properly legislate actual air passenger rights regulations (like EU/UK 261, Canada’s APPR); alas, I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Someday though…
Great job, Gary!!!
People cant be this stupid. Just do a chargeback, problem solve. I do CC chargebacks all the timw with everh major issuer, i have never had any pushback at all, and admittedly sometimes for vsey flimsy reasons. Always get my $$$ back and move on.
Why didn”t she cancel the new ticket right away for a full refund and tried again with another agent ?
Sounds like a complaint to the DOT was loooooong overdue …. Even right now, after (hopefully_) resolution….. Although it doesn’t wound the airlines as directly their precious dollars, it would a least go on record …I thought there were US DOT requirements for prompt, timely refunds in a defined period.
Clearly incompetent if not abusive….
@Your daddy — You’re oversimplifying things a bit, but, yes, it can be helpful to start a dispute through your credit card company, after attempting to resolve directly with the merchant first; however, it’s not a ‘sure thing,’ as there can be an initial finding in your favor, but then merchants often respond, providing random documentation which may not even be accurate, so the credit card reverses in their favor, and then you need to appeal, and so on and so forth. Just saying, a fine idea, but there’s more to it.
Additionally, consider a DOT complaint if an airline involving the US isn’t responding to your requests, especially for timely refunds, which are supposed to be within 7 business days if you used a credit card.
Where things get interesting is if there’s any disagreement over the amounts, like, say the airline provides only a partial refund; small claims court can be an option (see the ‘Tell It to a Judge’ pamphlet); yet, most folks do not have the time, resources, or skills to do all that. I wish more of us would fight back because when we do, in the aggregate, these companies learn not to screw us.
Agreed, ridiculous it got to the point that it did. Great work Gary, we appreciate you!
Strongly caution about the idea of using chargebacks — some programs have been known to retaliate against loyalty accounts. OMAAT and LAALF just this week are talking about a situation; and LoyaltyLobby has covered several with hotels over time. My guess is that someone redeeming a business AAdvantage award (and who knows to tag Gary!) probably is not the type of person who wants to risk an adverse relationship with AA. $3k may make it worth it, but still, not ideal..
More generally… I’m not sure what I would have done differently than the passenger? It’s not as simple as canceling the new ticket — which would I think normally be nonrefundable? Maybe I would have pushed very hard as departure approached? I’m impressed the passenger had the awareness to at least try to get JAL not to check in that ticket. To be fair, “partner award lap ticket” is like the worst combination of factors that can lead to a mess…
Not all credit card disputes are the same. American Express is great. Capital One is far less helpful.
Great ending to the story and cheers for stepping in to help.
But the moral of the story is, lowest level customer service in nearly any company these days can be (is most likely) abysmally incompetent and your whole goal in a problem like this is to break through that abysmally incompetent level to a higher, and hopefully much more competent, level of customer service.
Thanks again, Gary.
@ Gary — As @1990 constantly preaches, we need far better consumer protections in this country. How is it acceptable that corporations can instantly take your money, and then consume hours of your finite time fighting their mistakes without having to compensate you? I am so sick of this crap. I guess the only way to prevent it is to minimize your spending to reduce you interaction with corporations and thereby minize your risk exposure to this scam against the public. Warren Buffett is smarter than all of us. He hasn’t bought a residence since 1958 and hasn’t bought a car since 2014. If you don’t spend, you don’t have to deal with these corrupt corporations. And they are ALL crooked.
@JG — It really depends. I also appreciate Amex’s website for disputes, but their team can be just as frustrating as other issuers if you have anything more complicated than a simple refund or obviously fraudulent charge, etc.
@Gene — Louder, for the people in the back!
She can also file small court against AA to get the money instead of calling forever. That’s how we did with LH last year.
Shame on AA for their unethical prolonged damage control efforts. I have had experiences with all three major airlines that put their lack of integrity in full view.
Try Alaska Air – never had a n issue with them. One of the highest rated airlines by customers worldwide. I was a cybersecurity assessor traveling all over the country every week. Ultimately, the big three are the worst for customer satisfaction, and they don’t care. They do great canned lip service about how much they care and the effort they make to take care of things. Pull on my other wing, it whistles
When there’s a post about AA’s employees’ rudeness/incivility … I recall the early 80’s, Supervisor in Braniff’s Ticket Dept … it took calls, booked trips … was bragging “… no matter what fare the customer wants, we book the absolute lowest we can. We’re screwing Braniff out of tens of thousands every day!” A couple weeks earlier I was in First on Braniff, FA took offense that I’d politely objected to the dead fly on-top of my drink, came back with another, tripped, threw the drink all over me (in a window seat). May ’82, Braniff suddenly canceled all flights, flew as many planes as possible back to Dallas, parked them. There was no precedent for an airline filing Bankruptcy. Might explain what’s going on at AA.
@Eddie Shih — Was your issue a simple refund that Lufthansa denied, or something more complicated, like the airline denied reimbursements following their delay/cancellation/rebooking?
Also, did LH’s representatives even show up in court, or did you ‘win’ by default? Finally, how did the ‘judgment’ work out against an international airline like that? If you don’t want to share, you can ignore, but, your story may help others who need to go that route.
She should be charging them interest.
After the fist week, I would have been at the courthouse.
Tough luck, you Karen. If you don’t want trouble, don’t have children.
Thats par for the course when dealing with AA. Delay and deny, deny and delay. If you dont have a massive social media following, or the early of someone who does, your problem will never get resolved.
@Paul — Reminds me of another ‘beloved’ industry… and, perhaps, a stay at the historic… New York Hilton Midtown… Or, maybe, corporations (and the people behind them) can do the right thing, not be excessively greedy, and actually serve their clients and communities with honor…
The current administration has rolled back consumer protection rules and fired government watchdog officials. This has emboldened companies to exploit consumers with no financial repercussions. This is just the beginning of corporate America stealing money from people. Rich people don’t have to worry about it; they were just given tax breaks that they did not deserve. The wealthy can pay for these mistakes.
@Joe United — Well said. And when the pendulum does swing back, there’s gonna be a lot of work to do to rebuild these systems better than before. It may take a generation to fix all these messes. Can’t get too cynical about all this. We deserve better and have to fight for it.
Thank you Gary for helping this deserving mother get her refund. After my experience flying round trip AA to SNN Ireland from SFO, I will never fly AA again, sorry…
It’s the deregulation that American voters voted for.
Idiots.
I miss TWA
BEST dONT FLY AA ANYMORE.tyhey ripped me off and cheated on me with refunds,,,could not spend Hours on the phone witch AA goons any more, so i decided nonly in extreme circumstances board an AA flight
By the way in the last four years i used Aa i endured 3 emergency landings.
my 2 cents too everone stay away from AA,, if you value your money and life
That’s crazy! Thanks for writing this. That poor mom deserves justice.
She should contact Christopher Elliot with the Elliot Advocacy Group. This man knows his stuff and always gets the results folks are looking for.
I saw her viral video. She did try to dispute her charge with her credit card and Citi was causing issues
What a shame that this happened to a military spouse and mother as she was visiting her husband deployed overseas. It’s truly appalling that “a really big company” like American Airlines would so callously put her through the wringer after their own IT error. Thank you, Gary, for doing right for this mother!
Sounds like trying to get AA to properly credit an Alaska flight. Took about 8 months.
It’s big company bullying that inspires many to go to law school!
I am a lawyer and wonder all the time how normal people survive. I have taken to wearing my “The Law School” hat when I travel.
[I am a lawyer and wonder all the time how normal people survive. I have taken to wearing my “The Law School” hat when I travel.]
People have to decide for themselves if they stick up for themselves or will bring in someone to champion their cause or will let it go or will knuckle under. I see some people fight tooth and nail on small causes while ignoring larger causes (sort of penny wise and pound foolish.) Bring in a champion is often too expensive for most people.
Sounds like a normal response from AA. Personally haven’t had any problems with AA since I quit flying them years ago. Don’t miss them.
This type of stupidity will continue for as long as American companies keep outsourcing their customer service to foreign call centers.
How can anybody expect to have their problem solved by some person in Mumbai who barely speaks English, has never been on an airplane, and frankly gets paid whether your problem is solved or not?!?!
I recently cacelled my AA gold credit card because it’s just not worth the aggravation to fly AA. Terrible customer service in the past, frequent delays and seldom on time. Delta is my airline of choice. The respond quickly and always compensate for errors without question.
Customer Service across all major corporations, everywhere, has become positively dismal and completely ineffectual. Is this deliberate?!
Why didn’t she ask her bank or CC company a charge back ?
@Buck Fiden — So, basically… ‘they took our jaaabs’ (and they said South Park wasn’t relevant anymore, psh.)
Go for great!
And coming up woefully short.
That’s AA
Sometimes, you grab the bull by the cahones and make it known that “you ain’t takin’ it anymore.” People forget that sending a demand letter via the United States Postal Service (also spotty service), certified return receipt to the company customer service, and regular mail to INVESTOR RELATIONS and WITH a copy to the DOT, the FAA, the credit card company and a local media outlet can..sometimes.. move the offending airline off of their butts. It takes a bit of work but many times, when the investor relations department sees this, somethings might move a bit quicker.
This is honestly unbelievable. How can a company as big as American Airlines just write someone off like that after they made the mistake? $3,674 isn’t a small error, that’s someone’s rent, savings, or family trip gone. And telling her to “stop calling”? That’s not customer service, that’s stonewalling. Really hope she gets her money back and that someone at the top sees how broken this system has become.