In case others are in this same situation, I wanted to provide an update on getting a refund for our non-refundable AA tickets. Thanks to input from this forum and specifically Carol, we were able to get a refund from AA.

Our trip to the islands was supposed to start yesterday frown Of course, getting a refund is a tiny thing compared to the challenges faced by the islands’ residents. We felt it was too soon to go on the trip and wanted to cancel our flights. We bought our tickets in March 2016, and the cancellation policy for non-refundable tickets is to use it by 1 year from date of purchase. We are not able to travel after the 1st week of Jan through March, and this fall/winter seems too soon for us to go back to the islands. Soon after Maria, I started asking AA for a refund by calling Customer Service, but soon realized that approach may not work.

I took the advice from the TTOL St Martin forum. Someone said to write a letter to AA on their Compliments/Complaints page. I did so and explained why we couldn't use the ticket before Mar 2018. I received a response fairly quickly and the answer was yes! We were very thankful because technically they didn't have to give us a refund for non-refundable tickets. We got the refund today, so it took about 10 days for it to show up on our credit card.

Our original flight from MIA to STT did go on time yesterday and looked to be about 1/2 full when I checked on Mon.

We also received a complete refund from Peter Island Resort.

Looking forward to returning to the islands...maybe next fall/winter. I think I will buy trip insurance next time, although I realize I need to read the fine print on exactly what situations are covered.

Thanks so much for your input.

http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/s...e=5#Post1747519