AA Flight Changes--You may be able to cancel NOW

I just checked our flights for May 11th returning May 18th and all four legs of the flight changed. On two of the flights my wife and I are not seated together or near each other. There are no open seats on any of the flights. I assume because of social distancing. I did not receive any notification from AA regarding these changes. At this point I am not concerned since I don't believe the flights will take place anyway. I want AA to cancel instead of me so I will have the option of having my fare refunded to my credit card in lieu of a voucher.

Flights to where? To SXM? I think it's pretty clear they won't happen. I looked yesterday at my flights for the end of May and saw that they had changed the flight time on the AA flight from Miami to SXM, back to 10:30 AM, from 12:30 PM. Not sure why the time change, since it's pretty certain the flight won't happen. I'm not doing anything with it for now. No reason to call, as it's still listed as going, so doubt that calling would do any good.

Yes, SXM. One of the flights was the MIA to SXM and it changed time the same as yours.

OK. Nothing to do yet, I don't think. What's so stupid is that AA seems to be bound and determined to go to that earlier flight from Miami to SXM, whenever they do start flying again. Really dumb, in my estimate, since it makes it almost impossible for people to connect to that flight. I guess they are trying to compete with the Jet Blue flight from FLL, which leaves early like that. It seems they want people who connect through Florida to have to overnight on the way down. We just drive 3.5 hours to Miami, so we would prefer to have the later flight. But of course, this is all esoteric at the moment. Wish there was a chance that we would be going any time soon!

Just remember airlines will keep you in suspense with changes etc hoping you will reschedule the flight before they have to cancel.
Imagine most will not cancel till close to departure date to keep your cash as long as possible.
Reason more not to purchase a new ticket at the attractive prices unless you go 6 months or so out.
Prices only going to be same or lower in the Fall.
Patience.

Yeah, you're probably right about that. If and when Juliana actually has some printed date when they are closed until, then it might be worth it to try to call them, even if the flight is still showing online. But otherwise, we won't do anything. We actually got what I thought at the time was an EXCELLENT price from Miami, like $280 r/t per person, but you're right, when they do actually start flying, the flights will be ridiculously cheap.

So it will be interesting when they finally cancel your May flight whether you choose to rebook or take the refund.
Keep us posted when that happens.
It may be at that time that the cost to rebook is more since you scored such a great price.
I do not believe they are obligated to honor the $280 when you rebook. Just no change fee.
Interesting to try to outguess the money hungry airlines.

I'm in the same boat for my May AA flights to SXM. Just going to wait it out. Bought going and used mile returning.

Clifftops--I will take a refund. I have zero confidence that any of the airlines will survive this without at least a chapter 11.

I was just notified that both of my flights to SXM have been rerouted through Miami instead of Charlotte. May 15 and May 24th.

Where you going to land?

Wendell

Good luck. Can't wait to get my AA changes for May 8 to May 28. Ya right. Like it's going to happen.

Was flying Spirit on May 2 with return on May 16. Spirit cancelled flight in but told us we still had reservations on return flight? Cancelled as it was a long swim to get there to use that flight back.

Hi. I have edited the title of this post, based on a conversation I just had with an AA agent, which was sparked by a story I read online yesterday. We all know that basically anything before June 1 is not going to fly, but the flights are generally still listed online, when you go to check your reservation. HOWEVER, AA's longstanding policy, totally separate from Corona stuff, is that if your flight has changed by more than an hour, and some other changes, like change of equipment, you are entitled to cancel and get a REFUND, even if the flight still goes (albeit on the revised schedule). This is the policy for tickets booked before Corona stuff, not sure about exact date on that. However, my flights were booked in August 2019. AA changed my flights AGAIN sometime over the weekend, back to 10:30 AM, from the original time which was 12:30 PM. So I called AA to confirm that, based on this schedule change , that I was eligible for a refund. The lady said yes. She said that she could not authorize the refund over the phone, but I could do it online, with my ticket number, which she gave to me. She cancelled the flights and told me to go to a website, which is www.prefunds.aa.com. Stay on that website, do NOT take the option to take you back to AA.com. Fill in your ticket information, click on Request a Refund and fill in the info. You have to go through a couple of screens, and it will tell you if you are eligible for a refund, versus credit. They try to suck you in, to get a 20% bonus, if you elect not to take the refund. My advice is not to fall for that, just go and get your refund. It says it could take up to 7 business days for the refund to process. You can print out the confirmation of the request for refund, which you should do. You should also get an email confirming your request for a refund. It says that you can check back on the status of your refund after 24 hours.

SO, totally depressed now. I knew my trip wouldn't happen, but it's real now. Getting a refund versus a credit just seems the prudent thing to do.

I went ahead and booked for mid August for two weeks after my May got cancelled. Hoping everything will be good by then for everyones sake.

I hope so too, just so hard to know what to do.

Have to be optimistic about something and I need something to look forward to.

I get ya. Take care, stay safe.

We haven't done anything with our May tickets yet as I know it's not going to happen. I'll have to call them about our July tickets as the price is substantially reduced from what we originally paid.

You hung in there Carol but made the right choice. Just a typo due to you being depressed. Its refunds.aa.com. The extra P came in cos you are P$$ed.

bran--actually no. That is the url that the agent gave me and where I used to request the refund. She said at the time, 'It's REFUND with a 'p' in front of it. " Try it. Perhaps it's specific for an area where the flight has already been cancelled, or something.

Yes, prefund is the website I used to get my refund on our March 20 return. It took a few days for them to credit back our money, but it did work.

I did pretty much the same thing as you Carol, to get an agent that said i didn't qualify for a refund because my flight wasn't changed by more than an hour, even though it had been cancelled, which is more than an hour to me! I did go to the prefund page and it said yes i was eligible, and yes skip the refund and 20% stuff. I actually got refunded in 6 days. It is depressing to a point to think we should be traveling home tomorrow from our 10 day trip, but there is no sense to dwell on it as there is nothing we can do about it.

weird...prefund on my computer doesn't work whereas refunds does? Also looked at my notes originally and agent gave me refunds.com. No matter as they both seem to get you to the same place.

Some airlines would like the refund rules changed.

https://www.npr.org/sections/corona...hem-to-refund-fares-for-canceled-flights

Score! I had a ticket next week to FLL for my now-cancelled European cruise. Last week I received an email from AA about cancelling. I wanted to see if they were offering a refund option or merely credit so followed the link provided in the email. I thought they would give the usual "are you sure you want to cancel?" option, but nooo. I clicked too far and my ticket was cancelled on the spot! I thought I was SOL. I noticed a few days ago that they had canceled the flights (after I canceled my reservation) so was going to call to plead for a refund. They I saw Carol's post above and thought, what the heck. I went to the website and was told my ticket (even though I cancelled it) was eligible for a refund! I have a confirmation of that eligibility and look forward to receiving the refund in seven days. Thanks so much for the post, Carol.

And BTW - there is a typo in your post. It's "refunds," not "prefunds." (Prefunds did not work for me, but refunds did.)

Glad you were able to get the refund request in.

And no, there is not a typo in the post. That is the url of the website I was directed to by the agent and that's where I processed my request. See SXMbeacher's post above..

I just edited my post above. Prefunds did not work for me but refunds did.

From what I recall, there are at least two links for AA refunds. Not sure what the difference is or why as I have seen other mention the "prefund" link.

Also, I think AA and Delta both greatly relaxed cancellation rules and basically are giving refunds no matter who canceled under the current situation. This is for flights within a certain time frame.

Happy for those getting refunds.

I'm still unsure what to do with our 6-4 to 6-12 trip that we booked with miles last year. I have my doubts it will happen, but still holding out for a miracle. I'm curious how you 'know' that a late May flight will not happen. Is that because PJIA will not be open by that date, or because AA wont be flying to SXM by that date, or some other reason? Should I cancel or wait it out?

TIA

According to the story in the Daily Herald the other day, Juliana is currently in a two month (at least) hibernation period. This was announced after April 1, so logically it would extend past June 1. Now, they have not actually ANNOUNCED the date to which Juliana is definitely closed to, so I suppose it is theoretically possible that Juliana could re-open before June 1, but I would not be betting any of MY money on that. And frankly I just don't see a scenario in which I would personally be comfortable in traveling to SXM at the end of May.

What you should do in your situation, I have no idea. If your schedule of your flights hasn't changed yet and the flight is still 'technically' on, if you cancel now, you will have to accept a voucher, if you paid in money. BUT I actually don't know what the process is if you have paid with FF miles. No one has really posted what the options are with regard to that, but I guess that you would have to re-book within one year of the date of the original booking, and don't have the option to re-deposit the miles. My suggestion is you might want to call them and see what your options are.

For flights paid for in cash, I think it's a no-brainer to cancel if you can. I am not at all convinced that AA (or any other airline) will not end up in Chapter 11 or even a 7, and I prefer to get my cash back and not buy a claim in bankruptcy. RECOGNIZE that the price could go way up after they start flying again. Or the prices could be stupid cheap. Anyone that says they know the answer to that conundrum is lying.. For flights booked with frequent flyer miles, I really don't know what the real options are..

When I have cancelled flights with miles in the past with no big reason all miles were redeposited back in my account and fees refunded. I have done this with American and Alaska.

I don't know, as the only time we have done it, I have just rescheduled a date..

I haven’t done either yet, but while there used to be no fee involved with redepositing miles I believe I read somewhere pre-Covid-19 there is currently a charge for doing this if it’s your choice as opposed to doing it because of airline changes, but you get all your money refunded for taxes, seats and luggage fees.

For flights booked with frequent flyer miles, I really don't know what the real options are..

Carol Hill

Booked mine with Cash and the wife's with miles. Got the miles credited back into my acct immediately and the taxes 2 days later. Cash they refunded about 5 days later.

bran--Did AA cancel the flight or did you?

Four of us flying out of MIA to SXM 1st class on May 22nd! Checked our flight today. 1st class is sold out. Few other seats remain available. If AA is flying, we are going!
IMHO, the safest time to go will be right after they reopen. A second wave will likely come. By then, we will (hopefully) have enjoyed an awesome vacation, and be back home, safe and sound!
I refuse to live in fear!!!

Good luck. My AA May flights are still showing too but without PJIA open you might be sky diving in.

Consider the possibility that even if your flight operates, SXM may require inbound passengers to do a 14-day quarantine.

They didn't cancel it or notified me by email but since there were no flights in or out until May 6th and since I had to cancel a hotel booking in Anguilla in order to get my deposit back, I just called AA and she gave me some ticket numbers and went to the refund site and voila!

No they didn't cancel or notify me. I just called them first and was directed to the refund site.

whoops..sorry for double post, thought something odd happened

Or not!

Very brave and admire your resolve but methinks its a little risky. what if restaurants, shops etc still closed, or an outbreak happens whilst you are there and you cant get out, etc, etc...

However, thats very negative thinking on my part and you have plenty of time to see the progress.....hope it works out for you though.

On our May 2020 SXM trip my ticket numbers were on my original confirmation email I received when I booked in Dec. 2019. Do the ticket numbers change when AA makes schedule changes?

Hi Bran, What if the restaurants are open, but just not crowded? What if we have to use Emma:
https://www.fabulousfeasts.com/locations/st-martin-f-w-i/st-martin-food-to-go/

What if Orient Beach isn't crowded, and we have it all to ourselves?

What if we get stranded here:
https://www.skyluxuryrentals.com/vacation-rental-home.asp?PageDataID=72339

What if I cave to fear, and miss the best St Martin vacation ever???

Life is an awesome, amazing adventure! A little risk makes it sweeter!

Why don't you come join us? There are a few seats left on the 22nd!

No idea but you may be able to look up any new ticket in your online account to verify the number. Just a guess on my part, but if just a schedule change was involved and a new ticket was not issued, the number would likely stay the same.

I just went into my Delta account and under "Account Activity", I could find my past tickets and the corresponding numbers. Not sure if AA has this feature or not. I am going to try and find it.

AA appears to have the same feature. Log into your account and it is under "Activity" and does show the ticket number. You should be able to verify this way.

Jaybird--I think the ticket number is the ticket number. Don't think it ever changes. If you want to request a refund, you could try the ticket number you have on your confirmation and see whether it pulls up your itinerary correctly or not.

freedomfighter--I could be wrong, often am, but based on what was in the Daily Herald the other day, I think that Juliana will be CLOSED until at least June 1.

If so, we'll go the first part of June! You can rebook and join us!

freedomfighter--well, I guess we will see what happens. Since Eric and I are both in a high risk category, even if the island reopens around June 1, we won't be there, unfortunately.

If so, we'll go the first part of June! You can rebook and join us!

Carol, in the back of my mind, I thought I read that article to say that the airport has the available liquidity to survive a 2-month hibernation under one scenario and a 6-month closure under a different analysis.

Correct

AIRPORT ARTICLE APRIL 1

The article deals with liquidity, construction AND operations. Granted, things could change quickly as they did when this ordeal started but as I read this, I would NOT expect any flights other than those indicated to happen for at least 2 months.

And a couple of paragraphs of interest:

"Mingo said the airport will go into a “hibernation period” because of the crisis, which has put an almost complete standstill to air travel. The terminal building will be secured and closed, with operations moving to the smaller fixed-base operator (FBO) facility. During this period, only cargo, medical and relief flights would be possible, said PJIAE Financial Advisor Leo van der Meiden.

Airport officials have planned for two separate scenarios, one in which the airport is shut down for two months and the other in which the airport “hibernates” for six months."

I was just getting ready to post that same link here. I had already just posed it on another thread.

I saw that. We don't need the same links on multiple threads. Thanks.

What people need to do is read the ENTIRE article and not just bits and pieces and cherry pick something. As I stated above, things CAN change but my guess would be IF they do, it will not be with moving dates forward for visitors but moving dates back. The article clearly states as I noted above, "cargo, military and relief flights". Nowhere do I see anything mentioned about AA having a flight scheduled for sometime in May arriving. AA might have it on their schedule but as SXMWendell stated in another post: "Where are they going to land" if the airport is closed?

I like your positivity FF. Hope to meet you on OB first part of June!

"Where are they going to land" if the airport is closed?"
Skydiving in?

Hey Scubaman, The only thing that is certain right now is uncertainty.
We live in Manatee County, Florida. We are under an emergency 11 pm to 5 am curfew. It did prohibit all gatherings of more than 10 people.
After threats from the local chapter of the ALCU, our county commissioners voted yesterday to allow gatherings of more than 10 on private property, but not on public property.
Two weeks ago, the head of our local emergency management team closed all our boat ramps. Our county commissioners voted yesterday to overrule, and reopen our boat ramps on Monday.
If there is that level of confusion and disarray here in America, I'm sure that it's not a lot different in St Martin. Time will tell...., but I'm hoping to be posting current pics of Orient Beach before the end of May!

In Washington State all Fishing and hunting is closed through May 4. People were going to Oregon to fish and Oregon closed all nonresident Fishing and hunting to curb Washington residents from going there. Some people don't get it. Stay at Home means Stay at Home.

I am not in SXM but 6 miles away in Anguilla.
There is not a level of confusion and dismay here as the people realize the restrictions are necessary to restrict the virus from either arriving on the island or spreading from someone already here.
Actually most are wanted these to remain until there is confidence by our health dept that some or all internal restrictions can be restricted or relaxed. We do not want our ports open till there is a way to know who will enter and their virus status.
I am sure the health people in SXM believe the same and hopefully the people will support rather than challenge them as you indicated was going on in your county.
Hope you get to SXM but at the right time and do not believe it is anytime soon.

FF..sending you a PM soon.

On the one hand, the airport is shut down except for cargo and emergencies, etc and yet didn't a poster notice yesterday that a private charter left for the US somewhere? So rules for some and not for others?

That's kind of the way it always is, if you have enough money, rules don't apply.

I believe that was a recovery flight which supposedly will be the last one.

Most countries will make arrangements for recovery flights.
Not a problem with people leaving.
Just don’t want anyone entering until we have a way to show they are not a danger to spreading the virus back into the country.
Really don’t need people there that do not want to be there.
Not about money.

Scubaman--I saw the plane on the webcam. This was a small private jet, maybe 15-20 pax or so. POSSIBLY a medical evac flight, but not a recovery flight, I doubt.

Thankfully I can afford to and happy to take the airline credit...not so sure I would take a cruise line credit but maybe. The airlines will get bailed out if needed especially in an election year. These hotels, airlines and travel companies are all fighting for thiers life's and thousands of employees future and personally I just think trying to get cash now vs credit is just aggravating and adding to the problem.

This is exactly what should happen with private flights:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/private-jet-turned-back-cannes-france/index.html

I remember on Facebook one of the major posters was organizing a charter flight for people wanting to leave SXM about that time and some people took the offer. I assumed it was that flight.

If it is the flight and person I am thinking of, it never happened as far as I know.

forever--well, everyone has their point of view, but considering what the airlines have done to the travelling public over the years, I would much rather have the cash in my pocket than theirs.

Makes sense...better to have cash AND a choice of airlines than being stuck with one

That is sure how I would approach it.

Obviously the airlines make up hundreds of thousands of generally great hard-working employees ran by a FRACTION OF A PERCENT of greedy management and leadership. They have already gotten their millions of dollars in bonuses and stock options so bankruptcy is not gonna affect them. As in the past they will just go on to form and run new airlines doing the same old things. A bankrupt airline which I don’t think you’ll see many of , will just allow the airlines to get out of employment contracts pensions and other benefits so many families depend on. I’ve never been an airline employee but in my opinion ....Fewer Airlines will just lead to even higher fares and fees and worse service. To me it’s not a risk at all. Time will tell. By starving them of cash I’m not gonna give them any more excuses to bail out on hundreds of thousands of employee families. But to each his or her own. 😊

Wow

Not SXM flights, but AA domestic flights that we (not AA) canceled. When we canceled them, we were told that we could call to rebook anytime before the end of 2020. Once I saw this thread, I went ahead and requested the refund online. It took about three weeks, (Correction: only eight days, lol. Just seemed like 3 weeks) but we received notice that our refunds would be applied to our credit card. One small downside, and I'm not sure I'm even going to worry about it, is that we had applied $300 in vouchers that we had gotten for severely delayed flights last year, and those were not reinstated. Added note: it's possible that AA actually canceled the flights after we canceled our tickets, as I did try to find them on Flight Aware, and couldn't. Not really sure if the flights flew or not, but we did get our money back.

Wow, three weeks is a long time, but glad you got your refund. We cancelled our SXM tickets on Friday, and as of yesterday, our refund was still 'pending review', but I assume it will be issued soon.

We are booked 5-11 DFW-MIA-SXM returning 5-18 SXM-MIA-DFW. I have NOT cancelled the flights as I am waiting on AA to do so. I went to refunds.aa.com and input my ticket number. It showed "not eligible for refund". I am not sure if this is because I have not cancelled or what. Any ideas?

My flights had changed in terms of TIME and EQUIPMENT from when I booked them, so I was able to cancel for our end of May trip and get a refund. Since your flight is technically still listed as going, if you attempt to cancel yourself now, you would be forced to accept a voucher. I really don't know what the time limits are on the vouchers they are giving out now, as in, when they have to be used by. Originally they had to be used within one year of the date of the original booking. If you booked a LONG time ago, as we did, then the voucher might be virtually useless to you. It would only have gotten us to August of this year. If you booked relatively recently, then one year from the date of the original booking might be good enough. The other day when I called AA, I did the 'call back' thing and it was only 5 minutes before they called me back. So, you may want to give them a call and find out what your options are. They are giving like a 25% bonus if you do accept a voucher. If you don't want a voucher at all, then suggest you just wait a while longer and see what shakes out.

My refund also immediately said pending and we actually saw the funds in the account in 6 days.

It may not have been that long, as I didn't really note when I applied. Every day feels like a week lately

Edited to add that it was only 8 days, lol. I applied the day this thread was first posted.

Time seems a very expandable thing these days. Nothing is at all normal.

Right. I have to keep thinking what day it is. Sometimes I get it wrong too.😛

Same timing for me. Refund requested Friday; still pending review. I am not making any assumptions as I canceled my reservation before they canceled the flight.

Heck. AA is still showing flights available after May 6 to SXM. Checked on mine for May and still active.

Will check on the status of my refund tomorrow.

Linda, we did the same, but did get a refund. Good luck with yours!

Thanks, Georgia. You canceled your reservation before they canceled the flight?

Yes, I did, Linda. In fact, I'm not 100% sure the flight was actually canceled. I looked for it on Flight Aware after the fact, and didn't see it; but I'm not sure that's reliable proof.

That's encouraging. My request is still "pending review."

Update: We just received emails from AA that our vouchers were reinstated, with a new expiration date one year from today. I hadn't gotten around to sending them an email, so the reinstatement was obviously a part of the refund process. I'm pretty happy with how AA has handled this situation.

Good deal!

With the exception of Southwest, all of the other biggies have gone bankrupt this century already shedding most of the 20th century baggage.

The airlines were finally doing pretty well and Delta last year gave huge profit sharing payouts to all.

The only thing that would prevent bankruptcy is a broad Federal bailout of the industry.

Even if they restored full schedules tomorrow and were allowed to fly everywhere who would go for months?

I flew on Sept 14, 2001 it was a bold step and I stared down every person in the gatehouse looking for a bad guy. I thought the pilots would be locked in the cockpit but rather they to were at the door staring down everyone who boarded the flight.

The only way to stare down the passengers going forward is to have a test certificate. Otherwise, it is a game of roulette.

https://youtu.be/t5kNHiGIKGQ

The islanders don't yet want to play a game of roulette with Passenger arriving constantly on “mine island”.

Georgia--glad to hear it! As of yesterday, our refunds were still 'pending review', but I reckon it will happen soon.

Our flight showed as changed...i.e. the flight from Seattle to Charlotte was still there but the flight to SSM was gone.,,just disappeared. I called and they graciously offered to cancel and give a refund or a voucher for 120% of the value good until December of 2021sRequested the refund and it's pending review.

Same here. Our May redeye from Seattle was changed to a morning flight to CLT but our connection to SXM was leaving before out flight arrived in CLT. I know I'm not going in May but found it comical that they made and sent those changes. As of now my July trip is unchanged from original booking and plan on going.

With the increasing reports of higher percentages of people in Massachusetts testing positive for the presence of antibodies, as having past exposure - it is starting to look like travel for those people would not be a risky or infectious proposition.
Any ideas whether June travel to the friendly island for them might be possible or advisable?

Probably not until this gets figured out:

Reinfection possibility link

At this juncture, I would have to reasonably question whether June travel to SXM would be possible for anyone from the US., let alone advisable. A lot has to be worked out and come together for this to happen and June is not that far away. Realistically, it is probably too early to know what the situation will be but personally, I don't see it as very likely by then.

Was on phone with AA and cancelled my May trip. They cancelled reservations over phone but had to go to AAcom/refund to do the refund request. Then since I used an eVoucher I had to request a reissue and extension for that. My return was with miles so that was automatic via the phone call. Time consuming but it's done. Now keeping my fingers crossed for our July trip.

Had to be done, of course. We received an email this morning that our refund (that we requested on April 14) had been fully processed by AA and that it may take up to a week to see it actually post to our credit card. Best wishes for the July trip, although I personally don't think I would even WANT go to at that point, even if I could.

So did I!

Good deal for all 3 of you.

Good deal, Linda.

Just checked my AA account and all my miles have already been redeposited from cancelling my return trip yesterday. Now I'll wait to get the refund for the first leg on my CC.

I got a phone call from AA shortly after 9pm last night. It was a rather strange call. The agent asked me if I was aware of the changes AA had made to my flights. I told her I was aware of the changes but was not concerned since I knew the flights would be cancelled anyway. She proceeded to tell me the flights were still showing to be departing on the scheduled dates. I told her that maybe the DFW-MIA would depart but not the MIA-SXM leg because PJIA was closed and not scheduled to open until after my flights. She seemed to be not aware of that fact. She asked me if I wanted her to cancel the flights. I told her to cancel the flights and then I questioned her on refunds vs. vouchers. She said I could go to refunds.aa.com to request a refund. I then asked her about the 20% extra if I chose a voucher. She told me that I would be given that option during the refund process. Like I said, it was a strange call as I had not received anything from AA prior to the call. I have all the notifications enabled on my account. Below is the email that I received confirming the cancellation.

"Your trip is canceled

Record locator:

Trip canceled on: April 21, 2020 at 9:12 PM (CT)

Don’t worry, the value of your ticket is safe. Please wait to call until you’re ready to rebook, and you’ll be able to use the value of your unused ticket and seat purchase toward a future trip.

Keep this email, which includes your ticket number, for when you’re ready to rebook.

If your trip was not booked directly with American, please contact your travel agency or original booking source to rebook your trip.

If you canceled within 24 hours of ticket purchase, and at least 2 days before departure, we’ll process your refund automatically.

Read more about our coronavirus updates."

When were you scheduled to travel? That is kind of weird. My advice is not to wait until you're ready to travel again, but go ahead and request your refund or voucher now.

I was told to go to AA.com/refund to request refund after phone cancellation which worked not refunds aa.com which will take you nowhere.

Carol, we were due to fly May 11th and return May 18th.

Jaybird==ok, thanks.

Our AA flight is scheduled for May 15th and hasn't been cancelled yet. If the plane does go and the beaches are open we will be on the plane. I just need to get out of the house at any cost.

DRich--I see zero chance that flight will go...

We rebooked our villa and purchased 1st class tix on American for $640 ea for July 5th - 14th. Have not cancelled our tix for May 22nd - 31st.
Will wait for AA to cancel the flight and refund. If by some miraculous change of heart, they reopen the SXM airport by May 22nd, we will still go then!

It will not reopen until at least June. Take the refund.

I think it is VERY unlikely, but I am still holding out hope until they cancel the flight. I would be happy with a 5% chance but don't think it is that high.

So, AA rejected my request for a refund, apparently because I cancelled the trip prior to them cancelling the flight. They have offered to let me reschedule, but, naturally, I prefer cash-in-hand. So, I filed my 250 character max appeal, letting them know what DOT says (not being Twitter proficient, I'm not good at conveying my point succinctly, with their character limitation). Let's see how this goes. I have plenty of time, and don't need the cash in the near future, so I can play the long game, if that's what's required. I have another protest in with Orbitz on a hotel cancellation, but I have so much time on my hands these days, this is actually a nice distraction. And, while I have rescheduled our Mar/Apr trip to November, I'm beginning to think it may not go off. Time for a margarita. Salud!

I have not heard anything positive with regard to third party booking sites when it comes to refunds. Not saying they may not be out there but a friend had a trip to Ireland cancelled and one of the big name booking sites is giving them all kinds of grief. They got the air refunded but not the hotel and land portion of the trip. Good luck.

Oh, believe me, I'm expecting a battle. Interestingly enough, I have a notice from them (it's Orbitz) giving me credit, with an associated bank transaction number, but less than the amount charged. The transaction never hit my credit card. The person I spoke to yesterday, mentioned something about the "bot response" with regards to my credit. Total BS, of course, but I'm willing to play the game for a while.

Orbitz appears to have a "booking fee" equal to 1% of the ticket price before taxes, it that the discrepancy in the amount you are expecting? I have heard of multiple horror stories in dealing with these third party booking sites and personally talked to several people who have experienced them.

One is more like 21% and the other 16%, so there seems to be no rhyme or reason. I used them because of their special pricing--it was at Mary's Boon, and they do really stick to their advertised prices. And, I've always had good relations with Orbitz, so I suspect this is one of those Covid issues. Looks like the parent, Expedia, just got a big cash infusion (4 gigabucks sticks in my mind), so maybe they'll be more accommodating.

Ok, I was only looking at the fees for booking air. I am not a big fan of third party booking sites and would ONLY use them if it was a tremendous difference in price. I know CheapOair has something like a $50 refund fee IF you can get a refund.

Am I missing something here. Was your AA flight booked through a third party also or directly with AA?

My flight was directly booked with AA. My hotel was booked through Orbitz. The rest of my trip had 3 different parties--everything resolved with them.

cruzer--I guess your situation is the poster child for the concept of 'wait for the airline to cancel your flight'..

Carol, at the time, I was trying to reach my travel providers on the phone, but never could get through. At the time, I didn't know the flight would be cancelled, but I did know that if I cancelled after the flight departed, I was SOL, so I cancelled the flight online, planning to fix this at a later date
. Actually, that's the issue I have with Orbitz--I couldn't get through either via phone of internet, and missed check in. I did call the hotel to cancel, but they couldn't cancel a 3rd party reservation. I'm fully prepared to follow this through 'til the bitter end, and hey, it beats the heck out of watching Judge Judy.

OK, best wishes. Hope it works out for you.

Wow. If that flight couldn't fly there should be no reason not to be able to get a full refund. Call and demand to talk to a supervisor.

And my refund hit my credit card on Tuesday.

Glad to hear that, Linda.