American Airlines has introduced a new policy that could cause travelers some major troubles.
American Airlines has quietly instituted a policy that not only lets them downgrade first-class passengers to economy—due to broken seats and/or aircraft changes—but also allows American Airlines to keep the money passengers paid for their premium seats.
Travel expert Gary Leff of View From The Wing reported that American Airlines is increasingly moving frustrated passengers from first-class to economy due to aircraft swaps and broken seats. Leff believes this new policy will only serve to help American Airlines reap more economic benefits from these already-unhappy travelers. “This seems like a big incentive for American Airlines to oversell and keep the money,” Leff speculated.
Under this revised policy, travelers are offered a 40% refund on their affected flight segment’s fare. To truly see the impact of this in action, a downgrade from a $1,050 first-class ticket to a $200 coach seat currently results in a $420 refund, leaving the passenger $430 short of the actual $850 difference in value.
Many like Leff argue that this new policy incentivizes the airline to oversell premium cabins, as it allows the carrier to keep a significant portion of the premium revenue without actually having to offer the premium services. Others say that travelers should just try to work with AA to request a later flight with first-class seating to try and work around the issue.
The change has sparked consumer backlash and a formal Department of Transportation complaint over claims that the airline is ignoring federal refund guidelines. An official complaint has been filed with the DOT, alleging that American’s practices are illegal and deceptive, and urging the agency to strictly enforce federal refund laws.
