Comments on: A canceled flight, a missing refund

By: A canceled flight, a missing refund Abbey by about

A canceled flight, a missing refund Abbey by about — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:16:17 +0000

[...] more here: A canceled flight, a missing refund By admin | category: airline card | tags: back-onto, been-issued, buying-new, machine, [...]

By: summerbl4ck

summerbl4ck — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:32:13 +0000

Glad that you could help out this couple. Getting a paper trail seems to be the key. But I wonder what you should do when you’re either at the counter or on the phone trying to resolve an issue. Can you require something in writing from the airline? Should you follow up via email after your discussion? What kind of information should you get from your conversation that you can reference in an email?

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:33:17 +0000

When I worked for the airlines a few years ago, we were never required to read or be aware of the contract of carriage or what it said. Nor did we ever have an inkling that anyone travelling understood it either.

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:25:28 +0000

And airlines wonder why the public thinks so poorly of them? Well, maybe they don’t care and it is only my own sense of fair play that makes me think the story above should concern AA and the airlines. I copied the AA Conditions of Carriage into a Word Document and it runs 13 pages. I assume each airline has a slightly different version. On most of my travels by the time I reach the airport I am already pretty frazzled from the process of getting packed, readying the house for an absence, and driving 90 minutes to the airport, then getting the luggage inside the terminal to the check-in counter. I am not sure many “average” travelers have the wherewithall to carry their airline’s contract of carriage with them or even the concentration to search through 13 pages to find what applies to their situation when a problem arises. We rely on the airline counter service representatives to provide us accurate information and guidance and frequently we don’t even come close to getting that. When subsequently we try to work out problems with emails the responses are usually cut and paste and bear no relationship to our question although they do provide some paper trail. When emails didn’t get anywhere recently I finally wrote the CEO of USAirways. The response was from one of his staff and was itself a series of cut and paste operations that didn’t address the problem either and made absolutely no sense whatsoever. We shouldn’t need ombudsmen but I am grateful we have them.