American Airlines is offering some customers a 20% bonus if they choose a voucher instead of receiving a full refund for flights that American Airlines has cancelled (remember airlines must provide the option of a refund in these cases). The issue with accepting a voucher such as this is that generally if an airline files for chapter 11 bankruptcy these vouchers generally become worthless. There are also restrictions to the voucher in that it’s only valid for one year after the date of issue, must be used for flights that begin in the U.S., Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands and can’t be used for extras. Personally I’d just be taking the cash refund at this stage.
Hat tip to Frequent Miler & @xJonNYC
Anyone know if they are offering this for international flights or if a voucher for an international flight might not include the term about only being usable for US flights?
If I’ve already cancelled a flight and received a voucher (before a flight was deemed cancelled), can I go back and request a refund instead once the flight is officially cancelled?
Never heard of this being possible.
I went into my reservation and found my outbound flight is now gone from my reservation (one of the AA DFW-FRA flights that was cut). Only my return flight shows. Now I am waiting on the “If your flight is canceled: We’ll send you an email with the information you’ll need…” email. How long does it take to get this e-mail?
I have an international itinerary where AA apparently canceled the international segments and is treating it like a trip from my home airport to their hub and back. This happened at least a week ago with no indication they’re going to recognize a cancelation on their own. Shady.
Sounds like they are going to wait until the day before or day of and say oh your flight has been cancelled. Wait as long as they can to keep their $$ as long as possible. I am going to DM them again on Twitter.
Got a response already!!
“Hi, Kenny. Your outbound flight has been cancelled. We’re contacting our passengers as quickly as we can. You’re welcome to rebook with Reservations or cancel the remaining flights on our website. You can then apply for a refund.”
AA, the leader in stock buybacks (how did that work for them?), now needs cash?
Great job Mr. Parker.
Voucher? Do the math.
Money: $300 *1 = $300
Voucher: $0 * 1.2 = 0
Unless you plan on flying in the next month. Then the math changes:
$300 * 1.2 * probability of COVID-19 = (well you see the math doesn’t work out).
If I booked with points using Chase UR portal. Do I get cash back or points back?
1 year expiration is going to be an issue…
Do three vouchers function the same as cash or can they add restrictions to them later?
Can you use them like cash to book any flights going any where?
Vouchers always have restrictions and expiration dates. Cash has no restrictions. Cash is king
Option 1: Take the voucher, get 20% bonus, trust airline company to survive or it will be worth no more than a few bytes in an inbox.
Option 2: Take the refund, use it to buy paper hygiene products, invest the rest in Zoom Meeting.
The important deciding question: Do you trust the airlines?
In times of airline desperation, but the possibility of Chapt 11 is absolutely the killer here. Take the money and run!
Yes. don’t take it.