Downgraded on my American Airlines flight to New Zealand -- do I get a refund?

After American Airlines downgraded Margarethe Hoenig on her flight from Dallas to Auckland, New Zealand, the airline promised her a partial refund. Then it says it can't. What's going on?

I bought two business-class tickets through Chatdeal to fly from Dallas to Auckland on American Airlines. The airline downgraded us to Economy Plus and told us at the gate we would automatically receive a refund from the airline for the price difference within seven days. We also received a $600 voucher from American Airlines for our inconvenience.

When we returned to the U.S., I called American Airlines several times to inquire about our refund. Initially, a representative told us we had to wait seven days after the completion of the whole flight. Then a representative said they could not find our flight information because it was a codeshare flight with Qantas.

Finally, an American Airlines agent said the airline wasn't responsible for the refund because our tickets were on Qantas, and American was just the operating carrier from Dallas to Auckland.

I have contacted Qantas several times. I also contacted Chatdeal because I bought the tickets through them, but so far, they have not been able to resolve the issue. So far, no one is willing to take responsibility for our refund. They are passing the buck. It's been almost three months since our flight. Can you help?

Margarethe Hoenig, Cave Creek, Ariz.

American Airlines should have quickly refunded the difference between Economy Plus and Business Class.

The 16-hour flight from Dallas to Auckland is a slog in business class. But in economy "plus"? You couldn't pay me enough to do it. And don't get me wrong, I love Auckland, but getting there from the States is the worst part. So let me be clear about this: Downgrading you to Economy Plus was a big deal.

The problem is that you booked a ticket through Qantas, and technically, the American Airlines portion was a code-share flight. So the American Airlines agent who promised you a refund was speaking out of turn. You were not an American Airlines passenger; you belonged to Qantas.

It doesn't matter, though. If an airline promises you a refund, then all the back-room code-share arrangements it has do not matter. You should get your refund, which you calculated to be about $6,500.

Your case got confusing. Here's what should have happened: You should have contacted your online travel agent (Chatdeal) and asked it to escalate this to Qantas. Instead, you believed the word of an American Airlines representative who promised you American would refund your ticket.

And just to make things interesting, American issued a $600 voucher as an apology, which made it look like you accepted a ticket credit instead of a refund for the downgrade.

By the way, I list the executive contacts for American Airlines and Qantas on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. I think a brief, polite appeal to one of them might have gotten things moving along.

I reached out to Chatdeal on your behalf. A representative agreed to contact Qantas. A few weeks later, you contacted my advocacy team with an update.

"Just wanted to let you know that we did get the refund," you said. "Many thanks for your help!"

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him on his site.

© 2024 Christopher Elliott