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Fiascos and Fixes
Consumer Rescue receives a multitude of complaints about American Airlines. These articles come from our news file for American Airlines. The columns cover problems and resolutions that our advocacy team has been able to secure for the passengers who contact us.
Several weeks before her family’s American Airlines flight to Portugal, Ashley Macus learned there had been an aircraft change. That switch left the family of six without the assigned seats together Macus had confirmed months earlier. Most disturbingly, her two little boys, ages 7 and 8, no longer had any seats at all.
How could American Airlines consider a passenger a no show for a flight it canceled? The answer to that question is, of course, it can’t. Yet that seems to be precisely what happened to Sherri Gleason – and at the worst possible time for the grandmother-to-be.
Can American Airlines make wild changes to your flight schedule and, if you object, refuse to issue a refund?
With $8,171 on the line, that’s what Michael Spanel wants to know after his recent experience with American Airlines.
Now Michael is asking the Consumer Rescue team for help. He wants American Airlines to give his money back, and he’s hoping we can make that happen.
So what is a passenger really owed when American Airlines changes their flight schedule? Let’s find out.
Attention all American Airlines passengers: If you have any flight vouchers stored away somewhere, don’t try to sell them. If you do, the airline might use high-tech security systems to catch you.
If you try it and American Airlines finds out, it will mark your vouchers stolen, leaving you with nothing.
This tale is a cautionary one for anyone considering skirting the terms of their American Airlines vouchers. There are many hacks out there advising travelers about how to make a profit on these bonuses. But much of that “guidance” overlooks an undeniable obstacle: almost every airline forbids this practice, and offering your vouchers for sale can cause them to become instantly worthless.
Bonnie Orlin doesn’t know the two people who used her stolen American Airlines miles to travel around the world. But, she says, the airline promised to restore the hacked miles to her account. However, nearly a year later, her 120,000 miles are still missing.
Is this case hopeless?
Despite the popular belief to the contrary, in the U.S., you are not owed a free hotel if your flight is delayed and you get stranded overnight on your journey. And that is true no matter what the reason for the delay.
But if a friendly gate agent offers a hotel reimbursement to a passenger in distress, shouldn’t the airline pay the bill?
If American Airlines delays or cancels your flight home from vacation, what does it really owe you?
That’s what Mikayla Shade wants to know after finding herself in this unfortunate situation. She says an American Airlines agent told her that when the airline cancels a flight, the passenger will receive a full refund. Mikayla used that guidance to determine her budget for a new flight home. It wasn’t until American Airlines processed her “full refund” that she discovered she’d relied on incorrect guidance from the agent.
Now Mikayla wants our team to ask American Airlines to provide what its representative promised her.
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© 2025 Consumer Rescue / Michelle Couch-Friedman
