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Check Your Airline Ticket After Booking to Ensure You Weren't Involuntarily Downgraded

Oct. 25, 2018
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4 min read
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Check Your Airline Ticket After Booking to Ensure You Weren't Involuntarily Downgraded
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It's always a good idea to carefully check your airline tickets for issues once they're issued. You can catch — and correct for free within 24 hours — name misspellings, incorrect identification numbers or even booking the wrong date. Thankfully a TPG reader was diligent about checking her ticket, and by doing so, she caught an issue affecting tickets at the world's largest airline.

TPG reader Heather K. — a veteran of booking flights through the Chase travel portal — noticed something odd when she purchased an American Airlines ticket recently through the portal. Here's what she said happened:



The Chase portal permitted me to buy (with Chase Sapphire points) a round-trip Main Cabin ticket for American Airlines (AA) travel. AA issued me a Basic Economy ticket. I realized this when I went to my AA account to confirm the details of my ticket.
After 30 minutes on the phone with Chase Travel Rewards; the only offer they made was to cancel the ticket. I again made the same reservation through the Chase portal (same dates, route and Main Cabin) and again, AA issued a Basic Economy ticket.
I spent another 30 minutes with Chase Travel Rewards explaining the problem again. This time, they offered to make the reservation for me (the itinerary was ticketed within 2 hours). When I asked the agent to explain what caused this problem with the portal, she said she would file a report, then she offered me 5,000 Chase points for the inconvenience.

I asked if Heather had price compared the Main Cabin fare she was seeing on Chase's travel portal with what was available on AA's own website. Sure enough, she had confirmed that the Main Cabin fare on AA's website was the same price as what Chase was charging for the Main Cabin fare. So, this helped eliminate the possibility that the Chase travel portal was showing "Main Cabin" but selling a Basic Economy fare.

So, I reached out to American Airlines about this issue. After working with their IT and reservations team to investigate, the airline confirmed this week that there was an issue that caused some passengers to be issued Basic Economy tickets when purchasing Main Cabin fares. An American Airlines spokesperson provided TPG with the following statement on the matter:



An error in our system caused this to happen and we put a fix in place to prevent this from happening again. The team will be reissuing tickets that were issued as basic economy.

While the airline couldn't share the number of passengers affected or the length of time this error affected bookings, I'm assured that it was a relatively small number of passengers and only occurred over a short period of time. The airline is in the process of reaching out to all affected passengers.

Although this particular issue should be solved, it again serves as a reminder that airline systems don't always work as they should. Passengers should always remember to check their airline ticket after purchasing it online. While ExpertFlyer alerts are great for catching flight schedule changes, there can be other changes to your itinerary that aren't as easy to catch, like when I had a flight vanish. So, travelers are wise to check back on reservations to ensure that nothing has been changed or cancelled.

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As a thank you to Heather K. for reaching out to us about this issue and working with us to track down the root of the error, we are sending her a $100 gift card. If you've stumbled across an airline issue or have a tip that can help other readers, contact us at tips@thepointsguy.com. Note that we don't have the capability to solve individual issues.

Featured image by Getty Images/Hero Images

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  • Intro Offer

    As High As 100,000 points. Find Out Your Offer.

  • Annual Fee

    $325

  • Recommended Credit

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Why We Chose It

There’s a lot to love about the Amex Gold. It’s a fan favorite thanks to its fantastic bonus-earning rates at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets. If you’re hitting the skies soon, you’ll also earn bonus Membership Rewards points on travel. Paired with up to $120 in Uber Cash annually (for U.S. Uber rides or Uber Eats orders, card must be added to Uber app and you can redeem with any Amex card), up to $120 in annual dining statement credits to be used with eligible partners, an up to $84 Dunkin’ credit each year at U.S. Dunkin Donuts and an up to $100 Resy credit annually, there’s no reason that foodies shouldn’t add the Amex Gold to their wallet. These benefits alone are worth more than $400, which offsets the $325 annual fee on the Amex Gold card. Enrollment is required for select benefits. (Partner offer)

Pros

  • 4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter and $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter, respectively)
  • 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
  • Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
  • Solid welcome bonus

Cons

  • Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
  • Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
  • You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
  • Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
  • Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
  • Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
  • Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
  • Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
  • $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
  • $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
  • $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
  • $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
  • Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees.
  • Annual Fee is $325.
  • Terms Apply.