In March I wrote about a friend who had 60k miles yanked from his account for supposed “seat blocking.” The quick synopsis: He
travels 2-3 times per month on American, is Platinum, and had a big vacation to Europe scheduled for March. He immediately got on the upgrade list for both outbound and inbound. Inbound cleared immediately. He started checking to see if there were any available biz class seats for the outbound flight. The day before departure, access to his AA accounts were suddenly blocked. After frantic phone calls, he got an email from AA saying that they were taking 60k miles and kicking him off of the outbound upgrade list due to his “seat blocking.”
He understandably felt insulted, as if his character had been impugned. After weeks of trying to get ahold of someone by phone or email who could help him, with no response, he finally sent an email asking if they would donate the miles they took to the Make A Wish foundation. That got a response:
Hello [friend],
Thank you for your response. If you would like to donate miles to the Make-A-Wish program from your remaining miles, you are welcome to do so, but it will not be possible to utilize the miles penalized.
Regards,
[Business Analyst]
Corporate Security
Super helpful, right? After this, he took some time to explore his options. Eventually he decided that his best option was to file an official Department of Transportation complaint. The crux of the complaint is that the AA.com system is flawed, as someone can inadvertently make a reservation without ever clicking “Hold” or “Reserve”. Therefore my friend’s actions were not intentional, and the 60k punishment too severe. He is requesting that the DOT investigate these unfair practices, and that American must turn over all notes surrounding their investigation of him and train their corporate security staff about their website design flaws. Should be very interesting to see what happens next!
A copy of the complaint can be found here, if you want to check out the whole thing. It’s long (24 pages!) but a very interesting read. At this point the complaint has been filed and American has requested a month-long extension, which I’m told is common. If there are additional developments I will be sure to keep you all posted!
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I still don’t understand – was he logged into his AA account the entire time he was trying to make the booking? Whenever I try to ‘check’ I’m logged in as a guest.
@Jerry Sometimes he was logged in, sometimes he was on his phone, sometimes he was on different computers. That’s just one of the reasons why this whole thing is so weird.
I’m continually shocked by AA Corporate Security actions. They cannot do this and I wish more FF would not only file complaints with DOT but take legal action against AA. I am guilty of “obsessing” over my upgrades with United and I routinely query their website to see the chances of my upgrading clearing (# of revenue seats, etc). What AA Corporate Security is failing to see is the intention behind these actions. AA would have a very, very hard time arguing that this person intentions were to in violation of the T&Cs. This angers me and I really hope that this person fights AA with legal action.
Seat Availability Check: https://www.aa.com/seatmap/viewSeatsAccess.do
What is amazing here is that AA is willing to spend so much money on this matter. I can’t understand why in the world they would let this go on this long. Just give him his 60K miles back. Instead they incurred a DOT complaint, are spending a fortune in money and time to figure out if this has merit and in the end will probably just give him his money back once they decide they don’t want to turn over are their notes on the investigation as surely AA probably won’t want to release publically how they conduct these investigations.
Hahaha, I am afriad to be your friend. Apparently it only happens to your friends. Nobody else.
@Fred hah! To be fair, I know a lot of people who travel 😀
Sounds to me like he got caught and now is just looking for a way get back at AA. Donate the miles? He’s so thoughtful, lol.
Sounds like your friend is itching to get kicked out of the AAdvantage program. Keep us posted.
I wonder if the fellow is a pure as he’s like you to believe. How sure are you?
I didn’t know you could file a complaint with an official agency! I hope he wins! AA treated him very badly and quite unfairly!
I think the right think has been done by filing the complaint. It looks to me a genuine case and AA should be held accountable.
I’ve chatted with a few friends who travel a lot, and they are all skeptical except for 1. Seems like people don’t believe it’s possible for a system to be that bad. Keep us posted – will be interesting to see what happens. If their system is this bad, imagine the negative publicity this will incur.
I can believe that a system can be that bad. I am going through something just like this (worse actually). I received a biz upgrade on an AA flight when in admirals lounge. I was then accused via email of fraud by AA corporate security, my AAdvantage account was closed and my 140K miles GONE! I have been trying to get a response from them for the past month, without success. I think DOT complaint may have to be next for me. Any news on how this case resolved?
How has this case resolved? I ask as AA Corp Security has made an arbitrary decision related to “mis-use” of the admirals club and deducted 130,000 miles fromj my account. My son (26) attempted and succeded in using the admirals club (we have the same name) for thich they are penalizing my account. I advised them that it seemed to be a problem with their security if they let him as the picture on file in their computer would look 35 years older them my son. I seem to have hit a stonewall though as I am not getting further responses.
How do you do a formal DOT complaint?