Military wife says American Airlines accidentally charged her $3,600 after she flew to visit hubby on base— and refused to refund her: ‘Not very American’ | Latest Travel News
This sky-high charge was hardly fare.
A touring mother says American Airlines bilked her out of more than $3000 following a ticketing error — and initially refused to refund her the money.
The peeved passenger, recognized only as Katie, took to TikTok to inform the ticketing story, publicly pleading for the provider to make the state of affairs proper.
Military wife Katie claims American Airlines bilked her out of more than $3000 following a ticketing error. wellnessby.katie/TikTok
“American Airlines accidentally charged me thousands of dollars, and now they’re refusing to pay me back,” the Californian claimed at the outset of her viral video, which clocked up 1.6 million views.
Katie explained that her husband was in the navy, and that she and her five-month-old child had traveled to Japan to visit him there.
Rather than get hold of a return ticket, artful Katie determined to ebook her flight back to America utilizing airline miles gained through a credit card.
“I’m pretty savvy with using credit card points and airline miles, so I’d been checking the American Airlines site daily for an award ticket to open up,” she subsequently told the Daily Mail.
“When one finally became available, I booked it and immediately called American Airlines to add my five-month-old as a lap infant.”
An airline worker informed her that she would have to pay an further $386 payment for her child, which she paid for over the cellphone.
However, a receipt revealed that Katie was charged not just $386 — but also an further $3,674 for “a second full-price ticket under her name.”
Katie called back and an American Airlines rep allegedly assured her that she can be refunded the $3,674.11 within a week.
Katie was allegedly informed by American Airlines that they may not refund her $3,674. Getty Images
Upon check-in at Okinawa Airport, a Japanese gate agent was “confused” by the fact that there have been two tickets in Katie’s title — the one bought with credit card factors and the $3,674 one processed in error.
“I had two tickets in my name, on the same flight, under the same confirmation code,” the mother said.
Despite the gate agent “assuring” the mother that she was utilizing the award ticket, a refund never got here through when she arrived back in the US.
At home, Katie claims she spent close to “50 hours” on maintain with varied American Airlines workers who had been unable to resolve the state of affairs.
After weeks of chasing up the airline, she was purportedly informed that she was ineligible for a refund because the Japanese gate agent had checked her in with the inaccurate $3,674 ticket.
“I had this huge weight on my chest knowing a massive corporation had taken thousands of dollars from me, and it would keep me up at night,” Katie said — but saying she turned to TikTok in a last-ditch effort to attempt and get her money back.
The public pleading labored — with the mother’s video immediately going viral and finally attracting American Airlines’ consideration.
“Boosting this for you! Never flying American Airlines after hearing about this,” one supporter vowed. “You deserve your money back.”
“Not very ‘American’ of American Airlines to do this to a military mom who was traveling solo,” another said.
“Boosting this for you! Never flying American Airlines after hearing about this,” one supporter vowed. “You deserve your money back.” AP
Soon after, Katie acquired a call from the airline saying she can be getting a refund for the charge as properly as a 7,500-mile bonus as an “apology.”
The “vindicated” mother said it spoke to the facility of social media to stress firms into performing ethically.
“It’s incredibly disappointing that such a large corporation can fail its customers this badly,” she acknowledged.
American Airlines told The Post in a assertion: “Our team has been in touch with this customer and offered her an apology, refunded her in full and offered her a gesture of goodwill.”
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