Two words. Travel Insurance. Since the pregnancy occurred or was confirmed after you purchased the tickets they wouldn't have been able to pull the "pre-existing condition" clause.
How does that work? What would the play have been?
It's a shame when you had difficulty booking the returns on the same flight that you didn't just pay a little extra and use a telephone agent. Those a-la-cart fees discouraged you from using a live agent when you really needed one and the result was not only paying more than you had to for the tickets but also ending up with four non-refundable tickets instead of two.
Unfortunately we went through Expedia because the AA site was much more expensive. Being that the whole industry is a sham these days, we looked for what was the best option... which would've been fine had she not gotten pregnant a week later and had issues.
Have you asked AA if the tickets purchased for your wife could be used for yourself? Given the circumstances they might be willing to do at least that.
I haven't because they weren't willing to budge on the rebooking fee. I'm not going to pay $300 to rebook a $400 ticket. I'll cut my losses and fly with another carrier from now until the day I die.
I understand there are rules... but there's also such thing as compassion and exception to the rules. We were basically told, "thems the breaks" and "tough luck". That's unacceptable. As a business owner, I've dealt with my share of customers and have bent rules where need be. I don't see how they could just blow off a doctor's note and legitimate reason. They didn't even ATTEMPT to work with us. Offer to waive the rebooking fee. Issue an $800 credit for the two tickets. Something. Anything.
Their loss as this will cost them much more than $800 over the next several years we travel. I know it doesn't mean much to their bottom line... but I also know there are a ton of people like us who have been wrong and will never fly with the crooks at American Airlines again.
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