Help! American Airlines downgraded me and then refused to give me a refund

Q: I booked a business class seat for my American Airlines flight from St. Thomas to Charlotte, but 45 minutes before boarding, a gate agent told me my seat was broken and I’d have to move to the main cabin. They promised a refund for the fare difference plus a $500 inconvenience fee.

Another agent printed a new boarding pass but kept changing the compensation amount — first $200, then $300. I accepted, assuming I could resolve it later.

But when I submitted a refund request online, American denied it. The airline’s customer relations department also rejected my claim, and emails to corporate contacts only got generic replies.

After weeks of back-and-forth, I still hadn’t received a dime. Why won’t American Airlines honor its promise?

— Laura MacLennan, Gurnee, Ill.  

A: American Airlines should have immediately refunded the fare difference and honored its compensation offer.

Under Department of Transportation (DOT) rules, passengers downgraded from a higher class of seating to a lower class are entitled to a refund for the difference in price. But if an agent offers an additional $500 for the inconvenience, then American Airlines should follow through.

But as good as that sounded, I’m almost certain that the agents either misspoke or that you misunderstood them. The reason they kept changing the amount at the ticket counter was that they needed to calculate the fare difference.

Now, here’s the thing: Airlines usually calculate these types of refunds by the book, although I’ve witnessed a few shenanigans in the past. For example, for an involuntary downgrade, I’ve seen them recalculate the price of your seat based on that day’s fare. And, as you probably know, the walk-up economy class fare can be almost as much as an advance-purchase business class ticket (and maybe more). Airlines can deny their customers any fare adjustment based on that kind of funny math.

At first, I suspected that was the problem — a fare recalculation that left you with nothing. And you say you did, too. Technically, American Airlines could try some funny math, and it would be completely legal. But it’s definitely not the right thing to do.

You might have been able to avoid this by asking the agent for a written confirmation of the refund. While verbal assurances are common, a paper trail is critical. Always document your interactions, including the names of employees and the time of your interaction. You say you had asked for the names of the gate agents, “but they gave me a hard time about that, and I felt weird trying to zone in on their name tags.”

I see you escalated this to the American Airlines executives I list on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. Unfortunately, at the time you contacted me, the executives had switched email addresses (maybe to hide from customers like you), and therefore your requests were going into the void. Don’t worry, my research team has fixed that. Anyway, the point is, the executives should have never abandoned their emails, and they should have responded to you.

If you ever get into a situation like this, it’s best to look up the Department of Transportation rules and make sure the airline is following them. Vague promises of $500 in compensation that change by the minute are not reliable — especially if the airline doesn’t put it in writing.

I contacted American Airlines on your behalf. The airline checked its records and claimed that you had not been downgraded, but instead moved to a different business class seat. You sent them a boarding pass that confirmed you sat in economy class. American Airlines issued a $300 travel credit and $226 for the fare difference.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him on his site.