American Airlines passengers who book their flights within days of departure no longer have the same flexibility they once had. Previously, flights purchased up to two days in advance qualified for a full refund within 24 hours of booking, but now those tickets must be purchased a full week before departure to qualify.
The new policy puts the airline in line with the Department of Transportation (DOT)’s minimum, which requires a full refund for tickets booked within seven days, or for airlines to allow a free 24-hour hold at the quoted price.
“Historically, American was one of the more generous carriers when it comes to the free 24-hour refund rule,” travel expert Zach Griff, founder of travel newsletter From the Tray Table, tells Afar. “This lenient policy was a customer-friendly move that gave travelers more confidence when booking directly with American.”
The Fort Worth, Texas–based airline confirmed the new policy, which was announced in its latest update to its Conditions of Carriage published on July 29.
The move has raised some eyebrows in the aviation industry. “It’s an odd choice for American, which has been trying to win back customers by becoming more of a ‘premium’ airline,” says Points Path founder and CEO Julian Kheel. He adds that the change affects passengers who are buying higher fare tickets closer to departure, who are “precisely the customers American keeps telling its investors it wants more of.”
Griff pointed out that travelers who buy most non-basic tickets within the week can still get refunded, but in flight credits instead of dollars. “American likely forecasted that it wouldn’t lose many customers with this change,” he explains. And since not all passengers will use those credits that they’ve already paid for before the expiration date, “the airline will come out ahead with this move,” he adds.
The 24-hour cancellation policy change puts American in line with other major U.S. carriers, including United Airlines, JetBlue, and Southwest, which already required the seven-day advance booking period to qualify for the refund. (Griff added that despite the written rule, United and Southwest are more lenient in practice, with agents often overriding it and offering the refund.) That leaves Delta Air Lines with the most flexible policy, which it calls the 24-hour risk-free cancellation. The request just needs to be made by midnight the day after the ticket is purchased or midnight of the departure date of the first flight, whichever is first.
American’s new policy could potentially influence competitors to also re-evaluate their own rules—and potentially scale back on the generosity. “Airlines love copying each other,” Griff says. Even so, he adds that “I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept their more generous policies to give travelers extra confidence when booking with them.”
And there are still ways to hold onto those lenient policies when booking last minute. Kheel reminds American fliers that using frequent flier miles allows you to cancel right up until the departure time, no matter when you bought the ticket—and that all miles and fees will be refunded.
American is also the only major U.S. carrier that also offers the option to put a trip on hold for 24 hours at no cost at all, which must also be done seven days before the flight.
In the same update to its Contract of Carriage, American also revised its refund policy for passengers who are involuntarily downgraded to a lower cabin tier. The airline has implemented new technology, which will automatically refund the difference between the original fare and the fare of the class flown in those rare cases, usually because of operational changes with aircraft.
