When Tech Shortfalls Thwart Customer Service

Last week, I took action to redeem some American AAdvantage Miles before they expired. I had enough for a domestic round trip ticket, and my husband had enough for a one-way segment. I logged on to aa.com to make reservations for my reward travel.

It wasn’t too surprising to discover that I could not book our reservations online as part of the same itinerary, because of different AAdvantage accounts and the round trip versus one-way redemptions. STRIKE ONE for American Airlines’ technology. Most of the airline systems (American’s included) are notoriously antiquated behind the scenes, and rigid in their functional capabilities. So I called their 800 number for help, already having checked award flight availability and mapping out an itinerary. I hoped American’s reservation agents might have capabilities unavailable to me on their web site.

Upon reaching an agent and explaining what I was trying to accomplish, I was advised that our reservations could not be booked as part of the same itinerary. OK – I expected that. But then the agent told me that there was only one award flight available for my desired travel date (a flight that did not work for us). I told the agent I had found additional availability online and began to provide the flight numbers, but was abruptly told that she could “see” only the one flight available. American’s reservation system did not show the same availability shown on their web site. STRIKE TWO.

Back to the web site to book our travel online. Here I discovered that Ron’s one-way award had to be booked separately from the one-way return for which we would pay a normal fare. So I made the two reservations and noted the different confirmation numbers. I then made the reservation for my round trip reward ticket.

When double-checking our three confirmed reservations, I discovered that I had made an error. I had booked my husband’s departure and return for the same date. Augh! Operator error. So I retrieved the reservation and submitted a modification for the correct date. The system then advised me that I would be charged $150 for the change. Angry with myself for the mistake, but somewhat resigned to paying the evil airline’s price, I completed the modification and provided a credit card to pay the additional $150.

The more I thought about my experience, the more upset I got. I called American and asked to speak to a supervisor. Much to my surprise, I was told that since I had found my error and made the modification within 24 hours, American would refund my $150.

Hooray, and STRIKE THREE at the same time! If American’s policy was to refund the change penalty, why doesn’t the system support that policy and not impose the fee in the first place? This limitation in their technology conveniently generates revenue from all the people who don’t bother to call and complain.

All’s well that ends well, except that I am reminded of several of the reasons I fly Southwest now instead of American.

The negative impact that ineffective technology can have on customer loyalty should not be overlooked by any business. Keep your technology updated to serve not only your operation, but your customers.

P.S.  I'm not paying for checking any baggage either.  So there.