American Airlines Is Waiving Change Fees On New Bookings

a plane parked at an airport

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American Airlines has followed the likes of JetBlue and Alaska Airlines by waiving change fees for customers booking travel in the next couple of weeks. However, in two key ways, American’s latest move is significantly different from what Alaska and JetBlue are offering.

Key Info

  • Change fees waived for all fares booked between 4:30 p.m. CST on 1 March and 11:59 p.m. CST on 16 March 2020.
  • For fees to be waived changes have to be made at least 14 days prior to travel
  • This waiver applies to domestic and international flights
  • Fights booked through the end of the current booking period (i.e into 2021) are covered by this waiver.
  • This waiver applies to all fares (even Basic Economy)

What This Means

If you book an American Airlines fare between the specified dates and you decide to cancel the trip 14 or more days in advance of departure you’ll receive a travel credit (not a refund) equal to the total value of your booking.

New travel must be completed within one year of the original ticket issue date.

Why This Has Been Announced

The driving force behind this decision is the fact that a lot of people simply don’t want to travel while the coronavirus crisis is still in full flow. This isn’t just limited to travel to/from destinations where the coronavirus is known to be prevalent as recent polls have shown that significant numbers of people are reluctant to book any kind of travel while the virus remains in the ascendency….and who can blame them?

The coronavirus has already spread to most regions of the world (including the US) so simply avoiding China and South East Asia is no longer a guarantee that you won’t come in to contact with the virus, and it’s not exactly a secret that aircraft are not the most hygienic of environments to be in.

With a lot of people deciding that discretionary travel is off the table airlines are seeing significant drops in demand across all their routes so, by removing change fees and allowing customers to change their plans fee-free, they’re hoping to persuade people to keep booking travel through the rest of the year and into 2021.

Why This Is Interesting…And Different

So far American Airlines is the only one of the US legacy carriers to introduce this waiver (although I expect Delta and United to follow suit very quickly) so this is the first such waiver that we’ve seen which encompasses flights to all parts of the world.

JetBlue and Alaska Airlines only offer domestic services and services to Mexico and the Caribbean so their waiver doesn’t mean much to anyone looking to venture further afield. American’s waiver covers all tickets that it issues (tickets with numbers starting 001…) so the waiver covers not just flights on American’s own aircraft but also flights on partner airlines that have been booked as an American Airlines codeshare.

That’s a lot of flights!

Also, American Airlines has been very clear to state that the waiver is valid for all future travel booked by 11:59 p.m. CST on 16 March 2020 while JetBlue’s waiver only covers travel up to 1 June. Alaska’s waiver initially also only covered travel up to 1 June 2020 but it has now extended that through 31 December 2020.

Bottom Line

This is a natural move for American Airlines to make in the wake of the sharp drop in bookings the airline is almost certainly seeing and I’d be very surprised if Delta and United don’t announce similar waivers today or tomorrow.

Don’t forget that this waiver isn’t a free pass to book travel regardless of what may happen as this isn’t a full rebate that’s being offered. Should you book travel and then cancel in accordance with the waiver terms you’ll only be issued with a credit for future travel and that new travel will have to be completed within one year of the original ticket issue date.

It’s good that American Airlines is offering this waiver…but it’s certainly not a freebie.

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