American Airways provides two main varieties of journey credit: “journey credit” and “flight credit.”
On condition that the names are virtually synonymous, we perceive in case you’re confused. However American Airways journey credit and flight credit are literally very totally different animals, so it is necessary to know which sort you’ve gotten and the way you should use it. Let’s dive into the nuts and bolts of each.
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American Airways Journey credit
American points journey credit for issues like flight cancellations, vital delays, compensation and refunds.
You may redeem journey credit for airfare, together with taxes and costs, however not for extras like baggage charges or seat upgrades. This is applicable to flights operated by American or American Eagle; it additionally applies to flights marketed and offered by American however operated by considered one of American’s codeshare or Oneworld companions. Nevertheless, you possibly can solely use your journey credit score towards flights that begin within the U.S. and choose international locations.
In keeping with AA’s web site: “In the event you cancel your journey on aa.com earlier than departure, we are going to cancel your ticket and challenge a Journey Credit score. Your Journey Credit score will likely be legitimate till the date listed on the credit score.” Be aware that you need to cancel earlier than the primary flight departs, otherwise you’ll lose the worth of the ticket, and it could possibly’t be redeemed for future journey.
In case your journey credit score is not sufficient to cowl the total price of your flight, you possibly can pay the distinction. However, in case your flight prices lower than the worth of the credit score, you will be issued a brand new credit score for the distinction.
Though journey credit are nontransferable, you should use them to e-book journey for anybody, not simply your self. You may redeem as much as eight journey credit in a single transaction.
It is necessary to notice that you need to undergo the American web site or the reservations cellphone line to redeem your journey credit score. You may’t redeem it by means of every other channel, together with airport ticket counters.
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Journey credit have an expiration date listed on the credit score, usually 12 months from challenge for AAdvantage members and 6 months for nonmembers.
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American Airways Flight credit
Flight credit are similar to journey credit: They’re redeemable for airfare on each American and companion carriers however not for add-ons like seats or baggage. There are a number of key variations, although.
Flight credit are issued when a buyer cancels their ticket by means of “every other channel” other than AA.com. To obtain credit score, you need to cancel your flight earlier than the primary phase of your itinerary departs — in any other case, you will forfeit all the worth of your authentic ticket.
When redeeming flight credit, there isn’t any limitation on the place your journey can originate. Nevertheless, once you e-book your new journey on American’s web site, your flight credit score can solely be utilized to flights throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. You may e-book different tickets over the cellphone.
You may redeem flight credit on-line or by means of the reservations cellphone line, however you may as well do it in particular person at an airport. When reserving on-line, you possibly can solely use one flight credit score at a time; contact Reservations to make use of multiple.
In contrast to journey credit, flight credit can solely be used to e-book journey for the passenger named on the credit score. Flight credit even have a distinct expiration coverage. Generally, the brand new journey you e-book together with your flight credit score should start inside one 12 months of the unique ticket date.
And simply to make issues slightly extra complicated, in case you use a part of your flight credit score on a visit, American will challenge the remaining quantity to you as a journey credit score, not a flight credit score.
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Backside line
American Airways points journey credit when the airline cancels tickets, experiences vital delays, or if there’s a remaining worth when exchanging tickets; it points flight credit once you cancel a ticket your self. Each can turn out to be useful for future journey so long as you understand how to make use of them. Additionally, needless to say you possibly can’t mix a flight credit score and a visit credit score on the identical reserving.
