Can I recover anything from a non-refundable ticket?
A few months ago I booked a flight with American Airlines. My flight departs in a few weeks from Amsterdam to Philadelphia. It's just a regular ticket I just bought from the AA website without any special things like insurances or upgrades. Because of personal reasons I unfortunately have to cancel my flight.
If I try the cancel button on the American Airlines website I get an error message saying that they are unable to process my request and that I have to call the airline if I want to cancel my flight.
The ticket says it's a non-refundable ticket, but it also says that if it's being cancelled that I have to do it before a certain date (which I can't find anywhere on the ticket for some reason...It's a bit confusing to me) so before I make a call to the airline to cancel my flight, I would like to know if I have any right to get any money back. If so, how will I be able to get that money back? I can't find a clear answer anywhere on the website for when I want to cancel it myself, I only find my rights if it is being cancelled by the airline itself.
So basically my question: is there any way I get any money back when I cancel the ticket by myself?
Here's the ticket which I get when I download it from the website. The ticket I got in my e-mail is all in Dutch so I don't think it adds much value if I post that here.
Update (June 2017)
By filling in the right form at https://prefunds.aa.com/refunds/ , I managed to get back around €100 of unused airport taxes and stuff like that, so I basically lost only 2/3rd of the amount I paid. Better than nothing and actually more than I expected!
Best Answer
It is likely that only the airport and government taxes are refundable on this fare. I can't actually find an O fare to see the fare rules that might be applicable, but the nearest I can find is an S fare. Since you're transiting through London and they have high passenger service charges you might get up to about 100 Euro back.
An alternative would be to change the flight. Again, since I can't find an O fare I can't be certain of the rules, but an S fare from AMS charges 180 Euro to change, plus the fare difference. Since it looks like you got the cheapest fare imaginable, the fare difference could be substantial though.
AA does allow you to cancel a fare and store the remainder after the change fee for some types of fare, typically US originating.
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What if my ticket is non refundable?
If your fare is "NON-REFUNDABLE," it means that it cannot be refunded in case of ticket cancellation or no-show, and only a part of refundable taxes can be returned.Can I get money back on non refundable flight?
If you are booking a ticket for travel within, from, or to the United States, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations state that you are entitled to a full refund on non-refundable tickets within 24 hours of booking as long as your flight is at least 7 days away\u2014with no cancellation fee.Can you transfer a non refundable ticket?
If you've purchased your ticket, look for the words \u201cnon-refundable and \u201cnon-transferable\u201d on it. If you see them, it doesn't matter how valid your reason is for wanting to change your ticket or request a refund, accept the fact that most airlines will apply all penalties, fees, and increased fares.Can you get your money back after buying a plane ticket?
Are Plane Tickets Refundable? The short answer is yes, though each airline can implement a different policy for refunding airfare. Most airlines offer a choice between refundable and non-refundable airline tickets\u2014something a lot of us tend to skip over or overlook altogether.More answers regarding can I recover anything from a non-refundable ticket?
Answer 2
A non-refundable ticket is just that, non-refundable.
That means you get no money back if you cancel the flight, ONLY if the airline cancels the flight (and then not always, depending on the reasons for cancelation as set down in the contract of carriage and applicable law).
The latest cancelation date is likely a generic statement that's there for all tickets, including refundable ones (which are refundable only before a set interval prior to the flight's departure).
The Dutch version of the ticket would tell you the same thing, with possibly a clause about EU regulations regarding passenger rights on flights departing the EU (which also don't count for you, as they only apply to delays and cancelations by the airline).
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