Seeking a refund after flight’s cancellation

Question: I was flying on American Airlines from Boston to Chicago when hundreds of flights were grounded for a wiring inspection. My traveling companion, an 80-year-old, and I were told we needed to wait to see an agent, which was about a two- or three-hour wait. Instead, I booked one-way tickets on another airline, which cost me $261.50 for each ticket. American is willing to reimburse me only for the return portion of my ticket, which is $131.50. Shouldn’t I be refunded the difference?

--Claudia Laupmanis, Chicago

Answer: Of course you should. Will it happen? Of course it won’t.

Laupmanis got caught in one of those time-money traps. Time is money, and doing the expedient thing wasn’t necessarily the financially rewarding thing.

Which leaves the question of what was the right thing.

In April, American had to reinspect wiring bundles on 300 of its MD-80 aircraft and ended up canceling about 3,000 flights, stranding an estimated 200,000 passengers.

For Laupmanis and her companion, it probably seemed as though 100,000 of them were in line ahead of them.

Here’s what American spokesman Tim Smith had to say: “We understand the lines were daunting, but many passengers had been automatically reaccommodated as soon as their flight was canceled. She could also have checked for her new itinerary online at AA.com, at one of our self-serve kiosks at the airport or by trying to get through on the phone to our reservations group.

“When you book with us, we ask you (even online at www.aa.com) how you would like to be notified of any changes to your itinerary: cellphone, PDA, e-mail, home phone etc. Many customers fail to give us a good way to get in touch with them, including their preferred ways in the middle of their itinerary away from home.”

It’s a good reminder, but let’s be clear about this situation: This was not Laupmanis’ fault -- nor should the blame be shifted to her.

While American and the Federal Aviation Administration point fingers over who ordered whom to do what and when, everyone seems to have forgotten that it was the passenger who took it on the chin.

So how should one deal with this besides going from zero to outraged in 2.2 seconds? I asked P.M. Forni, author of the book “The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude,” what he would have done. “I would do exactly what she did. Spend twice as much and then write a nice letter. . . . I think it’s really up to the good heart of the company how much they will reimburse her.”

There you have it. The fast thing, the smart thing and the right thing are not necessarily the same thing. And there’s not a thing we passengers can do about it.

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