Flying High on a Response

NOTE:  I got this e-mail a while ago, but it's been buried in my inbox.  Still, it's great news!

February 1, 2011

Dear Mrs. J---:

Through the courtesy of the U.S. Department of Transportation, we've received a copy of the complaint that you filed with their office. We appreciate this opportunity to respond to your concerns of ticketing a reservation with the transportation voucher you received.

In reading your message, we appreciate your inquiry about using a paper transportation voucher to purchase a ticket. While service charges are allowed, I am pleased to tell you that the service charge we previously assessed for this type of transaction did not apply at the time of your ticketing. Our customers told us time and time again that this service charge was especially objectionable when applied to redeeming a transportation voucher. Consequently, we found a way to modify our internal process and eliminate this particular service charge for these transactions. Customer feedback about any of our policies and procedures is especially meaningful to us.

Still, we regret your belief that the collection applied. Accordingly, we reviewed the reservation transaction to ensure a mistake was not made. The original voucher held a $300 value. The new fare was a total of $216.44. A residual voucher of $83.56 was mailed to you. No additional collection of $20 was processed or deducted from the value of the voucher.

Mrs. J---, we appreciate you and your husband for volunteering to take an alternate flight last October. We are hopeful that this opportunity to expound upon some of our policies and procedures will help as you travel with us in the future. We look forward to welcoming you aboard again soon, and thank you for flying American.

Sincerely,

Wendy Scott
Customer Relations
American Airlines

cc: U.S. Department of Transportation