American Airlines: Claim Compensation After Flight Delays, Cancelations, and Disruptions

Q: How do you claim compensation from American after a flight delay?

There is no formal process to earning compensation, either as a flight credit, voucher, or frequent flyer miles, since it is not required under United States law. Your best chance is to demonstrate a significantly negative experience that occurred in tandem with your flight disruption. Examples include unacceptable customer service experiences and violations of your passenger rights.

When your American Airlines flight is cancelled, delayed, or otherwise disrupted, passengers rightfully get frustrated. And unfortunately, for flights in the United States, American does not proactively provide compensation in the event of a disruption.

However, even when your domestic AA flight is delayed or cancelled, you have options, some of which do include compensation.

This is because United States based carriers are governed by two sets of regulations:

Those provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
Other procedures that American Airlines has committed to follow in its Contract of Carriage

Here is a guide to American Airlines compensation after a disrupted flight.

File For Compensation

Your Complete Guide to American Airlines Compensation Policies

For flights within the United States, American Airlines compensation and travel benefits are governed by the DOT. AA passengers within the United States are guaranteed to be provided the following passenger rights, in the event of a controllable delay, disruptions caused by things within American Airlines' control (think mechanical problems, delayed flight crews, etc.).

1. Right to a refund

In the event of a substantially disrupted domestic American Airlines flight, passengers may be entitled to full refunds if they opt not to travel:

For flight delays: Significant delays open eligibility for refunds on your ticket, as well as any incidentals you may have purchased, like seat assignments, checked bags, or carry-on baggage.
For flight cancelations: Cancelations always open up eligibility for refunds, whether controllable or uncontrollable (such as weather related incidents).

The DOT opted not to define what a substantial disruption is, rather allowing these instances to be handled on a case-by-case basis.

2. Right to rebooking

If your flight is cancelled, but you still need to fly, American Airlines will rebook you on the next available flight without charging you any difference in fare. If you’ve purchased a different fare class that is no longer available, you’ll be entitled to a refund for that portion of your fare.

Since American is a part of the OneWorld Alliance, they will also rebook you on another OneWorld airline if available and more convenient.

Additional rights after 3-hour delays

On American, once you encounter at least a three-hour delay in your flight departure time, you become eligible for additional rights, including:

Meal vouchers or compensation: Vouchers can vary in price by airport but should be enough to help offset extra expenses you’ll incur as a result of the delay.
Hotel accommodations: Once it becomes clear that a controllable flight disruption will span an overnight period, American passengers are entitled not only to a hotel room for the night, but for transportation to and from the hotel (most commonly via complimentary shuttle).

Unfortunately, cash compensation, travel vouchers, and frequent flyer miles are not guaranteed, though we’ll cover how to earn them even though you’re not entitled to them.

Rights during a tarmac delay

Delays can still occur after you board your flight. If your flight is disrupted after boarding – whether for weather, security, or air traffic control (ATC) issues, you have a different set of rights, which include the right to food, water, lavatories, and periodic updates.

We’ve written a guide to passenger rights during a tarmac delay.

How to earn compensation from AA

Since American does not provide any sort of compensation, even after delays/cancelations where they are at fault, you’ll have to prove that your passenger rights were violated to earn cash back, future travel vouchers, and/or frequent flyer miles.

The most common rights violations include:

Not being offered food, water, or lavatory access after a tarmac delay of 2 hours
Being denied a meal voucher
The denial of a request for a hotel room after a controllable delay/cancelation spans overnight

You’ll typically need to file a complaint via mail, email, or online web portal to claim compensation, but we can also act on your behalf to achieve a resolution. Follow these steps to maximize your chances of a good resolution.

File For Compensation

Document everything

During a flight disruption, document everything in live time, like:

Information provided by carrier
Further updates
Explanations given by gate agents
Any interactions you have with American staff

If/when you’re provided with incorrect information or are treated rudely by staff, you’ll be able to file a complaint. As a flight disruption reaches the 2–3-hour mark, make sure that American is granting you all your passenger rights. A failure to do so increases your chances of compensation when you file a complaint.

Frequently asked questions

Answers to some of your most pressing AA flight compensation questions.

1. How do you claim compensation from American after a flight delay?

There is no formal process to earning compensation, either as a flight credit, voucher, or frequent flyer miles, since it is not required under United States law. Your best chance is to demonstrate a significantly negative experience that occurred in tandem with your flight disruption. Examples include:

Unacceptable customer service experiences: Was an airline employee unprofessional to you? Were you lied to, promised a benefit that never arrived, or otherwise dissatisfied? American needs to know about it.
Violations of your passenger rights: Did you have a two-hour tarmac delay where you weren't offered food or water? Or maybe you weren't offered a meal voucher after a three-hour controllable delay? In either case, you have rights to request compensation.

2. How do I know if I will earn compensation?

Unfortuantely, you'll never really know for sure. Your first step should be to follow our advice or have us work with American directly on your behalf. However, based on our experience, we have put together a compensation eligibility check, which will help us to estimate your odds and help you decide if filing a more formal complaint is worth it or not.

Will American Airlines provide hotel rooms after flight cancellations?

Yes, as long as the cancellation is controllable (not weather related) and it spans an overnight period, American Airlines will provide hotel accommodations, as well as transportation to and from the hotel.