wait, I thought I booked that for toda….oh crap” -me, a few hours ago

So I’m a dummy sometimes.  One of those times was a few days ago when I was sitting in a chair at my uncle’s lakehouse in Conroe, Texas.  I was booking a flight for what I thought was today on American’s mobile site (which is in desperate need of an overhaul).  I found the price for a last-minute one-way nonstop from JFK-DFW to be pretty competitive so I booked it.

the wing of an airplane

AA 737

Fast forward to today.  I pulled up my friendly American Airlines app and tried to check in for my flight, which is when I realized that I had actually booked a ticket for JFK-DFW on May 30 instead of May 23, which is today.

Now, airlines have all sorts of rules about stuff like this, and I knew I was most likely out the cost of that May 30th ticket ($170ish), but I decided to call in anyway.  I put on my nicest Guy Who Just Made A Widdle Mistake voice and asked if there was any way to change me to the flight today without a change fee as a customer service gesture.  The response, as you can predict, was a bolded all-caps NO.  The agent also scoffed at the suggestion, just to lock in how much like an idiot I should feel.

Wait are you just whining?

Yep.  I made a mistake.  But the whining is a little justified, in my opinion.  Every single time an airline posts a fare by mistake, FlyerTalkers and bloggers typically pounce on it.  Airlines whine about customers booking these fares that “they absolutely knew were mistakes” and claim they do not have to honor them, and they’ll typically cancel the tickets and refund the money, but not before holding onto the money for a week or two usually.  Heck, American CEO Doug Parker even whined about a mistake fare from two years ago in a recent interview with Unaccompanied Flyer (American was forced to honor them in the end).

So I’ll admit that I’m whining and I’m a little sour that I’m out $170.  But I’ll also ask the question: why do airlines get to make a mistake and get out of it for free but when I make a mistake I have to pay?

Rant over.  Also, #doublecheckyourdates

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