American Airlines has extended its offer to waive change fees for customers who purchase tickets for travel, until March 31 in response to lower travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. This means that travelers are provided additional flexibility by not asking them to pay penalties for changing the origin and destination cities.
Since the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in January last year, this is the tenth time the airline is extending its period for change fees waiver.
The airline noted that the offer is available for any of American's fares. However, customers may still have to pay for any difference in fare, if applicable, at the time of re-booking for the new trip. Only the change fee will be waived.
This offer is now applicable for any ticket purchases made by customers for new travel on or before March 31, 2021 for future travel. The change fees are normally incurred by the customer prior to travel.
Effective November 19, 2020, the airline had also eliminated change fees for any of American's fares, except Basic Economy, for all long-haul international flying when travel originates in North or South America. Customers will also no longer pay a service charge when booking a ticket through reservations.
In late October, American Airlines said while reporting financial results for the third quarter it saw improvements in passenger demand and load factors, but both continued to be significantly below 2019 levels. It had called the second quarter the most challenging in American's history.
The company presently expects its fourth quarter system capacity to be down more than 50 percent year-over-year, with long-haul international capacity down approximately 75 percent.
Last week, American became the first U.S. airline to introduce a mobile health passport for inbound travel to the U.S. from all international destinations. Customers traveling to the U.S. can use the VeriFLY app to confirm testing and other COVID-19 travel requirements required for international travel into the U.S., beginning January 23.
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