Tripped Up
What were Japan Airlines’ obligations when a first-class passenger asked to be rebooked onto a competitor’s flight?
Dear Tripped Up,
For a trip in June 2023, I booked a first-class ticket on Japan Airlines from New York to Tokyo (and continuing on to Osaka) using 100,000 miles I had accumulated on Alaska Airlines, one of JAL’s partners. The flight from New York to Tokyo was canceled a few hours before departure because of a mechanical failure. A Japan Airlines agent categorically refused to help me rebook, even when I offered to take a downgrade in the following days or fly another airline. The agent insisted I take it up with Alaska, in direct violation of JAL’s contract of carriage, which requires it to book me on an upcoming flight with it or “any other Carrier.” Alaska could only refund my miles, so I ended up paying for a last minute, one-way ticket later that day on United Airlines to Tokyo and then a train ticket to Osaka, for a total of $3,400. That is far more than the value of the refunded Alaska miles. Can you help? Harr, Seattle, Wash.
Dear Harr,
If events unfolded as you say (and Japan Airlines says they did not, see below), I’d say you are owed about $2,100. That’s the approximate difference between the $3,400 you paid for your replacement trip and the value of those 100,000 refunded Alaska miles, which, according to the personal finance site NerdWallet, is about $1,300.
When airlines cancel flights, they are generally obliged to offer passengers a choice between their money back or rebooking. But the devil is in the details: A refund is rarely enough to purchase a new last-minute flight, and “rebooking” is a slippery concept whose definition depends on whichever country’s (or countries’) laws govern the flight, as well as the specific airline’s terms and conditions. In some cases, that may mean booking you on a competitor’s flight the same day; in others you might have to wait days for the next empty seat on the airline’s own routes.
In your situation, the details were in your favor: JAL’s contract of carriage does say the airline can book you on a competitor, presumably if it doesn’t have anything available, within a reasonable amount of time, on its own routes. Interpretations of what is reasonable is in the eye of the beholder, but you say JAL refused to offer either option.
The airline, in an unsigned statement emailed to me, provided a different version of events, first apologizing for the cancellation, but saying it did offer you a new flight. “Upon cancellation, the airline proceeded to rebook customers that requested alternate flight arrangements,” the statement read. “An internal investigation confirmed that an agent offered alternative flights,” but that the options did not meet your “requested timeline.”
JAL “is lying through their teeth,” you responded.
So I asked the airline to provide documentation that its agent actually offered alternatives. Presumably, its investigation would have looked at any sort of records of the interaction, since it seems unlikely an agent would recall a conversation from 16 months ago. It did not provide that, but sent further details: The agent “indicated the next available flight would be in approximately two days or later,” the statement read. “Regrettably, we suggested the passenger contact the Alaska Airlines award desk for re-accommodation and did not aid with the rebooking process, since he had left our check-in counter.”
