What Do I Do If I Was Bumped Off of My American Airlines Flight?

If you have been bumped off of your American Airlines flight, you are eligible for compensation. Your compensation may be in the form of a refund for your ticket or replacement flight. The amount you receive as compensation may range from €250 to €600. If you have any questions, contact the customer service agents for help. You may contact them on the phone, Facebook/Messenger, Twitter, or the help desk.

Jeff Whelpley is the editor / author responsible for this content.
Jul 9, 2020

What Do I Do If I Was Bumped off of My American Airlines Flight?

Being bumped off of your American Airlines flight can be a huge inconvenience. However, you can seek compensation. Bumping happens when American Airlines denies you a seat on a plane because they overbooked. They may also bump you to create room for flight attendants who need to be somewhere else.

Seeking Compensation

You can seek compensation from American Airlines. However, the best way to deal with the problem is to avoid being bumped in the first place. The simplest way to do it is by not volunteering. If you are not consulted, the EU rules state that you are eligible for compensation. You may get a monetary refund or a new flight depending on your needs. The following tips may help you avoid getting bumped off:

  1. Passengers with no assigned seat are likely to get bumped. Pick a seat to minimize your chances of being bumped
  2. Check in to your flight as soon as possible. Your chances of being bumped off increase if you check in late.
  3. Buy a high fare class. Lower fare classes are more likely to be bumped
  4. If you can afford it, buy first class. The more money you spend, the less likely you are to get bumped.

Things to Do In the Event of Cancellation

If you find yourself in a situation where American Airlines has canceled your flight without prior notice, you do have not only the right to compensation but also benefits and extra service at the airport. The airline owes you compensation unless they inform you about cancellation 14 or more days before the date of takeoff. The amount you receive as compensation for the inconvenience may be €250 to €600. If you have questions about the compensation you deserve, the customer service agents may give you answers. ]

What Are Your Rights After Cancellation?

  1. You may get a replacement flight or refund for your ticket
  2. A compensation of €250 to €600
  3. If you have been delayed for more than two hours, you may receive food and drinks

If your flight has been canceled, take advantage of the complimentary drinks and foods. Work with the support agents to determine the amount you deserve as compensation and get the cause of cancellation in writing.

Contacting the Support Team

There are plenty of ways to contact the American Airlines support team if you need help or have any questions. The best way to contact the support team is on the phone. It is the only option to speak directly with an agent, and you get the chance to explain your problem in detail. The agents will direct you to the most relevant help as soon as possible.

Consider seeking support on Facebook or Twitter if you don't necessarily need to speak with an agent. The support options allow you to get help from both the support agents and the customer service representatives.

The help desk is the first support option for most customers. Consider going through it before contacting the customer service agents directly. It has plenty of targeted tips and suggestions that may answer your questions.

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Jeff truly believes that all customers deserve good service. He’s been building tools, inventing phone tree hacks and helping customers since before his days at GetHuman. He's also a Google GDE and involved in the Angular community.
What Do I Do If I Was Bumped Off of My American Airlines Flight?

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GetHuman has been working for over 10 years on sourcing information about big organizations like American Airlines in order to help customers resolve customer service issues faster. We started with contact information and fastest ways to reach a human at big companies. Particularly ones with slow or complicated IVR or phone menu systems. Or companies that have self-serve help forums instead of a customer service department. From there, we realized that consumers still needed more detailed help solving the most common problems, so we expanded to this set of guides, which grows every day. And if you spot any issues with our What Do I Do If I Was Bumped Off of My American Airlines Flight? guide, please let us know by sending us feedback. We want to be as helpful as possible. If you appreciated this guide, please share it with your favorite people. Our free information and tools is powered by you, the customer. The more people that use it, the better it gets.

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