by Gary Leff on November 29, 2022
Update: The test period for removing the hold option from the American Airlines website has ended, and the hold option has been restored.
Original September 14, 2022 post follows:
On Tuesday American Airlines removed the option to put a flight on a 24 hour hold, rather than purchasing it right away, for many – but apparently not all – customers. Competitors haven’t had this option for years. It’s one of the things that set American Airlines apart and made them easier to buy from.
Six years ago American eliminated its commitment to offer 24 hour holds. They stopped offering it through reservations, but kept offering it on the AA.com website. Now the option appears gone, at least for now for most customers. An American Airlines spokesperson confirms:
We continue to evaluate our product offerings to customers on aa.com and understand customers may need flexibility when booking travel plans. Customers whose travel plans change after they purchased a ticket with American can receive a full refund if they cancel the ticket within 24 hours of purchase.
I understand the airline is still evaluating how customers use the option for a reservation hold through the website. There’s some indication that they want to see if forcing customers using trip credits to purchase right away could reduce calls to reservations, since they never introduced the ability to apply those to reservations on hold and that meant a phone call. Eliminating the hold option gives them a counterfactual to test against, but I don’t know odds on whether they could bring this feature back.
Bottom line is that 24 hour holds are fantastic for customers, and especially for the airline’s best and most dedicated customers they reduce time spent on the phone and reduce errors.