canceling awards flight due to severe weather and getting miles back?
 

What happens if I check in for an AA awards flight and then the flight is delayed (like for 9 hours) due to severe weather? Can you cancel the award flight and get miles re-instated if you cancel? This happened to me on a non-award flight, so wondering what the options would be on an awards flight, and if you could get miles back when canceling.

And what happens if you are halfway through the trip, at the connecting airport and the next flight is canceled due to severe weather? You are just out of luck at that point if you cancel, will lose all miles?

if you are waiting 9 hours and the flight hasn't left, yes you can ask to cancel and you would get miles back. If you've begun the trip and are stuck in an intermediate city due to weather, then you're on your own unfortunately. This is what trip insurance would cover, but most people decline it on checkout during the purchase. Why would you cancel at a connection city? How would you get back home or onward to your final destination?

So trip insurance would cover the cost to transfer to a new flight in a connecting city?

As the question in the "trip insurance" forum.

If delayed 9 hours, the app will start to give you other options to rebook at no charge, at least in my experience. I'm not sure why trip insurance would be involved in this situation other than to cover the costs of the delay (hotel, etc.) not covered by the airline.

-You can ask for reprotection.
-You can cancel and get full refund of copayment and reinstate of your miles.
(This would happen with a revenue ticket as well, not only with an award flight)

-If you are in a connecting point, that would be trickier. But definitely you can ask for reprotection.

There is no major difference between paid and award tickets during IROPS. With significant delays or cancellations, AA should make every reasonable effort to get you to your final destination on AA/partner flights as soon as possible. Besides the option of just waiting out a delay, you can switch for free to a different connecting point, or to a reasonable alternate destination airport, or to a nonstop, whatever has an available seat (award availability is not an issue at this point). You can independently search your options, and if the app is not offering what you want, ask an agent.

All that is to say, if you want to reach your destination, look for options that keep you moving forward, and don't give up until you have to. AA will not charge you for IROPS rebooking. If you have direct costs from the delay or cancellation (hotel/meals), AA will cover these only if the issue is under its control (mechanical/crew as opposed to weather/ATC).

I emphasize these points because your go-to response seems to be to cancel your trip, but there are usually still ways to get there. If you truly have no good options and your arrival will be delayed so much that you no longer want to go, then you should request a trip in vain cancellation. This will get you a refund (note, even without IROPS or trip in vain, you can also get a refund of an award ticket anytime before departure for any reason). If you are already traveling and the issue occurs at a connecting point, then for trip in vain, AA will return you to your point of origin.

I've been able to cancel/change awards no problem during any sort of delay, (as short as 30 minutes, as long as 6 hours)

We were able to cancel the second leg of a mileage trip when we missed our connection due to weather delays and, through a series of rebookings and cancelations, we were looking at an overnight stay followed by multi-leg substitute flights to get home. AA pro-rated the miles based on distance and refunded a portion of the miles. (I had already purchased tickets on another airline to get us home. The refunded miles were less than the cost of the new tickets, but we had crying kids with us and just wanted to get them home to their beds.)

You can cancel an award ticket at any time prior to departure and for any reason. You'll get your miles and taxes back. If you cancel after you check in, the refund is not automatic. You have to call and the agent will handle it manually.

As noted above, if your flight is delayed the app will often present you with alternatives to your final destination, especially if the delay risks a misconnect. Otherwise you can call and will be reaccommodated without a problem. It helps to have alternatives ready to suggest. You should not be charged any extra miles.

If you're at a connection point and your onward flight is delayed significantly, to the point where the trip no longer makes sense, you can see an agent and declare a "trip in vain". This is where it becomes somewhat discretionary but you may be able to get them to rebook you back to your origin and get a full refund. I haven't needed to do this in some years, so I can't say you can expect this. They can certainly send you back to your origin but the refund may be tougher. Can't hurt to ask upfront, or after you're back home.

If you're at a connection point and your onward flight is delayed or cancelled and you want to continue, then it's pretty standard delay treatment, irrespective of whether it's an award ticket. You may be offered alternatives via the app, or you can just stick it out. Be sure to get a straight answer on the cause of the delay. (I consult the flight status on ExpertFlyer.) If it's mechanical or some other cause within AA's control then push for hotel room, meals, and/or rebooking on another airline. Again, you should not expect to lose any miles or have to shell out any more.