Man Bites Dog: American Airlines eliminates fee – you can now redeem transportation vouchers at airport counter for free

I haven’t seen this covered anywhere, but effective September 16, 2010, American stopped collecting a $30 service charge when you use an airport ticket agent to redeem a transportation voucher.

Theoretically, it’s always been possible to use a transportation voucher without having to pay the fee, but you had to create a reservation, call an 800 number, and then send the voucher in to a processing center to receive your tickets in the mail.  But because a transportation voucher is just like cash, even if you sent it in via registered and insured mail there was still some risk associated with redeeming it by mail.

Unlike some airlines, American has always allowed vouchers to be used for any flight and any fare (you can even use a voucher to pay for baggage fees or upgrades), it’s always been a source of irritation to me that they charged a fee in the first place, and I’ve never understood why they didn’t just waive it.  Way to go American!