The original copy of an air travel voucher has mystical powers, and flights can only be scheduled using the original copy. At least, that’s the impression we get from Ashley’s experience. When she went to redeem her voucher, she mailed it in, as required. Only the tracking number hasn’t been scanned in the USPS system, and there’s no sign of the voucher.

Last year I received a paper voucher from American Airlines for $500. This month, I made a reservation and mailed the paper voucher as required by USPS with a tracking number.

7 days later, USPS says that they have received the tracking information but no information about the envelope’s status, and AA says they have not yet received the voucher.

AA customer service representatives are adamant that I need the original voucher to redeem it for my flight on the 17th. Consumerist, is there a way that AA will let me redeem a copy of my voucher since the original was lost in the mail?

We can’t imagine that this has never happened before in the history of airline vouchers. Maybe someone higher up the food chain will be more helpful. Like their executive customer service team.

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