She showed up two hours early for her flight. Why did American Airlines cancel her ticket?

Illustration by Christopher Elliott

Teresa McGee thought she'd done everything right before her flight from Detroit to Charlotte. But she never expected American Airlines to not do everything right. 

When she approached the check-in counter, an airline agent delivered a gut punch: Her reservation had been canceled. To get home, she’d need to buy a new ticket.

“They couldn’t give me a reason,” McGee recalls. “They just said that I had to pay."

So she did.

What followed was a five-month odyssey of calls, emails, and dead ends with American Airlines, Expedia, and her credit card company, Barclays. Each pointed fingers elsewhere. The airline claimed McGee was a “no-show” for her outbound flight -- a charge she insists is impossible, given she’d already used the outbound leg days earlier. Barclays sided with American. And Expedia ghosted her.  

This case raises three critical questions for travelers:  

• If an airline cancels your ticket without explanation, are you legally entitled to a refund?  

• Can a credit card company refuse a chargeback if the merchant provides false documentation?

• What proof do you need to overturn a wrongful “no-show” charge?  

Let’s unpack McGee’s battle and what it reveals about the opaque world of airline ticketing.  

"Your own records show I was there!"

McGee’s round-trip ticket, booked through Expedia, included a flight from Charlotte to Detroit, returning one week later. She boarded the first leg without a problem. 

But when she tried to check in for her return flight, the system showed her ticket as canceled.  

An Expedia agent explained that she had two options. She could get in touch with American Airlines, and possibly fly the next day once the ticket problem was resolved. Or she could rebook herself on a later flight that day for $537.

McGee paid for another ticket.

But wait! McGee had a boarding pass that showed she had gotten on the outbound flight, which she showed the agent. Based on her documentation, she decided to ask American Airlines for a refund.

“I kept telling them, ‘Your own records show I was there!’” McGee wrote in an email to American. “But they just repeated, ‘No refunds on used tickets.’”  

A review of American’s contract of carriage reveals airlines typically only cancel return tickets for no-shows if the passenger skips the first flight. 

American’s refund department repeatedly insisted there was “no remaining value” on her original ticket.  

"I have tried numerous times to explain the situation through emails to American Airlines and Barclays as well as numerous phone calls to Barclays since you are not able to speak to a live person past customer service with American Airlines," she says. "No one will listen."

If an airline cancels your ticket without explanation, are you legally entitled to a refund?  

The answer hinges on why the ticket was canceled. Under U.S. Department of Transportation rules, airlines must refund tickets if they cancel a flight for any reason. And they have to do it quickly and automatically: within 7 business days if you paid by credit card and 20 days if you paid by cash or check. 

But when an airline wrongly labels a passenger as a no-show, the burden of proof shifts.  

American’s contract of carriage, the legal agreement between you and the airline, states: “If you fail to cancel your reservation and do not board your flight, all remaining segments will be canceled.” 

But this policy applies only if a passenger skips the first leg of a round-trip journey. McGee had already flown the outbound flight. Forfeiting her return ticket for a no-show seems to violate the airline’s own terms -- unless, of course, someone else canceled the ticket. 

What happened? This wasn't Expedia's fault. If it had canceled the first leg of her reservation by accident, she wouldn't have been able to fly. It seems American was experiencing some kind of a system glitch. It initiated the cancellation after it incorrectly labeled her a "no-show."

McGee’s case exposes an industry-wide problem: Airlines often default to blaming passengers for system errors. 

The takeaway: Always demand a written explanation for ticket cancellations. If the reason contradicts your evidence (e.g., time-stamped receipts), file a DOT complaint immediately. Airlines are legally required to respond.  

Can a credit card company refuse a chargeback if the merchant provides false documentation?

Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, consumers can dispute charges if services weren’t rendered as agreed.  

McGee provided Barclays with:  

• Her receipt for the new ticket.  

• A screenshot of American’s internal note showing the original ticket canceled just before her departure.

• A written statement from the gate agent who rebooked her. 

Despite the evidence, Barclays sided with American. This underscores a critical flaw in the chargeback process: Merchants can submit boilerplate documentation unchallenged. Credit card companies often lack the resources -- or incentive -- to dig deeper.  

McGee could have escalated her case to Barclays' executive team. She should have Included a timeline and highlighted contradictions in the merchant’s evidence. Also, she should have cited the Fair Credit Billing Act, just to show she meant business. 

What proof do you need to overturn a wrongful "no-show" charge?     

McGee’s case depended on several documents, including her Expedia itinerary showing her original ticket’s validity, her time-stamped receipt, and American’s internal records.

Airlines rely on passengers not keeping records. But McGee’s meticulous paper trail exposed the flaw in American’s argument: How could she be a no-show for a flight that she had flown  on?

Bottom line: A complete paper trail can overturn a wrongful "no-show" charge. But you have to keep all records, including:

• Your boarding passes (digital and paper)  

• Photographs of gate screens showing on-time departures  

• Any written explanations for cancellations  

None of this should be necessary, of course. American Airlines shouldn't have canceled McGee's flight. And if Expedia and American got their wires crossed about her flight, they should have uncrossed them expeditiously instead of making her pay for another ticket. Airlines must maintain a passenger manifest for each flight which lists each passenger on that flight. How hard would it have been for the airline to check its records?

Here's the resolution

No one should have to pay twice for their airline ticket. Our advocate Dwayne Coward, an expert on airline refund cases, pursued this case with both the airline and the online travel agency. 

Almost six months after McGee's flight, American Airlines refunded McGee's ticket. No apology. No explanation. Just a terse email: “Your request has been processed.”  

McGee is relieved, and she told us it shouldn't have taken an advocate to fix such an obvious error.

“What about people who don’t know how to fight?” she wondered. 

She’s right. This case exposes a troubling pattern: airlines being neglectful with their customer service, hoping they'll give up. But McGee’s persistence -- and her paper trail -- ensured a favorable outcome.

The takeaway? Document everything: Your evidence is your leverage. Never give up. And remember, if all else fails, give us a call.