American Airlines

[CanadianMAG]

I had a a very bad experienced with AA on our honeymoon, and even I vowed to never travel again with them because they ruined our honeymoon and they had no customer service on trying to resolve our problem which was their screw up. Now hearing some more news on this company I am really irked. DH doesn't think it is a big deal, but I think this is one last thing I had to hear to make me honestly think they do not care about their customers and will never fly with them again.

 

A co worker was in Cancun during the hurricane. Her flight home was suppose to be on Monday. Well since American Airlines was not able to fly into the city on that day, obviously she was no able to make the flight, since there was no aircrafts. Wednesday night she was finally able to get on an American Airlines flight back home, and get this they were going to charge them $600 because they were not on their scheduled flight on Monday. Well of course they weren't there was no flight and the airport was shut down.. Apparently after hours of fighting they paid there money to get home.

 

This is no way to treat anyone, look at the cruise lines canceling cruises and picking people up and taking them to safety, and AA cannot even honour the second leg of their ticket since their flight did not occur because of the hurricane. This seems ludicrous to me and I had to share this awful story.

[NancyIL]

Sorry, but I find your friend's story hard to believe. This is what American's site says about travel post-hurricane: https://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/ViewPromotionsDetail.jhtml?repositoryId=13901691&repositoryName=PromotionContentRepository&itemDescriptor=PromotionContent

[CanadianMAG]

Well she was on the Seattle news and KOMO attempted to contact AA about this and they did not comment in time for the news broadcast on Friday's NEWS.

 

By reading the policy (maybe I am not reading it clearly) you can apply for a refund, so maybe they had to dish out the money first to get home and get their money back later? All I know is they had to come up with this money before they could get home.

[TupeloHoney]

I don't find your friend's story hard to believe. They totally screwed over my husband and I last year on our way to our cruise. Long story short, we missed the boat, met up with at the end of the first day. That was 24 hours, 4 planes with mechanical difficulties and about 10 extremely rude AA employees later. They were horrible. They treated us horribly, they were rude and condescending. And every single plane we encountered with them had a serious mechanical problem. That, in and of itself, is reason enough not to fly with them.

 

The only compensation we got is that they put us up in hotel for the night (after much grumbling and arguing with them - they insisted that the reason our plane needed a new nose cone was because of the weather on the East Coast. We were in Indiana - and the plane had hit a bird landing from the previous flight). It was a nice hotel in Miami (we weren't even supposed to be in Miami), but we were only there for about 6 hours. They did nothing to compensate us for our lost day of the cruise. Fortunately Princess reimbursed us for the lost day of the cruise.

 

I know a lot of people like American and have had good experiences with them. But I won't fly them again if I have the option.

[TupeloHoney]

sorry - double post. Having problems with this website this eve....

[NancyIL]

I was specifically referring to this part of AA's hurricane info:

 

Cancun, Mexico (CUN) - Check-in for departures is now being handled at the airport, and space on departing flights is still being offered on a first come, first served basis. Bring your baggage, travel documents and either your paper ticket, itinerary and receipt or the ticket number for each passenger to this location between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to check in.

 

Screw-ups DO happen, but this still sounds fishy to me.

[holomuku]

This is what I'm guessing might be happening- if these are not extra flights, but rather the "regular" scheduled flights they are advising people not confirmed on these flights that it is stand-by travel and they probably give the option to pay more for confirmed tickets.

 

just an experienced guess. They also could be booked full (if they are regularly scheduled flights) and in all fairness they can't bump off the people that were already booked for these dates. However- with that said- how did the people booked to go home now...ever get there?

 

when airports close it is weeks before things get back to normal.

[funforsun]

They totally screwed over my husband and I last year on our way to our cruise.......they insisted that the reason our plane needed a new nose cone was because of the weather on the East Coast. We were in Indiana - and the plane had hit a bird landing from the previous flight).

 

Yeah, that is what I want, and airline that allows a plane to fly that they themselves consider unsafe. It sounds like you would rather have had AA put your lives and the lives of your fellow passengers and crew at stake so you could make the start of your cruise. Sounds a little......selfish......doesn't it?

 

Experienced travellers understand that things happen, and because you didn't share the initial part of your story about why you missed your first flight, I must assume that it wasn't the fault of AA. So, because of some travel mishaps and mechanical difficulties, you met the cruise a day later. I'm sorry, but this I cannot get excited about. And if you had so many AA employees treat you in an "unkind" manner, it sounds like the only common factor was a conversation with you and your husband. People treat others as they themselves are treated, I have usually found, and while there may be some exceptions, this is a general rule that is true.

 

I travel over 120,000 flight miles per year and have seen it all, done it all, and been subjected to it all. If there is one thing I have learned, is that when I travel, get there early, bring a book, and treat the people I am talking to with respect, because they didn't cause the problem I am dealing with, whatever it is. They are only doing their job. I get lots of comments about how good natured I am in the face of events that would send others into a hissy fit, but I do that precisely because there is nothing I can do about it and I just have to figure out what I can do to get to where I need to be the fastest possible way.

 

A couple of years ago we were on caribbean cruise out of Miami during the Christmas holidays. I booked flights from San Diego to Miami on Expedia that included an overnight flight to Orlando and then a puddle jumper to Miami in the morning. Guess what, the Orlando to Miami flight was oversold by double. What did I do, yell scream and complain? No. After I found that there were NO more flights that day from Orlando to Miami that would get me to the cruise on time, I made a bee line to the rental car counter, rented a car and got my butt to Miami and made the cruise. I also helped a couple from Germany do the same because they were in the same "boat" as me. Luckily, I speak a little German and they didn't speak much English.

 

I could have let this ruin my day, cruise and vacation but my CHOICE was to take it in stride, do the best I could at getting to where I wanted to be, and be a model for my children about how to handle situations that come at you without your causing them. We talk about this all the time as the "adventure" cruise with fondess. Make your experiences and adventure and life will be much more enjoyable.

[wrp96]

AA took wonderful care of me this past January when RCI dropped the ball on my flights to and from the cruise. When I missed my flight home after the cruise, an AA rep found me a seat home that day, and even bumped me up to business class - no charge to me at all. And this was after the RCI rep had told me he was too busy to help me.

[TupeloHoney]

Yeah, that is what I want, and airline that allows a plane to fly that they themselves consider unsafe. It sounds like you would rather have had AA put your lives and the lives of your fellow passengers and crew at stake so you could make the start of your cruise. Sounds a little......selfish......doesn't it?

 

Experienced travellers understand that things happen, and because you didn't share the initial part of your story about why you missed your first flight, I must assume that it wasn't the fault of AA. So, because of some travel mishaps and mechanical difficulties, you met the cruise a day later. I'm sorry, but this I cannot get excited about. And if you had so many AA employees treat you in an "unkind" manner, it sounds like the only common factor was a conversation with you and your husband. People treat others as they themselves are treated, I have usually found, and while there may be some exceptions, this is a general rule that is true.

 

I travel over 120,000 flight miles per year and have seen it all, done it all, and been subjected to it all. If there is one thing I have learned, is that when I travel, get there early, bring a book, and treat the people I am talking to with respect, because they didn't cause the problem I am dealing with, whatever it is. They are only doing their job. I get lots of comments about how good natured I am in the face of events that would send others into a hissy fit, but I do that precisely because there is nothing I can do about it and I just have to figure out what I can do to get to where I need to be the fastest possible way.

 

A couple of years ago we were on caribbean cruise out of Miami during the Christmas holidays. I booked flights from San Diego to Miami on Expedia that included an overnight flight to Orlando and then a puddle jumper to Miami in the morning. Guess what, the Orlando to Miami flight was oversold by double. What did I do, yell scream and complain? No. After I found that there were NO more flights that day from Orlando to Miami that would get me to the cruise on time, I made a bee line to the rental car counter, rented a car and got my butt to Miami and made the cruise. I also helped a couple from Germany do the same because they were in the same "boat" as me. Luckily, I speak a little German and they didn't speak much English.

 

I could have let this ruin my day, cruise and vacation but my CHOICE was to take it in stride, do the best I could at getting to where I wanted to be, and be a model for my children about how to handle situations that come at you without your causing them. We talk about this all the time as the "adventure" cruise with fondess. Make your experiences and adventure and life will be much more enjoyable.

 

 

Wow. You assume a lot about me for knowing nothing about me or the situation. For your information, I am an exerpienced traveler myself and I always treat service people I interact with respect.

 

The reason we missed our first flight is because the plane required a new nose cone. That would not have been so bad if they had been upfront with us about that from the get go and put us on another flight. As it was they strung us along for nine hours in the airport and let every other flight that might have had a chance getting us to our destination on time leave without us. Then they finally told us that flight wouldn't be leaving that day at all.

 

When we get to Miami (a couple flights later) we were then told they would not give us a hotel room because our flight was delayed because of the weather. We had to argue with this extremely rude woman, and i'm sorry, she was rude, I kept my cool, that our plane required a new nose cone. She assured us that was not the case - there had been bad weather on the East coast. She finally looked on the computer system and saw that we were correct.

 

We continued to have problems on our flights the next day catching up to boat in St. Thomas.

 

It's a long, long story. And I won't go into the details. I do have issues with an airline having so many mechanical problems. Of course I'd prefer they fix them. I wasn't saying don't fly them because they delay you because of mechanical problems. I was saying don't you think it's disturbing that every single one of them had a mechanical problem to begin with!

 

You may assume what you want about me but you are making all the wrong assumptions.

 

By the way, I find your comment about treating others with respect ironic as this is the most condescending and rude post I've had written to me on any message board in a long, long time.

[funforsun]

This stuff happens all the time. Too bad for you, of course, but to paint the barn with the broadest brush???? I'm just trying to make a point. If I have misrepresented your case, apologies. It's just that I hear these stories all the time, and its sad because stuff happens. My thought is, just make it an adventure and things will look differently rather than "That company, those people, that country, "them" are the problem and I'll never deal with them again.

 

But, that is just my opinion.

[NancyIL]

This is what I'm guessing might be happening- if these are not extra flights, but rather the "regular" scheduled flights they are advising people not confirmed on these flights that it is stand-by travel and they probably give the option to pay more for confirmed tickets.

 

just an experienced guess. They also could be booked full (if they are regularly scheduled flights) and in all fairness they can't bump off the people that were already booked for these dates. However- with that said- how did the people booked to go home now...ever get there?

 

when airports close it is weeks before things get back to normal.

 

Your theory sounds very plausible.

[TupeloHoney]

This stuff happens all the time. Too bad for you, of course, but to paint the barn with the broadest brush???? I'm just trying to make a point. If I have misrepresented your case, apologies. It's just that I hear these stories all the time, and its sad because stuff happens. My thought is, just make it an adventure and things will look differently rather than "That company, those people, that country, "them" are the problem and I'll never deal with them again.

 

But, that is just my opinion.

 

I don't disagree with you, and I tend to give individuals and companies the benefit of the doubt more often than not. I understand that things happen. But this was just unbelievable to me. To have so many things go wrong with one company, and to be treated so poorly by probably 1/3 to 1/2 of their personnel that we interacted with, indicated to me that there was a system wide problem. Perhaps not. Perhaps it was just a very bad day, and we had a string of very bad luck with them. But this actually was the third time I have had a bad interaction with American, and incidentally, it was only like the fourth time I had ever flown on them. Enough was enough. I know not everyone has this same experience with them. And I am truly happy for them. But I draw the line somewhere. While I am forgiving to a fault with people, I hold grudges against organizations after a point.

 

I can take things in stride, and can makes things an adventure. This was not an adventure. We got to the airport at 6:00 am - after leaving our house at 3:30 am, and didn't make it to Miami until 11:00 pm that night (and then had the woman argue with us that it was not a mechanical problem and they wouldn't put us up in a hotel). We got to the hotel by 12:00 and had to get up again at 4:30 to make it to the airport the next day by 6:00. And then didn't meet up with the boat until about 3:30 the next day. I know an adventure when I see it - that wasn't an adventure. But, it did not ruin our vacation. It just ruined the first day of it. We went on to have a wonderful cruise.

[funforsun]

AA can have their issues. And no one should have to deal with an employee who is rude or condesending. Glad to hear your cruise was enjoyable, at least the portion you were able to partake!

[newmexicoNita]

I had a a very bad experienced with AA on our honeymoon, and even I vowed to never travel again with them because they ruined our honeymoon and they had no customer service on trying to resolve our problem which was their screw up. Now hearing some more news on this company I am really irked. DH doesn't think it is a big deal, but I think this is one last thing I had to hear to make me honestly think they do not care about their customers and will never fly with them again.

 

A co worker was in Cancun during the hurricane. Her flight home was suppose to be on Monday. Well since American Airlines was not able to fly into the city on that day, obviously she was no able to make the flight, since there was no aircrafts. Wednesday night she was finally able to get on an American Airlines flight back home, and get this they were going to charge them $600 because they were not on their scheduled flight on Monday. Well of course they weren't there was no flight and the airport was shut down.. Apparently after hours of fighting they paid there money to get home.

 

This is no way to treat anyone, look at the cruise lines canceling cruises and picking people up and taking them to safety, and AA cannot even honour the second leg of their ticket since their flight did not occur because of the hurricane. This seems ludicrous to me and I had to share this awful story.

My daughter works for American, there is something about this story that doesn't jive!!!!

[newmexicoNita]

Yeah, that is what I want, and airline that allows a plane to fly that they themselves consider unsafe. It sounds like you would rather have had AA put your lives and the lives of your fellow passengers and crew at stake so you could make the start of your cruise. Sounds a little......selfish......doesn't it?

 

Experienced travellers understand that things happen, and because you didn't share the initial part of your story about why you missed your first flight, I must assume that it wasn't the fault of AA. So, because of some travel mishaps and mechanical difficulties, you met the cruise a day later. I'm sorry, but this I cannot get excited about. And if you had so many AA employees treat you in an "unkind" manner, it sounds like the only common factor was a conversation with you and your husband. People treat others as they themselves are treated, I have usually found, and while there may be some exceptions, this is a general rule that is true.

 

I travel over 120,000 flight miles per year and have seen it all, done it all, and been subjected to it all. If there is one thing I have learned, is that when I travel, get there early, bring a book, and treat the people I am talking to with respect, because they didn't cause the problem I am dealing with, whatever it is. They are only doing their job. I get lots of comments about how good natured I am in the face of events that would send others into a hissy fit, but I do that precisely because there is nothing I can do about it and I just have to figure out what I can do to get to where I need to be the fastest possible way.

 

A couple of years ago we were on caribbean cruise out of Miami during the Christmas holidays. I booked flights from San Diego to Miami on Expedia that included an overnight flight to Orlando and then a puddle jumper to Miami in the morning. Guess what, the Orlando to Miami flight was oversold by double. What did I do, yell scream and complain? No. After I found that there were NO more flights that day from Orlando to Miami that would get me to the cruise on time, I made a bee line to the rental car counter, rented a car and got my butt to Miami and made the cruise. I also helped a couple from Germany do the same because they were in the same "boat" as me. Luckily, I speak a little German and they didn't speak much English.

 

I could have let this ruin my day, cruise and vacation but my CHOICE was to take it in stride, do the best I could at getting to where I wanted to be, and be a model for my children about how to handle situations that come at you without your causing them. We talk about this all the time as the "adventure" cruise with fondess. Make your experiences and adventure and life will be much more enjoyable.

You said it all and I bet many airline employees regardless of who they work for love to have you as their passengers. No one will ever know what ticket agents and gate agents put up with. NMNita

[Pumbaamd]

Hey, Nita. Everything OK in New Mexico? Is that new rail commuter train near you? Best to hubby. Take care, Deirdra and Rick

[yogimax]

My daughter works for American, there is something about this story that doesn't jive!!!!

 

The OP said, "DH doesn't think it is such a big deal." Draw your own conclusions:)

[RDeagazio]

I worked for the airlines's for 10 yrs, and can tell you that you would not believe the things people complain over..Since leaving the airline, I stayed in the travel biz and AA is the best domestic airline IMHO.. I fly Aa whenever possible and as a Platinum Exec frequent flier, I can tell you that I've been very pleased. <ost of my flts have been on-time, service has been good and the aircraft were always very clean. I recently flew Delta and they are the worst-- never on time, dirty planes and rude staff... United isn't much better, but I will fly them over Delta but second to AA.

[CanadianMAG]

The OP said, "DH doesn't think it is such a big deal." Draw your own conclusions:)

 

I think it is a big deal, they dropped the ball on us on our honeymoon, and I hear this story.

 

They seperated our reservation so our names were not connected and they bumped me off the flight on the return leg . We paid full fare first class and was pissed, and when we were checking in they said tooo bad we had to travel seperate, then I told them to boot someone else in 1st class who is not traveling with a partner and told them this is our honeymoon we are not travelling seperate and they will need to boot someone else, they had the nerve to say, sorry we don't boot 1st class people no one could give us a reason why it happened to us especially since we paid the full fare. I even asked how we could be booted since we were 1st class and they just said they don't boot first class people, they couldn't answer that either. They admitted they seperated our reservation, could not give us a reason why, only that the ID number looked like a new ID and they were new. No one said sorry, they really didnt care! I might have had a different feeling if they took responsiblility for it, but they blamed it on the new person, and that was it.

[newmexicoNita]

I think it is a big deal, they dropped the ball on us on our honeymoon, and I hear this story.

 

They seperated our reservation so our names were not connected and they bumped me off the flight on the return leg . We paid full fare first class and was pissed, and when we were checking in they said tooo bad we had to travel seperate, then I told them to boot someone else in 1st class who is not traveling with a partner and told them this is our honeymoon we are not travelling seperate and they will need to boot someone else, they had the nerve to say, sorry we don't boot 1st class people no one could give us a reason why it happened to us especially since we paid the full fare. I even asked how we could be booted since we were 1st class and they just said they don't boot first class people, they couldn't answer that either. They admitted they seperated our reservation, could not give us a reason why, only that the ID number looked like a new ID and they were new. No one said sorry, they really didnt care! I might have had a different feeling if they took responsiblility for it, but they blamed it on the new person, and that was it.

What do you mean they booted you off the flight? If you paid full fare or even a discounted fare I just simply don't understand. Before booting anyone off any flight they ask for volunteers to give up seats and there are always plenty willing. First you say they booted you then you say, they told you they never boot first class passengers. Was there a weather related problem or something else? What ID number looked like a new one? Something here just isn't jivving? I am not trying to say it didn't happen and as others have said, there is never a reason to be rude, but sometime facts get screwed up and this is a case for the books. Situations like this would be so rare that most of us have never heard of anything even similar. Of course I can understand your not wanting to be separated on your honeymoon especially when you had paid probably a $1000 per person for the air alone, but what kind of compensation did they give you? Of they offered you something. NMnita

[imsulin2]

I think honoluku had the right scenario - makes perfect sense! AA is probably my favorite airline, as I've had FF miles with them for years! Yep - have had some flight delays and mechanical problems, but nothing to get upset about, and nothing that hasn't happened on any other airline. I remember once, back in the 90's, we were flying out of Beef Island, Tortola (it was over Spring Break time), and they were overbooked, and kept asking for people to "bump"...offering $400.0 flight vouchers per bump! Well, you better believe we "bumped" as often as we could! Three times! They ended up putting us up at the Sands Hotel in San Juan overnight (we got the last flight there that night) and gave us meal vouchers. They then offered us first-class seats from SJU to DFW, and from DFW to SFO. We asked if we could get flight vouchers for declining the first-class seats, and they said, "Yes". $400.00 per leg! We grabbed it and flew coach. 2000.00 each in future flight vouchers was worth it! We were able to go back to Tortola twice...free! Love it!!

[CanadianMAG]

What do you mean they booted you off the flight? If you paid full fare or even a discounted fare I just simply don't understand. Before booting anyone off any flight they ask for volunteers to give up seats and there are always plenty willing. First you say they booted you then you say, they told you they never boot first class passengers. Was there a weather related problem or something else? What ID number looked like a new one? Something here just isn't jivving? I am not trying to say it didn't happen and as others have said, there is never a reason to be rude, but sometime facts get screwed up and this is a case for the books. Situations like this would be so rare that most of us have never heard of anything even similar. Of course I can understand your not wanting to be separated on your honeymoon especially when you had paid probably a $1000 per person for the air alone, but what kind of compensation did they give you? Of they offered you something. NMnita

 

There was no compensation, just "a too bad" it looks like this newbie did it in Vancouver. There was no weather delays. We had the same booking number and had confirmed both flights when we had checked in to flight to FFL. I was put on a flight that left 2 hours later. The only thing they said is they must gave gotten separated because or last names are different and they may not have known we were traveling together. Like I said before they did not give me a straight answer why my booking was changed and they would not change anyone else’s we stood there for almost an hour spoke to the supervisor then the supervisors supervisor.. and nothing. They did offer that when we were in the layover to see if one of us could move to the other persons' flight.

Why would I even make this up?!

As for the original post, I got some clarification quickly only a 20 second conversation. Apparently, she was in a shelter that was evacuated because the windows blew out. Then they ended up going to another shelter then going on a bus somewhere over the weekend which was provided from the hurrican relief people and the reason there were getting charged because they were leaving from another airport then the original one.

[4merlurker]

We always fly AA!! NEVER had a problem. :) Just my 2 cents. :o

[imsulin2]

CanadianMAG - I think the key to the whole thing was the different last names, because you had to book your flight under your maiden name. I used to book Honeymooners all the time (worked as a TA in a large University city), and the brides-to-be were frequently upset when I told them that they'd have to book under their maiden name (no time to change DL or Passport). Question: Did you book your own air? Sorry you had such a bad experience!