Terrible first time experience on American Airlines

[sanger727]

Hello all, normally we fly delta because we have family members that are deeply loyal to delta so to travel with them requires us to fly delta. I have flown allegiant once with the understanding that it was a low cost airline so my expectations were low and satisfied. I did however, think that American and United were at least in the same class of airlines as delta so when we decided to take a trip without those family members and American was a couple hundred dollars less with better flight times we decided to give them a try. 

 

OMG, terrible mistake that we will never make again. First, started off badly when we walked into the airport and our flight was already delayed. Flight delays happen, I get it, and we roll with the punches usually. We were scheduled to depart at 8:40 and had an hour connection in Charlotte to fly to Jamaica. When we got to the airport the flight time was now at 9; which was fine. We were sitting at the gate waiting for them to start boarding and around 8:30 they bumped the flight again to 10:30. Not once did a flight attendant make an announcement or give any explanation for what the issue was. They just bumped the time and left the desk leaving everyone to line up to make arrangements for their mixed connections with no one to help them. I did look out the window and there was a plane out there. There was a flight crew in the area and one point some of the flight crew went out to the plane and then came back in a bit later and said to the other flight crew "that plane's not going anywhere". So I assume it was an equipment issue. Still, absolutely no explanation.  By the way, we jumped up when they bumped the flight and were first in line. I checked the app for new flight times while we were waiting and it wouldn't offer me anything until the next day. I did check kayak for other flights from other airlines and delta had one that left at 10:30 priced at $570. Meanwhile, an attendant finally comes out and tells everyone to sit down because they are working on getting us a different plane so they weren't going to change anyones flight yet. So, we sit and wait.... and wait... Some people get impatient and go back up to the desk to wait even though there still is no attendant there. She comes back after 30ish minutes to tell us that there is no plane and we can come up and make other arrangements. meanwhile, now were are in the middle of the line to back up; get confirmation that they cannot get us to Jamaica until the next day, and the delta flight is almost sold out so she can't put us on it. She does assure us that we can get that leg canceled and refunded if we wanted to try to get on the delta flight. We rush over to the delta booth and now that flight is $940. 

 

We take the flight and continue with our trip. We submit for a refund when we get back and they only refund us 25% of what we paid. So, not only did the attendant cost us $370 per ticket by being slow and not having any information; now American shorted us $250 per ticket worth of refund that they owe us.

 

Before you ask, yes we had insurance and they did pay out for the delta ticket minus half of the american ticket since that's what they owe us in refund. All in all we are only out 25% at this point so we are calling it an expensive lesson on why to never give American our business again!

[fbgd]

Good luck finding any airline that doesn't have mechanical issues. 

 

One of the reasons flying has become so cheap is because airlines have figured ways to use their assets as efficiently as possible. This means outside of hubs you rarely have spare aircraft you can bring into the rotation when one goes poorly. 

 

No need to do anything with an agent in person. My defaults are to either go straight to the Admirals Club/Flagship Lounge or, if there's no lounge, to get on the phone and stand in line. Unless it's a huge weather issue affecting large swathes of the network you're far more likely to get someone on the phone faster than waiting in line with dozens of other people. 

 

If you read the Contract of Carriage you'll see AA's job is to get you to your destination, they could do that, just not on the day you wanted. Relying upon an agent's word to have another airline's walk up fare covered in full is, IMO, foolish. Have them or another agent endorse you onto the other carrier.

[FlyerTalker]

8 hours ago, sanger727 said:

We were scheduled to depart at 8:40 and had an hour connection in Charlotte to fly to Jamaica. When we got to the airport the flight time was now at 9; which was fine. We were sitting at the gate waiting for them to start boarding and around 8:30 they bumped the flight again to 10:30. Not once did a flight attendant make an announcement or give any explanation for what the issue was. They just bumped the time and left the desk leaving everyone to line up to make arrangements for their mixed connections with no one to help them.

 

Another "I'll never fly on XX Airline again" thread.  So since you are imploring others not to fly AA, let's check the validity of that advice.

 

IMO, you had extremely unrealistic expectations.  You started out with no contingency plan in case something happened to your original flight.   You had a one hour connect, and the first delay moved that down by twenty to 40 minutes.  Once it moved to a two hour delay, there went your connection.  You needed plan B - yet you were waiting for someone at a desk to help you.  As FBGD said, you could have been on the phone working with an agent.

 

8 hours ago, sanger727 said:

So I assume it was an equipment issue. Still, absolutely no explanation. 

 

Serious question - would knowing that it was a problem with the aleuvial vortex framus made any difference?  You knew you weren't making your connection and whatever the cause, it didn't matter for your situation.  Maybe if they had said "Due to a Cetcil wind, Dystor's vectored us into a 360-tarson of slow air traffic. Now we'll maintain this Borden hold until we get the Forta Magnus clearance from Melnics."

 

8 hours ago, sanger727 said:

I checked the app for new flight times while we were waiting and it wouldn't offer me anything until the next day. I did check kayak for other flights from other airlines and delta had one that left at 10:30 priced at $570. Meanwhile, an attendant finally comes out and tells everyone to sit down because they are working on getting us a different plane so they weren't going to change anyones flight yet. So, we sit and wait.... and wait...

 

So the AA app says there was no AA option other than flying the next day.  And you "sit and wait....and wait."  For the gate agent to miraculously make otherwise non-existent seats appear?

 

I guess the big question is:  Just what did you expect AA to do?  I ask this because a condemnation of a company for one experience deserves an objective analysis of expectation vs reality vs delivery.

 

Second minor question:  Weren't you glad that they found the mechanical issue while all the wheels were on the ground rather than at 35,000 feet?

 

 

 

[zdcatc12]

 I was EP on AA at one time, but now fly DL for the majority of my flights. AA is a different airline after the merger than before. I know it is a combination of things, but I try to avoid flying them if at all possible now. When I do fly them now, usually on a flight that I used my AAdvantage Miles for, I always wonder if I am going to get where I need to go. Three of the last four times that I have flown them I have had some kind of delay. Maybe it's random, but I always have that feeling.

 

 I am all for believing that DL has a better TO department than AA. And that isn't even getting to how crappy the interiors of the older AA planes are.

 

 I flew AA last Saturday from PHL-MIA on a 763. We were supposed to leave at 6 am. At 6:05 the captain says they are still loading bags, it will be another 5 minutes. 15 minutes later, he comes back on and says that he still doesn't know what's going on, nobody will answer him. Finally left at 6:30. We get to MIA and no one is at the gate for the jet bridge, captain comes on and says he called them twice, not sure where they are. Finally ten minutes later we start deplaning.

 

 Maybe it is just me, but AA has gotten so bad in the last couple of years, it is incredible. Just say "Doug Parker" to an employee and see what there response is.  Rant over!!!

[sumiandkage]

1 hour ago, zdcatc12 said:

 I was EP on AA at one time, but now fly DL for the majority of my flights. AA is a different airline after the merger than before. I know it is a combination of things, but I try to avoid flying them if at all possible now.

 

I do think that the 'marriage of equals' airline mergers we've seen in recent years have caused issues with product and service that are an iceberg in terms of the passengers only seeing a little bit of the chaos underneath. At least until something goes wrong and you do get a glimpse of the iceberg. 

 

For all that it's seen now as a relatively smooth integration, I remember the Delta-Northwest merger having its share of glitches and service quirks then. United-Continental's merger seemed to have more issues like with the legacy flight attendant contracts that didn't let them mix cabin crews from each side until years after the new paint jobs went onto all the planes. And when you have crew schedule issues like that, the loss of assignment flexibility eventually causes problems with aircraft on time numbers as well as spurring on continued rivalries between the PM-United anf PN-Continental 'sides' when employees need to feel like they're all on the same team. 

 

With American, you're getting the unhappy post-merger employees along with the CEO that is trying to turn the economy cabins into Spirit c. 2015 (Spirit 2019, while not a great airline, has by many accounts improved much in recent years) and the ongoing 737 MAX issues causing even more schedule and delay problems. 

 

Delta 2019 is actually a very nice airline in many ways and United also seems to be improving from where it was a few years back. I hope American can find its mojo again over the next 2-3 years because I'm firmly in the camp that says the more high quality options a person has on departure day, the better. 

[sanger727]

I understand delays happen. And im

directly comparing this to a very similar situation I had on delta recently. In that situation a mechanical problem caused out first flight delayed long enough that we missed our connection. We purchased first class tickets but the only way they could get us to our destination was to put us on a different flight that only had coach available. The differences were:

 

1. the gate agents actually made announcements informing us of what was happening, what the problem was, and what they were doing to fix it and (gasp), apologized for the inconvenience. In fact, I’ve never been on an airline that had a delay where the gate agents didn’t make announcements to keep people informed about the status and the issues

 

2. Delta quickly and easily gave me a very fair refund for the difference in the fare between the first class and coach ticket without me asking

 

3. they also gave us a voucher towards a future flight for our inconvenience and bonus frequent flyer miles. Obviously, had american offered these I wouldn’t end up using them now, but the offer still would have showed some consideration for customer service.

 

and btw, that flight ended up leaving at 1:30. So a longer connection wouldn’t have fixed the issue. I would never schedule a 6 hour connection ‘just in case’. Also it’s clear they had no backup plans for a plane that was down and they had no real idea of the status of the situation or how it would be fixed which is why they just kept bumping it an hour at a time. For weather delays, sure. They can’t control weather and they can only react to what happens as it happens. But a mechanical issue is within their control to deal with and their responsibility to problem solve.

 

this was a massive customer service failure. Had the gate agents communicated what the issue was and given us expectations on how they were dealing with it; and then gave us a fair refund (I only used half my ticket so half the cost refunded would have been fare); I would have no issues with this. And yes, I do expect a company to back the promises their employees make. Two separate employees offered us a refund. Especially when the root cause of all of this was an airplane issue. Then I do think they should take some extra responsibility to make things right over an issue that was outside of their control.

Edited December 28, 2019 by sanger727

[sanger727]

17 hours ago, fbgd said:

No need to do anything with an agent in person. My defaults are to either go straight to the Admirals Club/Flagship Lounge or, if there's no lounge, to get on the phone and stand in line. Unless it's a huge weather issue affecting large swathes of the network you're far more likely to get someone on the phone faster than waiting in line with dozens of other people. 

 

that is exactly what I did. Got on the phone and stood in line. The phone agent couldn’t do anything except tell me to go home and come back the next day. He also said that if I wanted to book delta that american would refund my ticket. By the time we got to that point of the conversation I made it to the front of the line and the gate agent gave me the same information. That’s when we went back and forth a bit about her re-booking me on the delta flight. I confirmed the refund policy with her and she said, ‘yes, of course’ to the question of getting that ticket refunded. I don’t consider it foolish to believe information given to me by two separate people, independently of each other, who work in different departments of the company.

 

yes, I could have simply taken the flight the next day. But we got a friend as a favor to wake up and take us to the airport at 6 on a Saturday; we would have now needed a ride home; and to arrange another 6 am ride the next day. And lost a day of our vacation. Plus, the reason for this trip is we were getting married in Jamaica. You have to arrive 2 days before the wedding. If we flew in the next day we wouldn’t have been there 2 days ahead. So, had the delta flight ended up fully booked we would have had to deal with ALL of that; but as long as there was an option to keep our travel plans mostly the same, we were determined to do it.

Edited December 28, 2019 by sanger727

[Flymia]

Yea, AA is pretty bad at telling you whats going on with delays. They even go as far as trying to "delay" late night flights to the next morning so they are not technically "cancelled" and therefore no refunds and no hotels etc.. AA has taken a turn to the worst and their stock price shows that not even wall street believes in them. I used to fly them often, now I avoid them. I have had much better flights and service on airlines like Spirit and Allegiant. Unless you are flying up front there is not a huge difference between flying Spirit and American these days. 

 

Delta is the gold standard and I hope they grow a bit out of Miami now with the potential LATAM partnership. 

 

That being said, other than AA's inability to tell you what is truthfully what was going on was their biggest mistake. The rest was just a result of delays. But I hate it when airlines don't tell you whats going on.  

[FlyerTalker]

On 12/28/2019 at 5:44 AM, sanger727 said:

Plus, the reason for this trip is we were getting married in Jamaica. You have to arrive 2 days before the wedding. If we flew in the next day we wouldn’t have been there 2 days ahead. So, had the delta flight ended up fully booked we would have had to deal with ALL of that

 

So with a LEGAL requirement to be there two days before your wedding, you still didn't either arrange to arrive a day earlier (to have a cushion for delays) nor have a Plan B.  And it's still all AA's fault.

[sanger727]

23 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

So with a LEGAL requirement to be there two days before your wedding, you still didn't either arrange to arrive a day earlier (to have a cushion for delays) nor have a Plan B.  And it's still all AA's fault.

 

I never said the wedding issues were AA's fault. I made that choice. That simply limited my options. How AA handled the flight delay with no communication is AA's fault . How AA only gave us half the refund were promised was AA's fault. If you read my post those were my two primary issues with them. I can add in more if you like. Like the fact that once we made the decision to switch to the delta flight they told us up and down that we couldn't get our bags moved over. Yet, somehow delta found them and put them on the flight for us without any problems. Or the fact that the American flight we did take back was my first flight in probably 5-6 years that didn't have any entertainment options built in. They did have this silly app thing, but if you didn't download it ahead of time there was nothing. Even 2 hour flights on delta usually have built in tv screens; 3-4 hour flights certainly do. And then AA managed to not get my luggage on the plane ride to return and we had to wait until the next day for it. Unless you a the CEO of American I"m not sure why you are jumping on small details and claiming that I said things I didn't say (like it was AA's fault that I didn't arrive earlier). 

Edited December 30, 2019 by sanger727

[waterbug123]

On 12/28/2019 at 7:44 AM, sanger727 said:

 Plus, the reason for this trip is we were getting married in Jamaica. You have to arrive 2 days before the wedding. If we flew in the next day we wouldn’t have been there 2 days ahead. So, had the delta flight ended up fully booked we would have had to deal with ALL of that; but as long as there was an option to keep our travel plans mostly the same, we were determined to do it.

 

Frankly, the biggest blunder here was not planning to arrive at least a day earlier than necessary!  For something as crucial as your own wedding, you were really counting on no airline/weather glitches, which probably isn't the practical.  The one hour connection was also not the best decision.  You could have easily had a minor delay for 1000 different reasons that caused you to miss that connection.  I realize hindsight is 20/20 but if I was flying internationally to my own wedding, I would plan to arrive 2 days earlier than required and would allow more time for connections. 

[sanger727]

24 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

Frankly, the biggest blunder here was not planning to arrive at least a day earlier than necessary!  For something as crucial as your own wedding, you were really counting on no airline/weather glitches, which probably isn't the practical.  The one hour connection was also not the best decision.  You could have easily had a minor delay for 1000 different reasons that caused you to miss that connection.  I realize hindsight is 20/20 but if I was flying internationally to my own wedding, I would plan to arrive 2 days earlier than required and would allow more time for connections. 

 

I guess you missed the part where I addressed that I understand the delay options being reduced were my fault. That doesn't excuse an airline from having a 5 hour delay with no announcements addressing that there is a delay or what their expectations are for when the flight will take off. Simply bumping the time back an hour at a time and then running to the back to avoid the customers. That greatly added to the stress of the situation. It isn't how I've ever seen an airline run before. It also doesn't excuse an airline for not giving the refund that two of it's agents independently told me I could get. Those are the two things I am holding against American right now. Not the fact that the flight was delayed.

[waterbug123]

1 minute ago, sanger727 said:

 

I guess you missed the part where I addressed that I understand the delay options being reduced were my fault. That doesn't excuse an airline from having a 5 hour delay with no announcements addressing that there is a delay or what their expectations are for when the flight will take off. Simply bumping the time back an hour at a time and then running to the back to avoid the customers. That greatly added to the stress of the situation. It isn't how I've ever seen an airline run before. It also doesn't excuse an airline for not giving the refund that two of it's agents independently told me I could get. Those are the two things I am holding against American right now. Not the fact that the flight was delayed.

 

I did miss that, I'm sorry.  And I agree with you that American could have handled it much better.  I flight Delta almost exclusively and they are much better about giving information in situations like this.  I've had a couple of recent mechanical delays and the gate agents did an excellent job of keeping us informed, starting with "I don't have any details yet but I'll get back to you" and then following through, every few minutes as any info became available.  Delta's pilots often come out into the gatehouse to give updates themselves too, especially when it's a technical problem that the gate agent may not fully understand.  And Delta's system usually will automatically rebook me and/or protect me on a future connection once it is clear I will likely miss mine.  This usually happens with no effort on my part, which I think is great. (no standing in line, no calling, etc.)

[sanger727]

4 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

I did miss that, I'm sorry.  And I agree with you that American could have handled it much better.  I flight Delta almost exclusively and they are much better about giving information in situations like this.  I've had a couple of recent mechanical delays and the gate agents did an excellent job of keeping us informed, starting with "I don't have any details yet but I'll get back to you" and then following through, every few minutes as any info became available.  Delta's pilots often come out into the gatehouse to give updates themselves too, especially when it's a technical problem that the gate agent may not fully understand.  And Delta's system usually will automatically rebook me and/or protect me on a future connection once it is clear I will likely miss mine.  This usually happens with no effort on my part, which I think is great. (no standing in line, no calling, etc.)

I agree. That has been my experience on delta too. That’s why I was so surprised by this experience on american. Not to mention that I had a very similar situation on delta w a missed connection due to a mechanical issue.  Not only did I get a very fair refund I but I also received extra frequent flyer miles and a voucher towards a future flight. Prior to this flight I was not a delta loyalist but I may become one now.

 

i understand that I didn’t necessarily make the safest choices here. But just wanted to share the experience for anyone else who wants to save a bit on the flight and thinks that american is in the same class as delta. I would put them a step above allegiant at this point but only a bit.