American Airlines Reviews

NEVER have I been treated that way and to be honest, the only reason I DID NOT say anything was due to my frustration already. I was being mindful of my attitude and mannerisms as I know I would've snapped. To anyone who is going on vacation, do yourself a favour and stay away from American Airlines. I had to cancel my ticket since my flight was cancelled and fly with Delta. I had a connecting flight to Thailand which I missed and had to repurchase a new ticket. I'm rather disgusted and frustrated with this airline and will never fly with them again.

After some hours, myself and many other passengers requested to be put in a hotel at around 11:00 pm, when it was obvious that the flight was never going to leave Chicago. The employees at the gate lied and told us that "they could not yet do that, because they were waiting on the pilots' answer on whether they were going to agree to fly or not"(!!!) and at around 2:00 am, finally, someone dared to say that the pilots were not going to fly, and that they were sorry but all hotels in the Chicago area were booked for the night. SHAME SHAME SHAME on this ridiculous airline. THE FULL PLANE WORTH OF PASSENGERS were then walked into a "lounge", and we had to spend the night trying to sleep on sofas and on the floor.

What is this??? A lesser airline, a fourth-world country airline. I will avoid booking another flight with this incompetent, liar, company. I can just imagine how they take care of their airplanes if they cannot take care of simple matters like assuring a plane full of passengers that they are going to be treated with some respect. They sure saved a buck by having us sleep in the "lounge" but I am sure that they lost many customers that night, including myself. Shame on the Chicago American Airlines employees that lied to all of us that night. I hate that I have to give "one star", when this people deserve something below 0.

After some hours we were said to change our flight plan, going to NY JFK and then without changing aircraft to London Heathrow. So we had been picked up again to the aircraft and we enter at about 11 pm. After about one hour we started to see some teams working on both the wings, particularly around the engines. The flight takes off at 2,30 am!!! We arrived at NY JFK and we were said to go out of the aircraft and to enter a new aircraft!!! They took our boarding passes and we enter... there were a lot of people and our seats had been assigned casually! We lived with two hours of delay, at about 11 am and we arrived at London at 11 pm... there were no people of AA waiting for us (at LA they said there would be AA people waiting for us in order to be assisted), all the desks were closed and the first flight to Rome was scheduled at 7,05 am of the next day. So we had to wait for opening the desks (5 am) sleeping inside the airport on the floor.

At the really end we arrived at Rome with a delay of about 18 hours!!! We are trying to have a refund but it's very hard to understand the web procedure and there are not guarantees we could be refunded for this disaster. We are really disappointed of this behaviour, after having paid a lot of money. How can we find a solution to have our money back? In any case don't fly anymore with American Airlines!!! Be very careful, their behaviour is unprofessional and quite dangerous, because we enter a flight without credentials and this is incoherent with the actual security protocols!!

As I boarded the plane, knowing I had missed my connecting flight, and had no idea what I would do in Miami, I discovered the number was simply customer service/reservations. They told me there was nothing more available at least until Saturday (it was Thursday). Not knowing what to do in Miami, and knowing I had now lost several days to my trip, I began to raise my voice on the phone. One of the flight attendants yelled at me to keep my voice down. I told him I had no idea what I was going to do in Miami, and my connecting flight was gone. He seemed very unconcerned with my situation but threatened to kick me off the plane if I was not quiet. He actually seemed amused at my predicament and laughed. He offered no useful advice to me but did tell me "that's it", grabbed my passport out of my hands, and without any supervisor present, walked me off the plane. There was no choice but to comply.

I imagined TSA agents and all sorts of people getting physical with me if I did not obediently comply. I repeatedly asked the other attendants outside the boarding area what the name of the attendant was. They all refused to give me his name. One attendant began looking for another flight for me, and said maybe an affiliated airline could help me. A flight might be available tomorrow night. The reservation agent I had spoken to under the number they gave stranded passengers had not even mentioned the possibility of using affiliated airlines. I didn't know if they wanted me to re board the plane I was just humiliated on, or catch another. I asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor arrived, after a wait so long the plane left, and informed me the flight attendant that escorted me off had broken procedure by not consulting a supervisor before he took it upon himself to snatch my passport and walk me off.

I knew by then my trip was ruined. I felt traumatized of using the airline, or their services. Having realized the trip was ruined, I honestly thought they might try to make it up to me somehow. There followed an equally unfortunate period of calling the airline about the incident. There wasn't any complaint department or customer service that handled bad incidents. You must log in online, and are given a number through your email. The number given me kept leading me back to reservations. If the reservations people seem friendly about spending your money on a flight, their attitude is very different when you tell them you want to report a complaint. They tell you it's not theirs to handle, yet the number you are given for complaints go straight back to them. When you tell them this, their attitude is very different. When you finally find one that understands the procedure, and is willing to take down your story...then you must wait to be called.

American Airlines has no department you can call about bad experiences. After waiting, and re calling multiple times about the incident, I was informed nothing would be done for me beyond the refund. No disciplinary action was promised against any of the attendants that broke procedure in kicking me off the plane without having a supervisor present; laughing at my frustration on the plane, or those that refused to give me the name of the flight attendant. Once a year is it possible for me to travel like that, and still more rare is it possible to fund the trip and make all the preparations.

I was cheated out of my vacation, left with very unpleasant memories of their service, and the frustration in realizing they would do nothing for me short of me paying for an attorney to pursue the matter. I will never use their airline again, and neither will my family. I share my story so others may learn from it. It was the worst experience I ever had with an airline and I've flown on many airlines in many third world nation. None showed the disrespect and disdain for their customers I felt with this airline.

We were then told of course that the crew would take good care of us and try to make it as comfortable and painless as possible. Sadly didn't see that.

I asked for a glass of sparkling wine (my bday, I'm celebrating of course!). I was told they didn't have it on the cart, "it's up front, you will have to wait..." Never got that wine. :( We were told there is wifi on the flight, something to do! Couldn't get on. I asked several times about it just to hear 'I don't know' and then they would walk off. Finally DID get one of the attendants to check and I was informed they have not been able to get it working. Well that sucks. But thanks for FINALLY checking!

My tray table was broken and my seat would not stay reclined unless I put weight on it, which meant when I tried to adjust my position to try and get comfortable (I can't sleep on flights but I try) it would pop back up. I can only imagine how annoying that was for the guy behind me. I also ordered 2x vegetarian meals for us (no egg included as my partner is and I decided since I don't always eat much on flights that if I get the same meal, he can have what I don't if he is still hungry). For some reason our first meal, only one came out. At least the other meals got two but how did you guys mess that up?

I got so stir crazy on that long flight! We were then all informed that they called ahead and someone from management would be there to talk to us about it. Great! Had 5 hours to kill. Why not. But NOPE, no one there. Two people that looked like possible candidates to talk to had no idea what was going on. We explained what happened and what we were told. A good 10 minutes there to hear... "Just go to aa.com." Seriously? Almost all 30 there to hear this, we naturally all walked off pretty pissed off by then. I tried then talking to customer service at the airport once we got checked into our domestic flight (which by the way, got tickets in Aus for that flight and they couldn't even sit us together!). Same thing... "Go to our site."

The thing is, I get that we had a fault that didn't stop the plane from safely flying, I would have chosen to fly without the units rather than have a cancelled flight. However, they handled it wrong, TELL US! Tell us when we check in! I would have grabbed my computer charger so I can watch what's on that! Didn't know then? TELL US before boarding so we can purchase something to entertain us! I would have purchased a charger if I knew. Or an adult coloring book, magazines, something! But nope. Decided to let your crew take the heat and screw us all over. Including a couple small children. :( I have asked for my AU$482 back, the least they can do. But a bit concerned reading other reviews about it possibly taking 60 days, if approved at all??? Ugh. NEVER flying AA again! They did NOT care one bit about us!

It was a nine-hour flight with no leg room (bulkhead) and no tray table. I pointed it out to the flight attendant before the flight and she said just use my lap... and there were no other seats available. During the flight she came around with a box meal, a cup of ice, a can of coke, and a bag of pretzels... I asked her what I was supposed to do with all of that and she suggested I share someone else's tray and offered me a complimentary set of earphones.

I reported the problem to aa.com and still have not heard back (3 weeks later) so not only didn't they care when they chose not to fix the seat but proved it when they didn't even care enough to address my very civilized complaint (Note - two different reports were submitted for different issues with the flight - first one was responded to with a "Too bad, deal with it" response).

My flight boarded again in Phoenix and we sat on the plane while we waited and waited for a new crew. Then once they get there finally, we couldn't leave because the flight plan wouldn't print. We finally left phoenix at 230pm phoenix time. My original connection flight was already boarding during this time. By the time I landed in chicago, my second connection flight had already departed. Now I am waiting for a flight that leaves at 10 pm chicago time. Putting me into detroit at 1230am. 6 hours after I should of been there! I have contacted their customer service through email. I will never fly this terrible airline again.

Disastrous. Not only because the plan does not work but because there is no alternate plan to get passengers to London on their holiday. When asked the flight attendants and service crew what the backup plan is for all of the passengers, we were told that there is no backup plan. American Airlines should reconsider their commitment to their clients and passengers. The current situation is disastrous as the fundamental premise for delivering passengers from Los Angeles to London is not possible. All of the flight attendants and service personnel are also not helpful. In fact, they are dismissive of each passenger question and laugh at the situation. Going forward- AA will not be the airline of choice for transatlantic flights. Nor British Airways. I will opt to go with United Airlines and the Star Alliance airways henceforward.

How insensitive can a company be? I hope no one that works for this company ever has an emergency. On the website, it asks for medical records to be provided - there are privacy acts in place to prevent personal info from being made public. This is theft and mis-trust in the worst way. I will NEVER recommend American Airlines to anyone. If they can't be sympathetic to life changing events, they can't be compassionate or human about anything. It's sad that American Airlines has no conscience about how they treat their "customers". Never again.

As soon as I got off the plane I started to cry and the guy in charge said he was looking for another flight immediately. Obviously that is how drunk I was. Why would they try to put me on another flight immediately? I certainly was not a threat and the stewardess did not like that I was a small woman. Why does she have the right to judge if I was drunk if I did not do anything wrong...?? Obviously the airline feels they can treat people horribly. I have never had this happen and I can say I have gotten on an airplane very drunk and drank even more in my 50 years. Also, no one ever said I was a problem. I have never had a DUI and I have a very responsible job. My vacation was ruined. I'm guessing I lost a lot of money, luggage still missing and the idea that a person has the right to do that really stinks.

I called and spoke with a very nice gentleman who explained my options. I asked if there were any that included no fee's and he listed one (for me to pay to re-book a new flight, and put the other money I used to book the original flight towards a future flight). I took it. Come to find out, it did have the outrageous $200 fee attached. I contacted AA, because had I known that the option included a $200 fee, I would've kept my original flight. Plain and simple. AA's response was "we've pulled all the calls and find that although we did give you the wrong information, a cousin of yours called and we explained it to him, from there it's his responsibility to explain it to you." I literally laughed. After several emails back and forth, I just gave up. I'll never take this airline again, that's for sure.

At 10 pm a poor couple came into our room expecting a vacant room--after yelling they explained they just left the airport line--after over 10 hours. Because of the cancellation they also had to overnight in London the next day. I asked if they had information of the bus ride back for our flight in the morning. They said the buses were leaving at 6 and 8:30 am. We went back to bed and a half hour later another person comes in the room. This whole fiasco was ridiculous. We got up early only to find out that the bus schedule was 4:30 am and 8:30 am--when our plane left at 8. We had to pay money for a taxi. Finally at the airport we went to the British Airways desk to check in only to find out that American had never created the tickets. Inexcusable. I had to go to another line and luckily a British Airways agent spent the time and 4 or 5 calls to get our tickets for the flight.

Of course we had "priority" seats on the original flight and on this flight we had the last row--no recline and in front of the restrooms. Simply put American has zero customer service. They are terrible. We will do everything we can to avoid this airline. The problem is that they are the only ones who fly to our local airport. I did not even get into the flight cancellation at the beginning of the vacation. That caused us to lose seats on the flight to Europe and a 5-hour drive to Charlotte to get to that plane. We did make that plane with new seats only to have the worst airline crew we have ever experienced. The attendants were rude, unfriendly, and downright nasty. The airline is a clown show at best and that degrades what clowns do at the circus. How do they say in business? We have been all over the world and flown many national and regional airlines. We have never had such poor service or experience from any other airline.

At check in, I was informed that my first flight was to JFK and I would need to find my way to Newark Airport. I was a little confused because I thought my flight was going to and leaving from JFK. I asked the American Airline ticket agent if it could be changed, and she said I would need to go through British Airways to make any modifications. Afterwards, I stepped to the side and got on the phone immediately with British Airways with the hope that I could somehow adjust my flight. The conversation was not what I expected—I told the specialist I did not want to spend too much money (as I still had to pay for the various goods and services for my marriage ceremony) but I wanted to change my ticket to leave from JFK instead of Newark.

The British Airways agent told me that it was too late to change my ticket and if I did it would be very expensive. She also told me that JFK was not far from Newark and I could take a train (which, according to her, would be cheaper than changing the flight altogether). At this point I had already been on the phone for a long time and the American Airline ticket agent informed me that if I was getting on the flight to go ahead and check in before it was too late.

Since everything seemed to be out of my control in that moment, I checked in for my flight and after getting to the gate, I explained the situation to another American Airline ticket agent and asked if there was anything I could do. She informed me that they could not change the ticket; however, she was nice enough to give me a transportation company’s phone number. She said I could call them before I left to set up service, and that they would pick me up from JFK to take me to Newark.

At this point, I was a little relieved so I called the transportation company and arranged for them to pick me up at 7.30 pm and take me to Newark to catch the 9 pm flight. The American Airline flight which was already late, was turned around right before take-off because the pilot was ordered to returned to the gate to address mechanical issues. The pilot’s announcement was that it was going to take just about 15 minutes to address the issue and afterward, we would be able to take off. 45 minutes later, still at the gate, I asked the stewardess if I was able to get off the plane to find another flight. She told me I was welcome to leave, but my luggage could not be released until it gets to the destination.

My panic naturally intensified because we had not left and I had already arranged for transportation. I had to call the transportation service and changed the time to be picked up. After a couple more minutes of waiting I was called to the front where I had a discussion with the pilot. He said I would be missing the 7:30 shuttle and it would not be long before mechanical issue was fixed. The pilot also told me that JFK has a large British airways office and they should be able to connect me from JFK (since the flight delay was not my error and completely out of my power). A few minutes after returning to my seat, an American Airline ticket agent came to me and informed me that my flight was changed to leave from JFK. She did not give me time or any information but simply stated that I “should be fine.”

I was slightly relieved due to the fact the fact that I did not have to somehow drag four suitcases through the airport. Finally, our flight got to JFK around 8:30 pm. I rushed as quickly as possible to get off the plane and find the nearest ticket agent to ask about my flight. After waiting in line to speak to an agent, I was told that my fight leaves at 9:30 (45 minutes from the current time) and I needed to get my bags and check them in again. I took off running towards baggage claim so I could make it to my flight on time. When I got to baggage claim I had to wait on my bags to come out. Finally after a couple of minutes of waiting, I grabbed my bag and found that my large suitcase handle was broken—there was no way I could drag four suitcases when the largest of the bunch had a broken handle.

If the handle were not broken, I would have been able to pull the suitcases together and dragged them since they all had 4 wheels. My frustration had gotten worse at this point. I had less than 20 minutes to get to my terminal with four suitcases, so I went to the baggage claim customer service. Instead of helping me, they were delaying me with a claim. I asked to speak to a supervisor who never came. After several wasted minutes, I went to search for supervisor myself and to my surprise, she was incredibly rude and arrogant, further adding to my frustration and panic. I told the American Airline supervisor, Erica, that all I wanted was help to get to my gate so I could not miss my flight—there was no way I could push the broken suitcase by myself. She yelled at me saying she couldn’t help me, and there were no bags or trolley available.

She also told me she was not going to have her staff help me. There was no point arguing with this woman. I wanted to make my flight and I knew from that moment American Airlines “customer service” was non-existent, so I left the desk pushing my four suitcases and a bag one at a time through the airport. I struggled through the airport to the train with my luggage. At this point, I felt extremely helpless and I started to cry due to my frustration. As I was getting off the train, there was a young man who saw me crying and struggling and helped with my bags. As we got to terminal the gate was closed and I missed my flight. The British Airway ticket agent told me there were no more flights leaving that night—the last flight would keep me in Heathrow for an entire day and a half. This news and information really shocked me and I experienced a panic attack there in the airport.

I did not know anyone in the area and I needed to get to Nigeria as soon as possible to prepare for my wedding. I was upset, frustrated, cold, and started to have sickle cell crisis pain. British airways employees were very helpful, they sat me down, got me some water and a snack. They said I needed to rest and relax, so they gave me a hotel room for the night. By this time it was already almost 11 pm and the temperature outside was cold. I had the young man help me to the hotel shuttle area and went to my room. That night, I was sick (pain, throwing up, and cold) and was very worried about getting to my destination and returning with no problems and in peace.

The next morning very early, I called British airways customer relations number, I was still very much emotional with no sleep but I wanted to get the problems I encountered addressed before leaving the country. The British Airways agent I spoke to on the phone did not make matters any better. She said that my flight was already changed and she could not upgrade me because I told the previous agent I spoke on the phone with that I did not have enough money to change my ticket. She also told me that British Airways had done all they could to help me. She said my returning flight was the same and it would cost me if I wanted to change it. I hung up the phone because the reality of her words only worsened my situation. I got up and walked about 2 miles to purchase a phone charger since my phone was dying and I was in a state where no one knew I was and I needed to call my family and fiancé to inform them of the changes.

Later that afternoon, I left for the airport to catch my flight. After checking in, I went to check on my return flight so I could change it so I would not have to pass through JFK. The ticket agent said she could not locate a return flight; however, she stated that since my ticket was paid for, she could put me on a return flight through Heathrow and straight to RDU. Once I got to Nigeria, to my surprise, there were even more damages to my suitcase—it was ripped and my name label had been torn off.

My intent of going to Nigeria was for my ceremony and because of the airline error everything had been delayed. My dress was not complete on time, I lost money on certain deposits made, I lost my favorite hoodie, and I spent money on a charger, new sweater, and last minute sewing for my ceremony dresses. American airline ruined my wedding plans and British Airways was not completely helpful either. There were, however, some angels along my journey that helped me. There was a young man getting off work who saw me crying and helped me with my bags.

There were also the ladies at the ticket counter that put me up in a hotel and helped me find another flight. They were amazing, but I was still devastated about everything that happened. Not only did this experience impact my trip—my wedding ceremony was negatively effect, as well. Everything for the ceremony had to be completed last minute, which cost me even more funds that I did not intend to spend. I do not expect anything from either airline since I have made several attempts for help and no one could. But I believe my story should be shared to help anyone thinking of flying with either airline or for the airline to make changes to their system.

On the return flight AA 5024, the woman who took tickets said nothing. However, an attendant on the plane who acted as though she had way too much coffee before the flight told me flatly that I had to check the computer bag. I asked why? She said that it would not fit in overhead or under the seat, and she invoked FAA regulations (unspecified) to say that my bag could not be carried on the flight. I said that I knew the bag would fit in overhead, as it had on the same type of aircraft on the inbound flight. I asked to allow me to show her. She refused, again invoking FAA regulations. She never said what regulation, of course. She then knocked on the cockpit door and it opened. She then told the pilot that I was going against FAA regulations by wanting my bag carried on.

The pilot barely gave me or the bag a look, and said, "FAA regulations require that you check your bag." Knowing the pilot had already been called into the situation, I set my bag down and went to my seat, about 10 feet away. I didn't feel like being arrested because of a power-mad attendant. A passenger near us said that the problem could be that my bag had rollers on it. So, when I stood on the jetway, waiting for my bag to be retrieved, I counted 3 bags leave the plane on rollers. There were also several people who were carrying bags much larger than mine. This attendant had selected me for venting of her wrath on this flight. Her decision to challenge my carry on was completely arbitrary.

The American Airlines website says only that, other than its normal carry on bag size limit, "There may be additional carry-on baggage restrictions at certain airports or on certain airplanes" American flies many CRJ700 aircraft under the American Eagle name. Nothing in the website describes size restrictions on this often-used airplane. Had I been given information on a size restriction that would not allow me to carry my bag on the flight, I simply would have used another bag, or selected another flight on a larger aircraft.

American Airlines cares so little for its passengers (er, cattle) that you don't learn about these restrictions until you are on a plane and an attendant feels like playing dominatrix with you. Even then, no specific information about a limitation is provided. For an attendant to say that the bag will not fit in overhead or under a seat, and not give you a chance to show that it will, is arbitrary and absolutely wrong.

So, If you want an airline to arbitrarily select you for hostile, unnecessary treatment; if you want a flight attendant to exercise her power on you unnecessarily; if you don't care if your computers and other valuables get tossed around by baggage handlers; if you want quick unspoken threats to have you arrested; if you enjoy an attendant to refuse you to show you that her concern about a bag is not merited, etc.; then pay first class and fly on American Airlines. Otherwise, stay the ** away from this airline.

Only by the heroic efforts of a ticket agent (not an AA agent, of course) who took pity on us were we able to change airports (big cab fare) and get home late the same day. I heard from another agent ours was not the first time this has happened. Lesson learned if you are flying with AA or an airline that codeshares with AA don't be too surprised if you aren't on the flight listed on your ticket, even if confirmed. And don't expect any help whatever from AA if you are not.

In Philadelphia, we were given new boarding passes for our flight to LAX. We got 4 seats in four different locations. When we asked the customer service agent in boarding desk to change our seats to seat us together, she was so rude and unprofessional indicating the flight is full and she was not able to do so. This was totally incorrect because while we were waiting we noticed she was selling tickets to other people for the same flight as ours. I had to fight we them so hard until have them to rearrange our seats to assign the seats so that one parent sit with one child. It looks like they did not care about our concerns for our children sitting between two strangers in 6 hours night flight from coast to coast.

Neither my wife or I were able to sleep the rest of the flight. 16 hours. We were afraid if we closed our eyes fearing what else might disappear. I am an executive platinum flier, my wife platinum so we are frequent fliers and NEVER did we see or hear of something like this happening. It is a DISGRACE especially since AA did nothing about it. They cannot even deny it happened because I have an apology note from the steward acknowledging what he did and apologizing but not giving me back my documents. I will avoid AA and recommend you do too. You could be next.

Today, I called and talked to Susan ** at the resolutions department this afternoon and she insinuated that I was lying, and did so more than once, saying that no wheelchair was ever reserved and that if my mother did not speak English, that she should be carrying communication 'cards'. I firmly suggested that she'd drop the accusations and instead check the ticket closely, at which point she returned apologizing and said that American in Sao Paulo had cancelled the order.

That does not coincide with any of what I know. She told me to call customer relations. I did call several times but no one answers the phone, so I left a message. I also wrote an online form with this complaint. I called one last time and was told that no one will get back to me for 7-10 days. Where is the corporate responsibility of this company??? How does American plan to handle disabled athletes in the Para Olympics in Brazil? Will they also be ignored like this? My mother was exhausted and scared. So American, what do you have to say? I am contacting other venues to share this.

They still cancel flights on zero notice. I didn't find out my flight was cancelled until I reached the airport, which prevented me from re-booking on another airline that would get me to my destination on time. Delta and Southwest send out e-mail and phone notices. Fees are everywhere. My heavens, they even want a fee at check-in for the privilege of getting a seat. Apparently your ticket doesn't automatically guarantee a seat on the plane because one leg of my trip had nothing but fee-collecting seats open. It's a shameless scam and one that I cannot believe the regulatory agencies overlook.

Customer service should be labelled "customer disservice." I demanded a refund of the seat fee I'd paid, since they cancelled my flight. It took a tremendous amount of persistence - and a lot of time wasted with rude people who didn't want to deal with a refund - to find someone who would do so. I've avoided American / US Air for 10 years because of similar problems a decade ago. Apparently they learned nothing from a bankruptcy and merger. My fondest hope is that this company will go bankrupt again - and not find a partner to save it. I certainly will not fly them again, given a choice. Not recommended.

NOW I've been waiting for over 20 minutes in line. I have no luggage to check in. Just one carry-on bag before the second fight broke with a passenger over the size of his luggage. Their servers go down. More delay. Passengers starting to complain and get upset. One of their Staff got literally into an argument with one passenger for over 15 minutes because she wanted to extra charge him for what she thought was a larger luggage size, then it turned out to be the right size. The guy leaves and goes back home. When it was my turn, she said, "I'm sorry I cannot check you in. You need to be at least 1 hour before, now the system is locked. I cannot check you in." After having a long argument with her manager I couldn't do anything about it. I missed my flight. No consideration, ZERO respect, and professionalism, you're just a bag of money to them. NEVER IN MY LIFE AGAIN! NEVER!!!

We had to find a sign for this "re-booking" center and there were about 150 people ahead of us with only two AA Airline employees at the desk. There was no way we were going to stand in this ridiculous line for hours. I ended up calling the 1-800 number to get a flight. The only flight available was 24 hours later and was fully booked. A nice woman told me about a flight that was going to Boston that we were able to get on at 1:00 a.m. Once in Boston, we had to rent a mini van, as we were sharing the cost with another family that was travelling with a three month old baby. The cost of this mini van to drive 87 miles one way to Bradley in Hartford, where our cars were, was $468.00!! That comes out to $5.37 a mile! Is this even legal? Since our luggage was lost, I ended up on the phone just trying to speak to a live person and was on hold for an hour. When I was finally able to reach someone, they were extremely rude and clueless.

Every employee that we encountered during this nightmare trip was from checking baggage to the desk agent, to the 1-800 number was not helpful and did not apologize for the hours and hours we spent trying to get home. The only person that was helpful regarding the lost baggage on the phone was Vicky **. How does this inept Airline stay in business? If most people did this kind of horrible job, they would be fired on the spot. I beg anyone who wants to get to a destination on time and have courteous, competent and respectful and knowledgeable staff, DO NOT FLY AMERICAN!! I will be asking for a refund of my ticket and reimbursement for the rental car. It's actually scary how incompetent this Airline is.

Once we finally arrive in St. Thomas after two days in airports and on planes, our luggage was once again not where they said it would be. The AA representative in St. Thomas pretty much told us our luggage was our problem. After refusing to be turned away and pointing out they lost our luggage, she reluctantly called and found out another airline flew it from San Juan to St. Thomas. We missed a full day on our cruise vacation, a port of call, and prepaid shore excursions.

When I called AA upon return from this vacation, I was told I had to email customer relations because first contact could not be over the phone. Their airline is such a nightmare that they don't even take phone calls. To add to an already horrible experience, one suitcase was broken beyond use and another was damaged and part of the contents which were carefully packed destroyed. Others in our party had items missing. DO NOT FLY AMERICAN AIRLINES!!! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME!!!

We were informed by the baggage check-in attendant that we should wait in the adjacent line to speak to a customer service rep. The attendant (Jasmine **) at that line asked if she could assist us. We explained the situation. She gestured toward the kiosk line, indicating the end of the line, and told us that we should try again at another kiosk. I asked if we should be waiting a second time in the same line. She rolled her eyes at me, looked at the customer service rep. and said, "there's only one person working here - you're gonna be waiting here or there".

My wife went to wait in the kiosk line, while I remained in the customer service line. The entire time in the customer service line - I was second in line. The customer service representative finished with the issue in front of me. She asked, "What's your problem?" I explained. She replied, "Go to number 2". Number 2 was some other staffed service terminal with a significantly long line. I mentioned the line/wait and was informed that "they will help you down there". Meanwhile, we were told by the bag-check rep that we should be in the customer service line and Jasmine - who, while somewhat snarky, seemed to be reasonably familiar with the process - also did not indicate that 'number 2' was the place to pay for baggage when the kiosk fails. We were eventually able to pay the bag check fees using another kiosk. We made it through the TSA line – which I mention only because, compared to our experience with American Airlines, service from the TSA employees was FAR superior.

When we arrived in B terminal, there was enough time for us to find some food for our (17 month) son and for my wife and I to have a snack. We did so, and arrived at the second gate change – in another terminal – 45 minutes prior to the third (of four) departure times.

We decided that we had enough time to actually have a meal and walked to the Asian Sky Bistro, adjacent to Gate C19. We ate, paid, and arrived at Gate C19 at 6:22 PM to discover that the 6:45 departure time had been adjusted to 6:30. The representative at the desk was able to catch the plane in time for three other travelers - also uninformed of, and surprised by, the schedule change - my wife, son and I to board (prior to ‘pushback’). However, I needed to get my son’s stroller, for gate check, and upon my return to the boarding ramp (less than three minutes) my wife and I were informed that the plane had already “pushed back”. My wife was at the boarding ramp. The AA representative was in communication with the plane. They knew we were not on the plane, and they left without us.

However, three other travel parties – also unaware of the schedule change, and who arrived at the gate LATER than I, were permitted to board. Typically, I would be angry about this… Now, I’m outraged. If you’ve never travelled with a child that’s part infant and part toddler – I encourage you to do so. It is its own test of your patience. Then, add to that the utter incompetence we faced up to this point, I asked to speak to the manager. What a joke. She proceeded to tell me a few things. I was visibly irritated – and so, I didn’t really have much tolerance for some “we’ll get you on the first plane tomorrow – and blah, blah” rhetoric.

I asked about announcements. I was told that’s not ‘standard procedure’. I asked about airport paging. I was told that’s not ‘standard procedure’. If it’s not standard, why do I hear so much of it? And, better, if it’s not AA’s standard procedure – why did I hear no less than six separate pages for six differently named travel parties for other rescheduled/delayed AA flights THE SAME DAY? And better yet – why on the return flight did I hear no less than six announcements specifically identifying passengers who were (apparently) checked in but absent for an ON TIME departure??? If it’s not ‘standard procedure’, then this occurs on some discretionary basis – is four departure time changes and three departure location changes – including one location change to a different terminal – insufficient to make an exception to the, obviously mismanaged, discretionary oversight regarding ‘standard procedure’??

So, in review, in exchange for several hundred dollars – AA provided me with less than courteous service before they failed to communicate a significant change in service, followed by a complete lack of service. As a result of your failures, I have incurred the following expenses: 1 unused night of a 5-day hotel reservation ($109), 1 unused day of a 5-day car rental ($30), 1 unused day of 5 days of pet care ($90), 1 day of unnecessary airport (economy lot) parking ($11), Airport expenses ($152). Total $392. Cost of never flying American again? Priceless.

I have flown over one million miles with AA. Before the merger it was a breeze being a Platinum member. Since the merger it's been nothing but one frustration after another. Attempted an upgrade recently and when checking at the kiosk, decided to change my mind. Well, the system wouldn't go back unless I gave my CC. Since I didn't, had to check in at a counter. Was given my boarding pass and sent to the gate for a noon departure on a non-stop flight to MIA. Phone rings "This is AA with a flight update. Flight ** to MIA time has changed. The new time is..." TEN HOURS LATER!

Re-routed through DFW and the new flight is on time to catch a connection in 50 minutes. The flight to ORD at the same gate gets delayed. Sure enough now the 12:27pm flight to DFW has a gate change and a new departure time: 1:25pm. Get to DFW right when the connection has just pushed back. Now, another delay. Spend two hours in DFW to connect... all on time when the pilot apologizes for the APU not working. Finally they bring the ground units to start the engines... off we go. I can understand one flight being affected but not the three I had to take that day. All the while LAX is a disaster. And all of the AA flights delaying one or two hours--Chicago, Kona, Philadelphia, New York. I have been flying for 30 years... never have I seen such an example of ineptitude.

While at DFW the Supervisor on the phone at the gate complaining that the ground crew refused to load luggage and he had to do it himself. And, at every gate upon arrival, NO CREW TO OPERATE THE JETWAY! This is just one full Sunday spent with my dearest airline to which I pledged over one million miles of loyalty. Guess what? Looking for airlines to be loyal to.

American Airlines is a giant ** pie. How could they not be checking for ground delays?? Boarding takes 30 min+ and they didn't check until now? AND the flight attendant unhelpfully announced that FAA regulations state they don't have to serve any water, food, etc during a ground delay until 2 hrs into it, so don't expect any water for 2 hours. I'm glad American Airlines horrible customer service is consistently horrible and incompetent. This is 10,000 in a long list of horrible experiences I've had with AA including the flight earlier today. This was the deal breaker. I will never fly AA again.

She spent 3 hours trying to get a flight out. All staff were rude and not helpful. At 11 p.m., original flight was to leave at 235 p.m. She was given a voucher to feed her kids and a hotel to stay in as they booked her on a 6 a.m. flight the next day. She was told to be at the airport at 430 a.m., and she was told that to get a taxi to hotel was at her own expense. Well by this time she was exhausted and 3 kids crying and tired, she opted to accept cots and blankets from the airlines and they slept in the airport. Vouchers for food were expiring at midnight so she hurried to get them food for the next morning on to find that most places close at 8 p.m. in the airport.

Next morning she waited to board the plane and was yet again told the flight was cancelled, but they went ahead and put her on a plane to Philadelphia only to spend another day and night stuck there until the next day a flight could get them to Detroit. Staff were hateful and sent her running from one Gate to another with flight crew being late so the boarding was held up so the connecting flight was missed. I had to get on the phone and hassle AA to get them another flight while she Sat in Philadelphia for 4 hours with 3 hungry and tired kids, and when I finally got Them a flight out, AA charged me $200 for changes.

On top of all of this My daughter had a return flight, as the boys would stay for 3 weeks and she would return to fly back with them. Her original ticket had to be changed because of all the cancellations and AA charged me $314 for her return flight that was only $199 in the first place. American Airlines states in both emails that all of the cancelled flights and late departures were weather related. What a crock of hooey! I have emailed them several times and my daughter has filed a complaint, and they say a file has to be created and all kinds of crazy excuses.

What a nightmare for my family to have to go through, and I typed it simple here. There were a lot of mishaps during all these cancellations and my daughter just about had a nervous breakdown over it all. This airline needs to be put out of business for fraud against its customers and someone needs to force them to pay for their mistakes! Because we already paid for return flights we don't really have much choice to send them home in 2 weeks on this airline, but if I could afford it, I would choose a different one.

They never want to fly again in their lives because of this ONE experience. American Airlines should have to make this right. I will never recommend this airline. They have no customer service support either! It's like they train all employees to all be exactly the same, rude and hateful. Don't use AA unless you have extra money to throw away!

They told us to take the elevator and get another cart at the bottom. There were 8 carts but no one to drive them, so I was left pushing my walker as fast as I could to the far end of the concourse. The result of these 4 delays: we missed our flight. But coming home was the kicker. In Roanoke, they put my walker on the belt to go through the scanner. It got stuck - four times. That is right. When it didn't work the first time, they tried 3 more times. When it finally got yanked through, it was out of alignment. God help you if you are in a wheelchair!

Long version - I booked a multiple-destination flight for my mother. I was very careful to make sure that I had given the right information to the agent on the phone. My mother's flight was supposed to be multi-city, flying to SNA and returning from FAT (Fresno). I texted the correct flight numbers to her as I was holding on the phone. I never received an email confirmation for her flight (so I was unable to verify). The day before her return flight home, we found that the return flight had been mistakenly entered as SNA - even though we originally intended her to fly home from FAT. I was very specific about that when making the reservations, so the mistake was not my end.

I called and tried to have the flight changed, but was told that I would need to pay the price difference in fares, even though the mistake was on US Airways' part. I spent over an hour and a half on the phone trying to fix this problem. I was told that I should buy the ticket and that another department would most likely be able to give me a refund, or a travel voucher for the $304 amount. I ended up having to pay over $300 to get the correct flight. This issue is still ongoing, almost two years later. US Airways (now DBA American Airlines) would not respond to any of my messages or requests for months. I filed two or three different Better Business Bureau Complaints. I tried to speak to them on the phone and was placed on hold for a total of several hours (multiple calls). They finally directed me to fill out a request on their website. I did this twice and never heard back. I would not recommend doing any business with American Airlines or US Airways.

That was the best they could give us so we took it. We got a cab to take us from Dulles to Reagan so that we could catch our flight to Miami. Monday morning, we got to the airport very early and while we were waiting for our flight, we saw that there was a flight from Miami directly to St. Lucia (just 10 minutes earlier than our Port of Spain flight), so we called to ask about open seats. I was told by the agent on the phone that there were 2 open seats. We went to a gate to ask another agent about this as well and he told us he booked us on the plane but he couldn't print our passes and to go to the departure gate to get them. We got to the departure gate just about 15 minutes before departure time and asked the agents to confirm that we were on the flight. They told us yes and that they would print our passes in a moment.

We waited for a while and they started boarding the plane, so we asked again. They confirmed again that we were showing on the plane and they would print our passes soon. So we waited again. Finally, they boarded the entire plane but we still hadn't received our passes so we asked again. This is when they told us that they had overbooked the plane by 3 people and that we were never actually assigned seats on the plane. We tried to explain to the agent what we had gone through already and that it was our honeymoon but they didn't want to hear it so we asked if we were still on the other flight. They said yes and to run, so we did, and we even ended up getting a security guard to drive us on a golf cart to the gate. We got to the gate 10 minutes early and they had already departed the plane. The agent at the gate was very cold hearted and didn't even listen to what we had to say.

He didn't apologize or try to do anything at all for us. Meanwhile, we had noticed that my husband had left his phone at the other gate, so we went back to get it. When we arrived at the gate, the agent told my husband that if she had known what we had been through, they would have gotten us on the flight. They finally got us on a successful flight for Tuesday, May 17, 2 days after we were supposed to be in St. Lucia enjoying our honeymoon. Two days of our honeymoon, that we paid $800/night at a resort for, was spent in airports and crummy hotels. We spent 2 days running on 5 hours of sleep max, because of American Airlines' screw ups. Two days full of stress and tears on what was supposed to be the greatest time of our lives. On top of all of that, we had tons of excursions and other events planned for our trip that we had to keep rearranging and we also ultimately had to cancel a few of them, because of American Airlines.

Now that we are trying to resolve things with American Airlines, they are less than sympathetic. They have refused to reimburse us for our nights missed on our honeymoon because of them. American Airlines needs to take responsibility for their mistakes! To top it all off, they even caused problems with our flight home. We were supposed to leave from Miami Airport at 8:00 pm to Reagan Airport, arriving at 10:00 pm. Our flight was delayed, due to mechanical issues with a plane, again. So they switched our planes and we ended up boarding an hour late. Even after we had boarded the plane, we Sat on the plane for over an hour waiting for fuel. We finally flew out over 2 hours later than our departure time.

The issue at stake is that if I pay for the ticket from DFW to Springfield MO the price AA wants to charge me for that leg only is more than what I can for a round trip ticket on either Qatar or Emirates airlines. I have tried to appeal to their business sense but it has not worked at all. Obviously they do not care about me or my business now or in the future. If you have the choice DO NOT fly American. As a lifetime Platinum I am in the process of moving all my flight to one of the other airlines. I have tried multiple times to get the ticket for the final leg and it is always the same... Try later. I have twice written to their customer service department and have not had a single reply. I would say AA used to be good. Now I would not recommend them to anybody and I am one of their Elite customers.

Secondly, our steward and a pilot that was riding in first class to his next destination, about got into a brawl. Yep, a flight here just two days ago from Las Vegas to Chicago O'Hare. The steward was rather sassy, but he was so busy trying to get everyone on the plane in a timely fashion. I see both sides of this. However, he snatched away, rather quickly, an older lady's walker once she sat down in first class (I was sitting next to her - the poor woman had a heck of a time just walking, but sweet as a pea). The pilot, watching this occur, starts to make a comment about how the steward was acting in front of all these people, and there was some comment about "you're not going to disrespect me like that," so on and so forth. The pilot was a nice man, but clearly was not appreciating the way the steward was acting. So on and so forth...

As the story goes, I see these men arguing all because of the above mentioned paragraph - corporate greed. The steward was stressed trying to keep people packed in and moving, and having a hard time balancing everything and trying to keep things going smoothly, the passenger pilot who did not care for the attitude the steward was giving off. Needless to say, the sassy man that was our steward and the pilot were both standing up at one point face to face and comments were loudly being made, etc. Just a classless flight to say the least.

So my message to you bozo airline companies is to REMEMBER what got you here in the first place. It is caring about the customer... something clearly you have lost while trying to shovel dollars in your pockets. Realize the problems you are creating, that your airplanes are dirty and nasty, that you create so much stress amongst your employees. I don't care to EVER ride on AA again after witnessing all this crap.

I returned home to rebook my flight. I had purchased my ticket from Cheap Air. When I called to rebook they said there would be an additional $400. This is because the clueless clerk at American Airlines didn't make a note in their system that it was their fault I was late. They listed it as a missed flight, as if I didn't even show up at the airport. Then on my way back into the country the same thing happened again when I entered customs in Texas. They said they couldn't check in my luggage. I explained to them that my luggage was checked in in China. Then they decided I could board but the gate was already closed so I have to catch a flight 3 hours later.

All of their customer service representatives were rude, disrespectful, hung up on us, and would not do one thing to help alleviate this situation that their company had created and was their FAULT for not actually doing their job. If someone had called or emailed me letting me know to send in the voucher I would have done it in a heartbeat as I live 10 minutes away from Logan airport. My sister had to pay money out of her pocket to join us in Vegas on a different flight from ours and had to be the next morning. THAT IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE! There was a way for American Airlines to correct their mistake and get her on the same flight I was on. This was something that could have been prevented if their company did their job and reached out to me.

I am unsure how a company this large can be this ridiculous and unprofessional. There is a reason they are voted one of the WORST airlines in the country. They do nothing to help support their guests on an issue that was AA's fault. I will NEVER fly American again, neither will any of my friends or family nor my multi-million dollar company. We will be severing all ties with American Airlines. It's a disgrace that they have been in business this long. I would recommend that no one uses this airline unless they want a terrible experience, a ruined vacation, and a headache from how incredibly moronic this company is.

Next thing you know we got on the plane around 9:30 PM. We waited there for 5 hours and then next thing you know, when we have like 20 mins after going on the plane, they tell everyone that the plane doesn't work because the gas is leaking again. They told us that someone was fixing it but if anyone wanted to get out, that the doors were right open for anyone but that we had to pay again for a new flight. Almost half of the people left. We stood there waiting and waiting and finally at 10:30 they told us that the plane was ready to go. When we were actually up in the air, the plane kept turning on and off on and off and smelled like something was burning. I've never been so terrified in my whole entire life. This was the worst airline ever!! NEVER AGAIN!! Never!!!

Now on our return flight - they check us in separate middle row seats from San Juan to Chicago (but changed to adjacent last row seats again on asking). Just landed NOW on time at 7pm after a 5+ hour flight at ORD (O'Hare) and the flight doesn't have a gate despite being on time - already 25 mins on the Tarmac and no announcements yet. But no worries - the last leg from ORD to MSP which was supposed to take off at 8:20pm is already delayed to 11:30pm - meaning we won't get back to MSP till 2am. Absolutely horrible experience and never flying this pathetic piece of trash airline again which despite reaping record profits in a low oil price environment is too cheap to invest in infrastructure and customer experience.

The agent behind the counter questioned me immediately and directly. I gave her all the paperwork that was needed. She started reading it out loud and about 3 pages through decided to ask the agent next to her for assistance. By this time I had noticed that her neighbor agent was deep in conversation with a gentleman... actually flirting with one another. I guess the agent I was with also noticed and stopped calling her name. My agent (to whom I could never see her name tag as it hung so low on her lanyard - waist low & flipped over). She then went on the Hawaiian Agriculture website to see all the necessities that were needed for my service animal.

I informed her I was quite aware... However she decided to start reading page by page what it said. She also wanted to know if my service animal was for emotional support or medical & for what type of medical. (I have been told throughout having my service animal I do not need to give this information out... It's no one's business "what type of medical". However, to appease this woman I informed her. I was already at the service desk 45 minutes. As she kept reading the agent next to her and the gentleman exchanged phone numbers and the man left. (I was thinking on remembering her number to call her supervisor later and even tell him/her the agent's number so they would know)... but I didn't. I just wanted to go already.

Now my agent was able to confide with her and ask questions pertaining to my travels. As they went back and forth - sometimes disagreeing (which to me was strange - they got loud with one another) I then tried to intervene. Informing them that it is, and was on the other end of my destination - taken care of. I also contacted the Agriculture department prior to make sure there would be "no delays", once I get there. Normally pets are quarantined for several months in Hawaii unless you prepare and they are service animals.

By this time I was at the service desk over an hour and I informed her I should be going or I'll miss my flight. She said that they needed to make sure everything was in order for when I got to Hawaii. I then told her that I'm sure if I have a problem there that they (American Airlines) would not be responsible. She then giggled and looked at me seriously and stated "You'd be surprised." Back and forth the two conversed for another 20 minutes. I then asked a question (to which I knew better at this time) "I have been told by different airlines that it's "okay" to take a bottle of frozen water but not liquid, is this true?" Stating it was not allowed and confiding with her neighbor agent as she said so... the agent disagreed and said it was.

Again there I was listening to grown women acting like children. By this time I said I would ask at the terminal to make sure, (not letting them know I had a bottle of frozen water with me). Upon leaving my ticket agent asked me why was I traveling to Hawaii. I informed her I was invited to see the arrival of my first grandchild. She then said, "Oh - this is just your first? Oh - I have 2 already." I just smiled and walked away. SMH Oh - BTW - The 3rd flight American Airlines did not give my service animal accommodations.

Now it's 3 months later and I will be traveling home. I tried contacting American Airlines by phone to see if accommodations were available for me & my service animal. I gave the agent on the phone my name, Flight #, time and destination - & reason for my call. She then told me that I did not have accommodations and that I needed to speak with someone else that handles service animals. I agreed to be on hold and 22 minutes later the phone music stopped and disconnected. I called back since my flight was the next day.

I spoke with another agent giving him all the necessary information. I told him I was already on hold when the line got cut off from speaking to the required person. I asked if there was an extension or some direct line I could call if I got disconnected again. He informed me that calling directly to American Airlines was the only way and an agent could only transfer you to the required personnel. Before anyone came back to the line I waited 47 minutes. I will not recommend or use this airline again.

Here is the latest complaint (and for the record I rarely take the time to do this). Upon arriving to the airport I was told the flight had weight restrictions and they were taking volunteers to take a different flight. Originally, the $200 credit was not enough to change my travel plans. As time passed an announcement was made that the voucher credit had increased to $450 at which point I accepted the offer.

Here is what ensured. I had my wife come back and drive over 2 hours round trip to pick me up from the airport. The worst part is I asked the ticket counter repeatedly, "Is there any chance this won't happen" and I was assured, "No we have a weight restriction and you we will definitely be booked on a different flight". I cancelled my transportation from the Dallas airport and was out more money to get home. I waited until everyone boarded the plane and which time I was told, "Oh yea by the way, we no longer need you to stand by." This policy is absurd and I am so pissed my wife had to drag our newborn kids over 2.5 hours all for nothing.

The lady at the frontline of security made me put my bag in the carry on sizer and guess what it fit! She told me it didn't because it was too tall - in actuality there was a bend in the top of my suitcase that caused it to appear it was over the threshold line. She made me check it. So yes another additional $35 charge to check a bag. I've always been a fan of AA and have defended the airline. Well, not anymore. Biggest scam and lying people that work for them. On tip of the worst part was that I was carrying my wedding dress with me!! So disappointed. What happened to honesty and compassion? I'd rather pay extra money and not fly with AA.

When we finally land there's another ** three delays on top of that! Did I mention I have 3 KIDS with me! Now I've spent over a $100 on airport food and Snacks to keep them occupied - thanks for that! I finally have had enough. I go up to your front desk lady and ask what is happening! She ** yells at me "I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON"! Are you ** kidding me. I sit down in utter Shock! Two ** seconds later I hear they are switching us to another terminal! Wtf! I don't even cuss! We won't be in Miami until tomorrow morning, at least and as I hope! Thank you American Airlines for starting my family's vacation so ** Horribly off! Why don't you refund my money so I can go hop on United or even Spirit would be better! You deserve negative 1000 stars!

I paid $869.65 for the ticket PLUS SEATING FEES. American Airlines pet policy dictates that the dog must be at least 8 weeks old, which she was, and must have received all necessary vaccines for her age, which she had. No problem there. The dog must also have the right size carrier and all the necessary paperwork must be filed and up to date. We had everything ready and in place. My cousin called the airport days before her trip and confirmed that she would be bringing the dog. She was assured that everything would go smoothly. May 13th, only two weeks after my mother's ordeal, my cousin goes to check in the dog at the airport and guess what? They would not allow it. The representative said that it was due to a policy change that took place the DAY BEFORE. My cousin fought it as hard as she could but they would not budge or give a concrete reason why they were not allowing the dog on board.

There was nothing wrong with her paperwork or anything else. I have since reviewed their policy myself and have not found any valid reason. After my cousin's boyfriend (a lawyer) accurately informed them of the mess they were making, the representative apologized and told my cousin not to worry, that they would place her and the dog on the next available flight (which would be either Wednesday May 18th or Sunday the 22nd). She assured my cousin that someone would contact her on the Monday or Tuesday of the following week to inform her which flight she would be on. NOBODY EVER CALLED. When my cousin called them on Wednesday May 18th they said they had no idea what she was talking about and that she had lost the ticket completely with no chance of a refund.

I contacted AA customer service and explained the situation. The representative himself could not find any reason as to why this was happening, but he did not have the power to refund me my money, otherwise he would have (his words). I was told to contact customer relations but SURPRISE, they don't have a phone number! Very convenient. I filed a formal complaint and a refund request on their website and took to social media to express my outrage. I actually received a response from American Airlines on Facebook and Twitter telling me to contact customer relations, but I had already done that so their advice was useless. It's been a week since I submitted my refund request and I have yet to hear back from them.

Turns out I paid almost $1,000 for something that was suppose to make my mother happy, but has done nothing but cause tears. We suffered the loss of our family dog last year, and my mother had finally decided she was ready for another. Thanks American Airlines for charging me almost $1,000 for nothing but stupidity and emotional distress.

Yesterday we discussed how Columbia was only 1.5 hrs from Charlotte and that I'd be sitting in the Charlotte airport for 3.5 hours until I could fly to Columbia. This seems ridiculous. He could pick me up in Charlotte and I'd get to Columbia sooner than waiting for the flight. Well, when I looked online as to if this was possible the answer I came up with was NO. It appears that if I don't fly to Columbia my return flight on Monday will be cancelled. Ugh, so I checked flights today and sure enough the 1:05 is now available on AA. So, I called Customer Care to discuss my options. I was told it's $200 to change a reservation and $75 for 24 hr "standby".

I have NEVER heard of being charged for standby. Plus, if I decide to have my husband pick me up in Charlotte I can tell an agent that I won't be taking the flight to Columbia... and they will charge me $200 to keep my return flight. When I dropped my husband off tonight in PVD I asked the front desk worker for options and she told me the same thing. Standby is only free if you are an "elite" traveler. I now have to pay $200, $75, or wait in an airport an hour and a half away from my destination for 3.5 hours before I can fly out. I feel like a prisoner in an airport because I refuse to pay any fees... American Airlines needs to be more customer focused or they won't have any customers. The kicker is that the 1:05 and the 4pm flights are the same price so its not like I'm trying to save money, I'm just not going to pay any more.

I called back again, they said they don't know if it will be more delayed and I will not be able to make it to the flight to UK since I will go from domestic to international. So I said, "I want to canceled the tickets." They said, "This call can only rebook your ticket. If you needed to cancel the ticket, you need to talk to the ticket department." I called again. The ticket department transferred me to the vacation department since I got hotels as well. No one can solve my problem. They just want the money from my pocket. I said "I want to file a complaint." They said they don't have a phone number for complaints, I can ONLY EMAIL! I said "I want to talk to someone for refund." Again, I can ONLY EMAIL! What on earth does this crappy company do?! No phone number for refund and complaints?!!!

And guess what? I just checked my flight status. It was on time! My flight from DTW to PHL was on time and arrived on time. So they just rebooked me for no reason! Today is a sunny day, no wind! I bet they just oversold the tickets and rebooked people with lies! I will miss my presentation in UK and I lost money on my hotels! If I could, I would give 0 star. They don't deserve any stars!

They then proceeded to say "We booked you on the next flight," (but in actuality) it was standby by!!! Then they stated in front of us to each other "Should I do it?" The other girl said "Yes I would." We didn't understand this til we went through TSA that they stamped my husband as a pre-check and me as regular so I waited in line!!! The 3rd flight we finally got to board. This was after I was trying to get to speak to a supervisor due to they gave our seat to the person who was 5th in waiting before us. (We were standby #1 and #2.) When I received the email feedback from American Airlines about our experience it was very negative and bottom line it was our fault for not being there 30 minutes before boarding!!!

On our return trip the plane was delayed due to mechanical then our glassware that we purchased was completely smashed into pieces (even though we were told that they would foam it and put fragile on it). The response on that complaint if it was that valuable to us we should've sent it through FedEx or UPS. They only cover clothing and toiletries!!! When I return home and let everyone know about my experience with American Airlines everyone's statement was "Why would you ever fly with them? They are the worst ever!!! We thought you were flying with a different airlines!!!" So I will never ever fly with this airline ever again!!!

Oh well it is the too big to fail era, so you don't have to. You just need to get to the point of being too big, then you will always get bailed out. Who needs to try and make sure you get a good rate and make people feel like they are not going to get swindled at every step, when you don't have to worry about competition putting you out of business.

I just called the credit card company (on an American AADVANTAGE card with Barclay). They told me they had received no refund notification from the airline so could not process it until they received that. I called the airline and they are now saying that it takes seven to ten business days to process in their system and then one to two billing cycles to appear. In other words, their 24-hour cancellation and refund policy means that the consumer gives them a two-month loan and pays credit card interest on that loan. Utterly ridiculous and fails the truth in advertising standard. If they can charge the ticket and have it appear on my account within 24 hours then they can have a refund appear within 24 hours as well - just as most merchants do.

When I have tried to call to talk to someone with authority to correct this I've been told that there is no phone number for the refunds department. ABYSMAL customer service!! I wrote another e-mail this morning. If I don't get an immediate response I'm going to start contacting the FAA and the FTC. Maybe state authorities too. What if someone had put this on their debit card and had cash held for two months? This is SO exploitive!!

I do not understand what kind of customer service this is but american airlines definitely needs to hire people who don't hate their jobs and are truly interested in representing their company with high end respect and quality, not throw the airlines name to trash. I am a frequent flyer. I travel every week for 9 months out of the whole year and I will not be considering American Airlines again. Use another airline if you may and save yourself from the disrespect and time wasted. These people will not own up to their mistake nor compensate you for it.

On the travel back, we got to the desk and the airline says we didn't pay for the infant. I said I most certainly did and showed them the receipt. They said, "no you only paid for the travel one way" AND they don't know why AA Vacations charged me $112 because the charge should have only been $28! Regardless, I still had to pay the additional fee... So here I am in another country WITH my infant who is being held hostage unless I come up with the extra money. I had to wait 45 minutes for my husband to come from returning the rental car because I had no money on me. I called AA Vacations when I got home and explained all of the difficulty. I was told that for my trouble, I would receive a refund of the $112, but it would take 4-6 weeks. Ok, so I was satisfied with that.

I get an email exactly 6 weeks later saying "we are not giving you a refund of any money AT ALL, because we were right and have no proof that you paid the $28." Duh, because I paid it with American Airlines, not with AA Vacations (a third party vendor). Instead, we'll offer you a travel voucher for 125 that you must use within one year and that has all kinds of conditions attached to it. Ummm, no thank you. I called their "customer service" line and after speaking to 3 different people, they all articulate the same pre-approved party lines. Not one person seemed remotely sympathetic. The last "supervisor" would not even listen but continued to cut me off and was completely apathetic. Terrible service... or lack thereof.

We boarded on time and the plane started to back up but return to the door and they told us that there was a computer glitch that they have to fix and that will take about 30 min. To make a long story short, we sat in the plane for three hours and didn't get to Phoenix until almost 11 am and they announced that for anyone who's going to Philadelphia that there was one leaving but we have to run to the gate. They never told us which gate, so we were running from one gate to another and almost missed another flight. We don't fly a lot but this experience added more stress and aggravation. They tried to give us a complimentary cocktail for the inconvenience. At 8 o'clock in the morning? Thanks but no thanks. I think and feel that we deserved much more than a glass of drink.

We were told the plane was at the gate, our luggage on it, but the ramp was now closed, so no one could get our luggage off. It would be flown to Texarkana the next day. We asked why couldn't AA provide a bus to take us all (about 35 passengers) to our destination. It would be a two-hour drive. They said they would not do that, also would not pay for rental cars, and in fact if we left without rebooking, our tickets would be cancelled, and no refund would be forthcoming. They also said there was no guarantee we could actually get on a flight the next morning, as the airlines was overbooked.

About ten of us finally decided to rent minivans and drive ourselves to Texarkana at our own expense. During this whole episode, American Airlines made no offers to help, no rentals, no hotels, not even a cot to spend the night in the terminal. We had asked several times to speak to a manager, and the agent called one, but he refused to come talk to us. It was obvious that AA couldn't care less about their customers, after all, they already had our money. I personally am out the cost of the ticket, cost of renting a van, and I still had to make a two-hour round trip drive to retrieve my luggage. I have sent a scathing email to AA complaint dept. I'm sure there will be, at most, a form letter type response with no resolution for me. My resolution will be to never fly AA again. They don't care about me, I don't care about them.

Then on our return trip home, you guessed it... our flight was cancelled again. Another next day flight. Had to go through the entire ordeal again. Finally managed to get a late flight. Spent 12 hours in the airport. AA system is horrible. Oh luggage was lost too. Finally arrived 3 days later. I Will never ever will fly American Airlines again. Took over US Air and service is now 10 times worse.

So my girlfriend and I go through security and rush to the gate to board flight but the gate was CLOSED for 20 minutes already. Then an AA rep tells us to go a couple gates down to the rebooking center. So we waited 3 and a HALF hours in this line. Then the lady at the counter was very very rude. I told her our flight out of POP was delayed because of weather AND mechanical issue (plane was leaking). She rudely says she doesn't see that in the system. She wouldn't give a hotel voucher. She said "Sir, take what I give you or take nothing." She tells us to sleep in auditorium. I injured my shoulder and arm is in sling. We go there and there are NO more sleeping cots, lights are all on, and fire alarm is malfunctioning going off every 15 minutes. So I have to pay $191 for a near hotel, cheapest I found available. I can't sleep on floor because of injury. The next day it continued. The flight was cancelled because of mechanical issues.

They send us to another gate and that place came hour later and then had mechanical issues also (engine was leaking oil). We then get a standby flight to ORD, then land and wait hour on plane to park because 3 terminals had AA planes that had more mechanical issues and couldn't leave the gate. This practically ruined our vacation. I suppose luckily it was on the way back from our 4 nights in Dominican republic. It took almost 2 full days to get back to Chicago with American airlines. They are pretty much the largest airline and it is apparent that they don't care about providing great customer service. When we buy a ticket, we expect performance delivered. I understand weather delays and such, that can't be controlled. But making your customers comfortable should be a top priority no matter how large of a company you are.

This is beyond unacceptable, and I intend to inform my corporate office of this situation to ensure that this Airline is removed from our list. I will not deal with American Airlines ever again for corporate or personal travel due to this deceptive and dishonest practice. The desk even tried to charge me for my baggage at check-in due to what they called a "glitch" in their system when I boarded. I also received no priority boarding with my children on the 1st and 4th leg of the flight despite the 1st class tickets, very unprofessional treatment for a supposed top Airline. This is my last trip on this subpar establishment.

We had to rebook for the next morning. AND WE HAD TO PAY A $200/TICKET CHANGE FEE for the privilege of losing a day of hotel and car rental. Meanwhile, AA gave folks $500 travel vouchers for giving up seats on our original flight which we did unwillingly and on our standby flight. I would like my $200/ticket change fee back ($800 total). I sent a complaint to AA on their official complaint website and got back a barely intelligible response of how they wanted to make me happy, but just could not. They are so sorry that RDU is one of the airports requiring a luggage check in an hour ahead. This info is not in my check-in email where it would be handy. The AA website recommends an hour ahead for international flights and 30 minutes for domestic - we have traveled internationally several times in the last few years and have never had this issue and I am pretty sure we did not arrive over an hour ahead every time.

My largest problem with AA though, is that there does not seem to be a person to explain my issue to. The customer service emails are either computer generated or written by someone who has English as a second language. Again, though, I will only be happy if they refund my ticket change fee which I feel was very unjustly charged.

Yesterday, we checked our upcoming flight and found that I had been moved from row 27 to the last row 38 next to restrooms again, but my husband was still in row 27. Called to see what happened and AA told us that AA had decided to reserve our row for elite flyers and we had not PAID for our seats (used AAdvantage miles) and were not Gold status yet. They had not changed husband's seat yet, but probably would. Of course we wanted to sit together for 8 hour flight. I have over 650K miles with American. Last 3 international flights were messed up and we were treated like they could care less. Also, paid full price for flight to San Francisco earlier this year and again our seats were changed. Apparently they rearranged seats.

When my husband asked the attendant what happened 4 or 5 rows of other passengers stated that the same thing happened to them. Attendant apologized, but no recourse. Also, wanted to upgrade to 4 more inches of legroom on the international flight, but was told that only passengers who were not using AAdvantage miles could upgrade. I joined United Explorer a couple of years ago and have been able to buy upgrade to better seats when using Explorer miles and have not had seats changed by the airline.

This will be our last flight on American Airlines and will be cancelling our American Airlines Mastercard. So disappointed in AA, but I think it will be going out of business soon, as the last few times we flew to Europe their flights had many empty seats. Will also be letting our business associates know about the poor service. A friend with Executive Platinum status recently had a business flight to Japan which he missed due to delayed connecting flight and the airline tried to route thru Europe!!!

In the meantime, as the plane was landing, the flight attendants did ask people for whom CLT was the final destination to stay seated so people making tight connections could get off first. However, no one listened, everyone got up, and the flight attendants didnt do anything about it. So my wife finally manages to get off the plane, toddler in tow, and the first cart in C terminal isnt waiting, nor is the second cart in E terminal. Nevertheless, my wife heroically makes it to the E gate for the Augusta flight and the plane is still there! In fact, she made it 10 minutes before departure.

Nevertheless, the ** gate agent, seeing a sweaty mom and toddler, refuses to open the door to let her board, falsely saying that no ones told her anything about my family desperately trying to make it to the gate on time. I say falsely because I was on a long call with an AA supervisor this evening who put me on hold while she actually talked to the gate agent. Yes, the gate was closed when she got there, even though she got there 10 minutes before departure, BUT if the carts had been there as promised, she would have made it on board. So, my wife is now stranded in the Charlotte airport with an exhausted and starving toddler, without her luggage which went on to Augusta, and therefore without a change of clothes, and no baby supplies, including his favorite "blankey."

And then, to make matters worse, AA wouldnt even arrange a hotel for her - just giving her a discount coupon with a phone number, that no one answered. ** unbelievable, and among the worst customer service fails we've ever experienced. I wonder if the FAA would be interested in this story. I seem to believe there was a Passenger Bill of Rights enacted a couple years ago? Well, American Airlines, you FAILED.

Another hour passes with no word and at 12:30am Sunday morning AA informs us that the flight had been canceled. They told us that another gate on the other side of the airport had agents available, so left line and literally sprinted over there to beat all of the other passengers. Little did I know the gate was the customer service area and was already bursting at the seams with angry AA customers and the line was longer than the one I got out of with only one agent working. They did eventually get 4 over there. However they would occasionally tell us there was availability at the other gate to get people to leave only to find the other gate was still completely full with stranded passengers in the early morning hours.

I called the customer service phone number while in line to try to change our flights. They informed me that my best option was a Monday afternoon flight. I told them that was unacceptable and that I needed to speak to a supervisor. So they said they would transfer me. But of course they just hung up. I called back and on the third time they finally gave me a supervisor rather than hanging up on me. The supervisor approved me for a flight getting home in the early morning hours on Monday.

In the meantime other passengers had begun looking up flights AA was still selling for Sunday Morning. Customer service and the gate agents would ask what the flight numbers were while saying it did not exist. Once they put in the flight number they would say "ok I guess we can put you on that one." So myself and another gentleman spent another 2 extra hours helping the other passengers get flights as the AA employees either would not or could not assist anyone.

At this point I managed to get another flight that would get me home at 11:30pm Sunday night. Bear in mind this entire time there was no offer for a Hotel or any form of accommodations. We were told, "this is spring break Miami and there are no hotels." They also told us that if we took any vouchers that we had to "keep our mouths shut on complaints." Luckily the gate agents advised us against taking any vouchers and to complain on Twitter. They stated Twitter is the only thing AA cares about. They will hang up on you if you call customer service.

Honestly I feel horrible for the poor gate agents that have to catch hell every day of their life just for working for a dumpster fire of an airline. They would tell passengers that there was more capacity at the other gate and to go over there for help only to reduce their own line as the passengers would come back stating that the other line was even longer. The frustrations mounted so much 2 passengers fist fought over who was in line first. So AA decided to call in cops to intimidate their passengers into not voicing their dismay with AA.

There was a woman traveling with a 97-year-old man who was told on the first cancellation that they could have a hotel. Then they were told they had to go on the flight late at night because they were going to get it fixed. And then an hour later they were told "tough luck we can't help you with anything". Luckily most passengers on this flight were good people and told the staff when rebooking flight that these two elderly passengers needed priority over the rest of us. Good thing AA passengers care more about AA passengers than AA does.

Another great little tidbit is that when we called customer service they stated our flight was canceled for not having a crew and not a broken jump seat. So the entire delay was a constructed lie from the beginning to draw out the delay to avoid getting hotel rooms. While lying on the dirty airport floor (which in the entire overnight I was there was not ever vacuumed) I scoured AA flight schedules to try to find a better way home. I found a 5:30 am flight to Dallas that we could connect up to KC from. So I went to that gate at 5am. When I asked that gate attendant if we could get on this flight she responded "this flight has a lot of international travelers on it from Chile and Argentina and they have 0% chance of catching it." So they intentionally schedule non-English speaking international passengers on flights that they cannot possibly make.

Crappy business practice but at least it allowed me to get home really terribly late but a little earlier than Monday afternoon. At this point AA tweets at me when we get to Dallas that they were so proud of how they got us on an early flight. They did not get me on any flight. I willed our way onto that flight. We lost our stretch seating and had an additional 3 hours of flight time not even accounting for the worst night of my life in the airport. I am 6’6”, 285 lbs and my girlfriend is 6', so regular seats are not very accommodating. When we finally arrived in KC no one at AA could tell us where our bags were. This despite AA customer service telling me that our bags would beat us to KC in the morning. I filled out the paperwork to get our bags delivered and we proceeded to limp home being awake now for over 40 hours thanks to AA.

At this point we were offered a toiletry bag to brush our teeth. That sure would have been nice like 12 hours ago when they intentionally stranded us in the Miami airport. The bags were not delivered before we went to bed around 10 o' clock. We napped 4 hours and woke ourselves up to try to get any form of a sleep pattern back in for our busy work week.

I awoke Monday morning to another prideful tweet from AA stating they were so proud that they reunited us with our bags. I responded that I did not have our bags. In typical AA form they responded "we gave them to the bag company. It is your problem now". I then got ready to back out for work and lo and behold in the backup camera was our bags that AA had thrown in our driveway. This was the most horrific experience I have ever had with any company in my life. This inability or unwillingness to assist their paying customers was staggering. I honestly do not even know how these clowns are still in business.

There was no one at the gate to assist her when she deplaned in Charlotte. She immediately alerted the agent on duty about the situation. The agent abruptly told her, they were very busy, she shouldn't be flying on a holiday week and go sit in that red seat. By the time she was picked up and taken to her gate, she missed her flight to Syracuse. They rebooked her to Philadelphia then on to Syracuse. Which delayed her arrival into Syracuse by 4 1/2 hours.

American Airlines said they were in compliance with 14 CFR, Part 382 and were willing to give her $75 dollar credit for her troubles. Subpart G of this Statute states, "they provide assistance between gates so passenger can make a connection to another flight." They went on to say that my mother should self-identify any special request at the time of travel. (Which she did several times)!!! As far as I'm concerned American Airlines does not care about their customers. We will be using a different airline in the future.

If you know that all of your flights are completely overbooked and even customers with confirmed tickets can't get on (5-10 people per flight, for 2 days I were there), why would you sell standby at all?? Make people waste money and time? At least warn about the situation, this is just straight up not caring about customer.

I should mention that their standby policy is ridiculous. For all this time being there, I was always the last one on the list with 15-26 people in front of me. And all the agents were very unfriendly and did not want to help with the situation, seemed like they were trying to get rid of me. In the end, seeing that I will never be able to get in, I returned the ticket and requested a refund. Never heard even an apology for the inconvenience. Will never fly with this airline and strongly recommend for others not to.

We of course missed our flight and then it was just all downhill from there... Tried to get to Miami 2 different standby flights then I called customer service (he was a jerk) said we could fly out of Miami Tuesday... It's Sunday now! Then I went and spoke to a kid that was pretty good Mark Anthony at Charlotte and he routed us to VA then next to Newark then we fly out of JFK to Cayman in the AM. Oh I also finally got a call back from customer service, I left my name and number back like 11:30 am (you guys said you would call back in 2 hours) just another empty promise... That lady was sooo nice (Can you tell I'm being sarcastic?), I have been traveling around the country for 12 hours now! She basically said we had to pay or find a way to JFK on my own accord which by the time we land will be like 9:30 pm.

Where are we supposed to sleep? Who is reimbursing me for a missed day on our vacation? Who is paying for our dinner tonight (because I paid the Westin for a dinner I didn't get to eat!). I mean I don't know if I ever have flown AA but as of right now you guys have a serious choice to make. Either make this right for us or you won't... The American Air staff person we worked with in Charlotte was a guy named Mark Anthony. He helped us out in Charlotte and promised that we would have a hotel to sleep in for the night when we got to New York. He also stated American Airlines would reimburse us for a meal and our transportation from Newark to JFK.

That was the only reason we agreed to follow that travel change. I provided a receipt for the meal (modest by airport prices) also provided a receipt for the car we had to take to get from Newark to JFK. We didn't get a hotel because once we got to Newark the AA rep promptly laughed in our face at getting us a hotel room. Last person I spoke to told me I should have read the "fine print" that they set no expectation to get you to your destination on time and if they do not get you there on time they take zero responsibility for that. I was also told that it takes "2-3 weeks" to return a complaint because there are so many. Elizabeth **, Customer Relations, American Airlines. Simon **, Customer Relations, American Airlines. Leanne **, Customer Relations, American Airlines.

Complaint boils down to: 1. American Airline Rep - Mark ** lied to us stating "Travel from Newark to JFK, along with hotel for the evening and dinner would be reimbursed by American Airlines to us); 2. Missed 24 hours of vacation in Grand Cayman; 3. We are out a total of $1290.00 (Hotel Grand Cayman, Travel Newark to JFK, Meal); 4. Slept on the floor in JFK.

When I asked to have our seats reassigned so that the members of the party could sit in pairs as we had been seated originally, I was told to ask at the check in window when arriving because the customer service agent would be unauthorized to do it on the phone. The agent also suggested asking other passengers on the plane to switch with us once we boarded. I asked about a refund and to have my frequent miles returned for one of the passengers and I was told it would be a $150 charge. American is getting away with baiting and switching their customers. I have read numerous blogs of disgruntled AA customers. Hopefully if enough us choose to take our business elsewhere, American will change their corrupt business practices or eventually it will be taken over by another airline that is more competent and kind to their customers.

The AA agent has authorized me to purchase clothes and new luggage in order to "survive" through my stay in USA while they try to locate my luggage. I bought myself a simple jeans, underwear, socks and a new luggage with lock amounting to USD139.64 and the original receipt has been submitted to SJC office in reference to my case number **. That was back in May 2014. When I got back to Malaysia, I've submitted the claim for the lost luggage. After chasing and chasing and chasing... I've finally got my claim amounting USD225 around March 2015, almost a year later. This claim was for the lost luggage that AA couldn't locate, but the authorized "purchase" was not reimbursed.

The AA staff here in Malaysia was helping to file this case but no updates or whatsoever news returned to me. Today, April 12, 2016, it is almost TWO YEARS anniversary, I haven't get the reimbursement. I'm very angry with the attitude how AA is running their business. No passengers would like their luggage to be lost in transit and face all the hassle. AA didn't care about how the passenger felt. The arrogance of this airlines has completely destroyed the good image. Why would I have to suffer the pain and pay extra for unnecessary clothing while I was not the one who lost the luggage?!? I'm writing you this, not in hope for apology, but my reimbursement of USD139.64. It has been almost two years, it's time to get this case closed!!!

My reservation paid ** and my wife with ** miles. At the request by AA I contacted the reservations department, Mrs. **, day on April 04 at 9:30 approx was told me that AA had no availability with miles seats and no willingness to return my wife on the date that we had both confirmed return tickets, May 13th (or alternatively 14 has I has proposed). SURPRISE... The only alternative out these two dates was to return the miles without penalty... Believe it. It was exactly as I say.

The unilateral decision to cancel the flight came from American and AA wants us simply to cancel our vacation because the company does not have availability for mileage on the date that we already had a confirmed ticket (not even asked about my return ticket because I can not think about of leaving my wife alone in the USA as a result AA this action). I asked Mrs. ** to speak to a supervisor and the response was that I should seek to claim the AA own in the AA website (apparently she did not want to address this issue). AA wants me to solve a problem that we have not caused!!! I am so disgusted with this company that I decided to share this bad experience with all American citizens. I hope they can relocate us on any flight as bought and confirmed.

When 9pm rolls around, we finally board. We wait... we wait a little longer. Turns out they hadn't weighed any of our luggage and had to send it off to be weighed! You've got to be kidding me! Another delay of about an hour and a half. All this, and then the flight was incredibly uncomfortable. They kept the main cabin lights on for practically the whole flight so they could serve a full meal with dessert and drinks. Uh, it's 12am can we just go to sleep? Of course the 1st class cabin is cozy with their lights off, and despite the many available seats they had in that section, none in the main cabin was allowed access.

All in all, probably the worst flight experience of my life, but it's not worth fighting with AA over. I'm one customer of many. They don't really care if they lose my business. They don't need it. What I would like to come of this is more regulations on airlines for how they handle delays and slapping them with a small fine is not enough. The complaint process needs to be smoother. AA currently has a 60 day complaint processing time with no guarantee of an offered solution. More change is needed to help protect traveler rights!

Here's my story: On December 24th, I departed Syracuse Airport for Wilmington, N.C. because that is the only flight I could get that wasn't outrageously expensive. Just as we were supposed to board this plane, it went down for maintenance, then ultimately cancelled for maintenance. They brought in a second plane accompanied by a 2 hour delay, which caused me to miss my connection to Philadelphia.

When I arrived in Philly, I was told to go to customer service to re-book. The line to customer service was so long that it went passed 8 or 9 gates and would have taken quite awhile to get through. As I was standing there, I noticed a flight to Wilmington NC boarding in 15 minutes and I knew I would never make it to the board if I stood in this line - so I tracked down a gate attendant to help me and she got me on that flight. (Close one)! Finally, I land in Wilmington and I thought that would be the worst of it. Good thing that I am not a first time flyer. If this was my first flight, I would have been totally lost. I want to add that, I understand supply and demand but the cost of these tickets increased greatly because of the Holiday season.

Ok, my return flight: I had purchased a return trip and somehow ended up having American Airlines change my time. It is a good thing that I had a printout of my itinerary with me, because I never received a check-in notice which made me nervous, so I went to the Wilmington Airport very early to see what was going on and found out that my flight information was not in the system, despite the fact that I had 2 confirmation numbers and times. The customer service rep was amazing, she fixed my problem with confidence and a smile, put my mind at ease and handed me tickets to return home. I was so impressed that I asked her name.

Anyway, now I have return tickets in hand. I believe the flight from Wilmington to Philly may have been delayed slightly but I had lots of time in Philly, no problem. Once in Philly, it seemed that everything would be OK, then there was a delay, then a second delay, my 9:25pm flight was now delayed until 10:30pm, then cancelled for maintenance once again. Everyone was given a voucher and we stayed overnight in a hotel. This flight home was literally an hour to Ithaca, N.Y. I was supposed to report to work the next day. What is going on? Are there not enough planes? Not enough staff? Not enough fuel? Is American Airlines going broke again? I don't trust them and I don't want to use them again.

We arrive at the gate to get our new boarding passes and I ask if there is any chance they have the premium seats available since I had paid for them on the flight that I missed. She told me no and I told her I needed 1 seat at least for my 6'8 son and low and behold she found one. I asked her about refunding me and I was told "that's not my job, you will have to figure that out on your own." We board the plane and leave and look up front where my son is and there are 3 more premium seats available and 2 employees sitting in first class. I ask the flight attendant, who was present during my exchange with the gate agent about the 3 premium seats and she states "I can't do anything about it, it's not my job."

We get to Atlanta and call employee relations about getting my refund and she tells me that the system states it was an aircraft change so, she doubts I will get my refund but, "it's not her job" anyway so, I will have to send an email. We get to Miami and our luggage can't be found. We did speak with one very helpful employee "Alex" who was able to find our luggage. It actually arrived on two different flights and neither of them were ours.

So, April 10, we arrive to travel home and they tell us that they cancelled our reservations. The reason being is we did not use front end of the reservation. The reason why is because they changed our outgoing flight 5x and we would have missed our cruise so, I had to buy additional tickets out. So, they have no flights to get us home today and he said that "it's not his problem and we should have shown up." We now can only get to Chicago tonight and we have to pay for hotel rooms and can't get a flight home until tomorrow. I actually had to ask him about getting us on that flight because he was more than ok with leaving us stranded in Chicago. I will honestly avoid flying American Airlines at all cost and if I never fly with them again that would be great! I love Delta and if it means paying more I will because customer service goes a long way.

Instead of staying in Miami, we rented an economical car and drove home (4 hour drive arriving home at 3:30 am). We saved AA money by not pursuing a hotel, but now they refuse to reimburse us for the rental car expense. They gave us miles to make up for the delay in Belize instead of refunding our money. Why would we risk flying on American Airlines again??? Everything about this experience demonstrated that AA Customer Relations do not care about their customers. Avoid American Airlines if you can.

Plus, they were unwilling to extend the voucher time to the flight date rather than purchase date. I am unable medically to go and yet they still refuse to assist me. That is completely unacceptable. They are not trying to help me in any way nor do they plan on refunding me, which I feel I've been cheated out of and I feel I've been treated unfairly because they are unwilling to make the exception for medically not being able to travel. They are not out the money because they filled my seats.

I want a full refund of my money--no more no less. I'm not asking more than what I'm due and there is no reason they can't make the exception they just refuse to. I refuse to be cheated out of my money when they clearly state they have exception requirements, so they give exceptions, especially with doctor's notes but refuse mine because the Zika virus thing doesn't apply in Miami but it does where I'm traveling. Although these tickets are "non-refundable" they still refund for medical or military reasons, just not mine...

The agent impatiently suggested me to leave and call a number they provided to get discounted hotel. AND THE AIRLINE IS NOT GOING TO PAY FOR THE HOTEL. I called for 45 minutes but NOBODY answered the phone. I was too cold and exhausted and have to spend over $300 on hotels and $100 on meals that weekend due to the delay. As a student, I spent unnecessary $500+ dollars, missed AN ENTIRE DAY of class and exams, and I have not received any apology or compensation. And the worst part is that on Monday afternoon when I arrived at the airport, the agent at check in was confused at my situation and had me waited for 30 minutes when he called the company to verify my ticket. What a messy system!

AA caused all these trouble and the first thing agent told me was that I missed my flight!! Excuse me!!! Are you kidding me? Finally when I arrived at Cleveland, my flight was delayed for an hour and still, no apology or any form of compensation. Since there is no customer service phone number on AA website (apparently you don't care your customers enough or you try to avoid complaints), I will post my experience on all forms of social media and email AA until I get a satisfied solution.

We later found out our 4:35 pm flight to Charlotte was delayed, meaning we would miss the connection to Hartford. After an additional hour and a half of still standing in the ticket line at American Airlines and receiving no service, we were finally spoken to. After another thirty minutes, we were able to switch to flight 1028 to Miami, Florida with a connection to Hartford. Flight 1028 was also delayed but would give us a better chance of making our connection to Hartford as we would not be able to make the Charlotte connection. The ticket agents displayed utter disregard for the urgency of our issue, and it was like pulling teeth to get the switch completed. We were treated with disrespect, and as PAYING customers we expect to be treated with some level of care and/or respect.

Once on the ground in Miami, we remained on the plane for an additional 15-20 minutes after landing due to the lack of a gate for us to pull up to. Once allowed to deplane, my traveling party along with 15-20 others needing to catch flight 1419 to Hartford sprinted to the gate where our plane was to be boarding. When we reached the gate, we stood there and watched the plane pull away.

The massive group of passengers who needed to be on that plane to Hartford were now stranded in Miami, and the gate attendants could not have cared less. It was incredibly hurtful to know that the airline we chose to fly on and PAY for was not willing to assist us in any way. I have never flown an airline that has treated a single person, let alone a massive group, so poorly. This was shocking. To hold a flight for 20 passengers in need of getting home to Hartford was not much to ask, considering the aircraft would be sitting in Hartford for the remainder of the night. This was unacceptable. I am still disgusted knowing an airline would do this to passengers.

We then were directed to the rebooking line along with hundreds of other American Airline passengers whom all missed their connecting flight; 20 or so meant to be on the flight to Hartford. While in line we called the 1-800 telephone number in attempts to reach some sort of solution and were told there would be none. We were now being told that we would not see a way out of Miami. Period. Therefore missing work, risking termination from our jobs, unable to get home to our children and animals in need, and putting our entire livelihood at risk. And still, your airline could not have cared less.

Once we reached the counter to speak to the American Airlines re-booking representative, we were greeted with a vile attitude and again, another airline representative unwilling to help. We stood there for 10 minutes while your rep looked up available flights, only to be told that we would not be able to get onto a flight for three days (on standby, so still unknown), meaning we MIGHT get home on Wednesday, and even so she was not sure we would be able to get a flight out of Miami.

This was mind boggling. Simply baffling. When we explained how unacceptable this was (which is a simple fact of the matter), your representative ended the conversation with "Sorry you FEEL that way." Of course we felt that way because it was a fact that this treatment, inability to give your PAYING passengers a reasonable solution, was not acceptable. We were now left stranded in the Miami airport, not knowing when we would ever get home, prepared to lose our jobs and putting the other lives we care for at home at risk.

In addition to ALL of that, we had no luggage and no knowledge of where our luggage had ended up. We finally found out that the bags had been sent to Charlotte, and remained there for no reason for three entire days. We also found out that one bag from our party was tagged for another person's claim information altogether. Poor execution every way you cut it. I can't express to you how horrified we were along with the 100 other people in line who were witnessing this interaction. How is it possible for a major airline to operate like this? Training your employees to actively treat passengers like dirt was the biggest shock. They had to have been trained this way because it was the only variety of treatment we received across the board, from Aruba to Miami. I am perturbed that I gave you my money and my business.

After 3 hours (it was now 12:30 AM) we were given a hotel voucher, and told to return to the airport the following day(s) to be on standby for flights that were already overbooked for 3 days until seats became available. We were also given food vouchers that we were unable to use because by the time we finished dealing with your staff, the hotel's restaurant had been long closed. All of these issues were solely due to American Airlines inability to function. There was no inclement weather or emergencies causing these delays, simply incompetence on the part of the American Airlines staff. I WILL NEVER FLY AMERICAN ever again. And I urge you to do the same. We as customers DO NOT need to tolerate this lack of service and respect.

We are now being told they will NOT reimburse us for the flight we had to purchase out of our own pocket on a different airline costing $1,550 because they could not accommodate us until POSSIBLY Wednesday afternoon. They could not even pretend to care that we had children, families, and jobs to return home to. I also witnessed them berate a mother needing to breastfeed her child in front of 100 people. So, utterly disgusting. This company is money hungry and pathetic. I wouldn't wish this treatment upon my worst enemy.

So he calls American Airlines to get his miles and money back and no such luck. They refunded his miles but still kept $80 fee that he still is not even sure what it was for. Then he is told only customer relations can refund this fee. So he asks for their number. OH WAIT FOR IT! They do not have phones, nope no number. When American Airlines makes a mistake they hide behind a form on a website. ** NO, he missed his best friend's funeral, he deserves to talk to a person not go fill out a form and wait for some PR approved email response. I am appalled that it is even legal for a large corporation like AA to get away with having no actual people available to talk to their paying customers. This is so appalling!!! He missed a funeral cause a crew member could not be bothered to sober up in time or get in up time to make her flight!!! He can't get a redo the friend is now in the ground. No way for him to say goodbye now!!!

AA shame on you for not having people to talk with and assist your well-paying customers when they need you. You have a customer relations department that can not relate to humans, only forms on a screen!!! THIS IS WRONG AND SHAME ON YOU!!! Please share this and never ever fly AMERICAN AIRLINES AGAIN. Their name is a disgrace to the USA. We are better than this crappy level of care for the general public!!!

However, when we arrived, there were 3 agents at the desk and within an hour, all but 1 left, causing many people to stand in line for almost 2 hours. When it was finally our turn, we were informed that there were no flights to Puerto Rico until Monday, 28 March. The funeral we were attending was on Saturday, 26, and our return flights were Monday and Tuesday. For obvious reasons we asked to be flown back home to San Diego. At that point I was assured by the agent that we would receive a full refund because we missed our flight through no fault of our own. Due to the quantity of delayed flights, no hotels could be provided, which is again understandable, so we spent the night at the airport.

Concerned with our baggage, we asked how we can get it and were directed to baggage claim. Once we arrived to baggage claim, the customer service was horrendous. The agent at the desk was rude and condescending. Although we had already been told that our baggage was on its way to Puerto Rico, the agent at the desk said the other agent had no idea what she was talking to us and explained that "Puerto Rico is an international flight and the luggage would not make it into the flight without us." Being a frequent travel to Puerto Rico, I knew this to be untrue; however, the agent was not listening to any of the customers. We were then told to return at 0500 to retrieve our luggage.

At 0500, the Baggage Claim was not opened, but there was a line of over 10 people. The group of people had "opening" times of 0430, 0500, and 0530. On 3 occasions, we asked the employees what time they would open and every single time, we were ignored. Our presence was not even acknowledged! When the desk was finally opened at 0530, the agent informed us that our luggage was on its way to Puerto Rico and there was nothing we could not (a completely different answer from the night before). At that point we filed all the required documents to have the luggage delivered to our home. The biggest issue with this is that we were forced to check in our carry on at the gate because there was "no space," although the bins in the last 6 rows were empty. Our carry on had all my important documents and as well as my daughter's asthma medication.

Once we arrived home, we filed a complaint and requested a full refund. We received an email back telling us that we would get a voucher because our ticket was "partially used." I explained to them over and over again that it was not by our choice or our actions that we missed our flight and could not attend the funeral. However, they insist that I used my ticket and are giving me 1 year to use it or lose my money. My husband and I are both in the military and are both set to deploy this fall. We are in training and preparation for deployment, leaving little time to go on a vacation. On top of that, after the HORRIBLE experience we had, I have no interest in ever flying with American Airlines again. Please let me know what type of documents I have to submit and I will.

We later found out our 4:35pm flight to Charlotte was delayed, meaning we would miss the connection to Hartford. After an additional hour and a half of still standing in the ticket line at American Airlines and receiving no service, we were finally spoken to. After another thirty minutes, we were able to switch to flight 1028 to Miami, Florida with a connection to Hartford. Flight 1028 was also delayed but would give us a better chance of making our connection to Hartford as we would not be able to make the Charlotte connection. The ticket agents displayed utter disregard for the urgency of our issue, and it was like pulling teeth to get the switch completed. We were treated with disrespect, and as PAYING customers we expect to be treated with some level of care and/or respect.

Once on the ground in Miami, we remained on the plane for an additional 15-20 minutes after landing due to the lack of a gate for us to pull up to. Once allowed to deplane, my traveling party along with 15-20 others needing to catch flight 1419 to Hartford sprinted to the gate where our plane was to be boarding. When we reached the gate, we stood there and watched the plane pull away.

The massive group of passengers who needed to be on that plane to Hartford were now stranded in Miami, and the gate attendants could not have cared less. It was incredibly hurtful to know that the airline we chose to fly on and PAY for was not willing to assist us in any way. I have never flown an airline that has treated a single person, let alone a massive group, so poorly. This was shocking. To hold a flight for 20 passengers in need of getting home to Hartford was not much to ask, considering the aircraft would be sitting in Hartford for the remainder of the night. This was unacceptable. I am still disgusted knowing an airline would do this to passengers.

We then were directed to the rebooking line along with hundreds of other American Airline passengers whom all missed their connecting flight; 20 or so meant to be on the flight to Hartford. While in line we called the 1-800 telephone number in attempts to reach some sort of solution, and were told there would be none. We were now being told that we would not see a way out of Miami. Period. Therefore missing work, risking termination from our jobs, unable to get home to our children and animals in need, and putting our entire livelihood at risk. And still, your airline could not have cared less.

Once we reached the counter to speak to the American Airlines re-booking representative, we were greeted with a vile attitude and again, another airline representative unwilling to help. We stood there for 10 minutes while your rep looked up available flights, only to be told that we would not be able to get onto a flight for three days (on standby, so still unknown), meaning we MIGHT get home on Wednesday, and even so she was not sure we would be able to get a flight out of Miami.

This was mind boggling. Simply baffling. When we explained how unacceptable this was (which is a simple fact of the matter), your representative ended the conversation with "sorry you FEEL that way". Of course we felt that way, because it was a fact that this treatment, inability to give your PAYING passengers a reasonable solution, was not acceptable. We were now left stranded in the Miami airport, not knowing when we would ever get home, prepared to lose our jobs and putting the other lives we care for at home at risk.

In addition to ALL of that, we had no luggage and no knowledge of where our luggage had ended up. We finally found out that the bags had been sent to Charlotte, and remained there for no reason for three entire days. We also found out that one bag from our party was tagged for another persons claim information altogether. Poor execution every way you cut it. I can't express to you how horrified we were along with the 100 other people in line who were witnessing this interaction. How is it possible for a major airline to operate like this? Training your employees to actively treat passengers like dirt was the biggest shock. They had to have been trained this way because it was the only variety of treatment we received across the board, from Aruba to Miami. I am perturbed that I gave you my money and my business.

After 3 hours (it was now 12:30 AM) we were given a hotel voucher, and told to return to the airport the following day(s) to be on standby for flights that were already overbooked for 3 days until seats became available. We were also given food vouchers that we were unable to use, because by the time we finished dealing with your staff, the hotels restaurant had been long closed. All of these issues were solely due to American Airlines inability to function. There was no inclement weather or emergencies causing these delays, simply incompetence on the part of the American Airlines staff. I WILL NEVER FLY AMERICAN EVER AGAIN. And I urge you to do the same. We as customers DO NOT need to tolerate this lack of service and respect.

At about 900, they came back. I had american airlines telling me there was plenty of room on the next flight. Gate agent told me it was overbooked but I could probably get on. So, waited until after 1100. I sat there as a young man kept walking from the gate back to tsa looking for missing passengers. Right up until taxi, when the last one finally got on. He refused multiple times to help book me on another flight.

I met another passenger who was also waitlisted. They booked her on another plane leaving in an hour. When I asked him about it, he said "yes, and I gave her 500.00 too. She was a volunteer, you were late." I went back to the main terminal now in tears. AA on the phone and the gate girl both refusing to help me get any definitive time rebooked, and watching the time to get the equipment my friend was expecting by 7 pm in Fort Worth run out. I finally was able to book a 115 flight to denver on united, where I then got a southwest airlines flight to dallas, finally arriving in fort worth at 1150 pm. My friend did not get her equipment.

I called the next morning to talk about what a mess that was and was informed I would have to pay 225.00 to fly home on the ticket I bought as I "changed my ticket." One offered to waive a part of it but I had to call back. The next one refused to. After 4 hours, I gave up, bought a 300.00 ticket home on United, and went to watch the Finals, finally delivering the equipment. Wasted 2 days of my 3 day trip. Ruined my vacation. All I asked for was a reasonable time they would get me to Fort Worth. Thank God for United and Southwest airlines for saving me in the end.

My two quick stories as to why I picked this airline is because twice US Air/American at the time of a death in my family charged me a mint to attend a funeral. My brother died in the line of duty and a flight from home to his home on a good day is about 250.00. At the time of his death I was charged almost 700.00 because of the short notice. 2nd time we were having a family reunion due to the fact my mother had cancer and was in her last days. I flew from Newark out and the flight was canceled due to the crew did not have enough ground time. I missed the gathering and missed seeing my mother for the last time.

My biggest disappointment is the fare BS that is so common. One way tickets cost more than round trip? Direct flights cost more than two legs? It may be based on market forces, but it doesn't make sense from a fuel or logistics standpoint. The airlines, especially AA, make you feel like they are taking advantage of you. There is no loyalty, except that I can book a exit row without extra charges. United and most US domestic airlines are the same if not worse.

Usually I would get refund to my credit immediately. Well this time it took 14 days, they sent me email telling the refund request is denied since it is a non-refundable ticket. I told the representative that I was told I could get my full money refund, otherwise I would just keep the old one without booking a new one. They gave me the wrong information and why I should only get voucher valid for only one year and less $200 dollar? It upsets me very much. I have called credit company and disputed for the charge and filed compliant to DOT.

Because she was so rude and hateful, she didn't even print out both of my boarding passes. So when I boarded the plane, the gate agents had to get on the plane and ask me if I purchased two tickets for myself. How embarrassing. If Jean would have printed out both tickets instead of being a nasty, mean, hateful, unhelpful wicked witch, this would have saved me the embarrassment. I was very much insulted by her telling me all I have to do is read and assuming I know how to read. Not everyone knows how to read. I shouldn't feel like it was a bother that I came to her counter. The kiosk is an option. Jean humiliated me and talk to me in a rude, hateful way. Not to mention, the other customers that went to her counter in front of me didn't get the same treatment I received. This was a horrible experience because I never had anyone treat me this way that works in customer service. She ruined my entire vacation.

The staff was dry, not once did I feel like any of the 3 agents cared about my outcome or really wanted to assist me with a possible resolution. At 3 am pacific time, my only reason for contact was to attempt to get the sale price honored. I have a hard time believing that in 2016, the record of my search (under my AA advantage sign on) and almost complete purchase could not be found. To top things off, I heard other employees laughing at my dilemma in the background. Very rude. I'll look to purchase elsewhere.

However, a ** male passenger that boarded after her was allowed to take his seat in first class. Additionally, the flight did not leave until 45 minutes AFTER the scheduled time, meaning that these flight attendants could have easily rectified the situation, but they just refused to do so. I am disgusted, shocked, and appalled by how my daughter was treated. She paid to have that seat. It was rightfully hers. They just gave it away and laughed at her. We emailed American Airlines, tweeted about the situation, sent a Facebook message. There has been no response. Nothing. Color of money is green, not white, black, brown or yellow. Our family has given American Airlines business for more than 15 years and my daughter has flown this route for the last 6 months and this is how she gets treated.

American Airlines has changed the departure from Cozumel from 1:40 pm to 5:35 pm giving me and my friend an arrival time at Newark at 12:10 am (November 13), four hours later at best. If there are more delays the travel time for us increases. I am awaiting a call back from Travelocity. They are not responsible for American Airlines not providing the flights as advertised and sold. However I bet they have better customer service. Last year my friend was bumped from the return flight while we were at Cozumel. I had to wait about 2 hours for him at Newark. Fortunately we have more time and Travelocity to help search out alternative flights.

The most horrible part is the inability of their customer service to respond to the complaints. We were both USAIR Silver Elite customers for many years, but it seems like American could have cared less. USAIR was such a great airline! We miss you! If they did something wrong, they apologized and made you feel taken care of.

We have decided to blog as much as possible about their treatment. We know how these things go. When an airline gets too big, they begin to mistreat their customers. But things change with time and competition. Let's hope American learns its lesson and that other companies are ready to take us in and treat us well! So sad that USAIR is gone.

When I arrived at the airport at 4:30 AM, I was told the flight was cancelled. I was then rescheduled for the 10:10 AM flight. That flight was later rescheduled to 11:00 AM, then 12:00 PM. We finally boarded at 12:30 PM. We sat on the runway for two hours and were deplaned and told to wait. About 30 minutes later, we reboarded. We arrived in Chicago; however, we had to sit on the runway for a very long time. I missed my 7:48 PM flight on 11/18/15 to the Central Wisconsin Airport because the aircraft was pulling away as I arrived at the gate. The lady at the gate said that I'd have to pay for my own hotel room because my original flight was not cancelled but left about 10:30 PM on 11/17/15. I was never given the option to take the later flight when I rescheduled. I would have, if the option were available.

Then I was informed that the next available flight to the Central Wisconsin Airport would get me there on 11/19/15 about 1:30 PM. I ended up taking a flight into Madison because I wanted to attend my son's state football championship game that was being held there at 4:00 PM that day. If I'd flown to the Central Wisconsin Airport, I would have missed the game. The representative tried to reroute me to other airports and couldn't understand why I couldn't fly into Milwaukee (4-hour one-way drive), LaCrosse (3-hour one-way drive), or Green Bay (2.5-hour one-way drive). All in all, it took me almost 55 hours to get home. I also lost two days wages. On 11/20/15, I had to drive to the Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee to pick up my car. When I wrote a letter to American Airlines, I received a canned apology and a $200 certificate towards my next flight. I will never fly American Airlines again.

When I asked her for medical assistance she told me to just sit down in the lobby. While just sitting there freezing before a 100 people with a blanket I felt humiliated and disrespected. I waited four hours in the lobby. I asked the supervisor to reschedule my trip. She said "hell no" and wanted me to pay 200 dollars to do so. I asked her if this was the protocol to treat sick passengers like this, she told me to sit down and wait for my luggage. I am an officer of the court and I know when someone gets sick in the courts, we get them medical attention quickly not to treat people like animals and let them wait freezing and getting sick sneezing coughing because of the freezing weather. I am appalled to be treated so badly. I have never been treated so bad. Please help me.

On the above mentioned flight there was a flight attendant whose name was Nancy and she was so courteous to the passengers in the midst of their disgruntlement. She is there apologizing for the inconveniences while the managers who create these absurd rules sit in the plush offices collecting the profits from passenger demise. The new logo AA has now is so very appropriate "Connecting the world like never before." Yes we have never been more miserable flying the "friendly" skies. The sad thing is these reviews fall on deaf ears as changes are not likely to happen.

Updated on 03/09/2016: American did contact me and graciously gave me bonus miles for my inconvenience. A nice gesture but I am not after miles or dollars. In the next 60 days I have 8 round trips booked. That is a total of 20 legs with trips with stops. On 14 of those I am booked in the rows I mentioned. I simply would like to sit in my reserved seat not some undesirable seat that was left to the last minute. They don't seem to understand their remapping plan is unfair and flawed. I feel like everyone in the next few months who is in rows 4-7 on American will need to complain and be given miles or dollars. Perhaps after they bleed a few 100,000 they'll get a clue.

I called American and then booked the ENTIRE same flight thru American Airlines (not flying at all with Delta) for my mother. When I made the new reservation telephonically I was told by the reservationist that American would probably give me a full refund (not simply a refund with a $200 change fee on a $217 ticket!) under these circumstances by requesting it online. In spite of this, it has been denied repeatedly by their Consumer Relations department. Even Delta who didn't get any business at the end of the day gave me a full refund! I am boycotting American Airlines and encouraging my friends and relatives to do the same!

However, after 3 days, Feb 5th, I got email and message from AA that they changed my seat fee additional $79.18. This make me upset. Then I called AA custom service by 1-800433-7300, a lady helped me to check and told me they only charge me once. So that I thought the $79.18 is already included in $513.20. Until today, Feb 29th, when I received credit card statement, I noticed that AA charged seat fee separately. Then I called AA custom service again to explain this why they are doing this way to custom!!! They transferred me to a supervisor.

The thing surprised me was that this supervisor was really rude and did not give me chance to explain and ask questions. She just kept saying they are not do anything wrong, "the website already show you about seat charge before submit purchase" etc etc. My question is that why AA did not add the seat fee together into total price that give custom a clear final? Why??? The only reason can explain this is that they try to cheat intentionally. I won't do any more business with AA.

Recently bought a round-trip ticket for $185 from Houston to Chicago. My departure date was originally March 9th but, due to an emergency, had to postpone the departure date. The return date remained the same. Guess how much they wanted to charge to change the departure date. $200 per passenger. That made it $400 for my wife and I to postpone the trip by a few days. Since my ticket cost less than the penalty, the ticket was essentially worthless! It did not matter that the return date remained the same. Since the new departure date is less than 3 weeks away, the new airfare is close to $300. So, the trip to Chicago will wind up costing me the original $370 and the new airfare of $600 - that's close to $1,000! What a rip-off! From now on, I will try my best to take an alternate airline. I am through with these guys. SouthWest does not charge change fees and their customer service is outstanding!