American Airlines Reviews

I arranged for my driver to take me to LGA to pick up my luggage. When I arrived at LGA, they told me they had no idea where my luggage was and I was to file a missing bag complaint. I filed the complaint and my luggage was eventually found. When I received my bags the next day, I had several items missing from the bags. US Airways told me that it was not their responsibility; that it was now Delta Airlines' responsibility because I last flew on Delta Airlines. US Airways has taken no responsibility for what happened.

This same flight attendant could not or better said, did not want to understand that my aunt was requesting coffee and water, not milk but coffee and water. The gentleman took his time to tell her that she needed to try to say it in English because he could not understand her. My aunt says that there was another ** female flight attendant who looked at them in disgust as this was happening. After going back and forth on the coffee issue, a flight attendant by the name of ** approached them and asked what was going on insinuating that my grandmother and aunt were the ones causing trouble. Finally, he translated what my aunt had requested to the gentleman and even then he couldn't understand. When my aunt thought he finally got it, he brought her tea instead.

To top all this off, when he passed around the passengers to bring water, my aunt told him she did not want any. His response? He dropped the water in her lap and didn't even have the courtesy to dry her up. My aunt said that it seemed as if he got a bit scared at that point and dropped a napkin on her lap and left. No apology, no nothing! We have traveled in American for many years; my grandmother in particular has used your airline for the past 25 years! The behavior the flight attendants showed is of very poor character, rude, and simply unacceptable.

At this point my grandmother, because of her condition, is in such panic state that she no longer wants to travel with AA and I can't blame her. My aunt simply cried as she has never before experienced such a humiliation as she did on that day in front of all the passengers from Flight 231. They even had passengers coming to them at the parking lot to see if they were okay (we have names and phone numbers.) This incident has caused a serious imbalance in my grandmother's health, and I am holding AA accountable for it! I have contacted AA customer relations and emailed some of its executives with no response at all.

When we asked why we weren't allowed on the plane that we showed up while they were still boarding passengers, she said our plane was late coming into Philly so they already cleared the seats and we said, "Yes but we showed up while you were still boarding passengers and we have two young children and standby for four people is not going to work very well." Then we asked why we were not getting free flights since they were offering them to people who took a bump because the flight was overbooked. The woman said, "Because your seats were cleared so they don't count." Again, I was appalled by how rude the woman was especially since she could see that my children were right there and visibly shaken up (both were crying quite a bit).

We ended up being put on standby, none of which came through. We were booked on a flight to Binghamton which is an hour and a half away from our original destination of Syracuse, and not even given so much as a meal voucher for the five extra hours we had to spend in the airport. All I can say is again the service or lack thereof is beyond anything I have ever dealt with and totally undeserved. They should be ashamed of themselves and I will complain to everyone I can think of because ultimately, my tickets were stolen from me!

Yes, I know it's not American's fault, but it's not the passengers' fault either. The AA employees treated us like we were an inconvenience and an interruption to their plans for the day. Shame on you, American Airlines! You are so busy worrying about picketing and protests that you've forgotten that the passengers pay your salary. If you aren't nice, we'll go somewhere else. I promise. You can bet that I have told everyone that I meet how horrible your service is! I am a customer service trainer for a global direct sales organization. If our employees acted the way AA employees did, they would be fired.

By the way American Airlines, your baggage handlers tore up my brand new luggage. I am sure it would be useless to complain. Instead, I will just tell everyone I know how horrible your employees treat your customers. You may think that you're the only game in town, but you're not. No wonder you're having financial issues! I am getting ready to get on another AA flight in a few hours. I have no doubt the flight will be delayed. I have no doubt I'll be treated like a bug on the feet of AA employees. I know this will be a horrible experience. If I complain too loudly, the TSA will treat me like a right wing radical, roust me out of line, and search me and my bags in front of all the other passengers. At least I have something to look forward to! American Airlines, you stink!

Well, upon my return to DC, I went back to DC baggage claim to inquire and to look around but still came up empty handed. I must have spoken with 20-30 people at AA and some were very smog and must have received several different excuses and probabilities. I started to do a little research on my own simply because I had a lot of valuables in my luggage and this situation has caused me many sleepless nights and tears. Let me say this before I go any further, AA has no check and balance system so they say. They do not scan your luggage once they receive it from TSA. They rely totally upon individuals to look at your tag and then place it on the corresponding carousel. Also, after doing intensified research, I found that the Airlines have had a great deal of thefts going on not only with the Airlines but also with TSA. Now, I was told that the percentage of thefts was little to none. They lied and they continue to lie.

I went back and forth to Regan National just to take a look at their baggage claim area. This is what I noted: Baggage that comes off the carousel waiting on its rightful owner is stacked near the claim area and anyone and anybody can just walked and take whatever they like. There is no one standing by to check claim tickets but you have several agents sitting at a desk in the claim area for the most part doing nothing when in all actuality, they could be standing and making sure people are being honest about luggage. Also, I found out that a thief was caught at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport who had to be stealing luggage for 1-2 years from the baggage claim area with no questions asked. He just happened to get caught. This rogue was taking 2-3 bags at a time. The amount of baggage that is lost or stolen is just absurd. I'm finding there are a lot of people like myself that has been victimized and it's just so painful and unbearable. The airlines don't care and they just lie. It's just unfair. The airlines charge a lot of outrageous prices, they search you, they charge you extra for bags, but they can't protect your luggage.

It just doesn't make any sense. I think some of this nonsense can be eliminated firstly, if TSA suspects your bag, you should be able to watch them go through it and then seal it back up and if at all possible be able to give your baggage to the handlers or better yet put cameras in the area. Also, the airport needs to re-install the system where at least two individuals are placed in claims area to check your baggage claim ticket before you are allowed to take it out, no questions asked. This would create a few more jobs for individuals. Secondly, I feel that these airlines need to be held more accountable for this lost luggage nonsense and if they can't do a better job of this, then some lawsuits need go into action right away. I would be the first to raise my hand to assist. There are a bunch of thieves working for the airlines. It's a racket.

On 4/9 I printed my itinerary, and upon closer investigation, realized that my lap child was not included and my Saturday, 5/16 flight home was incorrectly listed as Monday, 5/11. I contacted AA to correct the problem. I was informed that in order to get the 11:00 AM flight that I had originally requested, I was going to be charged an additional $1,200.00 in increased flight fees and ticket change fees. My only other option was to accept a 6:30 AM flight with a $245.96 fare increase and $600.00 ticket change fee. After explaining the circumstance as they had occurred, and the great inconvenience (to my family of 3 children under 6), the supervisor agreed to waive the $600.00 change fee. I authorized the $245.96 fare increase and requested the add-on of the $12.00 lap child ticket. Once again, I foolishly assumed my flight headache was over.

Upon checking my new itinerary I found that, once again, my lap child was not included and I was in fact charged the $600.00 ticket change fee. I called AA again only to be told that there is no record of the supervisor agreeing to waive the $600.00 ticket change fee. I asked for the name of the supervisor that charged my credit card so that I could resolve the issue directly, only to be told that there is no way to look up her name. AA is unwilling to correct the problem. Now our $2,690.00 flight is going to cost us an additional $600.00.

One honest mistake is an acceptable inconvenience. A second blatant error and the refusal to correct it are unforgivable.

To add to this mess, my luggage was lost by AA for five days. I did not have any luggage for my entire stay in Auckland and did not receive it until I arrived in Wellington! I am planning to continue to use AA for the remainder of my flights. I am just looking for them to refund what has not been used since I can no longer now follow through with the itinerary as I originally booked due to their changing flights.

First of all the flight: During the flight, my son was experiencing severe ear pain and I forgot my gum in my backpack in the overhead. The flight was smooth, there was no turbulence. I jumped up to grab the gum and the flight attendant screamed over the loud speaker, “SIT DOWN IN YOUR SEAT NOW!” He simply could have come up to me personally and told me that it was not an emergency situation. Then we land and the 2 bells go off and everyone proceeds to get their luggage.

The pilot came over the loudspeaker very politely and said, “I am sorry we have to taxi in a little further, if everyone could please be seated.” I proceed to sit down and hold my daughter's pink luggage piece next to my seat. Again the flight attendant screams over the loud speaker, “MOVE THAT PINK LUGGAGE OUT OF THE AISLE!” Everyone around me was appalled and quite frankly I don't need my children age 5 and 7 getting upset because their mother has been yelled at 2 times; both times which was uncalled for.

Then we land and we wait for our luggage, and wait and wait. I couldn't believe that we checked out luggage in first class and it was lost. They said it might be on the next flight but the time frame for delivery could be 4-6 hours. We were forced to tell our friends to go ahead because they had a wedding to go to the next day. We then took a cab for $47 to a friend of mine's house in Long Island. At 4:30, I started to make my phone calls regarding my luggage. File locator **. First, I was told it should be on the next flight and then they would deliver it to the address we were at. At 10:38, I spoke to a supervisor ** and she said it was picked up at the airport at 9:30 (no details as to why it was not on the next flight from ours) and that I could be 6-9 hours for delivery.

I sat in a chair by the door waiting for the luggage to be delivered during the night. I apparently fell asleep and at 7:46 spoke to **, another supervisor, who told me we don't deliver during the night. I don't know why you weren't told. It would be the next morning. He said the driver had picked it up from the warehouse already and it would be delivered by 1. Everyone I spoke to gave me a different answer. Finally I got the number of the driver and had him call me directly and my husband borrowed a car and met him on the route and got the luggage at 12pm. We then had to rent a car to go to Boston.

As if the flights weren't expensive enough, we then had to pay $50 for our luggage, and then $47 for the cab and then we had to rent a car on our own instead of sharing it with our friends! When we were waiting for our flight to board, it was overbooked so they offered everyone a $300 voucher to give up your seat. I would have jumped at it except we were meeting people in New York. Why is so much offered to give up your seat but nothing is offered for a horrible travelling experience!

Consequence: Out of Pocket expenses: $47; $50 to pay for our luggage to be lost; $200 for a car rental.

We needed our required sleep (screw the customer who only got 3.5 hours). Told paperwork holding up plane. 11 am - told starter not properly fixed; taken off plane (2nd time!!). Told by pilot flight will leave at 5pm at earliest; can’t get luggage off plane; 3pm plane backs up; NO one can tell us anything; no one can tell us if plane will be fixed; 2-3 hour wait still to talk to ticket agent (one guy working to rebook/change tickets for entire plane). Told plane leaving 6pm; does not leave until 8pm; was given boarding pass to 10 pm (EST) Buffalo connection, and told we would make connection Charlotte to Buffalo due to delays in Charlotte, and that we were also booked to get on flight next am if we missed our 10 pm connection; run to gate in Charlotte...plane left 10 minutes ago and there were no delays!!!!

Are told that we are booked not for Sunday am but for Monday am (Thank YOU, San Juan Agent). Try to rebook with desk agent, they couldn’t figure out anything; my wife booked flight leaving the next day using cell phone!!! Another night in a hotel, 3.5 hours of sleep again!!! 48 hours to get home, $400 lost booking back up JET BLUE flight, which would have kept if I had known Charlotte AM connection was for Monday morning not Sunday. 6 hours of sleep in 48 hours, no information, no assistance rebooking (and phone booking domestic switched us to international, and they switched us back and forth and back...finally got nasty and only then could I get a supervisor). US Air…you owe me (money, apologies, explanations...).

Consequence: $400 lost to book then cancel back up flight; probably $200 in cell phone roaming calling from San Juan; 48 hours of my life instead of 8 hours for non weather problems; stress, aggravation, and back pain from sitting lots, standing lots, and lugging luggage (and lousy airport beds). Lost my 2 days at home for preparing for surgery for Monday, going through mail, returning phone calls etc, and kids lost time to complete homework, practice instruments and stress to my wife making calls, sleeping in lousy hotels, and not resting for her work grind; we lost any sense of having an $8,000 vacation.

"On December 22 I got to experience one of my worst nightmares. My flight from San Diego was delayed, but I was told at check-in that I should still make my connecting flight. As it turned out, delays kept piling up and I missed my connecting flight in Philadelphia by about 10 minutes. I was stranded for 24 hours till the next flight out to Manchester, England. While this was extremely unpleasant, it is not the root of my complaint.

What turned a miserable experience into a total disaster was the fact that upon boarding the plane I was told that I could not take my carry-on luggage aboard. This was a bag that was well within the limits of carry-on luggage and the only bag I attempted to take on board. There was room under the seat in front of me the entire trip. I could see no reason for taking the bag from me, and even worse, not returning it to me in Philadelphia. As a result, I had to spend the 24 hours with no warm coat, no money, and no way to charge the dead battery in my cell phone or computer (which I insisted on pulling from my bag), cutting me off from any easy communication with friends, relatives, and even the airline, about my circumstances. I was fortunate enough to have been hanging onto my passport or I may have been in even worse circumstances.

I pack things in a carry bag just for such emergencies. I came prepared, but the airline seemed bent on ensuring that any delays that were caused beyond their control would be magnified by whatever they could possibly do under their control to make my life miserable. I still can't believe the total insensitivity and sheer stupidity of the airline staff. Is this really the airline policy? And is it only confined to US Airways, in which case the obvious solution is to avoid ever doing business with them again?"

What happened next? They misrouted the carry-on luggage! Being from the UK, I was not aware that there is a Manchester (much smaller) in the U.S. When I arrived, a day later than originally scheduled, my carry-on bag did not show up. I was still without battery chargers, visa papers for returning to the U.S., and the personal items I was most in need of and most concerned about losing. They did locate the bag, but since they didn't have a flight Christmas day, it got delayed even further. They finally delivered it to me on Dec.27, 5 days after taking it from me.