PSA: Don't never ever book with American Airlines...

[Xenomorph]

We have travel planned to Mexico next month. We've decided to hold off because of the unlikely event we would test positive before getting on our flight home and be stuck there for 14 days.

Several months ago I booked basic economy tickets with AA.

Now AA has just told me their basic economy tickets are non-changeable. They are use it or lose it tickets. ...And they are the only airline that has reinstated this policy.

So....17 American Airlines. Avoid them like the Taliban.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Several friends have been having issues with American-- mostly flying out of and through DFW-- the past several days.

 

[DAWG61]

Might as well go to Mexico. You can thank AA when you get back.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

I have several co-workers in Dallas that fly 100K plus miles with American annually & they have even been experiencing nightmares with them for the last 6-8 weeks.

 

[615dawg]

We won the freaking national championship, so I wasn't complaining about anything.

But my trip back from Omaha via American was the worst trip I've ever experienced. An absolute disgrace of a once great company. I have several hundred thousand miles with them, but if they don't get it turned around, I won't be using them.

 

[Drebin]

American Airlines is the devil. I fly to Dallas twice per month for business and they are garbage - especially going in and out of DFW. If you have a flight scheduled for afternoon or evening, you can count on delays.

Probably the last 10 trips scheduled through AA - seven of them have had significant issues, ranging from delays to cancellations and getting stranded.

They're also terrible with communication. If your flight is delayed, they keep pushing the new departure time fifteen minutes at a time, ensuring that you cannot leave the gate area. Yesterday I had a 7:00 AM flight that got delayed in fifteen minute increments up to 11 AM before it was finally canceled. I got rebooked on a 1:30 flight, and it delayed until 4 PM. Just a terrible day.

And if you want to call them to complain, the hold time is more than four hours. I spoke to a lady in the Admiral Lounge yesterday who told me with a straight face that these issues are occurring with all airlines. I would go to Southwest exclusively but it's inconvenient to fly into Love.

 

[PartTimeGenius]

I deal with airlines regularly and when I have another option, I almost always go with someone else--even if that means we pay a little more. Recent AA travel through ORD and DFW have been especially atrocious. Cancelled flights and overnight delays galore.

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

American Airlines is the devil. I fly to Dallas twice per month for business and they are garbage - especially going in and out of DFW.

I don't fly often, but the only times I've ever had any problems was on AA flights through DFW.

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

Have not flown much - at all - in over three years. Always used AA for trips to Central and South America and they were solid. But it was always better to fly out of MIA as opposed to DFW.

In my view United Airlines is the Taliban, ISIS, and Al Qaeda all rolled into one.

 

[Xenomorph]

And here's the worst part. The place were staying just refunded 100% of our money for the house we had rented.. immediately with no questions asked.

So a tiny little company in Mexico that had trouble communicating with me because of the language barrier has better business practices than American Airlines.

 

[o_1984Dawg]

So you booked their extremely restrictive basic economy tickets and are pissed that they're holding you to the restrictions?

 

[Drebin]

And here's the worst part. The place were staying just refunded 100% of our money for the house we had rented.. immediately with no questions asked.

So a tiny little company in Mexico that had trouble communicating with me because of the language barrier has better business practices than American Airlines.

They wanted to charge me 289.00 to change a flight yesterday, which was more than the original ticket cost. And this was after I had been stuck in an Airport for half a day Tuesday and aGAIN yesterday. Not that it matters, but I fly AA a LOT and have exec platinum status. You'd expect that they'd want to at least show some level of quality customer support to one of their more loyal customers. It's like they don't care about their reputation, legacy, or performance. They're operating as if they're the only game in town.

 

[kired]

I hate them all. Ok, maybe not southwest. But airlines in general suck. And being around other travelers sucks. I have to prepare myself to be in a zen state before leaving for the airport.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

How could it be inconvenient to fly into Love? Where are you going? Unless you are working in the terminal at DFW. It takes 30 minutes or less to get from Love Field to DFW. You save 15 minutes getting a car upon arrival at Love. 10 minutes taxiing. And you get to fly SW vs AA.

Upon your return, it takes 30 minutes less minimum to get into Love vs DFW. I lived closer to DFW in drive time my last few years in TX, but it was much quicker to fly out of Love. The only reason I would not fly SW out of Live would be because flight times don't work. But if it came down to it, I would fly a day early to avoid AA. They have horrible for a decade.

 

[Drebin]

How could it be inconvenient to fly into Love? Where are you going? Unless you are working in the terminal at DFW. It takes 30 minutes or less to get from Love Field to DFW. You save 15 minutes getting a car upon arrival at Love. 10 minutes taxiing. And you get to fly SW vs AA.

Upon your return, it takes 30 minutes less minimum to get into Love vs DFW. I lived closer to DFW in drive time my last few years in TX, but it was much quicker to fly out of Love. The only reason I would not fly SW out of Live would be because flight times don't work. But if it came down to it, I would fly a day early to avoid AA. They have horrible for a decade.

The inconvenience is not the location of Love, but it's that there are fewer direct flight options via Southwest from Memphis. With AA, I can take a 6 AM flight and be in my office in Dallas by 8:30, and there are about six flights daily. Southwest only has a couple of direct flights and the timing leads to wasted and lost office time.

All things equal, Love is better because it's smaller and the rental car process is much faster/easier.

 

[DAWG61]

 

[The Peeper]

Long story I'll try to shorten. I flew out of DFW to Dublin Ireland via Chicago O'Hare. Got to Chicago in heavy rain with over an hour to spare. Approached gate and as luck would have it connection to Dublin was 3 gates down, I could see it, sweet! Flight attendant comes over speaker and says jet bridge won't quite connect to aircraft but they will have it fixed shortly. We sit, and sit, and sit but I can still see my plane out the window. I tell attendant I'm getting close to missing flight and she said they were in contact with several connections and they would hold it, they even announced to everyone to keep their seats and please let everyone off that was connecting first. Of course everyone immediately stands up and its the typical log jam. As I'm walking through 1st class I see my flight pulling away, oh hell to the naw! Myself and travel companions get on house phones and tell whomever would listen from American what happened. They all said no more flights out of O'hare to Dublin till same flight next afternoon 24 hrs later! I get pissed and tell them get us on a flight to LaGuardia, JFK, Atlanta, Charlotte, I didn't care just get me another connection to Dublin. They say no and our delay was because of weather which was an "Act of God" and they offered us a pillow, blanket and little zip lock with toothpaste, toothbrush, and hand wipes. I get us a free room at O'Hare Hilton with Hilton Honors points and as front desk clerk says "have a good evening" I tell him it can't get much worse, he asks why and I tell him the story. We go straight to the bar, don't even go to room and shortly after sitting a bottle of wine arrives and I tell them we didn't order it and bartender says "compliments of the front desk because of your bad day"! We get to the room later and there's a basket of water, chips, sweets, gum, etc w/ a note compliments of Hilton Honors! So to recap, I missed 24 hours in Dublin because of American Airlines. I got a bottle of wine and a snack basket from Hilton Honors as a kind gesture and I got a damn toothbrush, toothpaste, hand wipes and a used pillow and blanket from American. That was 9 years ago and needless to say I have not nor will I ever fly American again.

For those still reading the next night we get to plane and I tell companions we better not get delayed or damn sure better not wait for anybody else that does. You guessed it, we sat there for an extra 30 minutes waiting on other flights to arrive and they said we would make up the difference with a strong tail wind. I came unglued and unloaded on several flight attendants and loudly told my story to everyone that was nearby. The attendant said it was "the captains choice" on every flight whether to hold it or not. **** American Airlines and I hope they go under one day

 

[Smoked Toag]

So you booked their extremely restrictive basic economy tickets and are pissed that they're holding you to the restrictions?

Kinda my thoughts, too.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Like Drebin said, Southwest has few direct options and they’re the typical Southwest wonky hours.

 

[Drebin]

You must work for AA or something because you seem really offended by these posts. But most airlines (including AA at one point) were and still are waiving change fees for travel impacted or potentially impacted by covid, regardless of class of ticket.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Long story I'll try to shorten. I flew out of DFW to Dublin Ireland via Chicago O'Hare. Got to Chicago in heavy rain with over an hour to spare. Approached gate and as luck would have it connection to Dublin was 3 gates down, I could see it, sweet! Flight attendant comes over speaker and says jet bridge won't quite connect to aircraft but they will have it fixed shortly. We sit, and sit, and sit but I can still see my plane out the window. I tell attendant I'm getting close to missing flight and she said they were in contact with several connections and they would hold it, they even announced to everyone to keep their seats and please let everyone off that was connecting first. Of course everyone immediately stands up and its the typical log jam. As I'm walking through 1st class I see my flight pulling away, oh hell to the naw! Myself and travel companions get on house phones and tell whomever would listen from American what happened. They all said no more flights out of O'hare to Dublin till same flight next afternoon 24 hrs later! I get pissed and tell them get us on a flight to LaGuardia, JFK, Atlanta, Charlotte, I didn't care just get me another connection to Dublin. They say no and our delay was because of weather which was an "Act of God" and they offered us a pillow, blanket and little zip lock with toothpaste, toothbrush, and hand wipes. I get us a free room at O'Hare Hilton with Hilton Honors points and as front desk clerk says "have a good evening" I tell him it can't get much worse, he asks why and I tell him the story. We go straight to the bar, don't even go to room and shortly after sitting a bottle of wine arrives and I tell them we didn't order it and bartender says "compliments of the front desk because of your bad day"! We get to the room later and there's a basket of water, chips, sweets, gum, etc w/ a note compliments of Hilton Honors! So to recap, I missed 24 hours in Dublin because of American Airlines. I got a bottle of wine and a snack basket from Hilton Honors as a kind gesture and I got a damn toothbrush, toothpaste, hand wipes and a used pillow and blanket from American. That was 9 years ago and needless to say I have not nor will I ever fly American again.

For those still reading the next night we get to plane and I tell companions we better not get delayed or damn sure better not wait for anybody else that does. You guessed it, we sat there for an extra 30 minutes waiting on other flights to arrive and they said we would make up the difference with a strong tail wind. I came unglued and unloaded on several flight attendants and loudly told my story to everyone that was nearby. The attendant said it was "the captains choice" on every flight whether to hold it or not. **** American Airlines and I hope they go under one day

You know the jet bridge is owned by the airport right? The space is leased by AA.

I would assume you also know that no reasonable pilot is going to hold a plane for 1-2 customers at the detriment of the rest of the flight.

I suggest leaving about 3 hours between connections. It's just life.

 

[Smoked Toag]

No industry has been hit as hard by COVID as the airlines. I tend to give them a little slack for a few years.

 

[The Peeper]

What was weather related about a jet bridge not extending? The flight attendant said it was literally 12" from the aircraft but they wouldn't let us step over it. The Act of God crap is their go to when they are faced with putting passengers up. 3 hours, seriously? You don' get out much do you

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

No industry has been hit as hard by COVID as the airlines. I tend to give them a little slack for a few years.

They are not going to recover anytime soon and it may even get worse. But the easiest and least costly thing they can do is focus on consumer satisfaction.

 

[Puppychow]

Three years ago I was waiting on my flight home in Dallas. I’m in group 9. The lady checks in each group up to group 8 and then locks the doors. Never said group nine or last call. About 5 of us never got on the flight and she was unapologetic. Blamed us for not listening. Had to spend the night in Dallas. Horrible.

 

[ronpolk]

I’ve only flown American a few times. Generally they just don’t seem competitive on price. I’ve generally always had good experiences with delta. So that is who I use if I can.

 

[Drebin]

I’ve only flown American a few times. Generally they just don’t seem competitive on price. I’ve generally always had good experiences with delta. So that is who I use if I can.

It really depends on where you're going. I can get tickets out of Memphis to DFW on AA for about 100 bucks less than Southwest. But if I'm going somewhere else, there are always cheaper options.

 

[Xenomorph]

Absolutely I am. As a customer, when I can't return an item completely unused for at least store credit.. even if there is a restocking fee.. I'll just choose to shop elsewhere.

 

[Go Budaw]

No industry has been hit as hard by COVID as the airlines. I tend to give them a little slack for a few years.

American sucked absolute *** way before the pandemic. Don’t give them that cop out.

 

[dorndawg]

American Airlines is the devil. I fly to Dallas twice per month for business and they are garbage - especially going in and out of DFW. If you have a flight scheduled for afternoon or evening, you can count on delays.

Probably the last 10 trips scheduled through AA - seven of them have had significant issues, ranging from delays to cancellations and getting stranded.

They're also terrible with communication. If your flight is delayed, they keep pushing the new departure time fifteen minutes at a time, ensuring that you cannot leave the gate area. Yesterday I had a 7:00 AM flight that got delayed in fifteen minute increments up to 11 AM before it was finally canceled. I got rebooked on a 1:30 flight, and it delayed until 4 PM. Just a terrible day.

And if you want to call them to complain, the hold time is more than four hours. I spoke to a lady in the Admiral Lounge yesterday who told me with a straight face that these issues are occurring with all airlines. I would go to Southwest exclusively but it's inconvenient to fly into Love.

Not American's fault you're overloading the aircraft.*

 

[johnson86-1]

How could it be inconvenient to fly into Love? Where are you going? Unless you are working in the terminal at DFW. It takes 30 minutes or less to get from Love Field to DFW. You save 15 minutes getting a car upon arrival at Love. 10 minutes taxiing. And you get to fly SW vs AA.

Upon your return, it takes 30 minutes less minimum to get into Love vs DFW. I lived closer to DFW in drive time my last few years in TX, but it was much quicker to fly out of Love. The only reason I would not fly SW out of Live would be because flight times don't work. But if it came down to it, I would fly a day early to avoid AA. They have horrible for a decade.

Around 2013, I heard a public speaker at a company retreat give a speech about essentially customer/client service. Can't remember what his book was or what the hook was, but he bashed American Airlines in his introduction and closing and for pretty much every point of his speech, brought american airlines in as an example of what not to do. Can't remember where he said he had to fly out of but apparently American Airlines dominated his local airport (maybe Pittsburg?) and he referred to it as being a hostage of American. He even joked about how people would tell him to not be a drama queen and just reach out to American Airlines, and he stated that he has had American Airlines executives in his audience, so they know how horrible their service is and just don't care.

They are rarely a good option for me, so I haven't flown them much, but have had two bad experiences with them. One they just shut down their gate early for a small flight so I couldn't check my bag. The other was the screwing on the ticket change.

All that to say, yes, they have apparently been terrible for a long time.

 

[dorndawg]

We have travel planned to Mexico next month. We've decided to hold off because of the unlikely event we would test positive before getting on our flight home and be stuck there for 14 days.

Several months ago I booked basic economy tickets with AA.

Now AA has just told me their basic economy tickets are non-changeable. They are use it or lose it tickets. ...And they are the only airline that has reinstated this policy.

So....17 American Airlines. Avoid them like the Taliban.

Airlines are like an SEC head football coaching search: there's problems with the old one, there's problems with the one you got, and there's gonna be problems with the new ones. It's up to you to decide which set of problems you want, and how much it's worth to you to get rid of the current one.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

I never thought it was bad from MEM to DAL. Just ran a quick search for the Monday-Friday business trip Memphis to Dallas. This is not bad.

View attachment 21406

I would quit if I were Drebin. JLS doesn't leave the house at 4:30 am for a flight. That is for the birds. I would just leave the night before. Nothing important happens at work before lunch on Monday or after lunch on Friday anyway. Go SW Drebin... Your back and your sanity will appreciate you... And if your employer doesn't understand, you must work for Satan. A few hours Monday morning vs making an employee fly AA is the mark of the beast.**

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

I have 2 comments to this customer satisfaction rating.

I agree that the top 3 are head and shoulders above the rest and are the only airlines I fly now... And good Lord, don't ever find yourself on Air Canada.

View attachment 21408

 

[Drebin]

I never thought it was bad from MEM to DAL. Just ran a quick search for the Monday-Friday business trip Memphis to Dallas. This is not bad.

View attachment 21406

I would quit if I were Drebin. JLS doesn't leave the house at 4:30 am for a flight. That is for the birds. I would just leave the night before. Nothing important happens at work before lunch on Monday or after lunch on Friday anyway. Go SW Drebin... Your back and your sanity will appreciate you... And if your employer doesn't understand, you must work for Satan. A few hours Monday morning vs making an employee fly AA is the mark of the beast.**

I hear what you're saying. But I travel so much for work that I really want to minimize the nights I stay in hotels, as well as the hours I spend traveling during business hours. It's a personal choice to avoid flying in the evenings or miss time in the office. If I have to be there for two full business days, I'll usually fly in on day 1 and I can be there by 8 am, and fly back early on day 3 (because if I try to leave after work on day 2, my flight is delayed more often than not). This way I also miss minimal office time. If I miss half a day because I've been traveling (which is what I'd have to do on both ends of a southwest flight), I am really falling behind for the week.

 

[BigBully]

I use to fly every week to South America or Mexico in the late '90s early 2000's and was Executive Platinum status for years and I never had a bad experience with AA. However, that was when Bob Crandell ran the show at AA. Since AA acquired USAir (or USScare) they have sucked *** and I try to avoid AA like the Taliban.

I've been a Delta Ho for years now and they tend to treat their frequent flyers very well.

BB

PS: United sucks also.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

A couple of years ago my daughter and Son-in-law booked from Austin to Dallas to Jackson to meet us in Mississippi for her grandma's funeral. They get to Dallas just fine and American Airlines cancels their flight and puts them on the next one and continues to do this about 30 minutes before the next flight until they have spent the entire day and early evening in the airport with a one year old and three year old girls and no car to escape. We were in Mississippi already so his parents came from Denton to save them. Not only they miss the funeral they would not refund the flights only offer to credit the money for future flights

 

[johnson86-1]

So you booked their extremely restrictive basic economy tickets and are pissed that they're holding you to the restrictions?

People don't like it when companies have their business model set up to make money by providing worse customer service. If there are open seats on the subsequent flight, they could make a good bit of money by charging a change fee and selling inventory that is more or less going to go to waste. Or they can try to screw the customer for the whole ticket price and hope that they still use them and not another airline. Certainly mathematically, it might be better to screw the customer in the short term and in the long term, most customers shop on price no matter what, so being less liked doesn't hurt as badly as it would in other industries. It's still going to rub people the wrong way though when you forego the chance to make more money while helping your customer, just in hopes that by screwing your customer you can get even more money from them.

 

[57stratdawg]

Flying post-Pandemic is a nightmare. Everyone is short staffed, everyone is running behind, some of the concessions in the airport aren't open and everyone is in masks.

I have probably taken 10 flights in 2021 (primarily on Southwest), and 7 or 8 of those have been materially delayed. That includes Omaha. BTW, in the future I will likely drive to the CWS. The issue is availibiilty on the flights into Omaha. So, if you're delayed, you might get stuck in a connecting city for a while. My itinerary was originally Nashville -> St. Louis -> Omaha. Nashville to St. Louis was delayed, we were 100% going to miss that connection. The next day's travel to Omaha would have been St. Louis -> Denver (5:25 am) -> Midway -> Omaha. Plus, my companion was going to be on a different route. We were going to arrive at like 7pm and 11pm the next day, if everything went according to plan. We got lucky because a flight was delayed. So, we made it in around 1am.

Long story short - flying sucks right now.

 

[Dawgbite]

Even before Covid I quit flying to any destination that was within 10 hours driving time. Too many hour and a half flights turned into 12 hour plus delays. Flying just isn’t worth the potential and probable delays.