One month prior to departure: The red eye from SFO-ORD was cancelled requiring an earlier departure (8 hrs) and an overnight in ORD. The fare I paid for the red-eye was apprx 30% more than the fare for the earlier light...which I gladly paid to avoid an overnight in ORD...only to be placed on the earlier flight. I sent an email to AA customer service regarding this and was advised to call reservations..huh?? I booked a non-refundable rate at the Sheraton and decided I would address this after I return from PVG.
Two weeks prior to departure: The ORD-PVG flight was cancelled. I was re-routed SFO-LAX-NRT-PVG. NRT-PVG is on JAL codeshare thus no J class...3+ hour flight in Y class. In addition, I no longer need the hotel in ORD (non-refundable).
One day prior to departure: LAX-NRT was cancelled. I'm rerouted SFO-DFW-NRT. I am now departing 18 hours earlier than my original departure time. Mr Jurisdr, is travelling w/me and is now required an additional day off of work.
Update:
Compensation: 10k miles. Mr Jurisdr also received 10k miles.
The response letter was not a generic reply as it specifically addressed each issue. I opted not to address Mr. Jurisdr's additional day off of work. Rather I focused on the cancellations and not being contacted by AA for any of the changes (I happened to log in & noticed cancellations).
Date: Feb 14, 2008
AAdvantage Status: EXP
Fare: L upgraded to C
What Happened: personal light would not turn off after dinner until they forced all lights off about an hour later -- light would not come on in the morning so I could not get any work done and ate breakfast in the dark. IFE was also malfunctioning with a very dark hue and on demand did not work at all at my seat (while it worked at some).
Date: Feb. 4, 2008
AAdvantage status: Gold
Fare: N
What happened: Travelling MCO-DFW-SNA. On the way to the airport, an alert came in that the flight was delayed 30 minutes. Then 30 more minutes. On arrival to the airport, it had been delayed 10 more minutes, which was a moot point anyway, as our connection time was about 50 minutes. The reason given was "lack of parts," and was verified by the gate agent as not being weather. I asked to stay overnight in Orlando, but was told that there were no spaces on any flights out the next day (?) and I would have to take my chances in Dallas.
Once boarded, we began pulling away when a passenger in the next row began having a seizure. After taxiing back to the terminal and waiting for him to be properly treated (thankfully ok,) we finally left an additional 40 minutes later.
On arrival to DFW, all flights out to LAX/SNA were gone, and we were handed hotel vouchers and told that everyone on the typewritten list had been rebooked on flights the next day--we were not on the list. They said we would have to call and rebook but that we had to leave now, or the bus to the hotel would leave and we would have no way to get there. They said our luggage was there, but there was no one to take the luggage off the plane, so...no luggage.
The hotel was the Ramada South which was, frankly, creepy. After waiting in line for an hour to check in, many people left on their own dime because they didn't feel safe. You could hear pounding all night as some rooms had their doors painted shut and couldn't open them. I called and rescheduled the flight for the next day.
The next day, another alert came in that the rescheduled flight had been canceled. At the airport, we were rebooked on another flight. When asked about upgrades, none were available until later that day, and no one wanted to wait, for fear that we would never see home again. We asked for and received food vouchers.
After arriving home (roughly 24 hours later than planned,) note requesting compensation was submitted using the AA website. Positive response was received ~1 week later.
Feb 17, 2008
AAdvantage: PLT
Class: Discount coach
MIA-EZE
What: Flight delayed once boarded for maintenance on baggage door. Original departure 11PM, departure 2AM of Feb 18. We had dinner at 3+AM 8 (departure time), and breakfast after noon (arriving time). Several of the movie channels did not work.
Compensation: 3 K miles
Comments: Unsolicited compensation. Canned mail. Compensantion iss just for the delay.
Last edited by rockhoundm; Feb 26, 08 at 12:56 pm.
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, UA 1K, Hyatt Diamond, enjoying the retired life
Posts: 18,079
Feb 23, 2008
AAdvantage: EXP
Class: Business (with eVIP)
DFW-ORD (en route to FRA)
What: 4 hour delay due to baggage loading issues, then return to airport once in the air due to a cargo door light coming on. Still had time to make the connection at ORD. Pilot said he was writing a lengthy report covering the issues experienced.
Compensation: 3K miles
Comments: Unsolicited compensation that showed up this afternoon. Haven't received an e-mail, but I'm sure this is what it's for.
__________________ link to my travel photos new: Haleiwa, USS New York, Blue Angels in San Francisco
Two evening flights, both Feb 2008, no operable light. First class, gold status, 4,000 miles awarded. I would have preferred the light!!
Amused that I suggested flashlights for distribution in these circumstances and the form letter I received actually said they would consider my suggestion!!!
Last edited by atl801; Feb 27, 08 at 9:56 pm.
Reason: added comment
Date 2/24/08 AAdvantage Status Gold Fare class A What happened The buttons on my NGBC seat worked, only they effected seating position of the person sitting next to me rather than my seat. Good for a laugh - once. Purser called ahead to LAX station to inform them of needed repair and also told me that he spoke with CS who told him that I would have to ask for compensation myself rather than him doing it (unsolicited). Compensation 10,000 miles w/in 24 hours of notifying Customer Service.
Date: 2/3/08 AAdvantage Status: Plat Fare class: Y What happened: While at ORD I experienced a delay that would have caused me to miss my connection in SEA (to DFW...yeah, taking the long way home). So AA accommodated me with a non-stop ORD-DFW. A few days later I called AA to inquire if they would grant me mileage for original routing. AA wouldn't do that (not that I was expecting it, but no harm in asking).
Compensation: 1000 miles. I did not request this. AAgent said that was what she could do, rather than originally routed mileage.
Date: 2/3/08 AAdvantage Status: Plat Fare class: Y What happened: While at ORD I experienced a delay that would have caused me to miss my connection in SEA (to DFW...yeah, taking the long way home). So AA accommodated me with a non-stop ORD-DFW. A few days later I called AA to inquire if they would grant me mileage for original routing. AA wouldn't do that (not that I was expecting it, but no harm in asking).
Compensation: 1000 miles. I did not request this. AAgent said that was what she could do, rather than originally routed mileage.
You need to read the 'involuntary reroute / original routing credit request' thread for next time!
Anyone else on this flight? It was JFK - SFO and was supposed to depart at 3:30 PM EST. At 3:00 they announce at the gate that there is a mechanical issue and it will take at least an hour but they really don't know how long. So we head over to the AC and just hung there. Every 20 minutes or so they would update showing a new departure about 20 minutes out. I was also getting emails from AA as frequently. Finally at 5:30 they called for boarding. We board and by 6:00 the pilot announces we are ready pending some paperwork. 1 hour later and a very frustrated pilot and the paperwork is finally finished. Now we need a tow. Another hour and we finally get that - 8:00 PM we finally push back. The pilot was great about keeping us updated and was as frustrated as we were. I have to say though that except for the dopey couple seated behind me, everyone was very calm and polite. No uproars or anything. It just was painful arriving in SFO 5 hours late.
Anyway, I sent a letter to AA just addressing the frustration of the unnecessary 2 hour delay once the mechanical issue was resolved. I did compliment the crew on their handling of it, but just wanted to express the disappointment in the unnecessary delay. Received the follow response which I was satisfied with. It certainly was not a canned response either.
February 28, 2008
Dear Ms. Ladiflier:
Thank you for contacting American Airlines Customer Relations. I am pleased to have the opportunity to assist you.
I'm sorry you weren't included in the communications of apology we sent to our frequent travelers aboard flight 85 on February 21. We didn't mean to disappoint you further by excluding you from the mailing. Unfortunately, it appears that your AAdvantageŽ number was not included in the information we received.
We'd like to make amends for the disruption of your trip and we're glad you gave us the chance to do so. Accordingly, I've credited 4,000 Customer Service Bonus miles to your AAdvantage account. Look for this mileage adjustment to appear in your account very soon; you can view your account via AA.com at http://www.aa.com/aadvantage.
I appreciate your kind words on behalf of the crew on your flight. It is especially gratifying to receive such praise from you when your trip did not proceed as smoothly as usual. One test of an airline is how well its personnel perform when there are problems. I am pleased -- but by no means surprised -- that every effort was extended to minimize your inconvenience. We have forwarded your comments to the crew - I know they will be delighted to learn how their actions created such a positive impression.
Ms. Ladiflier, please be assured that we will do our best to provide a smooth trip the next time you fly with us. We'll look forward to the opportunity.
Sincerely,
Marla Waddington
Customer Relations
American Airlines
Not sure why they didn't have my FF # because it was on my PNR. Also not sure what the other people who actually go the letter received in terms of miles.
Programs: AAEXP, One World Emerald, AA Lifetime Platinum, PC RA
Posts: 284
AAJetMan, I would try again to get original routing credit if I were you. I had the same thing happen on the same flights (flying FRA-ORD-SEA-DFW) on 2/24 and ORD-SEA flight was delayed so that I would miss the SEA-DFW flight. They put me on the direct ORD-DFW flight. I emailed Customer Service and requested original routing credit and it was GRANTED (tho they gave the standard line of "a one time exception). Miles posted within 24 hours.
Date: 2/25/08 AAdvantage Status: PLT Fare class: N->X What happened LGA-DFW-DEN; upon arrival at DFW, 2nd leg originally showed ontime 3:40p, then was pushed back incrementally (≥7 times) to 7:05p. AC agent initially said they were working on finding equipment; the inbound they eventually selected was a SNA-DFW flight in the air but already delayed 4 hrs. I ultimately switched to a later DFW-DEN showing ontime 6:40p with aircraft at the gate, but that one ended up delayed to 7:00p at the gate. (Full disclosure: there was another flight in between, but it only had middle seats in the back.) Boarded and was told the FA crew was the DFW Standby Crew and they'd been told by Operations to wait for the assigned FA crew to arrive from the other side of the airport. Crew arrived 20 min later, then Capt announced that we'd been told to wait for additional late connecting intl pax. Another 20 min passed, and we eventually pushed back at 7:36p. Others were happy to make their flight, but net delay for me was 4 hrs and I missed a dinner meeting. Compensation: $150 voucher Comments: No major delays or weather at DFW that day; I think there was still weather on the West Coast, though. Emailed Customer Relations to inquire about 1) whether they'd sacrificed my original flight to maintain ontime performance for other flights by choosing such a badly delayed inbound to use, 2) why they didn't just let the standby FA crew fly and transfer the inbound crew to standby. Didn't explicitly request compensation but received a form letter response with voucher. Would have preferred substantive answers on their operational decisions, but the voucher helps.
Last edited by dstan; Mar 3, 08 at 7:40 pm.
Reason: reverse flights, wrong date
What happened: mci-dfw was just fine, dfw-nrt was showing on time when we arrived, but I noticed that the early morning nrt flight was still not waiting to board. Announcement was made that our flight was pushed back an hour, then I noticed our plane moving over to the spot where the earlier nrt flight was boarding. They got our plane and we waiting another two hours for our new plane to show. During the flight we heard all the apologies about being late and "will be making up time in the air", we ended up making up zero time in the air. Arrived in nrt and RAN to the bkk gate thinking we might just make it. They had not even started boarding yet, I asked the agent if we were fine and she said yes. Started boarding, my wife went first and her BP went thru fine, mine got kicked back out. Long story short, they had bumped me to the next morning flight on SQ and not my wife. She was already in her seat, and they pulled her back off because she was supposed to of been bumped also. Plane was only half full at most. We told them we didnt care about bags not making it tonight we could get them later. Was told we HAVE to fly with our bags. they put us up at the hotel near the airport and left the next am on SQ
On the flight back nrt ord they tried to move us to J but it was full, they did let us hang out in the lounge, which was nice.
We wrote a letter when we got home,and received a nice letter back along with 15,000 miles each.
We have been on this flight dfw-nrt several times, and it has never been on time for us. I think this spring when we return again, we will fly in the night before and take the early am nrt to make the connection to bkk on time.
AAdvantage Status: None at time of flight, now PLT Fare class: L What happened: Flight to LGA left gate on time, but after we got de-iced, the pilot announced that our plane would be taken out of service due to a mechanical issue. We returned to the gate, and thankfully they found another plane for us, so we boarded our new plane about 30 min later. De-icing took about an hour as we cycled through 3 de-icing trucks due to equipment failures on the trucks. Flight arrived 2 hours late. My connecting flight already left LGA before we landed. Compensation: 10,000 miles Comments: I had a long travel day, so when I got to LGA, I cancelled my meeting at my next stop along with my next two segments, and the AAngel in the LGA AC put me on the next plane to ORD so I could continue my itinerary. The next 3 segments went without a hitch. On a side note, 7 of the people on my plane were connecting in LGA to head to MIA. AA actually held the MIA flight for an extra 20 min after scheduled departure time so that the folks on my plane could run to the gate next door to board their plane. Even though my flights got screwed up, kudos to AA for helping all those other folks stay on schedule.
Contacted AA via website - got a reply back within 24 hours!
Last edited by JY1024; Mar 8, 08 at 11:40 pm.
Reason: Added contact method
