While we realize that arriving at your destination on time was important on June 11, we sincerely apologize for our flight delay and the disruption of your plans. However, we would like you to know that the safety of our customers and crewmembers will always take priority over on-time departures.
Nevertheless, we realize you were inconvenienced and we'd like to offer you a gesture of goodwill and encouragement to continue to fly with us. Because you are one of our most loyal travelers, we've added 5,000 miles to your AAdvantageŽ account. You will see the mileage soon at http://www.aa.com/AAdvantage.
Again, we are sorry. We hope you'll give us another chance -- we'll see you aboard American and American Eagle again soon.
Sincerely,
B. J. Russell
Customer Relations
American Airlines
Received the same letter from Mr/Ms Russell this morning (what a busy person they must be!) giving me 3,000 miles for a 7.5 hour delay at DFW on 6 June travelling on a KUP fare to SFO (first flight cancelled, re-booked onto AA399 which was delayed by 3.5 hours, both due to mechanical problems).
The weird thing is that I have never used my AAdvantage account for flights, I only opened it to get credit from hotels/on-line retailers that I can't use any of my other cards at and all my AA flights have my BA number on them - this was a nice surprise, although it still only leaves me with 4,700 miles that I don't really know what to do with. I didn't even complain, so not sure what prompted this - I have had longer delays in the past without any compensation.
Edited to add: just noticed one slight difference in the letters - mine doesn't say "Because you are one of our most loyal travelers".
Location: Fort Worth, TX; AA EXP, Starwood Gold, Hertz Five Star, Hilton Gold
Posts: 238
Date: May 25, 2009
Itinerary: LHR to DFW
AAdvantage Status: EXP
Fare class: Discount Economy (Upgraded to Business with eVip)
What happened: The seat arm was broken (aisle seat, aisle side)
Compensation: 18,000 miles
Comments: Happy with very quick response from customer service and the compensation given. This was the first time I had ever filed a complaint with AA.
Date: 7/2/2009 AAdvantage Status: GLD Class: Y What happened: Total of ~2 hour mechanical delay, following a 4 hour delay for weather. Because of holiday weekend very few rebook options, (this was for LAX-BOS). So 24 (plus) hour delay in arriving into BOS. Compensation: 15,000 miles deposited and $10 food voucher for use at LAX. Comments: First time that I've needed to request compensation, I felt the miles were appropriate to the situation. The canned response letter was a little over the top though.
What happened: One of the 2 seat arms was broken and did not allow the seat to get into the "full" bed position.
Compensation: 5,000 miles
Comments: It was a daytime flight, so not a huge deal. I used the online form to politely inform them about the armrest issue, but otherwise it was a very complementary message saying how much I enjoyed the flight. I did not ask for any compensation and I'm very pleased they were generous enough to offer any mileage. Still, interesting to note that We2sparks received 18,000 miles for what looks like a similar issue.
Date: 6/30/2009
Itin: ORD-NRT
AAdvantage Status: EXP
Class: N, Upgraded to C (eVIP)
What happened: Malfunctioning Seat, Lav Issues in Y
Compensation: 10,000 miles (Unsolicited)
Comments: The seat wasn't a big deal as the seat next to me was empty, so I just moved. One of the lavs was broken in Y, so they allowed Y pax to use J lavs. It really wasn't a big deal, and I was surprised to receive the e-mail with 10,000 miles today.
Programs: AA EXP and 1MM, SPG Platinum, HHonors Gold, Hertz Prez. Circle
Posts: 66
Random apology email from AA - unsolicited
Hi folks,
Just the other day, out of the blue clear sky, I got an apology email from AA customer service regarding the cabin temp on a flight that I was on. I read and re-read the email because I am normally sensitive to cabins that are extremely hot. But I can confirm that the flight in question was completely comfortable and I never even sent a complaint or anything. Plus they gave me 5K bonus miles.
Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York
Posts: 5,121
Situation: Wife and I (both EXP) were flying BOS-DFW-LAS on 7/2. She was in F (on an eVIP) and I was in Y (on an uncleared eVIP). Our noon flight out of BOS took a mechanical and the lounge put us on BOS-LAX seven hours later, with an overnight in LAX, followed by a US flight LAX-LAS on the first morning flight the next day.
Total delay in BOS: seven hours
Total delay overall: twelve hours
Compensation: $200 voucher per person, lunch and dinner vouchers, hotel at LAX.
Programs: AAdvantage EXP, AA 1.4MM, Marriott Rewards
Posts: 1,794
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeef
Situation: Wife and I (both EXP) were flying BOS-DFW-LAS on 7/2. She was in F (on an eVIP) and I was in Y (on an uncleared eVIP). Our noon flight out of BOS took a mechanical and the lounge put us on BOS-LAX seven hours later, with an overnight in LAX, followed by a US flight LAX-LAS on the first morning flight the next day.
Total delay in BOS: seven hours
Total delay overall: twelve hours
Compensation: $200 voucher per person, lunch and dinner vouchers, hotel at LAX.
Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York
Posts: 5,121
Quote:
Originally Posted by benzguy80
did you get upgraded BOS-LAX?
Yes, we did. Forgot to mention that.
On the cost side, we actually did pretty well. We were able to cancel one night's hotel in Las Vegas, so that was effectively a free night, since AA paid for us at LAX.
When we first heard that we would have to wait until the next day to get to LAS, we were annoyed about missing a night of vacation. But when we realized what we were getting out of it, and the fact that all we were missing was a night in a hotel room, we were thrilled.
Bottom line: M/X occasionally works out in the passenger's favor.
Programs: AAdvantage EXP, AA 1.4MM, Marriott Rewards
Posts: 1,794
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeef
Yes, we did. Forgot to mention that.
On the cost side, we actually did pretty well. We were able to cancel one night's hotel in Las Vegas, so that was effectively a free night, since AA paid for us at LAX.
When we first heard that we would have to wait until the next day to get to LAS, we were annoyed about missing a night of vacation. But when we realized what we were getting out of it, and the fact that all we were missing was a night in a hotel room, we were thrilled.
Bottom line: M/X occasionally works out in the passenger's favor.
Mike
glad it worked out. this is part of reluctance a lot of infrequent (and a few non-FT frequent) fliers have, getting stuck and then being mishandled/abused by the carrier. many of those would not be willing to lurk on FT for hours to learn how to gain status and know how to get better treatment during IRROPS.
Date: July 16, 2009 AAdvantage Status: Gold then, Plat when complained Fare class: Y What happened: In flight entertainment did not work and neither did seat light on AA 61 DFW-NRT Compensation: 10,000 miles Comments: I was more annoyed that my light didn't work than anything. The purser's snotty attitude is what prompted me to write in and complain. I was not expecting any compensation so I'll take it.
Why do you say that? Could you please elaborate?
