Originally Posted by
FWAAA
Another example of a very poor experience that might have been minimized had the OP asked questions before booking an evening departure from JFK to MIA with only an hour at MIA to connect.
I can't fault the OP for not knowing that evening JFK departures on AA are almost always delayed by an hour or two. I fly JFK-LAX every few weeks in the early evening and count on a one hour plus ground delay after pushing back every time. Fortunately, LAX is home for me so the delays don't matter. If I were hoping to make a one-hour connection at LAX for SYD or HKG, I'd leave JFK in mid-day instead of relying on an unrealistically short connecting layover.
Had the OP asked on the AA forum whether an hour connection at MIA at this time of day was reasonable, the answer would have been a resounding "no." The OP should have booked JFK-EZE or should have planned to take the earlier flight JFK-MIA to leave some cushion for screw-ups like this.
Flyertalk is a great resource to ask questions ahead of time. That doesn't excuse AA's shoddy treatment of the OP. I hope the real lesson for the OP isn't that AA sucks and doesn't care about their premium passengers, but that Flyertalk is a place to ask others for advice prior to booking the tickets.
In hindsight, you are right and I absolutely agree. I should have asked and will do so in future. I booked it through AA and assumed things would be OK. You live and learn.
For info, we did the MIA - EZE sector last night. No flagship lounge at MIA then!! Pre-flight dining options were bits of cheese and carrot, with pretzels. Or in terminal E, there was a pizza hut! On boarding, the first four F seats were taken up with AA staff, who carried on talking together as the F passengers got on. Three of them slept the whole flight. When the pilots were sleeping, the first four seats were all AA staff. Staff got served first. No vegetarian meal option as expected. Service not terrible but quite regimented and not a patch on BA, Qantas, Cathay etc. There seems to be a cultural thing at American where you don't speak to a customer unless spoken to and then impart the absolute minimum.
Should have done JFK - EZE as suggested, but with help from this forum when booking the AONE5 we were trying to maximise the F sectors.