Originally Posted by
dickinson
we booked expensive round-trip tickets at $324 per person out of DC heading to Chicago on Friday, April 9 at 8:20am.
That's expensive?
We decided to save some money by taking the bus to the metro to the airport. This was a big mistake as we ended up in the airport at 7:50am. (Yes, we freely admit it was our fault that we were late to the airport).
I have a moderate amount of sympathy here; that can certainly happen. AA putting them on standby the standby list is now a nice gesture, though even five years ago it would have been considered basic customer service and the standard rule.
I was then informed that in fact, if you miss the first leg of your round trip ticket the entire ticket is void and gone. The only way to proceed is to pay the difference between the amount you paid for your round-trip ticket and what is now a one-way ticket, plus a $150 change fee.
This is the only bit where AA is clearly in the wrong. AA staff told these passengers that they would allow them to fly the return leg; they need to stick by that word, even if it violates policy.
Third, while it may be true that the fine print that you click when you buy a ticket online tells you this information about your not being able to take the second leg of your flight if you miss the first leg of your flight, I would wager that the majority of consumers do not know this unless they are frequent flyers.
I do agree with this statement; there's way too much fine print for it to be readily intelligible for infrequent fliers. Barring a law that prohibits the kind of obtuse fine print that is the norm, however, the onus is on the consumer to understand it. I would be in favor of such a law/regulation, if properly implemented (a giant if), as it would apply to the entire industry and make the entire industry more consumer-friendly. (The recently-mandated optional fees page on airline web sites is a good start; now passengers need to look at it.) It might cause costs to increase marginally, however.
The moral of the story? Never be late to the airport.
The correct moral.
But more importantly, never fly American Airlines.
This common statement is obviously absurd. I highly doubt that the passenger would have gotten any different treatment on a different (US) airline (alas). That said, if I did get better treatment on some airline, I would be inclined to patronize that airline preferentially. That doesn't mean it would be a good business decision for that airline, but it's true from my perspective.