Originally Posted by
shoxwort
The most recent occurrence was today, and it will end up costing me well in excess of $500 due to changing rental car reservations, meal costs, and hotel accommodations. Today's snafu is compounded by the fact that they are requiring us to stay in the airport for an additional 7 hours, with no A/C in the building, and they are not offering water, snacks, food, or anything at this point. If people require water, they must purchase it with no reimbursement from AA.
I'm at the end of my rope here with this being the full 3/3 for every trip I've taken on American being messed up and then immediately and horribly mismanaged (this time, American detained a large group of people for a number of hours without allowing them any food or water, and not allowing them to leave the airport even though they opted to remain another night and just fly out in the morning).
I would like full compensation for all additional costs from this trip and my other two (since I didn't end up getting compensation like I should have), and in addition to that would like American to make amends by treating me and my wife to a trip somewhere since they've cost us valuable time together that we may never get back, as well as the vacation days they've stolen from me.
The specific details of each trip really would determine any sort of assistance that's due - for example, are these domestic trips (in which AA's contract of carriage pretty much says they don't owe people anything) vs international trips (that are subject to international general rules which are a little more in the passengers favor), but likewise even in that case, hotel accommodations if the delay happens in the city you reside in are not due.
At most, generally some consideration from AA for food and beverage at the airport during the delay is what a realistic expectation by way of vouchers, but to retroactively try to get some sort of financial restitution on past flights will most likely result in a form letter saying something along the lines of "so sorry, no." With that said, the only thing I'd expect from them at this stage after the fact if I were approaching them might be a minimal amount of miles credited to your account as a gesture of goodwill in their eyes.
Do keep in mind that AA's contract of carriage very clearly states they "are not responsible for any special, incidental or consequential damages if we do not meet this commitment," and as such, complaining to them about lost vacation days, other 3rd party costs, and particularly expecting they give you a free trip somewhere would probably be met with even less of a helpful disposition.
My personal advice for what it's worth if you opt to send a complaint, is to keep it short and concise - definitely leave out the request for a pair of free tickets - without too much emotion/anger, and expect very little if anything in terms of compensation... see it's value being that you've expressed your complaint but recognize that technically while you may have been inconvenienced more than once, the airlines actually "owe" very little in terms of compensation except in very specific situations.