Originally Posted by
m907
This is standard operating procedure for AA. Their policy of rolling delays is designed to maximize the aggravation to customers.
If I were OP, I would have rented a car and driven after it was delayed til 5 PM.
DCA-BUF is a long drive. I'd probably look to switch to SYR or similar. I think OP was put in the worst possible spot as they kept on tail swapping. I would bail if it was a maintenance or inbound rolling delay, but each delay seemed like there was a realistic chance at leaving only to be swapped again.