Often1

While I don't doubt OP's recollection of what the GA said, it is wholly understandable that a PA announcement is unclear or that OP did not recollect every word the GA said.

I am surprised that AA did not organize buses as that would be fairly typical for something eminently drivable.

I suspect that unless AA's investigation reveals that it's people on the ground truly dropped the ball, reimbursement for the car rental is not in the cards.

As a general matter, I would never accept a PA announcement. Flights that are full suddenly aren't, buses which don't exist, materialize. Hotels which won't be provided, turn into vouchers.

It is always worth finding an agent or, if need be, calling in, explaining what has happened and asking for instructions.

pinniped

I'd also add that a general announcement saying "There are no seats; pound sand" could be designed for the unwashed masses, when in fact they can indeed find a way to get one EXP onto a flight.

nk15

I was in similar weather-related IRROPs with Delta, with Gold status, where there were no other flights out that day. GA rebooked me for next morning and I had to find my own hotel (in the layover city). There were no hotel or food vouchers or any other accommodations, even for Golds (I asked repeatedly), as it was "weather related".

C17PSGR

I'm still trying to understand what happened.

From my quick search, it looks like JAX-ORD is an Eagle route operated by Republic flying an E175. I can certainly understand why if there were problems at ORD, that the plane would divert and land at IND. IND-ORD is an all Eagle route (mix of Envoy ERJ and Republic E175's). So .... if you can't land at ORD because of the weather, seems pretty likely the Eagle flights are not taking off for IND. So ... seems like there are likely a bunch of people in IND, waiting for flights to ORD that are cancelled. And crews time out under these circumstances all the time.

With that in mind, I can see a gate agent telling everyone there is no way to get to ORD tonight.

But ... dumped in IND doesn't seem accurate. There is an E175 sitting in IND overnight and it needs to get to Chicago. Presumably, it was going to Chicago as soon as possible considering crew rest needs/alternative crews. And when it went to Chicago, all the original pax that wanted to go would be on it. Then the rest of the seats would be filled by the other people trying to get to ORD from the flight cancellations.

It sounds like OP is saying ...

My flight was diverted to IND for weather reasons and there were no other flights available until the following day. I needed to get to Chicago that night and decided to rent a car instead of waiting overnight.

This is always an upsetting situation and I usually have this happen once a year or so (I fly 150 segments a year). In my last situation, DL told me they couldn't get me out of Butte Montana for at least a week. (I decided to rent a car -- DL cancelled the ticket and refunded it to me. I paid for the car).

I am curious how AA normally handles situations where my flight diverted to DSM/STL/IND/MKE for weather reasons and I decided to rent a car rather than stay overnight. Do they pay for the hotel overnight?

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

I assume AA would have put the OP on standby for the next day. Since its weather he likely was on his own for hotel. Frustrating but sadly the only AA owes him is a seat on its next available flight to ORD.

pinniped

In practice, does it usually work this way? Once the pilots go and get their rest (10-12 hours or whatever), do they come back to the same aircraft and finish the flight with the passengers they had the day before?

Or would AA officially cancel the JAX-ORD flight and repurpose that airplane to a new IND-ORD flight, potentially operating a morning flight "on time"? Figure one or more ORD-IND were canceled as well, it seems like AA could choose to deploy that diverted aircraft to one of multiple new flight numbers.

I guess the one silver lining for the OP is that he was trying to get *to* the AA hub. There would be flights happening at some point. If he was trying to get to JAX and got stuck 2-3 hours from there, then all bets would be off: driving would be the only reasonable choice unless the diversion point was CLT.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

"Since its weather he likely was on his own for hotel."

Nope; not when the flight is canceled after being diverted, as the OP's flight was. See the contract of carriage excerpt I posted upthread.

C17PSGR

AA would already have cancelled the JAX-ORD flight but every time I have seem this happen with a diversion they have created an additional IND-ORD with a 9XXX series flight number. OP would have been on that flight which might have required enough time for crew rest. As an EXP, it is possible he would have gotten out on an earlier flight the next day, assuming empty seats, since a diverted EXP would likely be at the very top of the list for standby.

jayer

Please do file a DOT complaint and let us know how it goes. I suppose in doing so you are actually filing on Republic and not the real AA. I really would like to know if there are different rules for contract regionals. Maybe they have a one-state buffer zone.

But the market has changed and the who-pays problem avoidable at no additional fee. Its 2015. Trip Disruption Insurance is now thrown in on above- baseline Citi AAdvantage cards and many Chase products (and who knows what other competitors).

What's in your wallet?

arollins

This experience certainly sucks, but it shows something where AA could have really excelled but failed to do so. AA knew that OP, among other elite passengers where flying JAX-ORD flight. JAX-ORD was diverted to IND and eventually, cancelled. AA could have simply send a text/voice message to OP asking to call XXX-XXX-XXXX for new arrangements. Local operations in arrival airport may not be capable to handle the extra flights, passengers, and hav eno idea what AA will do, all they can say is "pick up luggage in claim 5" Instead, OP is forced to call AA and make his own arrangement.

AA could have been pro-active to the matter and provide some alternatives to OP, instead, OP was forced to fend for himself. We all know how the long wait time on the phone during flight disruptions. Instead of waiting in line for an agent to accommodate you, or waiting for a live person to answer the phone during flight disruptions, I can spend my time in researching other possible alternatives such as new flights, rent a car, call someone to pick you up. OP received the same treatment that all other non elite members. This is where I feel that AA could have done something different and show that they care for their elite members.

We are just self loading cargo with a wallet.

C17PSGR

I have found that AA typically does excel in handling flight disruptions for EXP's. Historically, before the new system, I would get emails telling me that there was an issue and I had been rebooked on XXX. I haven't had any issues since the new system so I'm not sure how that will/does work.

On the other hand, since I am an EXP and fly 150 domestic segments a year, I know disruptions happen. I have a subscription to ExpertFlyer and the EXP line on speed dial. When the plane starts going mechanical or the gate wait is taking to long for my liking, I'm on ExpertFlyer checking alternatives. When it starts taxiing back to the gate, I'm on the phone to the EXP line. When the door opens and we unload, I have a seat on an alternative flight, perhaps to an alternative airport. I've found that if I wait during widespread travel disruption, the autorebook operation takes a couple of hours.

Here ... sounds like the OP had a diverted flight and didn't call the EXP line for alternatives (probably because he knew nothing else was flying to ORD that night). Instead, he made a logical decision to rent a car to drive to Chicago. I like the trip in vain theory raised in an earlier post but it sounds like AA decided to give him a chunk of miles, which seems fair considering this was a miles ticket. A voucher equivalent to his rental car cost might also have been fair in my view.

swajames

Seriously???

Dr. HFH

I'm going with there's more to the story. My guess? AA could have accommodated the OP but not on a schedule which worked for him/her, so s/he rented a car. The alleged "go pound sand" position of AA is very unlikely, IMO.

radarskiy

'The alleged "go pound sand" position of AA is very unlikely, IMO. '

The rest of you really have *never* been denied assistance by an agent? Maybe I'm just lucky...

Dr. HFH

I stand by my earlier statement. The alleged "go pound sand" position of AA is very unlikely, IMO.

But your post did cause me to go back and reread the OP's posts, where I found this:My read was that AA was willing to get him/her to ORD, but not on that day, and unlikely for the following day, given numerous cancellations/reroutings and limited capacity to ORD. And with a driving time in the three hour range, I can certainly see the OP preferring to drive rather than waiting two or three days. That's very different from go pound sand.