ijgordon

Don't you do that every time you step on an AA aircraft?

But more seriously, I think some people just have very low expectations of AA's customer service, and educate themselves to be better equipped to handle various situations that arise. Unfortunately, it's probably the smart approach to take given the reality of things, as the OP and many other examples demonstrate.

elitetraveler

This is a great rule. However, in dealing with an industry where willingness to help is often lacking, and the outcome of one's situation is governed by arcane and often hard to understand rules - both company and government imposed, being knowledgable about every possible bump in the road is next to impossible. And often times these bumps come up suddenly and travelers are forced to make quick decisions. What's more policies vary from airline to airline, so knowing how one airline handles something doesn't necessarily translate, even on partners, even on the same ticket.

Folks often come here having been given the run around. Instead of having a pleasant and memorable travel experience, they are upset and disappointed.

The idea here should be to share knowledge and help when possible. Simply ridiculing and lecturing posters is hardly helpful, and generally not appreciated even if sometimes there is good advice buried in the sermon.

Do some posters have inflated expectations? Sure. Of course, that wouldn't have anything to do with the way airlines market their products.

gemac

This discussion is degenerating (as these usually do) into a discussion between those who would like to discuss the way the world should be and those who would like to discuss the way the world is and how to best get what you want out of it. Those who want to discuss how the world should be get upset that the others are not agreeing with them. Those who want to discuss how the world is and how to get what they want out of it don't understand why the first group is uninterested in that.

For those in the first group, I will stipulate that this isn't the way the world should be. In a perfect world, all AA employees would be totally knowledgable and helpful. Now, feel better?

Since I don't live in that perfect world, I will continue to want to learn how to operate in the world I must live in. If I know how to avoid a problem, and someone complains that they have suffered from that problem and find it distressing, I will tell them how to avoid it in the future. I don't view this as rude and uncaring, or ridiculing and lecturing, I view it as practical.

If somebody starts one of these threads by stating clearly and plainly that they are not interested at all in avoiding their problem in the future, that all they want is for someone to pat them on the back and tell them that they have been grievously maltreated and to commiserate with them, then I will do that. I will not tell them how to avoid the disturbing experience, since they have let me know that they don't want to know.

Dave Noble

I think that you will not have many threads to reply to then

gemac

Lifetime to date, it's zero, but I remain willing if the situation ever arises.

Dallas49er

A big +1 and well phrased.

Moving OT-My experience stems from 30+ years of business flying (either 100k BIS or 100 segments each year), and can only marvel at the experience and the total number of BIS and segments on this forum. Like gemac, I too, am more than willing to help, share information, and guide those who wish it.

But perhaps there is a sense of forum frustration when some DYKWIA or "one post wonder" (remember poopy diapers?) posts a tale of woe of an AA transgression, that in their mind that rivals 9/11 or the crimes of Pol Pot, but "upon further review", is not.

I try not to put up with or have any respect for whining, sniveling, or unreasonable people in my every day life. Nothing says I have to respect that behavior here.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming and back on topic.

JFKSFOLAX_friend

Where did the OP go?

mvoight

Given the season, why didn't AA just book him on another AA flight to CDG, or was that not an option for the OP's friend?

jamienbaker

I'm the OP, but as stated the issue isn't mine. I believe the original intent in posting was to ascertain whether any rule or procedure had been overlooked by AA. Back in the day, when Rule 240 was still in strict effect, a delay/cancellation of an airline's fault in which the delay would exceed a certain threshold (4 hrs?) would obligate the airline to put the traveler on the carrier of the TRAVELER'S preference. I used this rule to my benefit probably a half dozen times over the years. The posting of my colleague's experience was done at my suggestion, to see whether any such procedure should have been followed, particularly in light of the on-again, off-again commitment by AA to ensure non-stop travel on EC, in what most would agree is a premium-economy product.

JoshMyPickle

Howdy, pardon my bumping of an older thread, but I have an issue similar to the OP and would appreciate any advice from FTers. It's a bit long, so please bear with me.

Since booking my ticket in early December, I received an email on New Year's Eve informing me that one of my upcoming flights in February has been changed to depart ~5 hours earlier than originally scheduled; upon closer inspection, it appears AA has actually made significant schedule changes out of my departure regional airport, such that the 6-8 daily RJ flights have now been consolidated to ~4 daily mainlines.

The problem here is that this flight is connecting with an international flight booked separately (but on a direct codeshare), and I have no intention of laying over for 5+ hours when my original legal itinerary was scheduled for a 1 hour layover -- especially when those last few hours in America were already supposed to be spent with family whom I only see once per year. When I called to see if they could simply rebook me at an alternative airport within ~150 miles in the same state, both the agent and the supervisor could not honor a complimentary change request because the fare was so much higher from the alternative airport even though I told them the above situation and even explained why the fare was higher -- namely because the second airport is a niche regional that primarily relies on business travellers using RJs and does not have a low-cost carrier in direct competition on the destination city, even though the proposed flight I wanted has few/no bookings whatsoever.

The best that AA could offer was a refund, which would allow me to fly a later SW flight for the exact same price but still leaves me with a taxi fare between airports and the possibility of missing my overseas AA-codeshared flight because of delays. Is there any other recourse that I could pursue in order to convince AA to put the customer before their bottom-line and honor my request to change departure airports at no-cost?


Many thanks for your time.

gemac

Nothing that I know of. Your choices when AA does a major reschedule don't involve a change of departure airport at a much higher fare. You get a choice of suggesting a way to get from point of origin to destination that works best for you or a refund of fare. You could check for award availability from the alternate departure point, and if it is available you could cancel your paid ticket and take the award flight.

Other than that, given the choice as you present it, extra time in the airport vs. a chance at a missed flight, I would choose the extra time in the airport.

JoshMyPickle

Thanks for your reply, gemac. Given the now-extremely limited flight selections out of the originating airport, there are no other viable choices without having to either add/lose an entire day of travel or rebook my international flight entirely.

The underlying issue here, as I see it, is that AA is being unethical with regards to the exorbitant fares it charges out of the niche regional; of course, it is widely-known how and why they started this route years ago whilst continuing to price-gouge to this very day, but their bureaucratic bottom-line rigidity in not offering this complimentary change given the extraordinary circumstances really makes me question AA's integrity and compassion as an airline... and moreover, I wouldn't be surprised if the unreasonably expensive alternative flight will be mostly empty on the day of departure.

Ironically, this isn't the first time I've had an issue like this with a different legacy carrier in a similar scenario involving the exact same two regional airports, but at least I was ultimately able to convince them in-person to make complimentary changes due to extraordinary circumstances -- in this case, however, face-to-face time is not possible since I am overseas.

The ONLY reason why I chose AA was because of their new direct codeshare with my international flights, and I told the reps this as well as my reluctance to ever fly AA again, among other concerns. :S

JoshMyPickle

Yes, magic111, the second itinerary (intl) is a oneworld carrier but not a oneworld itinerary per se since I booked it directly with the airline...? Would reaccommodation still be possible if I was refunded by AA and chose to take a SW flight instead?

Wait, where did your post go... I didn't realize users (mods only?) could delete their posts!

gemac

IMO, it is not unethical for AA to price a fare according to what the market forces dictate. It is their right to charge anything they want to charge, just as it is your right to fly that route or not. If you had booked your international flight on the same PNR as your domestic flight, that would extend your change options to the international flight as well as the domestic flight.

It is your right to select any airline you wish. I think you will find that market forces dictate the fares charged on different routes on all major airlines flying within the U.S.

magic111

The post was deleted as it was not answering your question but was confusing to the problem.

The new rules about being reaccommoted for misconnects I believe only apply to two sequential oneworld tickets.