rabble

So i'll be the first to admit that we made mistakes as well. Clearly we should have searched around more and got her BOS-MIA-MVD.

Several people have mentioned that there is additional assistance you can pay for? If that's so i haven't come across it before, I more than willingly would have paid for it.

What we wanted from AA was somebody to explain to her what was happening. "You're going to a hotel, this is for getting food, and your flight is tomorrow at x time, there will be a shuttle back when leaves the hotel every 30 minutes." It wouldn't have taken that much to get somebody to sit down with her and get somebody to explain that in spanish.

Did we make mistakes, yes, did Abuela make mistakes, sure probably. But AA also was not very assisting in this either. With the exception of the one agent who actually tracked down where she was, everybody else was singularly unhelpful. It took 4 hours of calling before we finally got somebody who was willing to help.

I've noticed something, AA runs it's south american flights with a mix of US and south american based crews. I know if the crew is going to be nice by their accent as i get on the plane. If it's based in latin america they tend to be gracious and friendly. If they're based in the US they are bitter and hurried. Now it's not my accent, i'm a native english speaker who speaks fluent spanish as well. I'm not sure what the difference inside AA is, but i know i'm happy when i get a latin american based crew.

I wonder if AA does the same with Asia? I'd just bet that an Asian based crew would provide even better service.

brp

Wow, these broad generalizations are very inconsistent with my experience. I don't find service quality so neatly and conveniently broken down by accent or nationality.

Cheers.

Colin

pry open your EXP miles wallet to redeem an anytime award to get dear auntie on the MIA-BOS nonstop. shessh

c_stanley

Yes, exactly. The OP (and or grandma) dropped the ball there. Even if one didn't know about additional assistance being available, or made a false but understandable assumption that calling in advance for wheelchair assistance would properly alert them, the lack of communication should be a lesson learned. At absolute minimum, dispatching grandma the first time with a writen note in her pocket saying something like this in English: "Hello, I am a native Spanish speaker and speak no English, could you assist me in finding a Spanish speaking customer service representative" might have done the trick. Live and learn.

As for this, we may have found the real source of the problem...

Thinking about it, 2 hours is about the travel time from JFK to Yonkers, NY. Perhaps that's where AA sent her. I remember reading somewhere that there's been a serious and ongoing issue with people becoming lost there, which may have contributed.

BigBopper

No way in hell does it take 2 hours at 11pm to get from JFK to Yonkers. I'm assuming 11pm since she arrived at 1am and well, I did math

That trip, even with bridge traffic is max 45 to an hour at that time and that's being very generous.

c_stanley

I guess I just disagree. Sounds like she would have been OK without the cancelled flight. When AA cancels a flight -- even its weather and not their fault -- I believe it's fair to say dealing with the necessity of helping the displaced pax suddenly becomes very much their problem.

Just for sheer sake of argument, imagine if you were flying something like PEK-PVG-ORD or similar, had native speaking relatives to help you out in PEK, but then the PVG-ORD flight was cancelled for weather. I don't think you'd need to be elderly to be in real serious trouble if you were in the PVG airport, all the announcements were in Chinese, you couldn't find anyone to explain anything, and ended up dumped off on a random Shanghai street with a hotel voucher you couldn't read at all. Most 40 year olds would find that pretty challenging.

One might argue you should have planned better, after all you're in China, what did you expect, right? But in reality this would never happen, and if it did few reading this would do very well in that scenario. In real life you'd expect there to be some English speakers around to give you direction and if you couldn't find any you'd be very annoyed at AA, at least any American traveler I've ever met would be. And they'd be right. Pointing out that you shouldn't go to visit relatives in China if you don't speak Chinese wouldn't really be a fair answer would it. You made plans that didn't require leaving the airport after all.

Not a perfect example -- but pax speaking the language when on an itinerary headed to a foreign country is as common as air. And extra assistance for the elderly is an obligation. Maybe it's not a legal one, but it sure seems like an ethical or at least just "right thing to do" obligation if you ask me.

Just my opinion.

dfotn

Bravo!

tailwindflyer

I've been looking for a way to "lose" my mother-in-law. Thanks to the OP, I now have one.

Of course with my luck she'll get all the assistance in the world

SFO777

LMAO.

cover point

i will need to send her somewhere where they dont speak any english. Unfortunately .... hard to find such a place. And she can speak broken french.... the last resort

britenbsas

Like brp, such a general sweeping statement is inconsistent with my experiences as well. On the many flights I've been on during the last few years between Argentina and the US I have had wonderful and not-so-wonderful service but this has not depended on the nationality of the crew.

If, as you say, you know as soon as you get on the plane whether the crew are going to be "nice or not" just by their accent, your preconceived ideas/prejudices against US-based crews probably affects how you interact with them which, ultimately, will affect the perceived level of service you actually receive.

gemac

Sure, but just like with unaccompanied minors, the big reason for paying for the assistance is OSO. How many times have we read in rants here "No need to pay for unaccompanied minor status for my son, Aloysius, so I didn't, I booked him as an adult. He is 12 years old, but can easily find his way from one gate to another. But then (insert description of OSO), and AA didn't make extra efforts to take care of Aloysius!!!!"

If the OP had indicated disability, the disability coordinator (or some such title) would have called to see what accommodation Abuela needed. They would have suggested whatever might be appropriate. I thought AA and Abuela together managed pretty well, if she didn't understand anything that was said. Together they got her to a hotel and checked in.

Happy

OP, I think your generalization based on accent / nationality is way too broad a stroke.

I also think you should bear almost all the blame about what had happened. True, it should not be too difficult for AA to find a Spanish speaking employee to assist your relative - however, if there is no Spanish-speaking employee in the immediate vicinity, the gate agents have to telephone around to find one who is free to come over to assist ... think about how many passengers the airlines are dealing with, especially in irregular operation time?! With the airlines are short-staffed as they are now, what do you expect them to do?

You should have at the minimum, written a detailed sheet with BOTH English and Spanish, Side by Side, to communicate the itinerary, and the fact Grandma only understands Spanish, that she is disable and needs assistance... even includes phrases like: I am hungry / thirsty, where can I get food / water? I need to go to bathroom, can someone kindly show me where to? Also have your contact phone numbers in case there is an emergency.

That type of basic information would go a long way to get assistance for a person with language barrier when he/she travels alone in a foreign country.

Booking an 84 yr old disabled person in such multiple connections itinerary and then expected there would be no glitch thru all these segments, is either hoping for miracle or asking for big trouble.

I am surprised that you, as an EXP, have not thought about putting her on a much more direct itinerary? Or you are not willing to pay up? and you blame AA not to assist her when there were flight interruptions?

While we all hope every person we come accross is compassionate, and willing to go above and beyond of his duty to help out. In all reality, it is impossible. Very often, even an employee is willing to help, he/she may have other more pressing duties to tend to then take care of your Grandma.

I am so surprised by your attitude, that you feel you have made mistakes, but dont really admit it that you are the one who should really be solely responsible for the whole fiasco, because by design, you make such bad happenings highly probably. You continue to complain about how AA US-based employees are being bitter and hurried...

XRottenX

Think the MANY replies proved the complaint was bogus to start with. After reading your reaction, you should have learned that you cannot and should not divert YOUR responsability (and your mother in laws too) to AA.

Lesson learned, now deal with the outcome.

emma dog

Not sure if it's still offered after the merger, but NW offered a program similar to the unaccompanied minor program. My 90 year old grandma uses it flying from PIR-MSP-TPA. During the connection, they park her in either the NW club or somewhere with some seating and give them something to drink. Then when it's time to board, they come and get her and put her on the plane. In case of IRROPS, they provide the hotel and ensure they're OK, just like with kids. My family has been real happy with this program.