Grunion

Seeking advice about the best (and most expedient) path for resolution of this issue. Here is what transpired:

(1) Scheduled to fly LGA-YUL on Dec 22. At the gate at LGA and the GA announces there is a “weight and balance” issue and they need up to 6 volunteers. Voucher initially offered is $500 per person. They get no takers and continue to up the voucher offers. When voucher value goes to $1300 per person I volunteer for myself and husband. The GA takes our original boarding passes and tells us we will have confirmed seats on an Air Canada flight later that evening, and we are told to wait at the gate area as “you may still be able to board….”.

(2) We wait and they complete boarding. We check-in near the end of the boarding process and are told to “sit tight”, which we do. They close the door and at this point we check-in again and the GA informs us that since I am an EXP “the system” automatically moved us to the Air Canada flight and we therefore somehow “fell off” the volunteer list. As a result she is unable to create vouchers and says there is nothing more she can do, and we need to call “revenue management” at AA in order to follow up. To say this GA was flustered would be a major understatement so I didn’t think escalating with her would be a good option, but I did ask if there was a manager or supervisor available and she said yes, but he was at another gate and we would have to go there to discuss. Before I left the gate I asked the GA for confirmation of the Air Canada seats and she said she had none, since again “the system” had moved us to the AC flight, she had not. Before I left the podium I checked the AA app, and it did in fact show us on the AC flight in a few hours.

(3) As we walked to the other gate to find the supervisor I call the EXP line and they confirmed we were on the AC flight and provided a PNR. I went to the AC app and with the PNR was able to pull up the reservations (but no seats) so I figured we were at least safe to get to YUL that night.

(4) Get to the gate the GA sent us to and there are no GA’s or supervisors to be found. I check in the “mini-lounge” AA has set up on the C concourse at LGA and ask for a supervisor or manager and the lady there curtly tells me “no manager is here, and I recommend you head to Air Canada now or you probably won’t get on that flight”. I decide to heed that advice.

So – how best to proceed at this point ? On a call to EXP line that evening I did ask them to add a note to my file about what had happened (not sure that occurred though as the agent indicated that wasn’t easy to do…). Chatted with another EXP agent and an agent at a lounge a couple of days later and got some differing guidance about following up with Customer Relations via e-mail versus alternative paths (like engaging “Revenue Management” directly – and how one would do that….).

Postscript (for those who may have interest) - I won’t relay all the details of the debacle that ensued from there but just share a couple of point:

· Due to LGA airport layout we have to exit security and head to the ticket counter to get AC seats as they are on the different concourse and concourses are not connected post-security. Try to get on AA bus to the AC concourse post-security and denied as I no longer have an AA boarding pass and informed by bus agent that buses are only for AA pax.

· Wait in AC ticket counter line for an hour only to be told that they cannot ticket us or issue seats as they need a “ticket number” from AA. Call EXP line live from ticketing position, get ticket number, AC agent issues tickets/seats.

· Head back thru security, wait a few hours and then shortly before boarding informed by AC that AC flight has cancelled.

· Call EXP line and am informed that there is an AA flight in about an hour with 2 seats available (now a tad confused as to why I was moved/re-ticketed to AC rather than AA as these flights are so close, less than 90 minutes apart). However, informed by EXP agent that AA cannot ticket as “AC has not released their ticket”. EXP agent is AWESOME and both he and his sup are calling AC to release the ticket, but he says it appears to be a long hold time and although painful, he encourages us to head out back past security to go to AC counter to ask them to release or cancel their ticket. We do so, and are pleasantly suprised to find no line and the same AC agent who helped us previously. AC ticket duly cancelled we proceed to pre-security AA tix agent and are issued boarding passes for the new (and last) flight to YUL that night.

More hiccups & delays ensued, but ultimately by hook or crook reached YUL about 7 hours after originally scheduled. I don’t think volunteering for vouchers is in the future for me or husband !

Grunion

beachfan

Since you already called the Exp Desk, I would either send a note to Customer Relations (without much expectation of success), and then go to twitter saying you were cheated out of vouchers after you volunteered. Or go directly to twitter.

Having the name of the gate agent might be helpful. Luckily, there should be some paper trail since you were rebooked on American.

nrr

In any event file a complaint with DOT--the more "black marks" on AA's record the better...one day legislation (a la Congress) will get enacted, which will be pro consumer.

Gerbs

From your lips to God's ears, or at least to the voting public's.

TravelLawyer

You should probably just Tweet to AA. You somehow ended up on the AC flight - sounds like the GA might have made a mistake and moved you without vouchers as the system wouldn't know to "automatically" move you to that flight otherwise even if you are EXP.

CloudCoder

IMO, AA owes you $5200 in vouchers, because you were bumped twice.

If it were me, I'd write to AA Customer Relations. You can use the webform on AA website. Make it clear that you were promised $2600 in vouchers which you never received. But that was just the beginning. Because of that broken promise, they sent you on a wild goose chase looking for managers who were nowhere to be found. Also, that same broken promise (when, in fact, you were not actually on the AC flight as promised) cost you even more time and frustration at the AC ticket counter.

In addition to the four preventable errors above, you had several other events which are not really AA's fault. When the AC flight was cancelled, you had to essentially start over at the very beginning. So it wasn't just one unfortunate event, but a series of about 4 preventable events and two events outside of AA's control.

We already know that the first event is worth $2600 in vouchers, as that part was already negotiated. The only trivial matter remaining is to compute the value of the other three preventable events (vouchers promised but not delivered, wild goose chase looking for non-existent manager, ticket not actually signed over to AC).

mvoight

The second flight was canceled, they were not bumped from the second flight.
They are due the $2600, plus whatever compensation would normally be paid for the canceled flight (I doubt any, by law, as they were were put on a later flight)

MSPeconomist

How large was the aircraft for the original flight? If it was tiny, AA would not have been *required* by DOT rules to solicit volunteers or pay IDB compensation if volunteers could not be found, although you should see what AA's CoC says about this.

If the exception for W&B bumps doesn't apply because the aircraft was sufficiently large, then the solicitation for volunteers was a mandated DOT procedure and any attempt of AA not to uphold their side of the bargain promptly should be immediately reported to DOT. You shouldn't have to chase those vouchers you earned.

Otherwise it's a matter of policy between you and AA, including the appropriate customer service gesture apology for the other inconveniences you suffered.

BTW, I don't see any evidence of two VDBs or even a VDB followed by an IDB. Even if there had been two VDBs, compensation would be the sum of what could be negotiated for each instance individually, not twice the amount of one VDB in this particular situation for the first flight.

Grunion

Thanks for input thusfar. With respect to tweeting - I'm not a social media maven and not on twitter, but husband is so I will present that option to him this evening.

Regarding the question from MSPeconomist - it was a small plane (ERJ 145) as (unfortunately) that is all AA offers between LGA and YUL. Ironically part of the GA's sales pitch for volunteers was "Air Canada flies a bigger plane" (theirs is an ERJ 170/175).

Question re: filing a DOT compliant - would his be perceived as a "help" or a "hurt" if I were to cite this in an e-mail/tweet to AA Customer Relations ? Not sure if this has a tendency to get positive attention to your plight or annoy the powers that be reviewing your plight within AA customer relations, etc.

Thanks
Grunion

nrr

You can wait awhile before contacting DOT--see what AA does (or doesn't do). But just go on record with them of the irregularities you encountered. If no one informs DOT, it would appear that airlines are being (super) nice to pax and no further regulation of the airlines is necessary.

mvoight

In my lifetime, I have volunteered my seat more than a few times on AA and have never had an issue with getting the credit, even in the years I was EXP.
If this happened to me, I would give AA a chance to fix it before complaining to DOT. IMHO, AA is not in the habit of offering vouchers to give up your seat and then not giving you the voucher.
Something odd happened here and it may have been due to an error on the part of the agent who seemed to get you onto the AC plane that was promised, but seems to have screwed up in how they did it.
Contact Customer Service and see how they respond. (I use Facebook for that)

rbAA

So, always get it in writing. The original gate agent, though flustered, should have provided some documentation of the comp for the seats given up. If nothing else, should have her/him write the offer on your BP and sign it with thieir ID number.

brewdog11

As nrr pointed out, you should report what happened to the DOT. Even if you do get the vouchers you're entitled to and you're pleased with the outcome, you should still complain to the DOT. Google "DOT airline complaints" or similar, look for the .gov website, and complete the complaint form. This will help regulators track behavior like this and hopefully prevent it from happening to other travelers in the future.

That will be the same day pigs will fly.

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As an aside, you should seriously consider opening a twitter account simply for the purpose of communicating with the airline. The twitter team can work miracles, and can sometimes help you more than an EXP agent can. IMHO, AA's twitter team is one of the most redeeming factors about the airline. There's a "direct message" feature on twitter that allows you to contact the airline directly, similar to email. This has saved me on numerous occasions.

CloudCoder

Okay, perhaps OP is not entitled to 2x the agreed compensation. Still, if AA simply hands over the $2600 in vouchers, that's not sufficient. AA promised to hand over the vouchers, but failed to do so. This caused a ton of additional misery (looking for non-existent manager, huge hassle getting on to the AC flight, etc.). So, yes, once upon a time, $2600 would have closed this event. But that time is long past.

SpudOz

Always in writing!

Several years ago, the husband, our 2 youngest sons and I were travelling JFK-LAX with Qantas. We arrived at JFK early and we were advised that the flight was overbooked and would we mind being bumped to an AA flight some 3 hours later? The reasoning was that the QF flight was heading back to SYD via LAX and freeing up our seats would solve a huge problem. We were all offered J seats on the LAX-SYD leg that we were taking about 3 weeks later. Sure, no problem but we want it in writing. All sorts of excuses followed but we were assured that all would be fine. In the end, I point blank refused to give up our seats unless we had in our hot little hands proof that our seats were upgraded. Begrudgingly, QF obliged. I am convinced that if we hadnt insisted, it wouldnt have happened.