Feb 11, 2016, 2:34 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
American Airlines has eliminated direct contact with American Airlines Customer Relations other than using the e-form via aa.com or Phoenix "snail mail" address (link).
At the same time, AA has turned more toward social media for customer contact. The Twitter team seems to be empowered to handle a number of issues, though there are still some limitations. Securing PNRs for partner airlines or codeshares operated by AA, OSO / IROPS, misposting of Miles, etc. seem to be tasks they can do easily.
The latest iterations of the American Airlines app for iOS and Android have a Twitter contact function (2018).
Please feel free to edit or update / add to this wikipost as we learn more about the capabilities of the @AmericanAir Twitter team.
Link to YouTube video: #SocialBell: Tips for Social Engagement feat. American Airlines
As posted by samm, “They proactively associate AAdvantage profiles with twitter handles and maintain them, so they know who you are and where you're traveling as soon as you begin the conversation.”
Other possible uses include getting e-ticket numbers for Awards, PNRs for other airlines on your itinerary, seat changes, Award redeposit after cancellations, etc. Cimplicated reaccommodation issues and the like might be easier to handle with a telephone agent, but if there are massive OSO / IROPS, try the Twitter team; response is generally very fast.
Resources:
Contacting American Airlines Customer Relations & Complaint, Issues (master thread)
AA Twitter Team Kudos and Customer Experience
Please share your customer experiences with @AmericanAir, the AA Twitter team, here.
For further information on using the AA Twitter team, please see Using AA Twitter social media team: how, what, when (master thd)
At the same time, AA has turned more toward social media for customer contact. The Twitter team seems to be empowered to handle a number of issues, though there are still some limitations. Securing PNRs for partner airlines or codeshares operated by AA, OSO / IROPS, misposting of Miles, etc. seem to be tasks they can do easily.
The latest iterations of the American Airlines app for iOS and Android have a Twitter contact function (2018).
Please feel free to edit or update / add to this wikipost as we learn more about the capabilities of the @AmericanAir Twitter team.
Link to YouTube video: #SocialBell: Tips for Social Engagement feat. American Airlines
Frequently Asked Questions / FAQ
Q. How do I use this channel of communication?
You must first sign up for a (free) Twitter account. When you do, Subscribe to the AA Twitter channel: @AmericanAir.
Note: Getting assistance from Twitter for a specific reservation can be improved by communicating with them by using the DM / Direct Message (like FT PM) system, where you can include your PNR and details privately - and your AAdvantage number and EP status so they can link it with your Twitter profile.
Any Twitter account can send @AmericanAir a direct message. In the past, AA had to be following you for you to send them a DM; this is no longer true.
Q. How can they help?
@AmericanAir can assist with OSO (Off-Schedule Operations - IROPS "IRROPS") when it might otherwise take a long time to get a response from the telephone desk employees. There are many things that @AmericanAir can do when time is of the essence; read posts below for more.
Q. Can I report service issues?
Certainly.
Q. Can I laud or compliment excellent service?
Certainly. The Twitter team will log these and for AA employees (including employees of wholly owned subsidiaries, but not contractor employees) and pass on compliments to supervisors, who will add them to the employee's personnel record.
Q. How do I use this channel of communication?
You must first sign up for a (free) Twitter account. When you do, Subscribe to the AA Twitter channel: @AmericanAir.
Note: Getting assistance from Twitter for a specific reservation can be improved by communicating with them by using the DM / Direct Message (like FT PM) system, where you can include your PNR and details privately - and your AAdvantage number and EP status so they can link it with your Twitter profile.
Any Twitter account can send @AmericanAir a direct message. In the past, AA had to be following you for you to send them a DM; this is no longer true.
Q. How can they help?
@AmericanAir can assist with OSO (Off-Schedule Operations - IROPS "IRROPS") when it might otherwise take a long time to get a response from the telephone desk employees. There are many things that @AmericanAir can do when time is of the essence; read posts below for more.
Q. Can I report service issues?
Certainly.
Q. Can I laud or compliment excellent service?
Certainly. The Twitter team will log these and for AA employees (including employees of wholly owned subsidiaries, but not contractor employees) and pass on compliments to supervisors, who will add them to the employee's personnel record.
Other possible uses include getting e-ticket numbers for Awards, PNRs for other airlines on your itinerary, seat changes, Award redeposit after cancellations, etc. Cimplicated reaccommodation issues and the like might be easier to handle with a telephone agent, but if there are massive OSO / IROPS, try the Twitter team; response is generally very fast.
Resources:
Contacting American Airlines Customer Relations & Complaint, Issues (master thread)
AA Twitter Team Kudos and Customer Experience
Please share your customer experiences with @AmericanAir, the AA Twitter team, here.
For further information on using the AA Twitter team, please see Using AA Twitter social media team: how, what, when (master thd)
Using AA Twitter social media team: how, what, when (master thread)
Aug 29, 2017, 1:06 pm
#76
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Here and there
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,551
Aug 29, 2017, 1:19 pm
#77
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: USA & UK -- AA EXP 3.5MM, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, Avis President's Club
Posts: 6,411
Please see Using AA Twitter social media team: how, what, when (master thd). The information you seek is in the Wikipost.
Originally Posted by wiki
Note: Getting assistance from Twitter for a specific reservation can be improved by communicating with them by using the DM / Direct Message (like PM here) system, where you can include your PNR and details privately - and your AAdvantage number and EP status so they can link it with your Twitter profile. This is easily done by sending them a tweet asking them "Please follow me for DM" so they can "follow" you and receive DMs from you.
Aug 29, 2017, 1:51 pm
#78
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AA EXP (LT Plat 2MM), Marriott Plat, IHG Plat, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Plat, SPG Plat75, UA1K
Posts: 1,248
So, bit of a mileage (or really EQD) run yesterday and today. Hasn't been the smoothest travel experience:
ORD-DFW delayed about 90mins on Saturday almost causing a misconnect to the 787-9 flight that I scored a UDU on
Awful LAX arrival experience (got Gate 344 + shuttle to T4)
Delayed out of LAX on AA1088, broken seat + arrival delay due to weather + sketchy Panasonic Wi-Fi
Delayed departure out of Miami due to crew / no PDB'S despite plenty of time and empty aisle
Sent Tweets out to AA and they came through:
- blocked back-up for the delayed DFW-LAX leg and protected my upgrade on the new flight (but wasn't needed)
- kept in touch once I DM'd the delay
- when I tweeted about the issues on 1088 asked for DM with details
- when I included details about the MIA-ORD issues, they asked for details, apologized and have me 5K miles.
The best part (to me) was they followed up, thanked me and even referenced travel coming up in the next 10 days.
Now, I get my issues are nowhere near what friends and colleagues are facing in Houston. I am just putting it it there that they actually tried to help and appeared to care.
ORD-DFW delayed about 90mins on Saturday almost causing a misconnect to the 787-9 flight that I scored a UDU on
Awful LAX arrival experience (got Gate 344 + shuttle to T4)
Delayed out of LAX on AA1088, broken seat + arrival delay due to weather + sketchy Panasonic Wi-Fi
Delayed departure out of Miami due to crew / no PDB'S despite plenty of time and empty aisle
Sent Tweets out to AA and they came through:
- blocked back-up for the delayed DFW-LAX leg and protected my upgrade on the new flight (but wasn't needed)
- kept in touch once I DM'd the delay
- when I tweeted about the issues on 1088 asked for DM with details
- when I included details about the MIA-ORD issues, they asked for details, apologized and have me 5K miles.
The best part (to me) was they followed up, thanked me and even referenced travel coming up in the next 10 days.
Now, I get my issues are nowhere near what friends and colleagues are facing in Houston. I am just putting it it there that they actually tried to help and appeared to care.
Aug 29, 2017, 2:22 pm
#79
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Here and there
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,551
Aug 29, 2017, 2:47 pm
#80
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: W29
Programs: It's Complicated...
Posts: 6,817
I DM them anytime I need anything. I dont even have to include my PNR etc, they know who I am. It is usually done quicker than I can wait for an EXP agent to pickup the phone if calling. I am really afraid that the secret will get out and the service will decline but enjoying it while I can!!
Aug 29, 2017, 3:41 pm
#81
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,603
I'm glad to hear you had a satisfactory outcome with the Twitter team. I found them to be quite useful a few years ago and certainly know I saved a lot of time not having to call in. Then maybe two years ago, it seemed to go to $#^!. Instead of being helpful, I'd just get canned responses either via reply or DM suggesting I call EXP instead.
I haven't used them in several months as my trAAvel has dropped off significantly since last June, so I hope they will be as good as they used to be the next time I do need them..
I haven't used them in several months as my trAAvel has dropped off significantly since last June, so I hope they will be as good as they used to be the next time I do need them..
Aug 29, 2017, 3:46 pm
#82
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,372
I want to second the OP...whenever I have a specific request or question (that I don't need the EXP line for), a polite, human DM to the AA Twitter team nearly always yields a speedy, helpful response. They do their jobs very well.
Also, and this goes for the phone agents, as well, pleases and thank you's and, in the event of major disruptions, a verbal acknowledgement that they are probably swamped and so you appreciate their help, goes a long way.
Also, and this goes for the phone agents, as well, pleases and thank you's and, in the event of major disruptions, a verbal acknowledgement that they are probably swamped and so you appreciate their help, goes a long way.
Aug 29, 2017, 3:54 pm
#83
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Escondido, CA
Programs: US Chairman no more. AA EXP
Posts: 682
Twitter DM is my first line of communications with AA. It is helpful to explain very clearly what you are asking for and ask for help within the rules of the program. It also helps to verify their action on the website. If you do this the results will generally be better than that provided by a phone agent. There are some limitations, they can't take credit card information over Twitter for example.
Bottom line is that the AA Twitter team is very polite and responsive.
Bottom line is that the AA Twitter team is very polite and responsive.
Aug 29, 2017, 9:17 pm
#84
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,590
Twitter DM is my first line of communications with AA. It is helpful to explain very clearly what you are asking for and ask for help within the rules of the program. It also helps to verify their action on the website. If you do this the results will generally be better than that provided by a phone agent. There are some limitations, they can't take credit card information over Twitter for example.
Bottom line is that the AA Twitter team is very polite and responsive.
Bottom line is that the AA Twitter team is very polite and responsive.
Aug 31, 2017, 3:51 pm
#85
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: Hilton - Diamond, IHG - Spire Amb
Posts: 901
Success DP -
Booked 5 tickets with AA miles for HNL-OGG on HA. DM for request for HA record locator so I could do seat assignment. Message came back with it. Saved me a 15 minute phone call. Yay!
Booked 5 tickets with AA miles for HNL-OGG on HA. DM for request for HA record locator so I could do seat assignment. Message came back with it. Saved me a 15 minute phone call. Yay!
Aug 31, 2017, 4:31 pm
#86
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SAN
Programs: Lots of faux metal
Posts: 6,422
Me too. I went from Gold to Platinum on a recent trip and needed AA to remove/add back my AA number to reflect my new status. The problem was I was sitting in the T5 BA lounge at LHR. DMed AA at 8:48am London time (2:48am Dallas) and they wrote back in 6 minutes!
Aug 31, 2017, 5:43 pm
#87
Join Date: Jan 2015
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 251
I couldn't check in online for a flight two weeks ago - I was flying early in the morning and didn't want to risk leaving it till the airport. I tweeted and got a response pretty quickly saying the web team would look into it. They updated me today (two weeks after the flight) to say they didn't know what the problem was but that it's affecting UK and Canadian passengers on certain routes, and no fix currently.
Not exactly timely but at least they did follow up eventually!
Not exactly timely but at least they did follow up eventually!
Sep 2, 2017, 9:17 pm
#88
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: AA PPro, Marriott Gold, IHG Gold, Hilton Silver, Hyatt Explorist, DL Silver
Posts: 34
I DM them anytime I need anything. I dont even have to include my PNR etc, they know who I am. It is usually done quicker than I can wait for an EXP agent to pickup the phone if calling. I am really afraid that the secret will get out and the service will decline but enjoying it while I can!!
Oct 4, 2017, 1:52 pm
#89
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: NYC/LA
Programs: DL Plat, AA Plat Pro, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 7,486
I had to call in today to reject a schedule change (LGA-BOS shuttle being cancelled around the holidays and the computer routing me LGA-PHL-BOS instead).
Decided to try the AA Twitter team instead of calling in, and they were responsive and took care of the cancellation and refund request. Only thing is that with the back and forth and the wait for a reply, it ultimately took much longer (about an hour total) than just calling, but I suppose there is something to be said about quickly typing just three messages on Twitter while doing something else, compared to having to call in and wait for an agent.
Decided to try the AA Twitter team instead of calling in, and they were responsive and took care of the cancellation and refund request. Only thing is that with the back and forth and the wait for a reply, it ultimately took much longer (about an hour total) than just calling, but I suppose there is something to be said about quickly typing just three messages on Twitter while doing something else, compared to having to call in and wait for an agent.
Oct 4, 2017, 5:22 pm
#90
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EP
Posts: 107
I think AA has the best Twitter support across all airlines. It's really helpful to be able to quickly DM someone who's super competent and empowered to fix pretty much anything. Much easier than calling, and email isn't practical for time sensitive stuff where they write back 2 days later. I don't know who's in charge of their social, but it's clear they put a ton of effort into making it world class from Day 1.
I have found that while they're empowered, they play by the rulebook to the letter and aren't known to make exceptions. I remember back in March when NYC was bracing for a massive snow storm (storm Stella?), they had already issued a travel waiver for flights departing the calendar day the storm was expected to hit. I had an intl flight that was scheduled to land well into that midday, but departed that day prior. I asked if I could rebooked a day earlier and they wouldn't budge since it didn't meet the waiver conditions. I tried calling and they had to get special permission to override but ultimately agreed to do it on the first attempt. My originally scheduled flight ended up getting cancelled for weather!
I have found that while they're empowered, they play by the rulebook to the letter and aren't known to make exceptions. I remember back in March when NYC was bracing for a massive snow storm (storm Stella?), they had already issued a travel waiver for flights departing the calendar day the storm was expected to hit. I had an intl flight that was scheduled to land well into that midday, but departed that day prior. I asked if I could rebooked a day earlier and they wouldn't budge since it didn't meet the waiver conditions. I tried calling and they had to get special permission to override but ultimately agreed to do it on the first attempt. My originally scheduled flight ended up getting cancelled for weather!