Jan 12, 2018, 4:29 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
The 2019 compensation master thread is here.
Questions about, guide to, and listing of, compensation (2018, master thread)
Welcome to the "2018 Guide to, and listing of, compensation" thread!
NOTE: If compensation is not generated automatically (occasionally, it will), you will want to contact American Airlines Customer Relations. See Contacting American Airlines Customer Relations & Complaint, Issues (master thread).
In keeping with tradition, we'd like to ask members to report their compensation in the following format:
- Date
- AAdvantage Status
- Fare class
- What happened
- Compensation
- Comments
• JGR01 has created a spreadsheet parsing posts in this thread from 2003-2007, available for download here
• AA's official policy regarding compensation for delays, cancellations, and diversions is as follows (thanks to tom911 for posting):
DELAYS, CANCELLATIONS AND DIVERSIONS
American Airlines will provide customers at the airport and onboard an affected aircraft with timely and frequent updates regarding known delays, cancellations and diversions and will strive to provide the best available information concerning the duration of delays and to the extent available, the flight's anticipated departure time.
We are not responsible for any special, incidental or consequential damages if we do not meet this commitment.
When cancellations and major delays are experienced, you will be rerouted on our next flight with available seats. If the delay or cancellation was caused by events within our control and we do not get you to your final destination on the expected arrival day, we will provide reasonable overnight accommodations, subject to availability.
In extreme circumstances, it is possible that a flight will cancel while on the ground in the city to which it was diverted. When this happens you will be rerouted on the next American flight with available seats, or in some circumstances on another airline or some other alternative means of transportation. If we are unable to reroute you, reasonable overnight accommodations will be provided by American, subject to availability.
American will provide amenities for delayed passengers, necessary to maintain the safety and/or welfare of certain passengers such as customers with disabilities, unaccompanied children, the elderly or others to whom such amenities will be furnished consistent with special needs and/or circumstances.
American Airlines will provide customers at the airport and onboard an affected aircraft with timely and frequent updates regarding known delays, cancellations and diversions and will strive to provide the best available information concerning the duration of delays and to the extent available, the flight's anticipated departure time.
We are not responsible for any special, incidental or consequential damages if we do not meet this commitment.
When cancellations and major delays are experienced, you will be rerouted on our next flight with available seats. If the delay or cancellation was caused by events within our control and we do not get you to your final destination on the expected arrival day, we will provide reasonable overnight accommodations, subject to availability.
In extreme circumstances, it is possible that a flight will cancel while on the ground in the city to which it was diverted. When this happens you will be rerouted on the next American flight with available seats, or in some circumstances on another airline or some other alternative means of transportation. If we are unable to reroute you, reasonable overnight accommodations will be provided by American, subject to availability.
American will provide amenities for delayed passengers, necessary to maintain the safety and/or welfare of certain passengers such as customers with disabilities, unaccompanied children, the elderly or others to whom such amenities will be furnished consistent with special needs and/or circumstances.
Contrary to the belief of some, airlines are not required to compensate passengers for “damages” when flights are delayed or canceled. Compensation is required by law only when you are “bumped” from a flight that is oversold. Airlines almost always refuse to pay passengers for financial losses resulting from a delayed flight. If the purpose of your trip is to close a potentially lucrative business deal, to give a speech or lecture, to attend a family function, or to be present at any time-sensitive event, you might want to allow a little extra time and take an earlier flight. In other words, airline delays and cancellations are not unusual, and defensive planning is a good idea when time is your most important consideration.
Also see (FT) EC261 / EC 261/2004 complaints, compensation and AA (master thread)
(The other compensation threads are archived and closed, but can easily be accessed for reading here:
2017 Questions about, guide to, and listing of, compensation (consolidated)
2016 Questions about, guide to, and listing of, compensation (consolidated)
2015 Questions about, guide to, listing of, compensation (consolidated - archived)
2014 Questions about, guide to, listing of, compensation (consolidated - archived)
2013 Questions about, guide to, and listing of compensation (archived)
Guide to, and listing of, compensation (2012 - archived)
Guide to, and listing of, compensation (2003 - 2011 archived)
AA Forum Moderator Team
ARCHIVE: Questions for 2018 about, guide to, listing of, compensation
Dec 3, 2018, 11:57 am
#196
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,313
Hi all,
I had a ticket on a flight from RDU via CLT to FLL, booked with American Airlines.
...AA ticket counter but was not attended until 5:58am. The lady at the counter advised me that I she would need to issue the ticket, and that I should have come to her in the first place.
I had a ticket on a flight from RDU via CLT to FLL, booked with American Airlines.
...AA ticket counter but was not attended until 5:58am. The lady at the counter advised me that I she would need to issue the ticket, and that I should have come to her in the first place.
Are you sure you were at the AA counter when you didn't see anyone? Place should have had plenty of staff checking in customers for all these other flights and those leaving in the 6:00 am hour, the 7:00 am hour, etc.
Dec 3, 2018, 12:02 pm
#197
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,413
sorry you had trouble. But AA has flights departing RDU at 5:17 AM, 5:30 AM, 5:48 AM, 6:00 AM...how is it that the AA counter was not attended before 5:58 AM?
Are you sure you were at the AA counter when you didn't see anyone? Place should have had plenty of staff checking in customers for all these other flights and those leaving in the 6:00 am hour, the 7:00 am hour, etc.
Are you sure you were at the AA counter when you didn't see anyone? Place should have had plenty of staff checking in customers for all these other flights and those leaving in the 6:00 am hour, the 7:00 am hour, etc.
Could it be that the person needed to see an agent at the AA TICKET counter, not the check in counter? The post you quote specifically says ticket counter.
Dec 3, 2018, 12:32 pm
#198
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,313
I had a ticket on a flight from RDU via CLT to FLL, booked with American Airlines.
...AA ticket counter but was not attended until 5:58am. The lady at the counter advised me that I she would need to issue the ticket, and that I should have come to her in the first place.
...AA ticket counter but was not attended until 5:58am. The lady at the counter advised me that I she would need to issue the ticket, and that I should have come to her in the first place.
sorry you had trouble. But AA has flights departing RDU at 5:17 AM, 5:30 AM, 5:48 AM, 6:00 AM...how is it that the AA counter was not attended before 5:58 AM?
Are you sure you were at the AA counter when you didn't see anyone? Place should have had plenty of staff checking in customers for all these other flights and those leaving in the 6:00 am hour, the 7:00 am hour, etc.
Are you sure you were at the AA counter when you didn't see anyone? Place should have had plenty of staff checking in customers for all these other flights and those leaving in the 6:00 am hour, the 7:00 am hour, etc.
My post didn't say anything about going to a gate agent at a gate. It was saying I have a hard time believing the large AA ticketing lobby at RDU had zero employees working as they checked in passengers going to 5-8 different cities withing an hour of the OP needing to find a staff member in the ticketing lobby.
Dec 3, 2018, 12:49 pm
#199
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 17
I was told at the Delta counter at 5:40am that I could not check in. At 5:58am I was attended at AA.
Dec 3, 2018, 1:56 pm
#200
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Ticketing is done in the ticketing lobby, where people are lined up at to check bags and get boarding passes least 45 mins before their flights departing at 5:17 AM, 5:30 AM, 5:48 AM, 6:00 AM, 6am hour, 7 am hour etc
My post didn't say anything about going to a gate agent at a gate. It was saying I have a hard time believing the large AA ticketing lobby at RDU had zero employees working as they checked in passengers going to 5-8 different cities withing an hour of the OP needing to find a staff member in the ticketing lobby.
My post didn't say anything about going to a gate agent at a gate. It was saying I have a hard time believing the large AA ticketing lobby at RDU had zero employees working as they checked in passengers going to 5-8 different cities withing an hour of the OP needing to find a staff member in the ticketing lobby.
Dec 3, 2018, 2:09 pm
#201
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,246
sorry you had trouble. But AA has flights departing RDU at 5:17 AM, 5:30 AM, 5:48 AM, 6:00 AM...how is it that the AA counter was not attended before 5:58 AM?
Are you sure you were at the AA counter when you didn't see anyone? Place should have had plenty of staff checking in customers for all these other flights and those leaving in the 6:00 am hour, the 7:00 am hour, etc.
Are you sure you were at the AA counter when you didn't see anyone? Place should have had plenty of staff checking in customers for all these other flights and those leaving in the 6:00 am hour, the 7:00 am hour, etc.
Dec 3, 2018, 4:04 pm
#202
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,313
HE wasn't attended, not THE CHECK-IN LINE wasn't attended.
So the OP "reached the airport" at 515 but doesn't talk to anyone at Delta till 540. Not sure if "reaching the airport means he was in line for 25 minutes waiting as the cutoff time got closer and closer, or if at 515 he was still looking for a parking spot.
But I think given the circumstances, I would have arrived earlier to deal with a potential complication, and would have called Delta the night before after AA did their thing to make sure all is squared away, and/or logged into Delta to add my Delta number to the reservation. Probably at one of those two points would have noticed there's some kind of glitch and then called AA or planned even earlier arrival.
Sorry, but doesn't seem like you're owed anything, just bad luck. Safe travels.
Dec 3, 2018, 7:16 pm
#203
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,234
Well the lesson, and it’s unfortunate the OP learned the hard way, is to make sure you have a ticket number for the new flight. I’d have checked online on Delta.com (probably need to “view receipt” or similar), and barring that, I’d call DL to make sure they have the AA ticket in their system. That’s not 100% foolproof (there have been reports of pax getting boarding passes, boarding, and still getting yanked off the flight at the last minute because of a paperwork snafu), but gets you close.
Dec 3, 2018, 8:05 pm
#204
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,246
Gotcha...The lack of a subject in the sentence makes all the difference in the world.
HE wasn't attended, not THE CHECK-IN LINE wasn't attended.
So the OP "reached the airport" at 515 but doesn't talk to anyone at Delta till 540. Not sure if "reaching the airport means he was in line for 25 minutes waiting as the cutoff time got closer and closer, or if at 515 he was still looking for a parking spot.
But I think given the circumstances, I would have arrived earlier to deal with a potential complication, and would have called Delta the night before after AA did their thing to make sure all is squared away, and/or logged into Delta to add my Delta number to the reservation. Probably at one of those two points would have noticed there's some kind of glitch and then called AA or planned even earlier arrival.
Sorry, but doesn't seem like you're owed anything, just bad luck. Safe travels.
HE wasn't attended, not THE CHECK-IN LINE wasn't attended.
So the OP "reached the airport" at 515 but doesn't talk to anyone at Delta till 540. Not sure if "reaching the airport means he was in line for 25 minutes waiting as the cutoff time got closer and closer, or if at 515 he was still looking for a parking spot.
But I think given the circumstances, I would have arrived earlier to deal with a potential complication, and would have called Delta the night before after AA did their thing to make sure all is squared away, and/or logged into Delta to add my Delta number to the reservation. Probably at one of those two points would have noticed there's some kind of glitch and then called AA or planned even earlier arrival.
Sorry, but doesn't seem like you're owed anything, just bad luck. Safe travels.
When the OP said "I directly went to the AA ticket counter but was not attended until 5:58am" isn't "I" the subject of the sentence??
I think the underlying issue of AA not issuing the ticket correctly isn't something that many travelers would know to watch for. Many here on FT know either because it's happened to them before or they've read it here and learned from others. It's easy for us to think that anybody should know what to do or what can be done to mitigate issues, but I would guess that there are more people who wouldn't know than would. Or put another way, I think that there are a lot of people who would think that when the AA agent said "here you go, we've rebooked you on Delta" that everything was all set. Especially as well, you know, it should have been all set.
Dec 4, 2018, 12:31 am
#205
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,313
In fairness to the OP, if it wasn't somewhat obvious from the post, by post #6 it was clear the OP was likely not from the US. I do think it's pretty clear that at 0515 he was trying to check in and then by 0540 had waited in line at Delta and been advised to go to AA. Then waited in line at AA until 0558.
When the OP said "I directly went to the AA ticket counter but was not attended until 5:58am" isn't "I" the subject of the sentence??
.
When the OP said "I directly went to the AA ticket counter but was not attended until 5:58am" isn't "I" the subject of the sentence??
.
Dec 4, 2018, 7:41 am
#206
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,234
In fairness to the OP, if it wasn't somewhat obvious from the post, by post #6 it was clear the OP was likely not from the US. I do think it's pretty clear that at 0515 he was trying to check in and then by 0540 had waited in line at Delta and been advised to go to AA. Then waited in line at AA until 0558.
When the OP said "I directly went to the AA ticket counter but was not attended until 5:58am" isn't "I" the subject of the sentence??
When the OP said "I directly went to the AA ticket counter but was not attended until 5:58am" isn't "I" the subject of the sentence??
I think the underlying issue of AA not issuing the ticket correctly isn't something that many travelers would know to watch for. Many here on FT know either because it's happened to them before or they've read it here and learned from others. It's easy for us to think that anybody should know what to do or what can be done to mitigate issues, but I would guess that there are more people who wouldn't know than would. Or put another way, I think that there are a lot of people who would think that when the AA agent said "here you go, we've rebooked you on Delta" that everything was all set. Especially as well, you know, it should have been all set.
Dec 4, 2018, 8:25 am
#207
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,313
It's possible OP is non-native, but the English was virtually flawless otherwise. The issue here is this particular sentence, if the subject of the verb attended was, in fact, the OP, then the proper usage would be "I went directly to the AA ticket counter but was not attended to until 5:58am".
the POINT is, the way the OP wrote it, there was at least one person who was confused if he was standing in the right place to get this travel problem fixed. Don't need the grammar police getting us off track, jeez.
Dec 4, 2018, 9:21 am
#208
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
It does not really matter whether "attended" refers to OP or to the counter. In either event, an AA employee was not able to deal with his problem until 05:58 and that was too late.
For the sake of others, it also always pays to get on the phone too. Any AA agent could have pushed the ticket relatively instantly. If the phone agent deals with it first, all the better. If you make it to the head of the line first, that is all the better as well.
For the sake of others, it also always pays to get on the phone too. Any AA agent could have pushed the ticket relatively instantly. If the phone agent deals with it first, all the better. If you make it to the head of the line first, that is all the better as well.
Dec 4, 2018, 9:58 am
#209
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Programs: UA 1K, AA Lifetime Platinum, DL Platinum, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 7,970
Perhaps they're from one of many countries where English is the primary language, but are outside of North America and have different notions of what "flawless" is. Perhaps they were flying on a return ticket, after being resident in a hotel, for example.
Dec 4, 2018, 12:08 pm
#210
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 17
I am actually from Germany so first of all thanks for considering my English „virtually flawless“ - I really appreciate this! I also appreciate pointing out the error that I missed the to after attended, and please excuse the confusion. Who‘d have known I do not only learn something about how to deal with rebookings but also about gammar when posting this? 
thanks again, Lars
thanks again, Lars