F meals not catered on 1000 mile flight
Jun 6, 2019, 10:39 am
#76
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Southern California
Programs: AA EXPlat, 2.4MM; HHonors Diamond
Posts: 580
Agreed. The question is whether those advertisements create a legal obligation for which AA may be held liable. For example, what if the Barsotti-created meal was not available that day, and a different F meal was substituted. Would F passengers be entitled to anything? Would AA not have met its legal obligation to the F passengers?
Jun 6, 2019, 3:04 pm
#78
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 256
What time did the flight leave CLT? Did the reservation system indicate a meal when you booked? Did it allow you to pre-order a meal?
I think the meal window ends at 8pm, and there are some flights from PHL/CLT to western cities that leave after that don't necessarily get meals (there are some exceptions).
I think the meal window ends at 8pm, and there are some flights from PHL/CLT to western cities that leave after that don't necessarily get meals (there are some exceptions).
Jun 6, 2019, 3:24 pm
#79
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: AUS / GRK
Programs: AA, HHonors, Hertz
Posts: 13,485
The CLT to LAS flight probably did leave around 900pm EST. I'm not sure of the prebook meal as I never look at that and the originally booked LAS flight was changed after first flight from SAV to CLT was delayed due to an error within AA's control. If there is a meal window, I didn't see such a thing listed on AA.com.
Basically, in its best condensed form, you should expect to receive a meal between 4:59am - 8pm on flights longer than 900 miles, which equals about two hours in the air. From that point, there are exceptions, and specific timing parameters.
Jun 6, 2019, 9:58 pm
#81
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,753
Jun 6, 2019, 10:23 pm
#82
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: KHOU/KIAH
Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 11,236
The CoC is only one part of this. A hotel does not explicitly state that they have running water. They merely state they have showers. If you checked in and they told you, "our T&C merely said we have showers, not that they would be usable", would that be acceptable? Yes, airline food sucks and yes it does not cost a lot. But neither do the raw ingredients at a fancy Michelin star restaurant. That doesn't mean an advertised and therefore expected service not being delivered is ok, merely because it is somehow buried in fine print.
Jun 7, 2019, 2:54 am
#83
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,769
Is it not substantive to hold a company to account for what it was expected to provide? I can assure you that, in the limit of this thought experiment, where AA just doesn’t cater any F meals, the savings would be quite substantive to AA. So at what point is it acceptable?
Jun 7, 2019, 4:13 am
#84
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,753
You didn't answer my question.
And as for the "fine print," that some passengers choose not to read the "fine print" doesn't operate to shift liability to AA.
And as for the "fine print," that some passengers choose not to read the "fine print" doesn't operate to shift liability to AA.
Jun 7, 2019, 6:36 am
#86
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: AAdvantage Exec Platinum, Hertz #1 Club Gold Five Star, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, HHonors Silver
Posts: 2,038
Let's make this real simple. The CoC has to do JUST with the actual transportation aspect of what AA is selling. It does not have to do with all the amenities, including food, which they advertise during the purchase process. If something is not explicitly stated in the CoC, that does not mean AA has no liability to provide it. Advertising something, such as a meal, during the booking process and then not providing it is simply not acceptable.
I think some people really need to stop trying to be a lawyer for AA on the forums and look at this through basic common sense. When an company promises something (in this case a meal) and does not deliver it, there needs to be some type of compensation (the amount/format can vary based on the consumer and what was missed by the company).
I think some people really need to stop trying to be a lawyer for AA on the forums and look at this through basic common sense. When an company promises something (in this case a meal) and does not deliver it, there needs to be some type of compensation (the amount/format can vary based on the consumer and what was missed by the company).
Jun 7, 2019, 6:56 am
#87
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
Let's make this real simple. The CoC has to do JUST with the actual transportation aspect of what AA is selling. It does not have to do with all the amenities, including food, which they advertise during the purchase process. If something is not explicitly stated in the CoC, that does not mean AA has no liability to provide it. Advertising something, such as a meal, during the booking process and then not providing it is simply not acceptable.
I think some people really need to stop trying to be a lawyer for AA on the forums and look at this through basic common sense. When an company promises something (in this case a meal) and does not deliver it, there needs to be some type of compensation (the amount/format can vary based on the consumer and what was missed by the company).
I think some people really need to stop trying to be a lawyer for AA on the forums and look at this through basic common sense. When an company promises something (in this case a meal) and does not deliver it, there needs to be some type of compensation (the amount/format can vary based on the consumer and what was missed by the company).
Jun 7, 2019, 7:00 am
#88
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: AAdvantage Exec Platinum, Hertz #1 Club Gold Five Star, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, HHonors Silver
Posts: 2,038
Should AA provide compensation for an uncatered meal? Likely yes. Question is what if AA won't? In this case what are the realistic options to get reimbursed for a $5 cold breakfast? Continue to badger AA, threaten to sue, take AA to small claims court? Or chalk it up to one of the many annoying events of travel (like a rush of flyers in Group 9 allowed to board with Group 1) and continue on with life?
Also, I'm not sure I understand why everyone always guesses that the meals cost $5 or something similar. We have no idea how much AA (or any airline) pays for these meals. And since AA doesn't break this down in their costs, it's up to the consumer to negotiate the amount owed to them.
Also, taking this to small claims court also assumes AA refuses to do anything for the customer due to this service failure. In all likelihood, with a polite fact-based request sent online to AA, the consumer will get some compensation for this.
Jun 7, 2019, 8:41 am
#89
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: DL DM, AA EXP, various hotel
Posts: 2,227
Actually, that's often exactly how it works! When courts look at long, boilerplate, one-sided contracts, the enforceability can turn in some cases on whether the contract is reasonably likely to be read by the other party that's subject to it without any choice.
Jun 7, 2019, 9:23 am
#90
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 256
I received a fast response from my complaint regarding no meal on my F flight and also the 2 hour delay which occurred prior to the no meal F flight.
They apologized for failing and applied miles to my account. They didn't specify or admit to the shortcomings in detail rather if it was the no meal or the 2 hr delay but it does seem they read the complaint and instead of blowing it off and responding with a copy/paste response and taking no action (which is what I fully expected to happen) they did the right thing at least for me and it restored my faith in AA. Having a bad experience dealing with any company can have a long lasting negative effect on the customer deciding to select to deal with the same company again in the future. There is always fine print somewhere that can be pointed to for a company to get around things and I am sure they could have pointed to no meals after 8pm or something but in my case they at least showed good faith in making it right. So now I went from being pretty upset from that flight and experience on AA to being treated fairly. It's all about customer service and now I am giving props to AA and looking forward to upcoming trips with them.
They apologized for failing and applied miles to my account. They didn't specify or admit to the shortcomings in detail rather if it was the no meal or the 2 hr delay but it does seem they read the complaint and instead of blowing it off and responding with a copy/paste response and taking no action (which is what I fully expected to happen) they did the right thing at least for me and it restored my faith in AA. Having a bad experience dealing with any company can have a long lasting negative effect on the customer deciding to select to deal with the same company again in the future. There is always fine print somewhere that can be pointed to for a company to get around things and I am sure they could have pointed to no meals after 8pm or something but in my case they at least showed good faith in making it right. So now I went from being pretty upset from that flight and experience on AA to being treated fairly. It's all about customer service and now I am giving props to AA and looking forward to upcoming trips with them.