FAA1996

You did nothing wrong and actually did everything I would have done. The only thing I disagree with you on is expecting AA or any other airline to be liable for consequential damages/expenses. It's just not how it works. That being said, please keep us posted of any updates.

C17PSGR

If AA denies boarding (IDB) federal law defines how much. Because airlines don't want to report IDB and pay cash, they often pay much higher voucher incentives to voluntarily take a later flight.

To stick with your Super Bowl example, I'm confident that each year there are a number of people with expensive tickets who miss the Super Bowl because of transportation issues through no fault of their own. Traffic accidents, weather delays, mx delays, etc. As another example, I presume people will miss their cruises in Miami from time to time for the same reasons.

On bags, doesn't AA offer something for delays? So if you actually flew the flight to PIT or IAD and your bags didn't make it, you would have a claim ... and we'd all be supporting you.

bse118

You keep changing your story. Did you ask AA to route the bags to IAD or CPT?

If you were ticketed to IAD, then yes, AA has an obligation to deliver the bags to IAD (or return them to you in DFW when you/they cancel). They don't have an obligation to deliver the bags to IAD and then deliver them to SAS, Swiss, or SAA. They don't have an obligation to deliver them to CPT.

I'm getting the feeling that the bag situation here was a mix of agent lip service and poor communication mixed with some OP-introduced confusion.

Often1

AA no longer had the obligation to deliver OP's bags to IAD once OP voluntarily cancelled. More importantly, a front-line AA agent lacked the ability to check bags for what amounted to a non-passenger. If the bags had been left alone, they likely would have been sent to IAD because they were already tagged, but that is not the case here.

svasandani

I have explained it multiple times but here it is again. After the flight got canceled at 1AM I was told by the Gate Agent to pickup the bag at Baggage Claim. When I went to Baggage claim (2AM). I was told by Bag Service Agent that Bag room is closed and it is impossible to deliver the bags back to you and the bag will automatically go on the morning flight to PIT. I informed him that my destination is IAD and I have bought ticket on another airline to get there on my own since AA cannot find me a available seat on any of their own flights.

Upon which he suggested that I can put instructions for the bag room so they can send the bag to IAD instead of PIT. He typed up very clear instructions with flight numbers etc. for the bag room and showed it me on the screen before submitting. Upon reaching IAD at 3PM I checked the bag status in the app and it showed the bag was in PIT. I then called AA bag service number and asked what happened. He looked up the record as well and said your bag is PIT. I then went on to explain to him that I have an onward journey to CPT in next 2 hours and is it possible to somehow now deliver bags directly to CPT. He put me on hold, did his research and came back on the phone and suggested that i can route your bags via BA on the non-stop PIT-LHR flight which will then connect to the flight onward to CPT. I was happy to hear that and told him that sounds fine. He then kept me on hold and I heard him typing detailed instructions on his keyboard over the phone.After he finished typing he said the instructions have been sent to PIT bagroom and once the bag reaches CPT we will contact you. He also gave me a new world tracer number and suggested that I keep receipt of purchases i make until the bag arrives. He also explained the process of how a world tracer works.

I then proceeded on my intl flight via Europe to CPT. When I was in ZRH I get a call from AA Bag Service. This time it is lady from DFW who says I have your bag here in DFW what do you want me to do with it. I explained to her what the previous agent told me and she apologized profusely and said i will fix right away and also go talk to my manager and we will make sure the bag is somehow on its way to you in CPT. If I need anything else from you I will call you. I had a short connection and proceeded to CPT. Upon reaching CPT I went to bag claim and gave SAA the World tracer number. They were able to pull up the info with that number, gave me a print out of it and promised to give me a call when bag reaches CPT also deliver it to my hotel.

2 days later I get a text notification that the bag is on its way to my home. I immediately called AA Bag service and they were about to hand it over to the delivery company in DFW. I again explained to this 3rd agent what all had happened and in the end we agreed that it is best for them to hold on to the bag at DFW as i had lost faith in them being able to make it happen and also I would be on the move because in another 3 days I was leaving CPT and going to JNB and they will be even more confused chasing me around the world.

Just for grins I did give my AA bag tag number to SAS in IAD and they did enter it into the system somewhere but explained to me the whole world tracer process similar to what the first agent said when I found out the bag is in PIT.

I hope that makes it clear what happened each step of the way.

I know most of you believe:
a) It is impossible for AA to deliver bags to CPT
b) they have no responsibility to deliver bags beyond IAD.

However, based on my past experiences and what I was told by all the agents all along during this trip that in principle a mechanism/procedure exists though rarely used and hence there is huge disconnect between agents entering instructions and people actually following it in the bagroom. The bagroom folks are lazy or not trained enough to handle these rare and unique situations. All of the standard policies being quoted only apply to normal operations. Once a bag is misplaced, it is the job of the airline to make "reasonable effort" to deliver the bag to wherever the customer wants. If they can deliver to your home, hotel and first destination of your cruise etc. this is very much doable as well because airline systems are well connected. The proof also lies in the fact that the SAA agent in CPT was immediately able to pull up the world tracer when I gave them the number. On the other hand if it has to be delivered to a resort which is 3 hours drive from the airport that may fall outside the "reasonable effort" clause.

Andriyko

It is certainly possible to deliver bags elsewhere other than a passenger's final destination. There is no arguing about it. In my experience, however, an airline would only entertain the idea if you actually complete the flights and the bag(s) does (do) not arrive with you. Then you complete a PIR at the arrival airport and indicate where you want for your bags to be sent. This is what happened when I was flying from HNL to IST via DFW and MAD and my bags never made the connection at DFW. I was continuing on to KBP in a couple of days from IST on a separate ticket and when I completed a PIR at IST I indicated that I wanted for my bags to be sent to Kiev, which they did once they finally located the bags (the bags first arrived to IST and then were forwarded to KBP). I am not sure the same procedure could be applied in your case when you abandoned your trip and never left DFW with AA - how would you even complete a PIR? I understand your frustration and anger - it is the worst when you're being promised something that never materializes - but I am not sure why the agents would tell you something that was not going to happen. That would make me angry as well. If I were in your shoes I would complain as well, mostly for the false promises that you were given. We can explain here why it did not/would not work, but I can understand your frustration when you were promised something, were expecting the bags to be delivered to you only for it to never happen.

svasandani

This is a great example and gets one step closer to my situation through I agree it is not the same.Your PIR in IST resulted in the creation of a World tracer which triggered message to all the airlines/airports involved.and the airport/airline that had possession of bags at that moment took the pain of locating the bag, retagging it to go KBP. In my case the bag was sitting in PIT and now imagine that baggage service agent did what the people did for you in IST. This would result in the creation of a world tracer for PIT airport bagroom with instructions on what to do with the bag. Somebody in PIT should have read the info, located the bag in their bag room and retagged it for the BA flight out of PIT followed by the BA flight out of LHR to CPT and from there on everything would flow automatically. AA would hand bag over to BA and the people at BA's bag claim in CPT will receive the bag. CPT bag claim agent would match the bag tag to the world tracer and see instructions in it to deliver bag to hotel address and call the passenger as well.

svasandani

I have still not heard back from AA but I have some good news to share. I decided to call BA directly regarding the Avios refund. I was lucky to speak to a very nice agent and after I explained to him what happened he started reviewing the details in the PNR. Then a few mins later he said this ticket has gone through a lot of changes and looks like AA has taken control of the ticket but let me investigate in more detail and get back to you in 30 mins. He called back roughly 30 mins later but i somehow missed his call. He left a voicemail that he will call back again at the end of his shift. He called again about an hour back and said i have sorted it all out AA and all the Avios as well as the taxes and fees will be refunded in next 2-3 days back to your Avios account and CC respectively.

JonNYC

That part you were certainly and unambiguously entitled to.
It's the other stuff where I'd say you have an exceedingly uphill battle.

svasandani

Agreed. I will provide another update once i hear back from AA Customer Relations.

Mwenenzi

Very surprised you did not contact BAEC on the day
You are getting all that I expect you will:- a refund for the flight in question.
The other separate flights on other airlines are irrelevant and nothing to do with BA/AA

bse118

Finally a coherent and clear explanation of what you requested.

Yes, a mechanism exists to do all you describe. That's not the same thing as AA being obligated or expected to do it under these circumstances. As far as AA was concerned your final destination was WAS.

On that point it is interesting that you would consider a 3 hour delivery to a resort outside your final destination to "fall outside the reasonable effort clause," but you do think it is reasonable for the airline to send your bag to you when you are on the other side the planet from your final destination.

Your only possible complaint to AA on the baggage issue is poor communication and false promises.

And they should have done that out of the goodness of their heart? The service you purchased was to WAS.
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An aside: I now find myself wondering how this situation relates to the rule that passengers can't voluntarily seperate themselves from their checked luggage on international flights involving the US.

Since the bags were not originally checked to CPT, and OP was asking the airline to send them on different flights than OP was traveling on, seems like it could be seen as voluntary separation. Even though functionally it was not. Murky situation.

svasandani

First of all the question of obligation does not even arise. All I did was explain to the agent by situation and he proactively volunteered to deliver the bags at CPT. Why on earth would I decline that offer. Also, based on what I understand about the whole baggage handling and forwarding process this is simply a matter of following the directions. it is not even 10 mins of work if you know what you are doing. Rest of the work is simply absorbed as part of the bulk movement. There is also no direct cost involved. Either it is courtesy interline process or something that settled via backend process at end of month in bulk.

The reason I said the 3 hour delivery to resort "may" fall outside the reasonable effort clause is they may have no well defined procedures as it may not be part of local delivery company's route. If it is then they should definitely deliver but if not nobody is going to find a delivery company and enter into a one-off contract and find a way to make a payment. Half way around the planet could very well be much easier 3 hour drive because in one case you are leveraging an existing infrastructure where 99% of work is "business as usual" and in the other case you literally have to create a new procedure / payment mechanism.

C17PSGR

Personally, I would be happy they didnt send your luggage around the world. The chances of that turning out well seem pretty slim to me.

Seems to me it would have taken less time and energy to hit an H&M in Capetown than the time and emotional energy invested in (a) expecting AA to send your luggage around the world and (b) trying to get AA to compensate you.

If AA gives you a $200 voucher for poor communication in failing to tell you they are going to send your bags home, is that really worth it?

Im glad BA put the Avios back in your account.

svasandani

I did not think about it much once I left IAD and like you said did most of my shopping at Woolworth's (similar to H&M). My first outbound call to them was from IAD airport, Second one an inbound call from them when I was at ZRH airport. I did spend 30 mins extra upon landing in CPT to get a copy of the world tracer. After that i just enjoyed my vacation. I did make one more call when I got a text notification that the delivery company was going to deliver my bag home. This time I called and asked them to simply hold the bag at DFW airport. my tense moment were the 24 hours trying to get to IAD. Once i was at IAD airport I did breathe a sigh of relief.

All I am looking for is a way to make myself whole on the costs I incurred which is $180 one way car rental, $222 close in booking fee for UA award tickets and the purchases I made in CPT worth $300. Since I got the Avios already back the UA miles I spent are sort of a wash though slightly more.