No.

The ultimate lesson that you need to understand from this experience is to plan every trip properly and be certain you have satisfied every requirement before you embark on your journey.

It does not matter whether you are a seasoned traveler or traveling for the first time. 2006 will mark the 30th anniversary since I first stepped onto an airplane, and I still meticulously spend an incredible amount of time and effort ensuring that I have the proper documentation, that all of my reservations are confirmed and intact, that I pack everything I need to bring with me, that I have satisfied all requirements before leaving on a trip (including such items as receiving the proper vaccinations and securing visas), that I understand currency conversions, that I get the most value for my money, that I carefully choose places where I believe I will have a great time with great food, etc. The list goes on and on.

It is a daunting task to be fully prepared, to be certain. Even after all of the effort, mistakes still happen. Unexpected events still occur. Changes can still alter one’s trip. However, usually the more prepared you are, the less angst, heartache and frustration you will suffer when you travel.

You certainly deserve some compensation from American Airlines, but not what you believe you deserve, zresnik, in my opinion. However, my advice to you is that it never hurts to ask. Ask a representative of American Airlines about this situation in a nice and polite manner as to how it can be resolved to be mutually beneficial to both you and American Airlines. If you do not get the answer you want, try again with a different representative of American Airlines until you get a representative who is sympathetic to your situation and that you ultimately do get the answer you want. However, if you find you are repeatedly getting the same answer no matter to whom you speak, cut your losses and move on. It never hurts to try to receive what you truly believe you deserve, as long as you do it in a proper manner, but don’t be disappointed if you ultimately do not get it. Be certain that all of your facts are organized and straight to have a better chance of achieving your goal.

Consider this personal experience an education for which you have paid. This is very important. You could not have received a better education on handling this situation in school, at www.fodors.com, or even here on FlyerTalk.

Most importantly, this education which you have received will greatly help you in planning for all of your tips in the future. That, in itself, is worth it — especially if you plan to eventually increase your travel in the future.

If you need assistance for any future trip, you are more than welcome to come to FlyerTalk first. You have, in my opinion, the single largest collection of knowledgeable travel experts in the world, ready to assist you on a moment’s notice.

One other thing: if nothing else, consider that by posting your experience here on FlyerTalk, you may have unknowingly assisted other FlyerTalk members from committing the same errors that you have committed, as well as for them to look out for any errors that may be committed by the companies from whom they purchase their travel. If you indeed succeed in providing this valuable education, is that not some consolation to you that you may have inadvertently helped out others?

You may not realize it now, zresnik, but you have just made many new friends with whom you will probably be communicating for a long time — and, one day, you may eventually be outright dispensing valuable travel advice to others in the future.

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

OP,

You asked for advice on how to approach AA. I would continue talking with Mr Rhodes on a regular basis. I know it is a pain in the butt, but keep calling, say 10am every business day.

Keep as unemotional as possible, have your list of demands written down. Determine which ones you must have met(i.e. refund/free passage to CR in a similar or better class of service), your nice to haves, and finally the points that you are willing to pass on in the spirit of negotiations.

Stick with the main point that a) Your LGA GA should have not let you on the plane to endure travel hell. This led to an embarrising situation that was only amplified with being in a foreign land, that speaks a different language and outside of your own environment. b) That you got bad information from the "expert AA travel" services(or whatever their announcement says. c) Remind Mr. Rhodes that the purpose of the trip was more than a family vacation but a celebration of your 13 year old's bar-mitzva(sorry, can't spell).

As for the cost of the resort going up, I am not sure what to suggest, Can you go later in the year, somewhere more off-season? Again, this could be a negotiation point.

Most importantly, remain as unemotional about the experience as you can be when talking to AA. If you feel yourself getting too emotional, excuse yourself and remind them that you will call back the next day.

Also, don't threaten AA. I don't think that they will be too concerned about you not wanting to fly AA. AA wants you to return as a customer and if you start off by saying "This experience has left such a bad taste in my mouth I will never fly AA again" why would AA try to accomodate your demands.

Not sure if you should throw in the whole 10K fine. They are all aware of the 10K fine. Its not going to go away, but you also don't want AA to think about the 10K fine, plus all of the freebies that you are asking for in return for the situation you encountered.

At the end of the day, when it has all been resolved, write a thank you note to whomever you worked with and helped resolved the issue. Let them know how the rebooked vacation went. Make them feel like you empathize with their situation . You just never know if they will go out of their way to reward you again.

That would be my suggestion on how to work with AA to help you get what you want out of this experience.

JAB

Thanks, I appreciate that last advice. I don't know who these people are, but please don't make a mockery of this situation. It is very serious and important to me, and I think it's ridiculous that it is being mocked by some posters.

Its pretty easy to make fun of the (or any other) situation from a distance. Hopefully you and your 8 year old will be able to laugh about it once there is some real distance from the event.

I don't think that most people are making a mockery of you or your situation. However, many people have rightfully taken issue with your reluctance to accept more personal responsibility for failing to carefully research the documentation you needed for this international trip and for simultaneously shifting an unfairly large percentage of the responsibility to AA.

That is exactly correct!

M8

And...You probably work for me and you don't even know it... :rolleyes:

M8

Wow nasty response.
 

I can't believe the nasty tone of some of the responses here. It seems to me that you have a very real cause for complaint. I could picture this happening to my parents or other infrequent travelers. If you did indeed call AA ahead of time, and they did give you the wrong information, then they were wrong once. If they let you on the plane, they are wrong twice, if they didn't do a passport check in MIA then they are wrong again, and now they aren't being helpful in the aftermath.

I think you should consider writing a letter to the CEO clearly outlining the situation and being completely upfront with your own actions. As for compensation I think your entitled to a refund of the orginal airfare in the form of either cash or perhaps a travel voucher(less desirabe), a refund of your first nights hotel, an apology letter with assurances that agents both on the phone and at the airport will be retrained in these matters. On the other hand I think you need to bear the cost of whatever you spent in MIA, in your post you indicated they provided you with a hotel room? If so that's about all I would expect from them.

Just to provide some trivial information ...

U.S. passports for minors are only valid for 5 years at a stretch, not 10 years as previously stated.

The fees for any type of passport are nudging $100. Unfortunately, for an in person application, one is assessed an additional fee on top. One is supposed to only qualify for an in person appilcation if travel is within 14 days.

For a minor under 15, obtaining a passport or renewing one is a bureaucratic minefield if both biological parents are not present at the time application is made.

In my experience, it is easier to obtain such a passport within the USA rather than at an U.S. consulate abroad.

Just as important as the need to have a passport for a minor child, are such petty details as making sure there's plenty of validity left in the passport and even enough pages for entry stamps. South Africa has been turning away visitors lately without a blank page.

And, as stated, above, Canada makes it very tough for children to enter with just one parent present. Properly notarized consent letters from an absent parent are de rigeur.

This saga reminds me of somehow managing to get my Thai girlfriend into Botswana once without the required visa already obtained . You can be sure I talked sweetly, waited patiently and graciously listened to a lecture from the immigration officer before a waiver was given for a visa on arrival to be issued.

If you get AA to cover your tickets back and whatever accomodation expenses you incurred in the screw-up you are way ahead of the game. Otherwise the airline has no responsibility to you and saving that $90 or so by not getting your son a passport was a really bad move.

Miami is very simular to Costa Rica. Especially if you are from New York in December.

If this had happened to my family we would have tried to get the distressed passenger rate AA has negociated with local hotels and spent our vacation in Miami and enjoyed it.

Your son has the feeling that this is all his fault because he realizes it is not really the airlines fault that he attempted to go without a passport and his father who is ultimately at fault does not help by taking responsibility for his mistake.

You had a golden opportunity here to have an enjoyable vacation in Miami with free airfare and lots of free frequent flier miles to boot, but you chose to try to make this an I'll sue them situation and your vacation became engrossed in this.

While it is true that AA made a mistake that they will be fined for. Your negligence was responsible for more than 50% of that mistake in my opinion. If you file suit and AA filed a counterclaim for the $10,000 I wouldn't be suprised if AA doesn't re-coup some of their fine.

Which brings me to my final point and one that is very difficult to word without offending people but here goes. New York has a lot of attorneys and a reputation that it's people are looking to sue anyone for anything. When I first read this post I thought this kinda fit with that stereotype. "You guys help me with this lawsuit" was the theme of the post.

Step up to the plate take some responsibility, show your kids how to make lemonade out of lemons and if the $2000 in extra hotel cost if a problem rebook later in the year when rates are more favorable. But most importantly for the child make sure this has a happy ending.

I don't quite understand the emotional stress issues mentioned here. How cool would it be to spend the evening in a Costa Rican holding cell? The best I've done is a night in a Singapore hospital. What a great story, and would certainly enhance my Virgin Atlantic Jetrosexual application next year!

(On an unrelated note, I don't understand my troubles finding a like-minded girl.)

I absolutely agree. Like I said above, I'm sure that person is in a bit of trouble at this point.

Ar! I don't have a boss, and even if I did, he probably wouldn't be Costa Rican. He'd probably be Korean or Japanese.

I am masquerading. I am your true boss, and you are in big trouble for picking on unknowing tourists. You will see after the New Year! ;)

M8