We were just trying to get home after a cruise ended in FLL. Our new home airport now that we’ve retired is RIC. We ended up renting a car and driving 15 hours home. Got home 30 minutes ago (12:45 am).
The icing on the cake is that the airport has not plowed the roads in the economy parking lot so you can’t drive in or out. And they say they will charge us for additional days even though no one can get their cars out. I understand having to dig our own cars out, but I do not understand paying them additional days because of their failure to deal with the road itself.
@busdriver11 if we were in the same state I’d crack a good bottle of red wine with you and commiserate.
However, it is likely that the “kettles” are at higher risk of problems, and more likely to encounter worse resolution of the problems because:
a. They may not realize that certain flights or connections are higher risk than others for delays, missed connections, and other problems, while more experienced travelers may actively avoid higher risk ones, or build in buffers for problems when choosing flights if it is really critical to get there on time.
b. They may be less knowledgeable about how to get airlines to give them good resolution of the problems, unlike the more experienced flyers.
c. They probably have no frequent flyer status on the airline, while the experienced ones are more likely to have some sort of elite frequent flyer status that gets them better treatment in terms of resolutions to problems.
Hayden, will the rental agency allow you to drop off the car at another one of their locations, locally? That is completely unfair if you can’t return the car because you can’t get to their location! I would raise holy heck about that one.
15 hours of driving. Wow, I’m with you there on the wine.
“a. They may not realize that certain flights or connections are higher risk than others for delays, missed connections, and other problems, while more experienced travelers may actively avoid higher risk ones, or build in buffers for problems when choosing flights if it is really critical to get there on time.
b. They may be less knowledgeable about how to get airlines to give them good resolution of the problems, unlike the more experienced flyers.
c. They probably have no frequent flyer status on the airline, while the experienced ones are more likely to have some sort of elite frequent flyer status that gets them better treatment in terms of resolutions to problems.”
Those are true statements. Knowledge is power. There are ways to help prevent bad situations and ways to resolve them. It’s not that you can always prevent problems, but sometimes you can detect them before you head out.
One biggie is checking your reservation online before the flight. Putting in your confirmation number, looking for a good seat. I do that when the reservation is made, a couple of days prior and certainly before I leave for the airport, generally, if you can’t pull up your reservation online, there can be a problem. Takes a minute to do so. Sometimes I am booked on the wrong day, sometimes my reservation was never made, or cancelled, sometimes my flight was revised to one I don’t prefer to take. Don’t know whether my corporate travel or the airlines are messing it up, but if I can detect it before I leave, I can generally fix it easier.
Yes, of course. And sometimes kettles create their own problems by not arriving early enough, trying to carry things through security that are forbidden, etc. NOT at all saying that’s what happened here, as clearly the airline screwed up.
In the snowstorm of 2010, I got stranded at the Philly Airport Marriott - for 5 days! And in February 2010, a snowstorm hit NY and the East Coast airports were all shut down and I took the one Amtrak that was still running, on a sleeper car back to Chicago. I guess my point is, when you travel a lot, stuff happens and a resolution of getting to your destination at roughly the same time doesn’t even register. It’s like bemoaning that you had to stop at a train crossing. I’m not unsympathetic to the immediate panic but this falls under - you gotta let it go.
American cancelled D2 flight in November due to mechanical issues. I promptly emailed customer service and there has been no response other than acknowledging my initial complaint.
I took Hayden’s comment to mean that they had parked their own car in the airport parking lot, expecting to pick it up when they got off the plane. Now they can’t get to it because the parking lot is blocked by snow and they will have to pay for extra days in long term parking. Still unfair, though!
“I took Hayden’s comment to mean that they had parked their own car in the airport parking lot, expecting to pick it up when they got off the plane. Now they can’t get to it because the parking lot is blocked by snow and they will have to pay for extra days in long term parking. Still unfair, though”
Oh, okay. If that’s so, it doesn’t surprise me that they would charge extra days because you need their car. I can’t see them letting me keep their car for free because I can’t get mine, however, I don’t think it should be at the jacked up rate that they charge for extra days, but at the original rate. Unless they had already jacked up the rate like crazy in the first place!
Pizzagirl’s post #65 illustrates why frequent flyers may think the OP’s situation is fairly minor, compared to how some people have been inconvenienced. Hayden’s 15 hour drive is serious and expensive inconvenience. I know it seems like a big issue to people who might not fly much…but taking an hour to get the flight back, and arriving close to the original time? I hope the customer service agent who spent all that time fixing the daughter’s flight got some thanks, as annoying as it was to wait for it to be fixed.
I think many people are so accustomed to the occasional true disasters that happen with air travel, that when a minor mess up happens, it’s not a big deal. AA has had plenty of problems since the merger and I avoid them if I can. The customer service sounds crappy, people are overworked and underpaid. There are all sorts of stories of customer service failures.
@partyof5, was your daughter’s flight rebooked? If not, I’d think you are due for compensation, but if they rescheduled it, I doubt they would give you anything, unfortunately.
This kettle had been flying this particular flight 4 times a year for the last three and half years and happens to be a FF. This flyer is not saying mistakes shouldn’t happen, just that if it happens, it should be resolved with reasonable time frame like at most 20 minutes. It took an hour. The result was the flyer missed the original flight and made the rerouted flight with only minutes to spare. Had to feel thankful making the new flight. Can’t you see how mess up the situation is? It was not the flyer’s fault by any account. The flyer was rerouted to an inconvenient airport. it cost more , it was more hassle to get to the final destination. It’s not just the flyer who was inconvenienced. There were only two counter agents at the time and one was tied up for an hour to resolve a simple issue. I think we are becoming obedient sheep to corporate power. They treat you with precious little bread crumbs like advantage club. It makes you feel selected and when “kettles” get in trouble you are quick to point fingers to "kettle’ and protect your powerful corporate friend. Sorry, you guys are pathetic.
An aside on the parking, I discovered that the airport where I live offers online coupons for discount parking in their ramp. It is much cheaper with the coupon, worth Googling to see if your airport has them. You don’t have to present them until you leave, too.
@busdriver11 yes her flight was rebooked but not until the next day. So she had to go back to the dorm so cab fare to dorm and back the next day. It is my understanding that if a flight is cancelled due to things other than the weather, they should offer something, a meal voucher, hotel etc.
Fortunately, she just went back to her dc dorm, but what about the folks that didnt live in DC, American shouldve offered something, and they didnt know she was local. I didnt have her get in line, I had her call the 800# because the line was so long by the time she got off the plane. Yes, they sat on the plane forever, only to be told that the flight was cancelled >:P
They could at least offer her some miles for the inconvenience.
Igloo, you didn’t post all the details in your first post. They trickled out as we probed - including the musical instrument. And you haven’t clarified the airport distances involved here.
Sorry to have offended you. I apologize. And I’ve made it clear I agree the airline screwed up. Peace?
My friend works at Delta, and she told me that if its not weather related, Deltas policy is to offer something especially if the customer complains, and it was mechanical.
“This kettle had been flying this particular flight 4 times a year for the last three and half years and happens to be a FF. This flyer is not saying mistakes shouldn’t happen, just that if it happens, it should be resolved with reasonable time frame like at most 20 minutes. It took an hour.”
And that is messed up. It seems like if the evidence is there of the rescheduled flight, and certainly the flyer would have had a copy of that in email at least, that it would have been an easy fix to put them on the original flight (if there was room), or on the rerouted flight much quicker. Of course it was not the flyer’s fault, however it is very helpful to pull up one’s reservation online ahead of time. First, to make sure it actually exists, is on the right day, to the right destination, and to get a decent seat. Not required, but it can save you misery.
“I think we are becoming obedient sheep to corporate power. They treat you with precious little bread crumbs like advantage club.”
I agree with that. Or maybe it’s that we are just so used to getting abused, that it’s the norm. One of the only ways to protect yourself is to do whatever it takes to obtain elite status from your particular airline. I have always said that I will fly from Seattle to Portland, via Paris, at the end of the year, if that’s what it takes to keep my status. It is worth it for the upgrades and better customer service, for those who fly often.
"It makes you feel selected and when “kettles” get in trouble you are quick to point fingers to “kettle’ and protect your powerful corporate friend. Sorry, you guys are pathetic”
Now that’s just silly. People are merely giving advice on how to deal with these situations, and how to prevent them from happening (as far as the things that one can control). But perhaps you were just looking for a place to vent, and not for solutions. American Airlines is certainly not my corporate friend. They laid me and my husband off many years ago, with a baby and a toddler, so I have no love for them. We could have ended up on food stamps. I have avoided them assiduously, for customer service issues.
partyof5, I am sure they have to offer vouchers for food and lodging for a mechanical cancellation. I think I would not wait for them to contact me again, because I’m sure they won’t, at this point. I would send another email, saying that you are still waiting for a response, that she didn’t get any vouchers, and ask for the air miles. Make it clear and insistent. I’m not sure what else you can do, but I would just keep asking. Air miles are a pretty dang easy thing for them to give you. And the way things have been happening lately, they should just start awarding 20K miles to everyone!