When I booked a flight on American Airlines to travel to San Francisco for my wife and myself for vacation in a couple of weeks, I had no idea the hassle I was signing up for.
I made the booking about 3 weeks ago directly on AA.com, and at the time I was certain that I had signed up for the 9:45am flight. Well, today as I was booking travel back and forth to D.C. for the next few weeks I decided to take a look at that old reservation because I’ll be traveling back from DC the night before we are scheduled to leave the next morning.
So, I opened the reservation to take a look only to discover that there is an error. The flight was supposed to be in the morning, but instead it’s listed in the evening!
Initially I was trying to figure out how this happened? I know there were multiple flights presented to me at the time and I was talking to my wife, and my brother and his fiance (who were on a Skype Video chat session) about what I was seeing and I’m certain I chose the morning flight so we could all meet in San Francisco at the same time. So what happened? As you can see from the attached image AA.com presents multiple groupings and you have to scroll up and down the page repeatedly to choose the ones you want.
- It’s possible I clicked the wrong one with all the discussion that was taking place.
- It’s possible that I clicked the right one, but some other interaction between the Web browser, Skype, the tab key, the space bar, and God only knows what else caused the selection
- Of note, I had just taken the exact same flight I was trying to book 4 days before! So there is evidence that I have a propensity to want that very flight.
- But ultimately it doesn’t really matter what caused it since there is plenty of time to correct what boils down to an honest mistake.
So I decided to give AA a call to let them know what was going on and to get the issue rectified. I initially spoke with a guy who informed me politely that there was nothing he could do to help me other than to charge me a $100 change fee on each ticket, plus $175 more for the current price differential between what I paid for the existing flight and what the going rate is, which he claimed is $470 – on each ticket. This adds up to around $500 in “change fees”.
This shocked me and I told him I was going to have to think about it and then call back later.
After giving it some thought, and before calling back I took the liberty of checking the pricing online to better understand what was going on, as well as checking the current availability on each of the flights. It turns out that the pricing online for the tickets the agent claimed was $470 was only $420 online. In addition, there are at least 10 free seats available on the flight I need to be on.
I then called back in and asked the woman who answered to let me speak to a supervisor. She asked me to briefly describe the issue, which I did, and then informed me that no one there could take care of this problem and that I should talk to the AA.com technical support desk. She then hurriedly transferred me and upon arrival I was greeted with a recording stating that they were closed.
So I called back a third time, this time reaching an agent by the name of Gabe Martinez. I again immediately requested to speak to a manager, but he also made me relate the story once again. Gabe however took a very adversarial approach with me that only proved to make me angry. I felt his tone was rude, demeaning and accusatory and he made a point of stating that this was all my fault.
Finally after he got me quite angry I demanded a manager and he then came back with one. As he had me on hold I was wishing that I had recorded my conversation with him, so I pulled out my recorder and captured the discussion with the supervisor, Dee Mason in Tuscon.
If you choose not to listen to all 16 minutes of it I don’t blame you. Here are a few highlights:
Dee Mason:“First of all, the inventory you booked on the 28th of April is no longer available…”
John P.: “…your talking to me about inventory. And I’m a customer, and when I get on your airplane I only see two kinds of seats. I see the first class seats, and I see the other seats. So every seat on the plane looks identical to me.”John P.: “Can you see how someone might book online with the wrong AM/PM time frame accidentally?”
Dee Mason: “Well sure.”Dee Mason: “We really at this point see it … as a voluntary change, not as a mistake.”
Dee Mason: “When a passenger takes it upon them-self to become their own travel agent and uses AA.com or any booking source, then you’re responsible for the changes after that point. And just as a courtesy to passengers who use AA.com we instilled the 24 hour rule where you can give us a call back within 24 hours if you make an error it doesn’t matter, if you decide to make a change it’s OK, but as long as you call us within 24 hours to do so. But beyond that point it’s considered a voluntary change.”
Major issues I have with what happened:
- The agents are not only trying to collect change fees, but they are trying to collect much higher rates than you get online. The $100 differential between what I was seeing and what they are quoting is AA’s way of clearly driving customers to self-service on the Web.
- When I was talking to Gabe Martinez and I informed him of the differential in pricing he actually encouraged me to put some tickets on hold on the Web in a name other than my own and then to call back in and get them to use those for exchange purposes. So the phone agents are driving people to use the web.
- AA charges $10 per ticket if you call in and use their agents to book a flight instead of booking online, and that is in addition to bypassing the “Web only” rates. Here is proof directly from an AA rep.
AA Fees - So AA does everything it can to drive customers to do it themselves, and then when a mistake occurs they turn it around on you and say it’s all your fault in order to hit you with even more change fees! As Dee Mason said, “When a passenger takes it upon them-self to become their own travel agent…”
The bottom line is:
- AA knows I am a good customer that has spent and continues to spend a lot of money with them.
- They want me to book online because it is more profitable.
- Yet when an error occurs they are unwilling to help address it unless it is caught immediately! Probably because it is so damned profitable to screw you.
I can’t wait till the Wright Amendment is fully abolished in Dallas and Southwest can start kicking AA’s ass. Maybe then they’ll remember what it means to actually care about their customer’s needs.
I’ve had it with AA also. I made a reservation from Minneapolis St Paul to Dallas on September 7th, 2011. I tried to change the flight to the 8th and first agreed to after I missunderstood what the reservation clerk told me about the up charge. When she came back and told me it was going to cost an additional 641.00 in addition to the 424.00 I had already paid I told her I missunderstood and she said she would cancel the ticket for the 8th and my ticket for the 7th would be reinstated. When I got to the airport on the 7th, I found my reservation was for the 8th. She had not “undone the deal for the 8th ” like she said she did. I was able to fly home to Dallas on the 7th but my charge card had been charged the 641.00. AA took all the information, entered it in the computer and I was given an ID number to use when inquiring about the refund. Well’ the refund turned into a promised voucher for another flight that as of 10/7 I still have not received. I called on 10/5 and was told to contact a number at the refund department in El Paso by fax. I faxed them letting them know I needed the ticket voucher because I needed to make a return trip to Minneapolis St Paul on the 18th of October. I also told them if I didn’t hear from them by today, 10/7, I would fly another airlines and never fly AA again. I haven’t heard anything. I will dedicate the rest of my life to trying to persuade people not to fly American Airlines. They should have credited my credit card immediatelly but they wanted to be cute and simply issue a voucher for another filght, which again, I have not received, 4 weeks later. I wonder if this one reason why bankruptcy is being talked about on the news!!
Well, this story sounds more like user error than anything else. Yes, the aa.com website is quite terrible and the poor UI can hasten a mistake.
But then again, caveat emptor.
I was once a strong advocate for American Airlines. Traveling three weeks out of the month and based out of Dallas I would find them as my first choice in travel.
That has all changed. Recently I was on a flight that was forced to land due to an emergency. I can only describe this event as interesting at best.
The short story was we had to get off the plane and the flight was canceled due to the plane being taken out of service…
Advised to call customer service to rebook is where the really interesting part begins. I explained to the customer service agent that I was needed in a meeting and would like to get on the first available flight. He told me that he could do “nothing” for me. The conversation continued and I asked him what the airline planned to do to compensate me for lost time and wages. He told me that “your compensation was the pilot landing you safe and not killing you”.
I was outraged! I spoke to his supervisor who basically told me tough luck.
After sending a long explanation of this to the customer service department I received this:
December 18, 2009
Dear Mr. Gillette:
Thank you for contacting us. I’m sorry that your trip didn’t go very smoothly. It must have been frustrating when your flight was delayed. There is no question that you were inconvenienced.
While on-time performance is a top priority at American, the many variables of flight operations make it impossible for us to guarantee our schedules. Nevertheless, we should always do everything possible to make such situations a little less frustrating and I’m concerned that we didn’t do so on this particular occasion.
I share your concerns regarding the insensitive behavior on the part of our personnel. We expect our employees to be courteous and helpful at all times and especially in situations such as you described. Please accept my sincere apology.
To say “we’re sorry” in a tangible way, I’ve credited your AAdvantage® account with
15,000 bonus miles. This adjustment should be reflected in your account very soon.
We know your time is valuable and we’ll do our very best to restore your confidence in
our ability to get you where you are going — as planned. We will look forward to
welcoming you aboard again soon.
Sincerely,
Apparently 15000 miles translates to better customer service.
Wow, that is a lot of miles, did you know a one way domestic flight is only 12,500 miles? they gave you a good deal there… remember the airline business is driven by humans, just like you, that can make mistakes. Nothing in this life is perfect. I hope everyone on this blog knows you don’t gain much complaining and being rude to others, americans, no offense, have this odd behaivor, always want to gain free things out of “misshaps”… so sad!
I would like to share THREE of our local flights with American – they didn’t. Three times now within one month we have been booked on a flight from Honolulu and they have been canceled without notice causing chaos in our travel plans. I was an airline pilot with a major carrier for a number of years and we would be forced to create a “mechanical” In real world language that means the aircraft was not full and not cost effective to fly so they would force the PAX on the next flight and hey presto – they are making money again. American seem to be doing this as a normal daily practice – why the FAA don’t step in and do something I don’t know – can you say KICKBACKS?
My daughter is 3 years old. She received a flower girl gift bag from her Godmother at her Godmother’s wedding in Boston & brought it on the plane. We were seated in row 29, seats D, E, & F. Shortly after exiting the plane, we realized we had forgotten it under the center seat in front of us. We were told we could not go back onto the plane to get it, even though the plane had not been cleaned yet & had not been sent to the hanger. We were sent to baggage claim services, filled out a form, waited for them to make a call up to the gate, & we were told someone went onboard to check for it & they did not find it. I went to AA Check in counter to find a Supervisor. I was told the plane still was not cleaned & one AA employee at the check in area went up to physically check for it. He returned, stating it was not there, & that maybe a passenger took it. This was an impossibility since we were the last ones off the plane & the canvas tote was covered by pillows and blankets. I then remembered I had placed a pair of expensive Ed Hardy adult sized sunglasses in her tote while on the flight. I realized that the flight attendant that found the tote also found the glasses, & if they returned the tote bag w/ childrens gifts in it, the glasses would come into question. Who would not return a toy filled, fusia trimmed ~9″x11″ canvas tote with a note inside for a little 3 year girl named Sadie? You tell me. Please. Things do not vanish into thin air. She is devastated. The Fusia trimmed small tote from the company is out of stock. The Cape Cod kids T-shirt and toys were from local stores from an area where none of our family or friends live. The letter was never even opened…
3 American Airlines customers will never fly American Airlines again.
I will never again fly American Airlines despite having flown with them for almost 20 years.
I was treated despicably at LAX by the customer service agent and American Airlines then sided with her and defamed me in a letter.
The government should not give any further breaks to the airlines. Let them all stop flying. I don’t care. Think about it. All of our business can be transacted now over the internet.
Want to vacation? Fly an international airlines like Korean Air, Quantas, JAL, etc. But don’t fly these garbage U.S airlines based out of Texas or Arkansas.
No more, man. No more.
I also hope and pray God dispenses judgement against the people involved with my dispute. I leave it to Him to judge.
Here is one for you…
Sunday, February 22, 2009 3:30 p.m.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
American Airlines Horror Story
After leaving my daughter’s audition for the Cleveland Institute of Music, we arrived early for our flight back to Chicago. While the self-check-in kiosks are great and fast, sometimes you actually need to talk to a real person. Enter surly American Airlines employee #1. I asked her if the kiosk would allow me to check and see if we can change the flight and book ourselves on an earlier flight. Her response was, “I don’t know, try it and see.â€
And see I did. For anyone wondering the answer to just that very question – it is YES. You may book yourself either as a stand by for free or get a guarantee on an upcoming flight for a small change fee. Just insert credit card – see, great and fast!
Originally booked on the 7:55 we got ourselves some of those great paid-for “guaranteed†seats on the 5:30 flight. Delighted to be going home earlier we settled in for a short wait to board the flight. Happier still when our names were called to come forward and receive our paid-for “guaranteed†seats on the 5:30 flight. We boarded the just-flown-in Embraer and settled in for the hour and a half flight to Chicago. Just as the safety presentation was ending the captain came on the P.A. to let us all know this just-flown-in and checked out Embraer had a “fatal flaw†and we would be deplaning and waiting further instruction back at our gate – I only pray that anyone on the flight that just landed was not in earshot! FATAL FLAW????? FATAL?! Really?
Within minutes, the announcement comes that they will be cancelling the flight and we will all have to be re-ticketed on another flight. I immediately call American Airlines and get a reservation supervisor on the phone. Enter surly employee #2, I have had enough experience with American to know that your ordinary, run-of-the-mill reservationist is simply not skilled enough to rebook me on my original flight – what was I thinking? I immediately ask to speak to the supervisor. Enter surly employee #3 who reluctantly notes in the “system†that I am to receive two highly-coveted seats on my original flight – thank you reservation supervisor. So, back on my original flight, which, as luck would have it, is the last flight out for the day!
I bring my original boarding passes to the gate agent and request that they simply issue me new boarding passes for the next flight. Enter surly employee #4. I hand the gate agent my boarding passes with all the information clearly printed upon them and she says to me, “Where are you going?†We exchange the whole question and answer thing only for her to hand the passes back to me and she says, “Don’t worry about it we will call you later.†They never called.
I found another agent, got my new boarding passes and I ask, “Since I didn’t get my paid-for “guaranteed†seat on the 5:30 flight, will I reimbursed my $100?†I was told, “I don’t know, you will have to call customer service.†Hello! You are in the service industry! YOU ARE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!
Recession or not, this country is still clearly over-employed!
The best part is that as I sit here in the airport, writing this at 7:05 p.m. they are announcing that the 7:55 flight to O’Hare International Airport will be delayed – that is all. Nothing further.
I think that both the airlines rep and John P are to be commended for maintaining calm concise discussion. I do sympathize with the customer; I know I have made the same mistake when booking as well, but I caught it on the confirmation and changed it immediately at no charge.
The policy in this case seems wholly reasonable, I believe the customer should just take this as a learning experience to double check your flight confirmations EVERY time you book, otherwise, it may just happen again.
I also sympathize with the airline supervisor who likely has to deal with unhappy customers all day long. By the time the call goes to a supervisor, I’m sure that 95% of them are very unhappy customers. Sure, thats what supervisors get paid to do, but I have respect for that because but its a job I could never handle.(dealing with irate customers all day)
I think its unreasonable to expect supervisors to just ‘fix it’ every time a customer has a problem. I know if I were the first agent on the call, and tasked with sticking to the airline policies, it would be frustrating to explain the policies every time, and then the customer just asks for a supervisor who in effect tells the customer that the policy doesn’t matter and won’t be followed. As a company, either you should either have a policy or not have one, rather than have a policy that customers can routinely get around.
Once again, I commend both parties for maintaining calm discussion, something that there is a clear lack of (from both customers AND employees) in the air travel industry these days.
American airlines is just getting out of hand. I’ve flown with them most of my life, and the service is just getting worse. Then they start charging money for bags? It’s just unreal. On a recent trip to San Francisco, my family and I chose to fly with Southwest for a change.
Midway Airport is a whole different atmosphere than O’Hare. It was small, not too busy, and very easy to get to and from your gate. Grant it, 4 1/2 hours on a tight Boeing 737 is a little tough, but for $250 roundtrip, I’ll do it anytime.
John…you should really try it!
There are so many airline horror stories, I think all airlines must have to be bad to get an aviation license…
Here in Philippines we have a recent upcomer: Cebu Pacific… They have grown way too fast for their own good resulting is massive delays and horrible service.
My driver missed last checkin time by 5 minutes on our last flight and was denied checkin… EVEN though the plane was 2 hours DELAYED and the rest of us just sat on the other side of the glass dividing checkin and waiting area for 2 more hours… So plenty of time…
Another example is a friend of mine here, he booked a flight with Cebu Pacific from Philippines to Singapore… He cleared Immigration and customs and after waiting forever in the waiting area the flight was cancelled… Now this can of course happen for several valid reasons… But all passengers were now stranded after clearing immigration, nobody could give them proper information and they were told to leave the airport for the night.
No immigration personnel left in the airport to stamp them back in to the country, so the whole flight was going back in to the Philippines illegally. In this country it is extremely important to have an entry stamp and an exit stamp for each visit. Of course provisions were taken to make sure they got back in to the airport the next day, but how about the passengers who now did not need the flight because they missed whatever they were going to? Or passengers getting ill overnight and not being able to get back on that flight… I can see a lot of people trying to bribe immigration officers to get a new entry stamp…
Just another sample of horrible airline service….
Anyways, what happneed? did you end up paying?
Kim:)
AA sucks anyway you look at it. There is absolutely nothing good about this line whatsoever. Something really stinks in the air…
I guess what impresses me the most about this thread are the number of people that “sympathise” with American Airlines. You people are the reason they are able to treat us this way (or you must be AA’s PR employees).
Seriously, think about it. We are talking about a company that posted over $400 million in profits in just the first half of 2007. This is the same company that has the worst on-time rate in the entire industry, has a major problem with overbooking, and has maintained a stranglehold on the people of Dallas for 20 years by supporting the patently criminal Wright Amendment to eliminate competition in this market from SouthWest.
Meanwhile the airlines are starting to charge $2 per bag for curbside checkin at many airports (not including tips), they are beginning to upsell the exit row seats for at least $15 per seat more, they are removing room between the rows to squeeze humans into undiginfied spaces, they are eliminating flights, and stranding customers for days when flights get canceled (because overbooking prevents putting them on the next flight).
If this were any other industry US consumers would be freaking out! So what are you people talking about “…well they’ve got a policy…”?!?
Oh, and by the way Larry – AA is horrible at keeping us informed. I could give so many instances of bad, bad service from them that it is pathetic. In fact, they gave me (when I hit Gold, and when I hit Platinum) about 20 of these special “coupons” to hand out when I experience excellent customer service and I’ve only ever given out one! And guess what, that was more or less a bribe to get a lady to help me get home after having 2 flights cancelled back to back and being stranded out of town for 3 days trying to get home. And believe me I want to give these things out. I’m the kind of person that really appreciates good customer service.
Oh, and they didn’t do jack for me when they cancelled two flights on me and stranded me out of town for 3 days equating to $750 more in hotel/car charges. But you think it’s OK that they then stick it to me for getting the AM and PM mixed up on a trip a couple of weeks later??? I can’t wait till something like this happens to you and then we’ll see if you feel the same way.
In summary, if all you look at is one little isolated policy and make a judgement that “well, that seems acceptable” then you’re missing the big picture. Every inch we collectively give is adding up to record profits for an industry that already has us by the balls. Flying now is an absolutely miserable experience as compared to any time in the past. The airlines use every excuse in the books (9/11, price of oil, etc.) to strip us of amenities, services, and even our dignity.
And what the hell are our politicians doing about it? Nothing. They probably get complimentary upgrades to first class and courteous service to keep them quiet.
John
PS – I own AA stock. So if you all enjoy getting reamed, it’s fine by me. I’m making money off of your tolerance.
I think that if you don’t check your email confirmation within 24 hrs to make sure you booked correctly, AA has every right to charge you the change fee. Sorry, but seats are a time-sensitive product so changes do affect the airline’s bottom line. Why can’t EVERYONE just call up and say whoops, I booked wrong. Please fix it. Yeah, Southwest has no penalties for changing flights, but you also have to be herded like cattle with no assigned seats… a real trade off.
Also, for the person who wrote that the price changed after holding the seats, “D’uh”, it states this very clearly… you’ve got the seats, but the price could and sometimes does go up. American Airlines is actually one of the better airlines at keeping customer informed.
Larry
My sister-in-law booked on AA for a 6:00 am flight from Minneapolis to Houston in order to take a cruise. At 2:00 am, she got a call at home from AA: the RECORDING announced the flight was cancelled for insufficient passengers. (Nice of them to wait until 2 am to tell her), and she was being rebooked on a 5 PM flight. I.e., miss the cruise. She tried to call AA, but of course, no one answered. I checked their website and found nothing about their policy re cancellations. Worse on the “customer relations” page THERE IS NO PHONE NUMBER FOR CUSTOMER RELATIONS!! They encourage folks to email, or fax their comments.
She was forced to buy an $800 ticket to get a flight out at 7 am that would get her to Houston in time for the cruise departure. My wife shouldn’t have had to bookbe online finding a flight for someone – that is American’s job.
Boo AA. Booooo.
Believe me, I understand the fact that they have a “policy” regarding this type of situation, but it is the policy that I take issue with.
The problem is that none of the other airlines would treat you this way, so comparatively this sucks.
John
That was an interesting conversation. Hats off for recording it!
I’m going to venture being stoned here, but I sympathize with the airline. They have a policy on flight changes after a given amount of time and (apparently) advertise this policy on their site.
However, considering that you’re a regular customer  I agree with you  that’s bad service. It’s really saddening when companies gets too “large” to care about the welfare of their individual customers.
What happened in the end? Did you pay extra charge fees or what?
Jenny – Don’t worry… we’re still on for San Fran! :-)
ROR Guy – You know, when you call American Airlines they tell you right up front that they are recording the calls, so I figured… if you’re going to record them, so will I! ;-)
I haven’t had time to actually decide how to handle the flight issue yet. I’m still pissed off about it since I discovered it just yesterday. But I’ll share an update whenever I make a decision about how to handle this…
John
You sounds like an intelligence person, you do recording of calls.. i am scared from you now :)
But i am really sorry to hear about all this trouble..
Any updates about your flight?
John,
AA’s customer service is terrible. This is the same reason why I would never go with AA. If Southwest is in Dallas, AA would certainly be out of the picture. KP and I have had to call into Southwest for issues like these before, changing flights, etc., their people have always been very helpful. This is another perk for living in Houston :)
So, after all this, I hope you’re still going to San Fran.
Jenny
Peggy,
That suck! On top of all of these issues AA is doing everything they can to erode the way we view their service. They don’t even hand out a bag of peanuts now, but they’ll sell you a bag of chips for $3!
They are overselling more flights than ever now, and a lot of flights seem to be delayed and 100% packed – and they won’t add more routes!
Add to all of that the fact that they’ve got a stranglehold on DFW and charge us more than similar flights from other cities and it makes for a distaste that runs deep. They are going to be very badly impacted when Wright is completely lifted, and in fact after all this crap occurred last night I booked a flight on Southwest to D.C even though I have to actually change planes in STL.
John
John,
I made a reservation through AA’s on-line service and decided to reserve it for 24 hours because I wasn’t sure about it. The webpage stated that it would hold the seat and pricing. Yet, when I went back, within the alloted time, the price had gone from $495 to $534! I sent an email complaining, and got back an automatic reply stating that someone would review my complaint, and never heard from them again. This was about a week and a half ago. I am also very annoyed. And they wonder why people want to use Southwest.