American airlines?

[madtown mom]

Just wondering if anyone has had troubles with their recent bookings with AA? We are scheduled to fly out of Madison nov 19 with American, but I'm very nervous that might not happen. Or worse, we get stuck in ohare!! Anyone have any advice on options if they start dramatically changing or cancelling flights? Do we have any rights or do we just have to take whatever they decide? We paid more to fly out of our hometown this time to be convenient and get us to the beach earlier. Now I'm afraid neither may happen

[KrisJamie]

We got an additional 6h of layover on the return trip. Not much else.

[Lindad]

I hope we don't have any problems. We are scheduled to fly out of Central WI Airport (Mosinee/Wausau) on the 30th through O'Hare on American. At least we have an overnight flight, so if it is delayed, we shouldn't have any connection problems.

[jmac1026]

Our direct flights from ORD to MBJ via AA were cancelled and now we have been switched to flights that connect both coming and going in Miami. We are not very happy about this but there zero direct flights out of Chicago on our travel dates anymore.

[Newbie34]

I'd stay away from American. If you do go with them, I'd make sure that they have a baggage agreement with the connecting airline. After landing, we had to hustle down to baggage claim to grab our luggage, check it for the next airline and get new tickets. American is terrible. oh, and if you have a connecting flight with another airline, make sure you are ready for baggage fees.

[Travelpatty]

[QUOTE=madtown mom;190890]Just wondering if anyone has had troubles with their recent bookings with AA? We are scheduled to fly out of Madison nov 19 with American, but I'm very nervous that might not happen. Or worse, we get stuck in ohare!! Anyone have any advice on options if they start dramatically changing or cancelling flights? Do we have any rights or do we just have to take whatever they decide? We paid more to fly out of our hometown this time to be convenient and get us to the beach earlier. Now I'm afraid neither may happen[/

You must have been reading my mind! Because I had been reading about AA flights being changed/cancelled I decided to check on the reservations I made in February for our trip to CN on Dec. 5th. Low and behold they changed the time of our initial flight out of Hartford, CT so that we could not make our connecting flight in Miami. They booked us on a later flight which had us waiting in Miami for almost 5 hours. I called AA immediately and told them this was unacceptable. We were supposed to get in to Montego Bay at 11:30 AM and now we would arrive at just before 5:00PM. After a very long time on the phone I was told I had two options. Fly down to Miami the evening before in which case they would have to charge me $ 150.00 change fee plus $25./ticket for changing via telephone as opposed to the internet or I could cancel my reservation and get a refund. I was so angry I told them to cancel. What i didn't realize at the time however was that they would only refund the amount actually charged to my Visa card. I had used two AA vouchers in the amount of $ 234.00 and these are now lost! Of course now I had no reservations at all and I spent hours on Monday researching the best way to get to Jamaica. I have made other arrangements but at an increased cost of $ 189./ticket. At least now we connect in Ft. Lauderdale on the way down and Charlotte on the way home. I am glad to avoid Miami.
Be sure to keep checking as they probably won't notify you. The flights I finally got were almost totally booked and our trip is still 69 days away. Sorry to rant on but it is so maddening that the airlines can do this and you have very little resourse.

[gmarti00]

Just wondering if anyone has had troubles with their recent bookings with AA? We are scheduled to fly out of Madison nov 19 with American, but I'm very nervous that might not happen. Or worse, we get stuck in ohare!! Anyone have any advice on options if they start dramatically changing or cancelling flights? Do we have any rights or do we just have to take whatever they decide? We paid more to fly out of our hometown this time to be convenient and get us to the beach earlier. Now I'm afraid neither may happen

Hello-We are scheduled to fly out of Ohare next weekend and am also a little nervous. I went on American Airlines website and checked all flights that have left ohare to montego bay and they have all been on time including todays...I hope it continues! =)

[tnt]

We have had our flight times changed 4 times already since we booked with American in May, and none of the changes have been beneficial to us! We too are a little worried with all that we've heard about AA right now. I'd also be interested in hearing what others are experiencing. We fly out of Minneapolis in December for our trip.

[gijam73]

we just returned from CSA on Wed. Another couple that went with us flew AA from CT. The were suppose to arrive at MB by 1130 AM, due to "mechanical problems" on 3 different planes they were stuck in Miami until 430pm and did not arrive until 630pm. We think they were just short staffed that caused all the delay. Pretty unlikely to have mechanical issues on 3 planes. AA also changed their flight times home and they had to leave much earlier than planned 800am and still did not get home till midnight. If I were you I might look into changing airlines. Good luck and have a wonderful time.

[donnagreg]

We stayed at css in late aug. Booked AA because they had direct flight home to boston. Went on their web site to confirm our flights,they changed our return flight to a lay over in Miami. It would have been nice if AA sent us an e-mail. They also lost wife's luggage on our way down to css although american did find it in fla 2 days later. Jet blue next trip! Still had the best vacation ever! Can't wait to go back....

[Richli2]

AA has filed chap 11 bankruptcy. They are making many changes in their flights and are cutting back flights as well. If they cancel or change your they would refund your money.
Also if you participste in AA frequent flyer program they have made it difficult to get direct non stop flight anywhere they fly
I would look for a different airline. Also if you are getting airline miles thru a credit card, many credit cards offer free airlines tickets to any airline!

[Crabracer]

Jenn-Take a breath. You must know by know that the airline industry can change flight schedules, cancel flights, re-route flights, and on and on.....
Really, the only thing that we can do, is book our flight, say a prayer, and hope for the best. If there is a sever storm a day or so before a flight, things will get hectic. But again, it is beyond our control. And for all those things that are beyond my control, I'll deal with it when and if it comes up. But until then, I can only keep positive thoughts that things will go according to plan.
As far as any "rights" that we may have, my feeling is that they are few and far between. And even if we were able to recover some monetary compensation, it won't take away from being delayed or postponed or anything else that prevents us from getting to Jamaica.

So Jenn-just let it happen. The plane will leave on time, arrive on time, and after that, the Couples lounge awaits you.

I hope to catch a glimpse of you when you arrive on the 19th. We leave the next day.

Richie

[schwieso]

Yes I would be concerned ! I would not be concerned about getting to Jamaica ( they will get you there), but chances are very good that the flight from O"hare will be changed to a connection in Miami: meaning you will have to do Madison-Chicago- Miami- Montego Bay. Just be prepared for leaving earlier from Madison.
Just back Wednesday, and AA changed our nonstop from O'hare to a connection thru Miami. Heard an AA airline stewardess talking, and she was saying that many non-stops to Jamaica are being cancelled and changed to connections thru Miami. Met one couple and their nonstop from Dallas had also been changed to connecting thru Miami.
That said, if your flight is close to full, I would have less worries, however, if it is 1/2 or less full- pray the present specials AA is offering to Jamaica will fill your flight.
Just watch your e-mails. You will get there, just possibly with a little more inconvenience. On a plus note, we actually ended up in Jamaica earlier, just did not get much sleep the night before ( we left O'hare at 6am instead of the 8am non stop time).

[racegrrl]

We are also scheduled on American in mid November, but our home airport is O'Hare. They have already changed our flights once and I am calling my TA this morning to try and have a 50 minute layover with a plane change in Miami changed. Fingers crossed they can do something about that for us as my husband is disabled, the 75 minute layover was pushing it for us. 50 minutes is impossible! Hopefully it all gets worked out soon!gets worked out soon!

[Lindad]

Gee, I have been checking mine at least once a week, and last week we were still scheduled for 2:45 departure at CWA, now it is 7:05 departure. Good thing we have an overnight layover. Screws up our plans of meeting some Couples friends for supper in Chicago though. But, it looks like our flight to Jamaica the next morning is still a go at 8:00, and it is at least it just has about 8-10 seats open, so hopefully it won't change.

[Cathy_Joe]

This is from ABC news:

American Airlines Seats Become Loose in Flight Before Emergency Landing


The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how a row of seats in the coach cabin on a passenger jet became loose in flight.

The seats on American Airlines Flight 6885, a Boeing 757, became unbolted during a Saturday night flight from Boston to Miami. The flight was diverted and made an emergency landing at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.

The passengers in those seats were moved to other seats on the plane. No one was injured and the aircraft landed safely at JFK. The passengers were delayed three hours before being put on another flight to Miami.

The FAA has stepped up scrutiny of American during its bankruptcy, as it has in the past for other carriers in similar situations. AMR Corp., American Airlines' parent company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 29, 2011.

This is the latest in a string of recent problems for American Airlines. Maintenance and employee issues have led to significant delays and cancellations in recent weeks.

ABC News reported last month that the airline was forced to delay nearly 40 percent of its flights, with most forced to be late or even cancelled by an "unprecedented and very significant" increase in maintenance issues. The airline blamed the pilots, who it claimed were calling out sick 20 percent more than normal.

"The recent disruptions are primarily due to the significant increase in maintenance write-ups by our pilots, many right at the time of departure," the airline said in a statement last month.

The pilots union said there is no sanctioned work action underway and disagreed with American's accounting of sick leave and crew cancellations.

A fight last month between two flight attendants over a cellphone forced a plane to turn back to the gate at JFK and delayed passengers four hours while the airline found a new crew.

The trouble at the airline has prompted at least one airline industry expert to advise passengers to book away from the airline for the time being.

Wall Street Journal travel editor Scott McCartney warned passengers, "My advice is, until things get straightened out with the operations, if you have a choice, you ought to book another airline.

It's just not worth it."


I do know that a few years back, the unions gave up quite a bit in order to save the company. It came out that shortly afterwords that management received selves massive bonuses. I think it was September of this year, they filed bankruptcy again which would then negate the union contract. So the pilots are basically sabotaging the airline. The pilots are calling in things like a squeaky windshield wiper for a maintenance check. Whether one has anything to do with the other is anyones guess but for the immediate future, I think I would steer clear of AA.

[gmarti00]

Ugghh!! We are scheduled to fly out of ohare this Sunday and AA change our direct flight to a layover in Miami! No email notice to me or my travel agent...we tried looking for a non-stop and are all sold out for this weekend so we may postpone until next. I hate flying as it is so I don't want a connecting flight. It's so irritating especially when we booked back in march and paid for a non-stop flight! I would definitely recommend changing your flight while you still have time to look for something else!

[sweetnessinthesand]

We have been dealing with similar issues with American. From the very beginning, there was NEVER an option of a straight through flight for us. We were originally booked to leave Minneapolis at 5:55am and arrive in Jamaica at 2:45pm. Our return flight was set to leave at 3:20pm, and arriving back in Minneapolis the following morning at 9:45. (We figured we could extend our honeymoon an extra day with an overnight layover in Dallas).

The FIRST time they changed our flights, our return flight got bumped up an hour earlier. The second time they changed our flights, they moved our arrival time in Jamaica from 2:45 to 3:20, but we still had to leave just as early.

When we called them, we kept getting different answers on what we could do. We called the first time, and the person was more than willing to help us change our flights, but since we didn't know for certain what we wanted the return flight to be, she couldn't help us because they can't adjust the flights one at a time. The next person told us because we booked through a travel agent (we actually booked through Couples, and Couples booked the flights through an agent) they couldn't do anything, because the tickets were in the name of the agent. We called back AGAIN and the 3rd person was able to make the changes with no problem at all for us. This all was finally done after being on the phone for over an hour (most of which was spent on hold).

As of right now, we now leave Minneapolis Wednesday night, instead of Thursday morning. This means we have to pay for a hotel in Chicago, BUT we get into jamaica 2hrs 40mins sooner than they had us scheduled. We are set to leave Jamaica at 1:10pm. This is earlier than we would have liked, but now we will able to get back to our house at about midnight, instead of spending the money on ANOTHER hotel stay, or getting home at 3am, which were our 2 other options available to us. It is so unfortunate that we booked our flights so far in advance, and yet still had them changed without any notices or alerts, and no choice but to find an alternative, or cancel our flights.

After all this, all I can say is I hope American does not change our flights AGAIN. After all this hassle, I will definitely be browsing more airlines before I book our flights for our 1 year anniversary return to Couples.

[madtown mom]

sweetness in the sand, thanks. this is very helpful. just curious, did you rebook the new flights on american as well? i'm assuming they were not willing to put you on another carrier. i truly hope they keep your current schedule!! what a pain!
as of now they've only moved our flight back 10 minutes-fine. i just don't want it to get swapped to the long day of multiple flights. they have taken our fight on different dates and swapped it to have another stop in miami, which doesnt get in to mbj until 9:30 pm. no thanks! if i see that happen i will absolutely be on the phone.

[kaityogill]

Change your flight!!!! We flew to JA on Sept 15th. They had changed our flights twice prior to that day. Flew from ORD. When we got to Fla they put us on the plane and then taxied out a ways. All the sudden a "warning light" of some kind came on. And we had to sit on the tarmac over an hour before they could free a service bay. When we got there service techs checked it out for a while. Then they said we all had to get off the plane. Two hours later, they said it wasn't a safety thing it was just a door light. They said we would be getting on another plane down a ways so a bunch of people took off for there that didn't have luggage in bins. Then they said we would be flying this plane and had to go get all those who left this bay. When some people grumbled the very mean desk lady screamed "How'd you like to be me????" wow! Anyway they had a hard time finding everyone and we were in FLA five hours for a door light. I think it is labor unrest and would not fly with them. We were scheduled to fly AA to Cozumel in December and when we got home we cancelled that and booked Delta.

[julesBoston]

I did try to reply to this thread yesterday but don't think it worked. We had no problems getting to Jamaica with American but got stuck in Miami on the way home Oct. 4th. We ended up having to stay in a hotel, getting up at 3 a.m. to get back to the airport for a flight on Delta to Atlanta and then another finally to Boston. The attitude of AA was terrible, they really did not care. There were hundreds of people lining up to get on flights, young girls who were flying on their own crying. My concern is we are flying to Vegas on Saturday with AA.........

[Miranda Bouck]

We had issues too and we booked our flights back in May. Everything was set to go until this last week when they changed our flights and screwed everything up. We were sent to leave Omaha to DFW at 8:35 and arrive at 10:30...that would have been fine if our flight from DFW to MB didn't leave at 9:30!?!?!? Then on the way home from MB to DFW we would arrive at 6:30 with our flight from DFW to Omaha leaving at 6:30.. we just got it straightened out tonight and have to go from OMA > DFW > MIAMI > MB, and then on the way back MB > MIAMI > OHARE > OMA. We're losing our last day and have to leave CTI at like 4AM to make the airport to leave at 6AM otherwise we wouldn't get back home that day. It wouldn't be an issue if my husband didn't have to fly to WDC the next day for work. :/

[Madtowntravels]

I'm flying American from O'Hare in March. This is the 1st year i've booked directly through couples v.s. using my travel agent and now i'm concerned about how to deal with flight issues when they come up.

Do I have to contact American myself or is there someone at Couples that can help me with flight problems/questions?

Thanks!

[madtown mom]

kaityogill, please let me know how the vegas thing works out for you. i'm just not sure if they will refund my $ if I try to cancel my flight. that is my concern. at this point I would rather fly with another airline than deal with chaos for hours like many of you have experienced. I do feel for the workers of AA, however, I don't want to be on the receiving end of their frustrations.
Miranda, did AA put you on delta?
ugh, hope they figure it out soon.

[Softiee26]

I'm so glad someone posted about this. We booked our flights back in May for our January 2013 trip; and we got a steal with cashing in miles on Us Bank which we have done the last couple years. We usually fly Delta; however American offered a deal of 20,00 miles a piece so we booked right away. Well I checked our flights on Sunday and our return flight from MBJ to MSP had been pushed back 4 hours; so we would now have to leave the resort at 7:00am for an 11:30am flight. Needless to say we were both upset; one due to the fact that American did not bother to contact us with the flight change and two being the fact that we liked the 4:00pm flight departure as we want to spend all the time at CN as we can. We did call American Airlines and expressed our displeasure and they did end up rebooking us for no charge on a different flight that now leaves later. I will now be keeping an eye on our flights on a weekly basis and I would encourage anyone else who is booked with American to do the same thing.

Ashley & Terry