American Airlines

Not Verified | New York to Rome. I am an American Advantage Gold member who has flown to Europe multiple times using AA and its British Airways partner. In July, I purchased a Business Class ticket for 9/19 through American Express travel that was billed as British Airways #1585. I checked in at JFK 3 hours before the flight to learn that it was actually AA #236. That didn’t seem to pose any problem since my Business Class ticket was in AA’s system I was given a boarding pass for a Business Class seat 10A around 2:30 pm for my 5pm flight. Sometime during the next two hours, while I relaxed unaware in the Admirals Lounge, I was bumped out of my seat to a “Premium Economy” seat. I received no email notification nor was there any notification on the AA app. When I arrived at the gate expecting to walk into Business Class I was stopped and given an ultimatum and five minutes to decide whether to board and take the downgrade or roll the dice and fly the next day, losing a day of vacation. Of course, AA already had my luggage on the plane. The explanations I was provided for this incident were conflicting but none of them is acceptable. I was told I had purchased thru British Airways. Why should this matter? If BA premium tickets are subject to revocation then the partnership with AA is a sham. I was also told by an agent on the phone that there had been an equipment change a few months ago resulting in fewer Business Class seats available. If so, why was I issued my Business Class boarding pass at check-in, and why wasn't I notified in advance? I was also told at the gate that American had simply “oversold” Business Class and that even though I’m an Advantage Gold member I was first on the list to be downgraded. If so, that is a despicable practice. Passengers at the gate and seated around me on the plane were equally appalled. No one had ever heard of such a thing. I have been offered a voucher for future travel but I promise you it cannot begin to compensate for the ruining of the start what was supposed to be a dream vacation. I now will spend the next several weeks dreading the possibility that the same thing could happen to me on my return home from Rome. If Business Class seats mean nothing and can be downgraded what is the point of having them and what is the point of spending all that money? I was then told that I would be afforded “Business Class” treatment and amenities in my downgraded seat location but (no surprise) that was also a failure. I have been an American Advantage customer for over 30 years. This is by far the most disappointing experience I have ever had with any airline. I have lost faith in this airline.

Not Verified | Washington DC to New York. Absolutely the worst airline to fly with and the customer service representative was cutting me off as I was speaking while I was trying to explain my situation. Typically with other airlines I'm given a confirmation email that I'm checked in after checking in online, but I was not given one so I called customer service to verify. I had already screenshotted the website saying I'm checked in. The 1st customer service rep put in my confirmation number and said I was not checked in. So I told her I had clearly checked in online and she said "Well, I have no answers. You can take it up with our web services. I have no idea why you're not checked in." She switched me over to the "web services customer rep", who when asked said "you're checked in" without asking for any confirmation number or my name. So I explained that the other customer service representative had put in my number and specifically said I'm not checked in, at which point this customer service rep cut me off and said "you're checked in. I don't know what else to tell you." and when I asked her how she knew I was checked in if she hadn't received my information, she said "You're checked in. I'm giving you a straight answer that you're checked in. You can go to the airport now and verify if you want." Is that really the answer AA gives to its customers when their own employees are giving customers inconsistent answers? Never flying American again.

✅ Trip Verified | Dallas to Laredo. Worst airline, horrible service. They changed our gate and never told anyone. 10 of us all stranded. We even made the gate before they closed the door. They closed the gate in front of us and said sorry flight closed. Seriously. Not a single notice, text alert or announcement. We sat at the wrong gate for 20 minutes without a single notice then ran to the other gate when another passenger his flight was just changed to our gate. Customer service agent working gate 23. Horrible. Wouldn’t give us the name of the gate agent because was worried the agent would be fired and she wouldn’t be able to find another job.

✅ Trip Verified | Omaha to San Francisco via Dallas with American Airlines. This airline is a disorganized mess. Do whatever you have to in order to not fly this airline. They overbook flights and beg paying customers to wait for additional delays due to their poor planning. Besides being generally disorganized and thoughtless with customers valuable time, they waited until the entire plane was boarded to inform us that we were delayed by an hour and would have to wait in the plane as they did not have a runway for us to take off or land on. They had us board so they could trap us on the plane with no choice but to wait. This is ridiculous.

✅ Trip Verified | Baltimore to Phoenix via Fresno with American Airlines. Started off poorly. Upon arrival at BWI, received text that flight had been canceled but rescheduled at Reagan Airport, in another state. No comp offered even though the wait was 5+ hours. In Phoenix, boarding agent gave us a red tag. Discovered we had to attach to bag and give to crew at airplane door so they could handle due to lack of space. When we took off, we counted no less than 4 completely empty bins overhead. Upon arrival, bags arrived on ramp and just passed around among the waiting passengers. Coming back from Fresno, through Phoenix, the flight was delayed while they tried to find their pilots, per flight attendant's announcement! Top prices for tickets no longer mean good service with American. Very uncaring, unprofessional airline. Their rep as an airline always on time, and the top of the heap airline is gone, gone, gone. Would recommend choosing another airline unless you have no choice.

✅ Trip Verified | I flew from MSP to NYC with a connection through Charlotte. The weather in Charlotte was bad (obviously not anyone's fault) so I ended up having to fly the next day. Then, on my flight back to MSP that connected again to Charlotte, my flight was bumped up 2 hours earlier without any notification whatsoever, which I didn't realize until I tried to check in to my flight. The AA representative in New York was incredibly helpful, rebooked me though Chicago asap and personally escorted me to the front of the TSA line so that I could make the flight that was currently in the process of boarding. I somehow made that flight, only to be stuck on the tarmack once we landed in Chicago because no gates were open. Because of this I ended up missing the connecting flight into Minneapolis and having to stay overnight in Chicago airport, as was the case with multiple other passengers on that flight. AA didn't offer any further accomodations other than rebooking, which I guess is just the price you pay for trying to travel if you're poor. The frontline staff who work for American Airlines are nice and helpful and I'm sorry that they have to stand by their disorganized company that clearly doesn't care about its customers.

✅ Trip Verified | Seoul Incheon to Tucson via Dallas Ft Worth. Worst airline to fly with. I had to fly home from Korea on emergency leave because my wife was giving birth to twins. I had a flight booked with American to fly from Korea to the US. based on the due date. She had to have an emergency C section and i had to change my flight. Changing a flight has been a nightmare since it began. I no longer needed my departure date since i had to leave earlier. I just wanted to use the return portion of my flight. American didn't want to change my flight at all. I was told i had apply for a refund and cancel all flight arrangements. Ok, a little dumb but, no problem i did that. Then i tried to schedule my return flight to Korea and was told that i have to leave from Korea in order to use my ticket. But i am already in the US and was never told this before. The person on the other end said "I'm sorry those are the rules for international flight". When was i going to be told about this rule? Apparently after they are have my money and there is no possible way of getting it back. I will never fly this terrible company again.

✅ Trip Verified | Miami to São Paulo. I was not given the standard service when flying with this airline. I was ignored and just didn’t feel welcomed. Staff had terrible attitudes especially when I asked for headphones and I was told by a staff member that he was busy and I was ignored by the other staff who were not willing to assist me at all. I’ve travelled with other airlines a lot and I’ve never been treat this way. I wrote the review the same day I travelled with this airline but I got no response. Hopefully I hear something back this time.

✅ Trip Verified | This is the worst airline experience I have had with American Airlines (AA). On my connecting flight, they downgraded our airplane to a smaller one without telling us until the last minute of the flight. I was forced to stand in line over 20 minutes for them to tell me that there was a problem with my ticket. They then put me in another line (30 minutes) that was for people who didn't have a seat assignment. After standing in this line, the same person that told me there was a problem with my ticket, issued me a new one. Why did I have to stand in line an additional 30 minutes for this guy to give me a new ticket? Needless to say, we were over an hour late getting into Chicago. On the way back from Dallas to Jackson, AA gave us the worst commercial plane I had ever flown on. Paint was peeling on the interior of the plane, the windows wouldn't even stay up when we tried to block out the sun, and when we hit a little turbulence, the entire overhead bins vibrated so loudly, almost everyone on the plane was alarmed. This is truly, the first time that I have flown, that I was scared. I flown to Japan several times and that was a 10 hour flight. Nothing rattled me like the 1 hour and 15 minute flight from Dallas to Jackson. I will never fly AA again!!

✅ Trip Verified | Indianapolis to Chicago. If I could leave 0 stars I would. First and last time I'll fly. Didn't check my luggage all the way through my flight and then blamed me when I arrived in London without my luggage. They knew my bag was in Chicago but couldn't be bothered to send it to me without a three page form that asked the most ridiculous questions. I'm sure it was to discourage anyone from making a claim. I mean who keeps receipts on all the prescription medication they purchased?