American Airlines

Not Verified | Buffalo to Philadelphia was fine. Not comfortable, but adequate. However, the connecting flight from Philadelphia to BWI was first delayed multiple times, and finally (an hour and a half later) cancelled altogether. According to the boarding desk personal, flights were being cancelled due to "congestion." Connecting flight was supposed to depart at 8:05 am, but due to all flights to BWI by American out of Philadelphia that day, the first available flight out was at 5:55 pm, which meant my afternoon meeting in Washington was impossible. Apparently Philadelphia to Baltimore was not the only flight cancelled out of Philadelphia that day; there were hundreds of people stranded by American that morning. I did manage to get a rental car and DROVE the rest of the way. Submitting for a refund was also fraught with difficulty and in the end, my $190 aborted flight wound up costing me $327 ($190 + $215 car rental + $18 unknown fee charged to my account by American Airlines two days after the flight date - $96 refund) (I have no idea what the $18 is for. It came out of my account without my approval. I'll be following up on that.) Recounting my difficulties with this airline has elicited many, many horror stories from other travelers. They apparently frequently cancel flights, stranding people, with little recompense and no apology. Do not book with American.

✅ Trip Verified | Tokyo Narita to Los Angeles. First time experience with this airline on an international route. Both flights on time. Aircraft and restrooms clean. Staff was very professional and proactive on both trips. Tons of entertainment. The food won't be giving Emirates a run for its money anytime soon, but sometimes just a hot, simple meal is nice. Wifi goes from good to slow to good - maybe not worth the money. Would certainly choose them again. Is this really the same airline that seems to be getting all of these negative reviews?

✅ Trip Verified | Laguardia to Chicago Ohare. Horrible experience! I will never fly with American Airlines again. They are so strict with the carry-on luggage it’s ridiculous! I travel all the time and use the same carry-on luggage I travel all the time and use the same carry-on luggage for all different airlines - my carry on fit into their luggage sizer snugly and they still made me check it. I saw them do this with several other passengers also. I know my bag fits in the overhead bin with no problem because I travel with the same back all the time! No more American Airlines for me.

✅ Trip Verified | Shanghai to West Palm Beach via Dallas Ft Worth. As configured and operated by AA, the Boeing 787 is a flying torture chamber. The seats are hard and narrow. The aisles are so tight as to be impassable and potentially unsafe. Service is perfunctory at best. Avoid at all costs! Take a connecting flight, older plane, train, bus, but avoid this aircraft, at least on this airline. The Boeing 787 is a potentially great plane, but by squeezing in seats to squeeze out every nickle of profit, AA has ruined it. For background, I am a former pilot, average size, over 1.5 million miles on AA and I have never hated a flight so much. Oh, and there were only 3 functioning lavs for probably 100 pax, if you could leapfrog over the legs and even heads in the aisle, and this flight was 80% Asian folks so we are not talking the Chicago Bears in terms of pax size!

✅ Trip Verified | Wichita to Lexington via Chicago. First flight delayed 1 hour 20 min causing me to miss my connection. My second flight had not left yet but they closed boarding as I got to the gate. Leaving me stuck at the airport for 7 hours until next the available flight. The second flight was delayed over 30 min. The first delay caused me to have incur unplanned and unnecessary rental car fees as I missed my ride at my final destination. After seeing all the other flights that were delayed today with American Airlines I will be choosing a different airline from now on, even if costs a little more.

✅ Trip Verified | New York JFK to Baltimore Washington. We booked two flights with them, round trip and both connecting, and both times in separate months, the flights were cancelled due to maintenance. Same airline, same issue, and has interfered with connecting flights. We were supposed to return home in the late morning, it was delayed by an hour, then cancelled when we were supposed to start boarding. What's our comp? $24 in meal vouchers, a taxi to a different airport, and not much else. I will never fly this airline again, and since I have no preference for airlines, that's saying something. What's wrong with your planes that they're always down for maintenance?

✅ Trip Verified | 1st flight delayed while awaiting flight attendants, 6 other attendants already on plane kicking 6 paying customers off. Arrive 10 min before our connection is to leave. Won’t let us on because door is closed, watched plane sit at gate 20+ min more before leaving. Now stuck overnight in Phoenix at a hotel since 2.30 pm with only $60 to feed 5 people including 2 teenage boys and no transportation. Customer service only held our spots on the “new” flight and never actually booked the tickets - had to spend another hour and 3 more phone calls to get that taken care of. Family that booked months ago to ensure seating together because of some flight anxieties is now spread throughout an entire plane for a 6 hr flight. Out thousands of dollars for prepaid items in our destination, not to mention the $5k we paid AA for this terrible experience, and all we get from anyone at AA is we understand, we’re sorry, it happens, but nothing of substance When it comes to making it right. All so they can manipulate an ontime departure rating by closing a door instead of being compassionate towards their consumers and opening a door on a plane that was still sitting there and having baggage still loaded. Amazing how the doors on our original flight weren’t closed on the missing flight attendant.

✅ Trip Verified | My flight was cancelled and we were just told to either get a refund or rebook another flight. All flights to George Bush airport were fully booked that day. So much of an inconvenience since in the first place i booked the very first trip to have adequate time for possible delays. Able to book going to Hobby airport. I just need to be in houston that day. Unfortunately my checked in baggage was delivered to George bush. Not an urgent need but an inconvenience. Toll free number takes 45 min to call you back. Inquired with AA ground crew at the gate who just shrugged their shoulders. They were all in a rush to go coz their gate was about to close. Finally boarded to fly to hobby airport. I could not understand a thing the flight attendant was paging overhead, her words were garbled and carelessly pronounced.

✅ Trip Verified | To make a long story short, our American Airlines 9:45 flight schedule turned into a 30+ hour nightmare. The cherry on top was our lost luggage which American Airlines did not even take responsibility for, albeit our bags finally arrived at our hotel with AA's baggage sticker. The customer service was non-existent every step along the way, and when we did reach a customer service rep they could care less despite the cause of the various circumstances were of their making. Even their online complaint site is a joke. Avoid this airline if at all possible.

Not Verified | When checking in, the website wouldn’t let me continue knowing I have a seat already reserved. The only thing I could do to continue was pay for a preferred seating. After doing that I figured I should have called before but I didn’t. So I called afterwards and they told me they wouldn’t refund it because “it’s policy that it’s non refundable”. The representative was very professional but the supervisors she said she spoke with were awful. I wish I couldn’t talked to them myself. Yes it’s only $14, but they’re always charging for extras and it’s stupid! I told them there was something wrong with the website since it wouldn’t let me continue. They didn’t care. I have flown with American before and hated it. Hopefully my actual flight goes a lot better than the experience I had today.