American Airlines

I am a frequent flier platinum member I book about 60,000 base miles (miles actually flown) on this airline a year and a fly a lot of other airlines as well. I have been an advantage member for about 20 years. I have progressively seen this airline degenerate and as of today take advantage of its customers. Customer service is almost non existent, the $200 change fee is uncalled for especially for frequent fliers. The problem is I don't think that they are trying, also I have been very keen on the price increases (sometimes close to 70% increase) brought about by the merger where now American is the only carrier to certain routes. For some reason in my experience one out of every 30 flights gets cancelled (or just my luck) for a non distinct reason, I don't want to accuse but usually I can intuitionally predict when this will happen, that is when I see that its substantially empty a week before the flight. Delays are ever more frequent, in the last three flights we had a 30 minute delay because they were still loading bags, three other delays for flight attendants not in or pilots not in yet. No snacks, and the food for purchase which is not much is usually not even available as they stock very little of it and the tempting items are taken quickly. The advantage program keeps getting changed not for the better. If the prices were cheap I would not complain as much. The few planes that have the new IFE system carry vey little media and no free tv, also the gogo in flight is really too expensive for the average passenger, if it was a reasonable rate I would use it for other than the occasional free partial pass. Bottom line American used to be just ok, now its just subpar and expensive.

I envisioned a smooth journey, with reasonable options if any difficulties were encountered. I experienced the total opposite with my family of 4. My connecting flight from Orlando to Dallas at 6.50am was cancelled due to weather conditions which is understandable. The flight as re-booked for the same day at 3.46pm. This second flight was also cancelled last minute, and we were told that we would either be able to put on a standby for a flight 4 hours later flight or get booked for a flight two days later, the latter was clearly not an option. To my disbelief, about an hour and a half later flights began leaving for Dallas without our knowledge, it was not announced on the PA system. Eventually, we got on a flight at 10pm, but it doesn't end there, our flight to Calgary was already cancelled. The next flight from Dallas to Calgary was supposed to depart at 10.50am the next day. We did not board until 11.45am, and as the plane was getting ready to depart, one of the engines failed, resulting in the plane going out of service, and the cancellation of the flight. The only options they offered were next day flights. The service is definitely not customer oriented, they seem unwilling to meet the needs of customers during extenuating circumstances and I believe this will be my last time flying with American Airlines.

Chicago to Milan return. Lost our luggage on both the outgoing and return flights. Not staying in a hotel made it very difficult to get by without clothing, toiletries, chargers, appliances, converters etc. Spent hours every day on the phone with the airline tracking our bags. Each day they assured us that we would receive them the following day. Actually received luggage on the 5th day out. 3 days before our scheduled return I requested a change for my husband as his father had become ill while we were away. Young girls at the American Airlines kiosk in Milan spoke very little English and could only tell us that "all flights are full" and there was no Manager to talk to. I had a broken seat on the return that did not recline. It didn't matter that our luggage was lost again on the return because we were home. What did matter was that after contacting American Airlines about our problems, they did not even respond until the 3rd letter and then told us that it is not their policy to give any compensation for lost luggage unless we had purchased approved items and had saved all receipts. Nothing was given to us outlining these rules.

Arrived at RDU at 0430am on the 23rd for an 05.55 departure, and 11.30am arrival to BTV. The departure flight was cancelled due to a problem with the airplane. We were rerouted to Charlotte NC for a different flight to BTV that was supposed to arrive at 23:00 that day (12 hours later than my original flight), no compensation was offered. Departing Charlotte was no better, the flight left over 3 hours late and finally reached BTV at 02:30AM on the 24th. My wife and I spent a whopping 22 hours waiting around for this airline that day. If this is the way American Airlines runs on a regular basis, forget it.

I only used American Airlines because they offered a direct flight from ORD to RDU when the others didn't. I checked through the website and saw that if I signed up for AAdvantage, I'd be allowed the first check-in baggage free. Imagine my anger when I checked in and was charged $25/bag. As I sat at the gate, I watched how other flyers had avoided the charge. Their too-large carry-ons were collected at the gate and checked-at no charge. No honest person would have thought these bags the correct size. After my arrival, I called customer service. It was a 40 minute wait. When I got through, the lady asked if I had the AAdvantage credit card. I said no. She said the baggage charges were correct, only cardholders are exempted baggage fees. This morning, I checked their website again and again. It is not easily followed. The credit card and the frequent flyer program use the same name. If you get the credit card, you are exempted the baggage fee. If you fly 20,000 miles in their program, you are exempted the baggage fee. It took plenty of clicks to piece this together. Later I discovered that the credit card requires a $3000 expenditure within its first 3 months before the flyer qualifies for the benefits.

Houston to El Paso. I will never fly American Airlines again. They rescheduled my flight 3 times yesterday and assured me a flight out this morning that just got canceled and rescheduled for 2 days from now. We have driven to the airport 3 times now for canceled flights and I have missed a day of work. We have been forced to cancel and book with another airline (last minute flights are very expensive) so I can get back to work without missing another 2 days. I will drive 12 hours to get home to my family before ever flying American Airlines again.

Killeen–Fort Hood to New York via Dallas Ft Worth. Horrible service, I will never fly this airline again. I was supposed to fly out on Dec 27th, but due to weather conditions, the airline kept pushing back the flight times. This is understandable, however the updates were coming sluggishly and unapologetically. After being in the airport since 12 for a 1.30 flight, at 4 I rebooked my flight for today at 5am. It took about 35 min for a very disgruntled worker to even attend to me while I was waiting to try and retrieve me already checked bag. At 4am I arrive at GRK, Killeen Airport and and told by the very rude, digruntled lady (from yesterday) that my 5am flight has been canceled and the next flight isn't until 12 midday. She was unapologetic and very rude. This airport predominately serves the Army community and it is sad that we are subjected to such treatment. Many of us are not afforded the opportunity to go on leave frequently or for lengthy amounts of time, so these delays are crucial. I think the service rendered by American Airlines is disheartening. I encourage anyone flying out of GRK to utilize any other carrier besides this one.

My son left Lambert Airport in St. Louis to his destination in Co Springs on Dec 26, 2015. He is an active duty soldier. He had a layover in Dallas, where the weather was horrible and his flight was delayed a couple of times and then canceled. He and a handful of other soldiers were rushed from gate to gate trying to find another flight - all were eventually canceled. The actions made by American Airlines after that is unacceptable. They were informed there were no more flights out that night. At no time were they given a blanket, pillow, food, etc. They slept on the floor of the airport. The next morning Dec 27th (Sun) they were informed they would be flown to Arkansas where they would be able to get a flight to Co Springs. In Arkansas they were informed they were actually on standby and that they probably wouldn't be able to get a flight out until Tues. My son was also informed that his flight information was lost. They would have to take personal leave time for the time spent in the airport due to a situation out of their control. They then rented a car with their own money to drive to Co Springs. At no time did American Airlines offer to refund their ticket or pay for the rental car. They also did not offer alternative solutions to staying in an airport for three days! This behavior from American Airlines is disrespectful to our military.

Diabolical from start to finish, although myself and my new partner had booked seats together we were sat apart on the outbound and inbound flight, the entertainment was unwatchable on way out as no earphones were offered and on way back it was in Spanish - although an English flight. The flight attendants refused to tell ignorant people in front to put their seats upright whilst my row tried to eat. The flight was delayed 2 hrs and gate changed twice, seats dreadfully uncomfortable. Will never fly American Airlines again.

Dallas to Vancouver with American Airlines, and this is the worst airline ever. Its ridiculous how many times the flights are cancelled and they leave the customers in standby and they don't care where will they stay overnight or anything. If your flight is cancelled they can make you wait days for next flight. The service is horrible and for them pretty much they are doing you a favour rescheduling the flights they cancel. I would put no stars this airline doesn't even deserve one star.