American Airlines

Flew ORD-MIA last week onboard AA1252. First remark: I got a reward ticket using my AAdvantage points and I must say that contrary to what happens with many other carriers a free ticket with AA is really a free ticket as I paid only 2USD for taxes and that's something I really appreciate. Flying AA is a very basic experience though: plane was a B767-300 freshly re-painted but about 20 years old even if the seat comfort is okay for a 3hour flight. No entertainment just scattered small screens and no meal provided for free just drinks. Having to pay USD 25 for checking your bag is something I really do not understand but it is a general policy of US carriers. Crew professional and quite friendly and a very talkative captain. Left and arrived on time with no mechanical problems happened as in the 50% of the AA flights I had flown in the past (total-10) so no complaints at all this time and I will consider to fly with them again for domestic flights in the future.

I am appalled by AA's ticket and baggage agents! Today my 76 year old Grandmother flew on an international flight from JFK to POS through MIA and from check-in to arrival was treated extremely poorly. This is a trip we have given her every year for the past 10+ years. But from check-in at JFK - the AA agents were rude and gave the impression as if we weren't worth the time. The trip began at 3am since her flight was scheduled to depart at 5.40am - I personally booked her round trip ticket and re-confirmed the requests for wheelchair service an aisle seat and extra legroom days in advance. None of these requests were listed on her reservation and when we asked the agent if she could try to accommodate in any way we were give very abrupt and snide no's. The wheelchair took 20 minutes to come. Baggage clerks - instead of checking her bags and placing them on the conveyor we were told that she had to carry them to the gate and place them on the conveyor herself as "they aren't paid to do so". Her transfer in MIA was exactly the same - no wheelchair assistance listed on the system and in order to make her connecting flight my Grandma had to walk a distance - from her arrival gate to the departure gate. Never again.

Chicago - Toronto - Miami - Las Vegas - Chicago Every flight we took left on time. All flights were full except for the Vegas -Chicago flight which was mostly empty making for a great flight. The service was as expected and the planes were all in good condition some were in fact very new. The in flight magazine is particularly good on this airline. I was very concerned about selecting this airline as there are so many bad reviews about delays but honestly I can say we had a wonderful experience flying with them.

ORD_DUS-FLR on AA/Air Berlin - 11/27 DUS-ORD on 12/8. Biz class full in both directions - I hope that continues as flying through DUS is a breeze compared to connecting at Heathrow. ORD-DUS 767-300 - the flight attendant was the only let-down: she was friendly but wasn't too attentive and talked with other passengers about how she didn't like flying long haul and was at her tolerance limit after a 7-hour flight. If you don't like long-haul then don't work it - ridiculous. Food was good - I pre-ordered it online and that worked well. Purser was very friendly. Arrived 45 min ahead of schedule and did the easy connection to Air Berlin Q-400 to Florence. Nice flight and on-time. DUS-ORD 767-300. Great flight attendant - friendly and attentive without being too in-your- face. Good food pre-ordered again online. Samsung Tablet is nice but again they don't put enough TV shows on it - you get one episode from the 1st season of a series. Overall I hope with the merger things keep getting better with FA attitudes. Good flights in general.

Flew from Seattle on December 3rd. Arriving to Chicago we have found that our flight AA4250 to Hartford has been canceled. The AA representative has claimed that it is because of weather which was impossible to believe as practically all the flights to New England had been on time. We realized lately that they canceled it due to small amount of passengers. This is how American makes its money: they lure people with low price and convenient time and then cancel the flight when there is not enough passengers shifting the cost of the night stay transportation and the rest to the customers. Shameful practice. Ultimately unreliable.

Traveled one-way moving back home from Miami to Rio. They use the same ancient Boeing 767-300 that I used to fly 20 years ago on this route. There is still no individual screens in economy. Dinner was acceptable and the flight attendant even offered a repeat entree-without my asking! Breakfast before landing was a small albeit a hot croissant with coffee and orange juice. Although we departed on-time the arrival in Rio was late by almost 30 minutes-with no explanation from the crew. All in all AA is not a bad airline: I just believe it has defined itself as a mediocre carrier. If it's cheap I'd fly it again.

I would never have booked a flight with American Airlines had I known what a pain they are and how much they lack in customer service. I ended up taking the loss and canceling my flight to book with United Airlines. They don't have ridiculous change fees (200$ - more than my ticket cost) and they have people who actually care to help you and listen to what you say on the phone. American Airlines needs a serious makeover and judging from the hundreds of reviews previously posted saying similar things and not recommending the airline as well I am not the only one who thinks this.

Had to cancel my trip because of American's multiple delays. They called awakening me at 3am advising my flight was delayed until 12pm from its original time of 7.15 am. I arrived at the airport to self check in for my boarding pass because I couldn't print online due to the change. There was one person servicing people for "self- check in" in one line. So if people needed to check bags they were in the same line as those who did not need to check bags and only needed to get to the kiosk to obtain the boarding pass. An American employee should have been there to redirect people who needed only boarding passes and have separate lines. I stood in line for 30 minutes to get to the kiosk and obtain my boarding pass with no bags to check. Service attendant appeared incompetent to other customers ahead of me. The service was very slow with no pleasant smiling faces. Further I learned when I got to the gate that Flight 1202 again delayed another hour for 1 pm. Then I receive a voicemail that the flight again delayed until 5 pm and that I would arrive in Dallas 10.10 pm not to arrive in CT until Thursday at 12 noon. That was also not guaranteed. I needed to be in Hartford CT by 8 am. Hence why I scheduled the flight for early morning departure the day before. While I received a refund I didn't make my conference. They offered no alternatives to get me to CT in time on Wednesday. They only offered me an overnight stay at DFW airport red eye at 1.25 am with no sleep for arrival at my conference at 12 noon more than 4 hours late for the conference. Every time I deal with American there is always something. I will not fly American again.

Flight that we were boarding in Denver arrived late we only had 53 minutes of layover time before our next flight in Phoenix. The flight attendants at the gates were informed we 4 along with 16 other passengers were going to miss our connecting flight due to the late arrival. 16 people. When we arrived in Phoenix to my surprise our connecting flight departed on-time we arrived 20 minutes late. 16 people late due to a late plane arrival/departure nothing any one of us passengers could have prevented. Naturally we proceeded to the customer service desk. I received a 100$ voucher for a flight costing more than 500$ no food or drink? 16 of us disgruntled passengers slept in the airport. I will never fly them again.

I flew to New York City last Monday and I sat in the front row of coach. I got a lot of legroom and felt like I was in first class. The staff were nice on this 738. The plane was delayed 1 hour due to a winter storm. The entertainment did not work so I used my tablet. I got to have a nice breakfast with dessert and I got free baggage because of the Advantage card from AA.