American Airlines Should Treat Us with Respect

Of course, that was just checking in at American. There was still TSA
security check to deal with. If you thought the American agent was
"rude", I'm guessing you had a stroke over your treatment by TSA. Of
course, if you had talked to them like you did the American agent, you
wouldn't have been flying at all that day.

And trying to bring bottles of wine into the cabin? Just how big is
the rock you've been living under? Liquids have been a no-no for
almost a year now you twit!

You complain about the wait time, say you might miss your flight, yet
when it's your turn, you have time to stand there and bitch and moan
about the wait? Ever think maybe that's why the wait time was so
long, because people like you are whining like little babies?

Do the self check in next time, since you're so impatient.

The airline employee was not rude. She was trying to get 100 people
checked in and didn't have time for your silly little rant.

You wasted her time and everyone behind you because you chose to
complain rather than get checked in. I imagine YOU caused someone
ELSE to miss their flight. But then, they don't matter do they? Just
you.

It is not the airlines and there employees job to be nice to you,
although it would be nice. You wouldn't want them to be nice if
someone were to show up with a gun or knife, huh??

I work for the airlines, and I can say that there are more customers
out there like you who sandpaper down the agents, and nickel and dime
for everything. You are not owed anything. I will defend the agent
behind the counter any day of the week anytime of the week. Did you
not think that maybe something had happened to her/him. As for the
flight attendants, I believe that they were encountering some rude and
nasty people and they too had sandpapered them down as well. You are
owed nothing in compensation.

This is what is wrong with our country today - everyone thinks they
are OWED something. Everyone had better RESPECT THEM.

Look, the world does not revolve around YOU. How many other people
were on this flight with you? 50? 100? If every last one of them
had the same ridiculous sense of entitlement that you and your fiance
had, then I completely understand why the staff would be less than
accomodating.

And FYI, there is a difference between RESPECT and COURTESY. Did
anyone call you names? Did anyone tell you that you weren't permitted
on the flight because you were just a coach passenger? Did they tell
you dressed funny or smelled bad? No? Then no one disrespected you.


The staff may have been discourteous (and again, who is to say you
weren't just as bad!) to not accomodate your lofty expectations, but
nowhere did you show that they disrespected you.

As for your whine fest about the check in delay, you might as well get
used to it. The days of showing up at the airport mere minutes before
your flight and taking off are GONE! They aren't coming back.

If you fly, even if it's NOT International, you should expect it to be
an all day event. You never know if you will need to be searched or
if there will be a problem with your plane, so you're better to just
expect to be tied up at the airport the whole day.

I travel a lot. Mostly between Canada and the United States, and even
though the air carriers that I fly reccomend arriving at the Airport
60 minutes before takeoff, I know that there is always something to
stand in the way, so I am there two hours ahead. This way if the
customs line is long, I still have time to catch my plane. When I go
overseas, I leave three hours in the airport prior to take off.
I would rather be in the airport waiting for my flight with ample
time, then struggling to make my flight. As for the flight attendants,
I have always found that they give back the attitude they receive from
you. If you treat them like dirt, then they will treat you like dirt,
no matter how much you paid to get on the flight.

It's the nature of Air Travel these days. I don't consider a steward's
resetting a button an invasion of space. (Unless your Fiance' was
inappropriately touched, which isn't mentioned).

It's the steward's responsiblitly to stop the call button from
buzzing when obviously there was nothing prsssing enough for the
passenger to bring to the steward's attention.

Of course one can't bring two bottles of wine in the cabin area. I
wouldn't expect that at all and have my bottles packed for cargo.

I know it's frustrating, but it's just the way things have to be. I'm
content to take off and land, what happens in between wouldn't matter.

Did you just fall out of the sky and try to bring bottles of wine onto
a plane?

Have you flown before, or is this the first time you left your
hometown? You know, when a lot of time goes by, the call light is on,
and the customer in the seat has a comotose look on his/her face, the
flight attendant puts two and two together and figures out it is an
accident. To avoid any further stupidity, they just turn the light
off. Were you expecting an apology for not responding to a call you
didn't make? Please say it isn't true.

If you waited just under two hours, I think you waited the time they
recommend these days. I haven't flown for several years, but I seem
to recall 90 minutes to 2 hours for domestic, and longer for
international.

I honestly don't see what you are complaining about.

I don't blame you for being upset. Do you travel much though? What
you describe unfortunately is typical these days with airline travel.
It's no excuse that the airlines are short staffed, workers are over
worked and under paid, because they aren't. If they exceed their 40
hour work week, they get time and a half, their choice to stay on.
They are also by law entitled to their breaks, and the line length
does not dictate when they go on their break. They HAVE to go on
their break according to union rules. It's been like that for a long
time. Plus, you're traveling in the summer. Worst time to travel. So
when you pack your bags you also need to pack your patience. You need
a lot of it in todays world of airline travel. Some airlines have
employees who really care or at the very least act like they care.
But some don't. I haven't flown American in years, so I don't know
what their current attitude status is, but all attitudes start at the
top and roll down hill. You know what they say, S#*%# rolls down
hill, and unfortunately the customer is the one who usually gets
dumped on.

The good thing is that you did get to and from your destinations
safely, so that's what you're really paying for. A nice attitude
these days is an extra bonus. I don't think it should be like that,
but then I also don't work for the airlines. Who would? I sure
wouldn't. It used to be sexy years ago, but not anymore. I really
like what the other poster stated though, Ghandi said something like
if you want to see change, start with yourself first. Or something
like that. That's right on. It makes life a lot easier to handle.
It's nuts down here. Take it easy. I sure hope you don't let this
shadow what was hopefully a great trip to Europe. That's the part you
should recall and remember and tell people. They really don't want to
hear you complain about the airline problems. Tell them about your
trip instead. All the good stuff. They won't gloss over. If you
tell them the crappy parts, trust me, they gloss over. Look for it!
Grow from this experience. Life is how you look at it, because you
sure can't control what happens to you most of the time.

Good luck!

There's a perfectly good reason that they recommend you arrive 2 hours
early for domestic flights, and 3 hours early for international
flights, but then again, I suppose the rules dont apply to you, and
you shouldn't have to wait like everyone else? Your complaint is
going to get you no where. You have no real complaint. And the fact
that somebody helped you take wine on the plane could cost you your
job. It clearly states at EVERY international terminal, that you
cannot do that. But then again, the rules dont apply to you right?

The fact that you actually thought you could bring bottles of wine on
the plane says it all.

Air travel stinks. No one's disputing that. But because of the way
airlines are treating their employees, it's not going to get any
better. The best that you (and I, as someone who flies at least twice
a year) can do is roll with the punches, and as Gandhi once said, "Be
the change you wish to see in the world".

Michelle,
You made your flight.
There were some hiccups.
Stuff happens.
Being made to feel like dirt is only possible if a person allows that
to happen to them.
Invasion of your finace's space?
I was going to go back and count the number of times you used the term
fiance but decided not to.
Bringing bottles of wine to the airport? Yikes.
BillR.

Why did you wait almost two hours to check in? Because air travel is
bad and it's only going to get worse. Airlines are down to bare bones
staffing and the employees are overworked and underpaid. I'd be
grumpy too. Gone are the good old days of air travel where is was
fun. Now it's something to be endured to get to your destination.

Another reason for the two hour wait is that there more than likely
was delays and cancellations and they were also rerouting those
people.