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 Vacation from Hell Caused by American Airlines
Posted Wed May 27, 2009 12:00 pm, by Anna K. written to American Airlines, Inc.
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We booked a flight on American Airlines for May 14 to fly to Paris from JFK (flight #44 at 5:45pm). There were four of us traveling for our vacation. Our itinerary was to arrive in Paris on May 15 in the early morning, then leave on May 20 to London, where we would stay for the duration of our trip. We had booked four Eurostar tickets to London for May 20.
When we got to the gate at JFK Airport, we were told that our plane had some mechanical issues and we would be delayed for 3 hours, until 8:30pm. The airline also changed our gate and told us to go to the new gate to await further information. At 8:30pm, we were again told that the plane wasn’t ready and we would be delayed until 10:30pm. Our gate was changed again and we went to the new assigned gate once more. At 10:30, we were told that our plane had been fixed and that we should go back to our first assigned gate to await boarding, which would start at around 11pm. When our plane finally arrived and was ready for boarding, it was 11:30pm.
As boarding began, the airline representative told us that we had until 11:40pm to board and be in the air, otherwise the flight would be cancelled by the FAA. The plane was a 777 and was fully booked. Regardless, all of the passengers rushed and we were all boarded and in our seats by 11:40pm, however at 11:44pm the pilot announced that the FAA had cancelled the flight for regulatory purposes.
All of the passengers were sent to the ticket desk to rebook. We called the American Airlines customer service line to rebook and were told that all of the flights to Paris were booked solid until Sunday, May 17. There was nothing they could do. We then asked if there were any flights available to London, or other European countries, and asked if American Airlines would then be able to provide us transportation or a flight to Paris from there. They checked and said that there was a flight for the morning of the 15th to London, but they could not give us any transportation to Paris. Basically, we would be on our own to figure out how to get to our intended destination. We asked if we would get reimbursed if we book a Eurostar train from London to Paris and the rep told us she didn’t know and we would need to contact customer service for that. Basically, the airline could care less whether they got us to our intended destination or not and did not even regard the fact that we would lose days of our vacation and our hotel nights.
We ended up booking the flight to London because, at that point, that was our only choice. We also had to book a hotel in London because the last Eurostar train to Paris departed London before our flight would land. We then booked four train tickets to Paris for Saturday, May 16.
As a result of this cancellation, all four of us lost 2 days of our vacation, not to mention the costs we sustained and the physycal and mental anguish we went through. We incurred significant extra costs which we did not budget for – the Eurostar train to Paris from London, the hotel in London, the change fee for the rooms in Paris, the change fee for our train tickets from Paris to London, which we needed to now move one day later to May 21.
All of this could have been avoided if the airline would have been even remotely helpful in providing us with transportation to our intended destination. It could have also been avoided if the airline representatives informed us that the FAA had these regulations which would cancel the flight at a certain time, and there may not be sufficient time to board over 200 people onto the plane in under 10 minutes.
It is our understanding that if we booked a flight to Paris, we should have been flown to Paris, not to London and left to make our own transportation arrangements to Paris. We had budgeted for a certain amount for this trip and now have to come up with all of these extra and unanticipated expenses out of our own pockets because of the airline’s incompetence, rudeness and unwillingness to accommodate us.
I want the airline to reimburse us for the costs we incurred as a result of this cancellation. All of the costs will be provided to the airline representative when requested. We will NOT be flying with American Airlines again, and do not care for their free tickets as compensation. The tickets will not cover the days of vacation we lost, nor the expenses we now have to pay for.
I will make sure that I inform anyone asking about my travel experiences with American Airlines of this experience, and recommend that they choose a more professional and reliable carrier for their travels. This incident should never have occurred.
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by olie Posted Fri May 29, 2009 @ 11:36 PM
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I don't think this was anyone's "fault".
American had to make sure that the plane was safe. Sometimes that
takes longer than we'd like. I do agree that being sent from gate to
gate is frustrating, but at least it sounds like you had plenty of
time to get from one to the other.
Would you have preferred to have been told about the FAA regulation
regarding late-night cancellations, at your original departure time of
5:45?
It sounds to me like American tried to accommodate you by getting you
to London, which you requested after they couldn't get you to Paris as
quickly as you wanted. I don't see how an agent for American can
have access to all of the possible travel methods between London and
Paris. The ticket agent is not a travel agent.
How was Paris, by the way?
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by ProfessorTerguson Posted Thu May 28, 2009 @ 10:57 AM
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I don't take evening flights, since they inevitably suffer the effects
of scheduling/weather/mechanical problems that occur throughout the
day with all the other flights. Since finding this out the hard way, I
always go for a 9-10am or earlier flight whenever possible.
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I would not want to fly on a plane that American was trying to get
fixed in time to follow the guidelines. When people get rushed,
things get sloppy.
Id rather arrive late, than not arrive.
Good Day
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by Nate! Posted Wed May 27, 2009 @ 9:26 PM
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You should contact the FAA as well with your concern.
With all of the stimulation and bail-outs, they should consider
changing policies that affect large numbers of customers in a
struggling industry. It will result in more non-bailout money flowing.
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