Complain about a product or service

American Airlines

American Airlines • Stranded • Accommodating illness • Bereavement policy • Luggage lost/damaged • Baby stroller mangled • Slovenly service • Price gouging • Smokers snuffed • Group bookings • Code sharing • The Wedding that Wasn't --- News • Straight-Talking Captain Calms Delayed Passengers • American Raises Baggage Fee $5 • American Begins Wi-Fi Service on Some Flights • American Slashes Routes, Charges for One Checked Bag

Maybe it was trying to absorb TWA that has given American what seems to be a chronic case of indigestion. Over the last few years, AA has succeeded in destroying a splendid reputation.

As the complaints in this section show, American manages to insult and alienate just about every type of passenger you can think of -- those who smoke, those who need oxygen, those with babies, those trying to connect with cruises and those who've booked large groups tours, to name just a few.

We don't know why anyone would take American, United or any of the other over-priced giants when there are such splendid, consumer-friendly carriers as Southwest, Jet Blue and ATA.

Barbara of Trophy Club, TX May 11, 2009

After many months, thought I would give American Airlines another chance, but again both outgoing and returning flights were delayed because they "had no flight crews" - baggage on both ends took an hour to retrieve from baggage claim. In Chicago, we waited for 40 minutes only to find out that they put the luggage on the wrong turnstile and never let the passengers know. Who knows what happened in Dallas - they kept saying "ten more minutes". Very bad support issues. We were delayed 2 hours on each end of our trip because of avoidable problems on American's part.

Janice of Pinole, CA May 7, 2009

We booked 2 tickets to fly our son and his girlfriend from SFO to LAX so they could board the RCCL ship the Mexican Riviera. Their cruise was rescheduled for June 21st and you want to charge us 150 rebooking fee for each ticket. I was mistakenly optimistic that AA would of course wave or greatly reduce this fee. Why do you need to make an additional 300.00 on a flight from SFO to LAX. I will be sending this same message to all the news stations in the SF Bay Area. Someone needs to get the word out that AA is not being helping in rearranging travel plans during this flu epidemic. I understand that you are not dropping them in Mexico, but their entire vacation will be taking place in Mexico.

Elias of Miami Beach, FL May 5, 2009

Back in January, 2009 I booked a fully refundable CCS-MIA-CCS ticket for more than 2,000 dollars (it's a 2 1/2 hours flight), but had to come back to the US earlier and came back in another airline. I went to the AA ticket office to get a refund and a very nice rep told me that since the ticket was issued in Venezuela it had to go through the refund department in Oklahoma and that it could take up to 60 days, but that usually takes 15 or so. However, I planned in the worst case-scenario considering my experience with American Airlines. I submitted the refund request on Feb 10th, 2009.

Today is May 5th, 2009 and still don't have the money back in my credit card and my 2K or so dollars are still in limbo while I pay 33% annual interest on it to the bank. Since the 60 days were over back in Apr 10th, I have tried to talk to N reps in American Airlines who simply said I needed to contact the Refund Department. I have tried that number for three weeks to no avail. the department only opens from 8:30 to 12:30pm and 1:30pm to 4:30pm CST and I'll bet only two people work in it, because always says: "we're experiencing high call volumes, try your call later."

I have submitted letters to AA Customer Relations and the answer has been always the same: "you will need to try to contact Refunds, but we'll send a request." I have never gotten a note from the Refund department. Finally today I talked to someone in Refunds after three weeks. I started calling at 8:28 am CST, and I got Caroline. I explained my situation and do you know what she say? yes you know: "we can't do anything. we received the request in this department on Apr 5th and now it will be sent to Venezuela. It may take up to 120 days more and there's nothing I can do."

I asked to talk to a Refund supervisor and she said she was it. I got furious and said this was unacceptable and she hung up the phone. Of course, I never got anyone on the line again: "we're experiencing high call volumes, please try again later." I'm seriously outraged. I cannot use this ticket to fly anywhere and they simply kept my money indefinitely. I'm a lifetime Gold AA member and customer service is going down the drain in American. It never ceases to surprise me, but with 2K4 on the line and think I had it. I can even imagine how bad the customer service for a regular passenger is, but I get an idea with all the complaints I've read in this site. I can say that AA is the worst airline that there is and everyone seems to agree, but living in Miami and flying to South America, I'm stuck with it.

cleveland of Nassau, Bahamas May 5, 2009

The handle of my bag was ripped off,the rep said the airline was not responsible,however when i read the baggage liability notice on my ticket that does not seem to be the case. The bag was not overpacked or overweight, yet the handle was ripped off, it arrived late,and i was rudely shown a sign disclaiming liability

Johann of North Bergen, NJ April 25, 2009

I was returning from San Jose Costa Rica, on February 18, 2009, Flight AA 1222. My destination NYC via Miami. Minutes after boarding the plane in Costa Rica I found that my snack bag was missing. I spoke to the flight attendant and she said..."we will take care of it". After 30 minutes on the plane I went back to the flight attendant and I ask for the snack she promised she would "take care of" and she responded "I am sorry but we don't have any more". I said: "miss I told you before the departure of the plane", and she said..."well, we don't have it, so please go back to your seat", then I answer to her "you were BSing me from the beginning when you said you were going to take care of it?, why didn't you said you didn't have anymore from the beginning and that's it? (same and soft tone of voice as I was using)".

She started saying that I was using an improper term, that no one was allowed to say the BS word while on the plane and if I did use that word once more she would report me as misconduct behavior...and she will make sure that I miss my connecting flight from Miami to NYC. Of course, since I don't acknowledge the dictionary of words that can be used on a plane, I repeated the word in her face once more without raising my voice. When the plane arrived, supervisors from AA were waiting for me at the plane door and they stopped me when I was leaving the plane (MIA). Despite passengers (4-5 passengers) telling the supervisors that the flight attendant was having an attitude towards me, the supervisors stopped me at MIA for more than 40 minutes "to clear the situation" and they told me that since 9/11 whatever improper language used on a plane could be classified as misconduct (BS again) and they lectured me until finally they released me. They pushed me so much to accept that I was wrong that I apologized to them in order to be on time for my next flight.

Heliane of Torrance, CA April 21, 2009

On 4/17/09, my grandmother and aunt came to visit us in LA from Quito - Ecuador; unfortunately, they did not have a good flight experience under the care of the flight attendants assisting in flight #231 with American Airlines. They were unable to get a name; however, they have described an older white gentleman who decided to yell at them for not speaking English, stating that they are in America and even if they are in Miami, being in America, meant they have to speak English!!!

My grandmother is 84 years old, my aunt is 59 and they are not from here. They are here visiting. My diabetic grandmother had to go to an emergency doctor's appointment because of this, it altered her insulin levels!!!! This is unacceptable and that's not even all. This same flight attendant could not or better said, did not want to understand that my aunt was requesting coffee and water, not milk but coffee and water.

The gentlemen took his time to tell her that she needed to try to say it in English because he could not understand her. My aunt says that there was another African American female flight attendant who looked at them in disgust as this was happening. After going back and forth on the coffee issue, a flight attendant by the name of Gustavo approached them and asked what was going on insinuating that my grandmother and aunt were the ones causing trouble. Finally he translated what my aunt had requested to the gentleman and even then he couldn't understand.

When my aunt thought he finally got it, he brought her tea instead. To top all this off, when he passed around the passengers to bring water, my aunt told him she did not want any. His response? He dropped the water in her lap and didn't even have the courtesy to dry her up. My aunt said that it seemed as if he got a bit scared at that point and dropped a napkin on her lap and left. No apology no nothing! We have traveled in American for many years; my grandmother in particular has used your airline for the past 25 years!

The behavior the flight attendants showed is of very poor character, rude, and simply unacceptable. At this point my grandmother, because of her condition; is in such panic state that she no longer wants to travel with AA and I can't blame her. My aunt simply cried as she has never before experienced such a humiliation as she did on that day in front of all the passengers from flight 231. They even had passengers coming to them at the parking lot to see if they were ok (we have names and phone numbers.)

This incident has caused a serious imbalance in my grandmother's health and I am holding AA accountable for it! I have contacted AA customer relations and emailed some of its executives with no responce at all.

Peter of Los Angeles, CA April 20, 2009

April 20, 2009 Los Angeles: American Airlines sold me an expensive roundtrip coach ticket to Cancun, Mexica at a price of 2.5 times more expensive than internet ticket, claiming it was FULLY REFUNDABLE...a total lie, since it wasn't refundable and I lost over a thousand dollars,

Dennis of New Rochelle, NY April 19, 2009

To start, my flight was overbooked, then delayed, then my bags were torn to shreds. Now not 1 person will talk to me. thay said if I want an answer I would have to drive 2hRS TO airport to talk with some one. please do not fly american. My family and I will not.

bags ripped, broken. then serched personal stuff. Also missing items.

Debra of Pilot Point, TX April 17, 2009

On a flight from DFW to Chicago, with a connection in St. Louis, our plane was taken out of service due to a fuel leak. As a result, we had to get another plane and were 1 1/2 hours late. I missed my connecting flight in St. Louis due to the delay. The ground personnel for American were so VERY rude and showed such disrespect for passengers that I wonder if they even cared that we were there. They offered no help and did nothing but tell us go sit down, when we have information we'll give it to you. I've travelled to several cities on business this year, and overall the service that I got from American was appalling.

At one point the passengers were told that if they didn't back away from the counter, they would hold the plane at the gate and not let us board, which would cause us to miss our takeoff window. This after the flight was delayed 2.5 hours for bad weather in Dallas! Yes, I know it's not American's fault, but it's not the passengers' fault, either. The AA employees treated us like we were an incovenience and an interruption to their plans for the day.

Shame on you, American Airlines! You are so busy worrying about picketing and protests, you've forgotten that the PASSENGERS pay your salary. If you aren't nice, we'll go somewhere else. I promise. And you can bet that I have told EVERYONE that I meet how horrible your service is! I am a customer service trainer for a global direct sales organization. If our employees acted the way AA employees did, they would be FIRED. And BTW, American Airlines, your baggage handlers tore up my brand new luggage. I am sure it would be useless to complain. Instead I will just tell everyone I know how horribly your employees treat your customers. You may think that you're the only game in town, but you're not.

I am getting ready to get on another AA flight in a few hours. I have no doubt the flight will be delayed, I have no doubt I'll be treated like a bug on the feet of AA employees, and I know this will be a horrible experience. If I complain too loudly, the TSA will treat me like a right wing radical, roust me out of line and search me and my bags in front of all the other passengers. At least I have something to look forward to! American Airlines, you stink!

Msg Brenda Dennis of Fort Belvoir, VA April 13, 2009

On 12 March 2009, I traveled from Washington, DC (Regan) to Dallas/Fort Worth, TX on American Airlines w/ one checked baggage. Upon my arrival to Dallas Baggage Claim, my checked luggage did not arrive. I was told that it would arrive the next morning and received a Claim No. to refer to. I was also told that it would come on the next flight but to my discuss that pan out not to be true. Needless to say, I spent my entire vacation in pain and agony because each day I received bad news that my luggage had not arrived. I along with a good friend went back and forth to the airport to do a personal search, talk with the employees, etc, etc but still ended-up empty handed. I spoke several times with the airport baggage personnel over phone and they assured me it would probaly turn-up or it could have been mis-routed but they would do all they could to locate it. I asked several employees do they think it was a possiblility that my luggage was stolen and they assured me that was very far-fetched because people just want they luggage.

 Well, upon my return to DC, I went back to DC Baggage Claim to inquire and to look around but still came up empty-handed. I must had spoken with 20-30 people at AA and some were very smog and must have received several different excuses and probablitilties. I started to do a little research on my owm simply because I had a lot of valuable in my luggage and this situation has caused me many sleepless nights and tears. Let me say this before I go any further, AA have no Check and Balancing system so they say. They do not scan your luggage once they receive it from TSA. They rely totally upon individuals to look at your tag and then place it on the corresponding carousel.

Also, after doing intensified research, I found that the Airlines has had a great deal of thiefs going on not only with the Airlines but also with TSA. Now, I was told that the percentage of thiefs was little to none-They lied and they continue to lie. I went back and forth to Regan National just to take a look at their baggage claim area. This is what I noted. Baggage that comes off the carousel waiting on it rightful owner is stacked near the claim area and anyone and anybody can just walked and take whatever they like. Their is no-one standing by to check claim tickets but you have several agents sitting at a desk in the claim area for the most part doing nothing when in all actuality they could be standing and making sure people are being honest about luggage. Also, I found out that a thief was caught at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport who had be stealing luggage for 1-2 years from the baggage claim area with no questions asked. He just happen to get caught. This rogue was taking 2-3 bags at a time.

The amount of baggage that is lost or stolen is just absurd. I'm finding there are a lot people like myself that has been victimized and it's just so painful and unbearable and the airlines don't care and they just lie. It's just unfair. The airlines charge a lot of outrageous prices, they search you, they charge you extra for bags but they can't protect your luggage. It just doesn't make any sense. I think some of this nonsense can be eliminated firstly by: If TSA suspects your bag, you should be able to watch them go thru it and then seal it back up and if at all possible be able to give your baggage to the handlers or better yet put cameras in the area.

Also, the airport need to re-install the system where at least two individuals are placed in claims area to check your baggage claim ticket before you are allow to take it out-no questions asked. This would create a few more jobs for individuals. Secondly, I feel that these airlines need to be held more accountable for this lost luggage nonsense and if they can't do a better job of this-then some law suits need go into action=RIGHT AWAY. I would be the first to raise my hand to assist. There are a bunch of thieves working for the airlines. It's a racket

This has caused me many, many sleepless night, crying spells, grief, stress and pain. I lost over 18,000 worth of items and it's just gone-just like that and they don't care.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.