Gadling

Unfortunately the human element -- in this case, the gate agents -- are what turned your situation sour.

I was recently in a similar situation in a flight from San Antonio to Dallas; a hydraulic pump went out, and we were escorted off the plane to wait for another. When I learned we were going to have to switch planes, I immediately got on my cell phone and called AA's customer service line. I spoke with a very friendly women who secured me a spot on a flight leaving in 20 minutes -- a full hour before my original flight's replacement plane was set to take off. Even so, I still missed my connection in Dallas, and was able to take another flight to my destination that same night.

This happened two days after Christmas, and I can honestly say I was impressed with almost every single AA employee I dealt with. They went out of their way to accommodate me.

Unfortunately, some people are jerks no matter where they work. (Hey, assholes need jobs, too, right?) And in this situation, I can understand why you'd want at least one human at AA to recognize your situation, and offer a genuine apology.

Good luck getting it.

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The kids selling popcorn at my local movie theater have better interpersonal skills and common sense than most airline gate agents. Where do they find these social deviants and why don't they dump them all and hire the popcorn kids, getting better service at half the wage? One of the great mysteries of the world…

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Oh, I almost forgot, in regards to your useless, off-topic form reply email… If you want to get the attention of a) someone who may actually read your complaint, b) someone who hasn't gone off their anti-dementia meds and c) someone who might, just might do something about it, you can always go to AA's corporate web site, collect a list of high ranking people in customer service, sleuth the airline's email address naming convention and then spam everyone with your original email, the useless reply and a follow up note about how incompetence at AA seemed to be running the entire spectrum that week.

This is bad news. I've always had good luck with AA. If they get added to Leif's Never Fly Unless it's a Dire Emergency List, along with Northwest and Delta, I'll have to start flying Sun Country everywhere. Have you ever tried to book a flight to New Zealand on Sun Country? Not easy.

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oopss. I just book a trip to Europe with AA. I stop using online travel sites and booked directly with the airlines but it seems they are becoming bigger and don't care so much about customer services.
Don't expect so much from EXPEDIA either: your flight delay might be an excuse to try to keep your money. I was one victims of their unethical business practice. Source: http://www.expedianews.com

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It's always frustrating when people appear to be treated differently for no apparent reason.

The one explanation I can think of that may or may not have an impact was the price paid for the tickets in the first place. Since people pay wildly differing prices for seats on the same flight depending on a number of factors, perhaps the airline assigns first priority to those who paid the most. Someone who paid $400 for a ticket may get on standby quicker than someone who paid $100? Just thinking out loud, wondering how the airlines do it.

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If you want me to escalate this within AA, I can try to do that for you (since I'm one of those elite flyers that everyone hates).

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I'm sorry to hear about your awful experience with AA. They're my fav and like Leif I haven't had any troubles with them in the past. Hope you enjoyed Tampa! I'm almost out of here - thank heavens!

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Great point, Catherine, it definitely is the attitude that is the worst. I had a similar situation on a Montreal-London flight once, and an Air Canada rep actually said to me: "You're screwed."

I've never wished I had a hand-held recording device so badly....

On the brighter side, one of those newish transatlantic budget carriers lost dozens of reservations for my flight last year (mine was fine, but my friends' names weren't on the list) and out of nowhere this customer service guy showed up, he was this hilarious, calm, smiling Jamaican guy who cracked everybody up and calmed everybody down. Minutes before he arrived, it was verging on an ugly-mob-stones-airline-rep-to-death type situation, and he fixed it all right up.

Afterwards my friends and I speculated about whether he sits in a lounge somewhere at Gatwick all day, waiting by some sort of Bat Phone to fight customer service fires... Like, "Get Eli down here! Now, now, code red!"

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I do wonder when we'll hear the first report of a crowd attacking a gate agent (or other airline representative). Mob mentality is a tricky thing, and one more summer of flying discontent is going to push someone over the edge.

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We had an unpleasant situation with US Airways over the holidays - Phoenix-Detroit. We decided to BUY first class air fare, not use points, no upgrade coupons, but real, full fare tickets. Upon check-in, our luggage was marked with bright PRIORITY green tags and off they went. Once onboard, we actually saw our luggage being loaded - only to see it offloaded 20 minutes later, along with others, and be driven away. We rang for the Flight Attendant and she said, "Oh yes, the Captain said we are overweight, so baggage had to be removed". We said, we paid for First Class and the identification was on the bags, why did they take ours off? She responded as she shrugged her shoulders, "They shouldn't have, see the Baggage Rep when you land". When it was time to "lunch" - they were out of our choice and it only got worse from them. Our solution - keep saving for our motorcoach....and drive!

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I work for an airline, though I won't say who, but when we have a delayed flight or a cancelled flight we immediately start rebooking people (even ones that have not yet arrived at the airport). We have even sent people to another city in order to get out and have picked up the tab for the shuttle to that city (yes we put about 5 people in the shuttle but they're all going to the same place anyways). If you've missed your flight we will put you stand-by on the next flight (if there is one) but if you can't get out until the next day then we start booking people for the first flights out in the morning as they come up. If you're some of the first ones and there's room then we put you on it, if we run out on that flight then you go to the next one but can try and stand-by for the earlier one. We never pick and choose which flight we're going to put you on, it's always the next available flight. The person may have been having a bad day (but hey, so were you) but that does not excuse what they did at all. Personally I would have demanded to see a supervisor to at least get the same benefits that everyone else did and to hopefully get put on that earlier flight.

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Catherine I feel your pain. I think with the advent of technology we have lost the ability to interact with compassion. On a recent trip we were also flying out of Anchorage. However we were connecting in Utah on Delta Airlines. My mother had made all the arrangements for herself, my two young sons and I through a friend who is a Delta employee. All I knew was that we were saving a heck of a lot of money. We made it to Utah on time but when it was time to board the connecting flight I was informed that I was dressed inappropriately to fly. Prior to this I had been called up to the counter where the agents proceeded to confirm my seats. THIS is when I learned we had been booked standby for the entire roundtrip flight from Anchorage to Atlanta!! If you could have seen the look I gave my mom!!! NO mention about my attire. NONE. Now once we start preparing to board someone decided that they'd had enough. I was told that it was clearly written in the agreement that travelers flying on Delta's Buddy Passes were to attired in a collared shirt. I had on a football style Jersey with a vee neck. I was wearing a tee shirt underneath that. There was no obscene verbage or imagery. I tried to be nice and stated that I would make a note of it for the return trip and make sure that I complied. This person insisted that it was NOT possible for me to fly without the proper attire and suggested that I try the shops in the terminal to find one. My mom, upon seeing that I was getting hot (mostly at her) started to run through the waiting area asking to borrow a shirt with a collar for me. I wen to every shop in that particular gate area. I found nothing but tee shirts and sweat shirts. I had to bark up the chain to 2 or 3 other folks but eventually I was allowed to fly. Needless to say I don't let my mother make any travel arrangements or use Delta's Buddy Passes any more!!! Nor do I connect in Utah!!! Bon Voyage

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We all have our own "travel hells". I flew on Horizon airline to attend a meeting in Idaho Falls, Idaho. For the return trip, the temperature was 2 degrees below zero and the airport didn't have jetways, but you went outside to go up a flight of stairs to enter the aircraft. I am not a small woman, but neither am I a large woman. I had dressed in layers to keep warm that morning because I knew I would be standing outside for a time waiting to board. I had a seat in the exit row and was settling into my seat and attempting to fasten my seatbelt. With the extra clothing that I had on, I couldn't quite manage it. I requested a seat belt extension from the flight attendant. She informed me that if you are sitting in an exit row, you couldn't use an extender. I said I could take off some of my layers and wouldn't need an extension after all. I stood up in the aisle to remove my coat and sweater and the flight attendant shouted out, "Can anyone please change seats with this passenger. She's too big and the seat belt won't fit without an extender and since she's in an exit row, we can't allow that". I was MORTIFIED!! I even showed the flight attendant that after I removed my coat & sweater, I didn't require an extension. She kept repeating the request and finally a young man traded seats with me. He told me that the only reason he waited so long was that he was waiting for the flight attendant to apologize to me or at least quit shouting for an exchange.
I contacted the airline when I got home, but they weren't interested in doing anything about it. I told them that all I wanted was an apology, but they couldn't even do that. IF YOU FLY, TRY TO AVOID HORIZON/ALASKA AIR. Their flight attendants need a course in sensitivity.

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delta's buddy passes should be call a pass into hell.....take my advice don't use them

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I flew from Atl. into JFK through US Air. over the holidays, and my baggage never got transferred when they re-routed my flight(AFTER MY FIRST FLIGHT WAS CANCELED). I tried to avoid the holiday rush and still got f'd.

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My experience with Alaska Airlines (also a flight out of Seattle) was very similar. I am an experienced traveler and have seen many customers treat airline personnel rudely. I am not one of them. At no time, for instance, did I lose my cool because the gate agents (two of them) rudely told me that I had lost my PAID FIRST CLASS seat because I had not checked in for the flight on time. Apparently there was a glitch in the Alaska computer system which did not record either of my TWO check-ins; on-line before I left my home and at the gate of the originating airport. After asking me in a sarcastic tone if I "paid for my ticket" one gate attendant offerred to seat me in economy (which I normally fly). I declined and asked nicely for my original seat or another seat in First Class. The nasty gate agents said that they would ask the flight attendant in that cabin to work it out andf assured me that they were doing me a large favor. When I got on the flight I thought I was going to be reseated so to be nice I said to the first Class flight attendant "I am Jones"to which she responded "Is that supposed to mean something to me?" I got a very similar form letter to the one you received and obviously they didn't note that I had checked in for the flight TWICE! i have never written a complaint letter about any of the big or small errors made by airline staff when I have flown. This was not error (except for the apparent glitch that caused the whole mess*), it was the incredibly rude attitude of the people providing "customer service." They didn't have me logged on that flight either although my luggage was already onboard and I magically arrived in Newark from Medford, Oregon! They tried to refuse to give me my frequent flyer miles to add insult to injury. Why isn't there a supervisor available to handle complaints? Could it be a volume problem? Alaska is definitely on my don't pay to fly anywhere list. if they flew to New Zealand and I needed to go I think i'd try to find a boat.:)

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