My wife and I had paid about € 6000 for 2 round trip tickets Frankfurt-Dallas in April for a return on May 15th. I had something urgent in Switzerland on the 17th, so I had to be back on the 16th.
We got to the check in counter in Dallas 2 hours before flight time on the 15th. We started the check-in process, and then the agent at the counter said he had to take a phone call. He was on his "phone call" for almost an hour, and then American said we were too late to check in, as we had to leave for security an hour before flight time. A supervisor finally showed up to tell us there were no other possibilities to get us to Europe via any route (a lie, as we had the schedules in hand), and the best he could do was to rebook us for the next day.
No help for lodging was offered, and no compensation was offered either. American had obviously overbooked the flight, and didn't wish to offer any compensation. I was furious, my wife was nearly in tears, and several other families WERE in tears (we weren't the only ones treated this way). The agent who was originally "checking us in" before taking the hour-long phone call wouldn't even look us in the eye afterward (lying still bothers some people, I guess). The supervisor had more experience in lying, and anyway, the airline had our money, so they didn't give a rat's ass. Besides, American practically owns the DFW airport anyway, sort of like Delta practically owns Atlanta.
I'm sure some people have had great experiences on Spirit, too. I wouldn't know. This is not the first time American has messed with us this way, and not the first time I have caught them lying about the reason for a screw-up. Anyone who flies in and out of the DFW airport often enough gets to experience this with American sooner or later. But this is the first time it has happened to us since we both developed serious health issues, and there was no way for me to make up my work in Switzerland, as it was time-sensitive. Subsequent correspondence with American essentially had them telling us to fuck off, and at this point, the feeling is quite mutual.
My outfit has many people who fly a LOT. Many are platinum for life with American (as am I with Air France/KLM/Delta), they fly THAT much. From top brass to gofers who get Hong Kong as a perk, Dallas, NY, L.A., Mexico, São Paulo, about 10 cities in Europe, all of whom usually used to fly American, this will cost AA a LOT more than whatever they got away with saving on May 15th. They won't care, of course. Even if they notice the reduced bookings, a few dozen million dollars a year in lost bookings won't make or break an airline that does billions in turnover every month (week?). But the fact remains that they didn't care, they still don't care, and it remains noted.
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