Nasty end to an eventful trip (i.e. take American Airlines at your peril).

[DFW]

We should have been home in Germany by now. We are at an airport hotel at the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport, instead.

On May 15th, we arrived at 1:45 PM at terminal D at DFW for our 3:30 PM flight to Frankfurt.

Though we presented the documents requested online, and then produced the additional German entry form requested by the check-in agent, we were ignored until the plane left, and then referred to a non-present supervisor, who finally showed up after 4:30 PM to tell us there were no further possibilities to get us to Germany today.

We paid AA $6000 for our flight tickets. We spent almost an hour at the check-in desk being pointedly ignored by the three check-in agents ("I'm sorry, I am now assisting another customer." ). My plans, including $500 worth of non-refundable work travel for Monday, were thrown into chaos. AA had no interest in finding us accommodations for the night. The best the supervisor could do (he says) was to book us on the same flight tomorrow.

Although we were at the check-in desk nearly 2 hours before flight time, AA ignored us, and did their best to make sure we not only missed the fight, but had no chance to make any other connection to our destination.

If this is the way AA treats its highest-paying passengers, I can’t imagine how awful it must be for “normal” passengers. Indeed, we saw a family in tears because AA was denying them boarding passes for confirmed flights, apparently for equally inexplicable reasons, other than that the check-in personnel was instructed not to serve them. Like us, they were European, or European residents, so maybe AA delights in humiliating people heading to Europe. The airline also saves money if it can claim the passengers arrived too late for check-in. It absolves them of the responsibility of compensation for overbooking (which is what we suspect).

At any rate, AA cost us much anguish and thousands of dollars in lost costs and revenue. My outfit, in the interests of self-preservation, will take this into consideration in the future, especially when booking flights between the USA and our offices in Europe, Latin America and Asia. I have no idea what American’s top priority is when looking for revenue, but it is obviously NOT from paying passengers.

[MerryHolidays]

1. On what possible basis did they deny you boarding?

Go to town on AA's social media pages...they will compensate you for it (and get everything you can out of them).

[DFW]

4. Just TRY to find their social media pages!

I think they are well aware of what most passengers think of them at this point.

[MerryHolidays]

12. I just sent you a PM with some contact information for AA....good luck

and safe travels!

[DFW]

18. Thanks, I will definitely check them out! n/t

[RainCaster]

2. Find another airline

I never fly AA, I can fly Air France, British Air, or Air Iceland.

[DFW]

5. We would have!

No one was flying from Frankfurt to Dallas yet in April when we left.

[Delmette2.0]

3. Find out who got your seats.

It could have been someone more VIPer than you.

[SheltieLover]

6. Wow!

So sorry to hear this!

[Ocelot II]

7. Delta can get you from DFW to the major airports in Germany.

Better customer service, mostly newer airplanes.

[LakeArenal]

8. We both just flew AA. One to GreenBay the other to Atlanta

Both cheap and non eventful. Planes socially distanced. AA was the only 8 hour trip to GB. All others were 16-21 hours.

Sorry you had such a dreadful time.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Twitter and Facebook for American Airlines

They say on Twitter search they are no longer American airlines but are American air.
Assuming for the moment they are the outfit you are talking about:

https://twitter.com/AmericanAir


https://www.facebook.com/AmericanAirlines/

I don't do Facebook any more, rarely used it, but when I had an aggravating problem with our then local telephone company, I posted it on Facebook and got an instant response, problem solved in just a few hours.

FWIW.....FedEX and other companies on Twitter seem to be tracking any complaints that mention them, because I see a complaint and an instant
response on my Twitter feed.

too bad you can't sue them in small claims court.

[piddyprints]

10. Email

[e-mail]

I have recently emailed the CEOs of three separate companies with complaints. Totally different products/services, different issues. The common thread was that I gave up trying to find someone “appropriate” to help. Within hours of emailing the CEO, someone at the corporate office called me and started to work on the problem. Meanwhile, that VIP gave me their own direct email, phone number, and email address in case I had any further questions or additional issues.

As the song says, my give-a-damn’s busted. CEO can think I’m nuts. Still, I made it clear that they were about to lose a customer and told them I thought it was only right they should know the reason.

Bottom line: Email all this to the CEO. You have nothing to lose. I wish you luck and am very sorry you’re having such a hard time getting home.

[lunatica]

14. Going straight to the top really works

When I worked as a receptionist in a theater venue in UC Berkeley an unhappy customer went straight to the Director and to the Chancellor with a complaint. That led to the Director being contacted by the Chancellor’s office which led to an amazing scramble to justify whatever action was complained about. I’ve never seen a department move so fast to fix whatever it was the customer complained about. Going straight to the top really works!

[MerryHolidays]

16. Totally agree

Usually (and I stress USUALLY), folks at those high levels want to quickly deal with and dispose of bona fide complaints...they don't want to be responsible for an issue getting out of control and leading to stuff like class-action lawsuits.

While some have accused me of being a "Karen", I always ratchet things up the chain of command if the problem warrants it and I am getting no joy at lower levels. But I always try to be sure of my grounds in the complaint and that it is justified to go to the top.

[samsingh]

11. thanks for sharing this

[sdfernando]

13. Sorry to hear about your troubles

I avoid AA and United. Only use them if no other options are available.

On another note, the best flying experience I’ve ever had was on Lufthansa.

[niyad]

15. And here I was, thinking you were safely tucked back in Germany by now. How frustrating and

horrible for both of you. The ceo had best fix this for you, at once.

Sending vibes for the very best outcome. (Now where did
I stash my extra poppets???)

[Hekate]

17. I am so sorry. That's a stunning bit of malfeasance.

I hope when you are back home and recovered that you can take some time to use some of the suggestions in this thread. I like the one about directly contacting the CEO.

If you are still in DFW, check to see if one of the local papers or local tv news stations features a help-line and tell them what happened to you. You never know what they will pick up for human-interest stories.

What else. Well, there are still letters to editors of major newspapers. Some years back I read a lengthy Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times by a fellow who travelled a lot for business and assiduously worked with just one airline so he could get the perks. He became a Million-miler, only to discover (while trying to pre-board with a tired toddler) that consideration for his (and others’) loyalty was gone with the wind, so to speak.

Meanwhile, there’s already a bunch of people here making a note to avoid AA...

This is all I’ve got

[efhmc]

19. I really like tweeter for things like this. Not only to complain but to address the company in the

same complaint. @AmericanAir

[Laffy Kat]

20. We stopped flying AA in 2007.

We will not even look at their fares when planning a trip.

[DFW]

21. Mostly so did we

Especially since Delta started a nonstop route between Atlanta and Düsseldorf.

Unfortunately, they canceled that route due to Corona, and Lufthansa wasn't yet flying to DFW when we left in April. There was no alternative this time. As soon as there is, you can be sure we will use it again.

[Laffy Kat]

23. We booked them in 2007 for a trip to the Virgin Isles.

A few days before the trip, I realized that they had us connecting to a flight in P.R. that departed before our flight even arrived. When I pointed this out to them it was, "Oh, you're right. Too bad." It ended up shortening our vacay by two days. And that was just getting there. I could write a book about the screw-ups during our trip home. NEVER AGAIN!

[GETPLANING]

22. I only fly British Airways or Air France

But not Lufthansa - most cramped airplane I have ever been on. Until COVID, I used to fly home to Spain two or three times a year. I have taken several airlines but have really been impressed with British Airways and Air France. Their service is above and beyond.
True story - I arrived late to the airport in Barcelona for a 7:00AM flight to the USA. There was a strike at Iberia and the airport was jammed with people. I was sure I would miss my flight. A British Airways agent with a clip-board in her hands picked me out of this massive crowd, somehow, and personally escorted me past all lines and security and put me on the airplane. Not a minute to spare. To this day, I don't know how she knew.
Every time I fly British, I am impressed with their quiet professionalism, from gate to gate. And their airplanes have room on them.
Air France is just as nice an airline, but I have had some unfortunate experiences with their passengers. Students, and Algerians, rude people for some reason.

[MerryHolidays]

24. I am not a huge fan of any US carrier internationally

The European carriers (including, for these purposes, BA) are a lot better, but, if you are travelling business class, they don't have separated seats. FIRST WORLD PROBLEM I KNOW---please don't flame me!

The world's best carriers, generally speaking, are Middle Eastern and Asian....I have traveled a HUGE amount over the last three decades, both internationally and domestically. At least for international travel, there is no beating the best ME or Asian carriers.

For a DFW-FRA flight, this probably doesn't apply.