Travelers share their tales

Flexibility helps

Flew into Austin, Texas, on AA on Thursday connecting through Dallas-Fort Worth. Although everything was screwed up at all airports, the staff was as helpful as could be. I got on standby and made it only a few hours late. Lesson learned is that frequent flier club members get better access to agents and first dibs on changes. However, they also know how to quickly scramble and arrange changes themselves, not waiting on sluggish lines. It also hepls if you don't check baggage and can be very flexible. Let's hope this does not happen again soon. --Anonymous , Austin, TX (submitted on April 11, 2008)

Marathon day

My journey started in Springfield, Mo. No sooner had I arrived at the airport to check in, the ticket clerk asked if I "want the good news or the bad". Not having heard about the cancellations, I told her to give me the bad news. It was then she told me about all the flights that had been canceled on Amercian Airlines. My flight had been scheduled to leave Dallas at 3:15 p.m. She rescheduled me on another flight departing Dallas for San Antonio at 7 p.m. with an upgrade to first class. The upgrade was the "good news." After arriving in Dallas I attempted to make myself comfortable for my seven-hour delay. Fortunately I am a retired Air Force veteran and was able to utilize the USO in the "B" terminal. It was while there that I happened to turn on my laptop and found out that my 7 p.m. flight to San Antonio had also been canceled without any announcements. I immediately ran to the ticket counter and the ticket agent told me that my best bet was to rent a car and drive home since I lived in San Antonio or hope to get on a 10:55 a.m. flight the following day. She also told me there was a 5:50 p.m. flight that I could go on stand by. No suitcase, meds or clothing, I opted to wait to see if by some chance I could get on the 5:50 p.m. to San Antonio. There were 70 people on stand by for the flight. I was number 20. The strange thing is that if you are in a certain category, you can bump people down the list. I was bumped from 20 to 27, up to 25, back to 26 as they continued to call names and others showed up trying to complete their journeys. We were down to the wire and they finally released all the seats due to the fact that a flight from Nashville connecting in Dallas for San Antonio was also canceled. Their misfortune led to my good fortune. So after starting my journey at 9 a.m., I made it home around 8 p.m. I was one of the lucky ones. What American has done is to make me a strong believer that I will never use this airline again. They knew they had problems and they also were aware that there was the possibility that they were going to be grounded but they let poor suckers like me book online and they overbooked knowing full well this was on the way. I know I am just one person but who is going to make up for the stress, and inconvenience that was caused on this trip? As I said, I was lucky. There were people there that had been waiting over 30 hours still hoping. The efforts that were made in no way made it seem like they were sympathetic to our needs. I pity the employee who had to work that had no part in this mess. So I feel it is my duty to encourage everyone I know to never fly American Airlines again. It may not mean much but it makes me feel better ... --Anonymous , Universal City, TX (submitted on April 11, 2008)

It pays to pay more

I fly more than most flight attendants and pilots, I am a Platinum card holder with American Airlines and I always book travel through American Express travel agents. When American announced widespread cancellations, I immediately called my American Express. Not only did AMEX get me home when I needed to be, they did so with a minimum of hassle, and no headaches. The moral to this story, is when you are flying, it pays to pay a little more, use a real travel agent, and to have an advocate you can call when the something goes wrong. Going online and booking your flights through the cheapest Web site is not always the cheapest way to travel. I am scheduled to be flying out on Monday, my original ticket was American, but AMEX has already called me to change my flights to another airline, to make sure that I am where I need to be when I need to be there. Also, I would rather be grounded on a plane, than have the plane hit the ground, because of a repair that the airline knew about. --Anonymous , Augusta, GA (submitted on April 11, 2008)

DIY traveler

I was scheduled to fly home from San Diego to Indy on Wednesday. Luckily, I turned on the news Tuesday night to hear of the cancellations. I went to the AA Web site and discovered my flight, along with many other San Diego flights, were canceled. I was on perpetual hold with American and when I finally spoke to living soul, they said the earliest they could get me home was Thursday, not Wednesday. they also claimed their other partner airlines had no connecting flights. Well, while I was talking to them, I was on my computer checking flight availability. I purchased my own one-way ticket on a Frontier flight for later on Wednesday. (I guess American wasn't trying very hard to help me, then — if I was able to get my own flight out!) At the time of my call, American said nothing about refunds — they said there was the possibility I would get a credit for a future flight. I am SO thankful I made other arrangements, because all of American's Thursday flights were canceled too — I'd still be in San Diego! I consider myself one of the lucky ones — at least I got home! a colleague of mine flew out of San Diego Tuesday night and is still stuck in Dallas — and was told he wouldn't get home before Friday at the earliest. The funny thing is I paid extra to fly American to San Diego because it was one of the few airlines (unlike Delta, US Air, United) who had messed up my travel plans. so much for that. --Valerie O'Loughlin, Bloomington, IN (submitted on April 11, 2008)

Disappointed kids

I am the Director and founder of Dancers Array 'N' Christian Evangelism and First Christian New Life Academy Dance Team. A group of 4th, 5th and 6th grade Liturgical Dancers on their way to Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo. We are attempting to attend the Black College Dance Exchange. This dance conference is founded and hosted by Historical Black Colleges. This is a four-day dance experience with classes and concerts. The students raised their own money for airfare ($220 - $274), registration ($225) and hotel ($100). We arrived at the airport OK, our original flight on April 9 scheduled to leave at 11:55 p.m. left on time. However, an agent short-stopped us and changed our flight as she thought we would not be able to get a connecting flight out of Chicago. So she changed our flight to April 10 flight 1716. It was scheduled to depart at 6:20 p.m. We were told that there would be no delay. Once we arrived to the gate they then told us the airplane was waiting in the hangar to be inspected. Then they said we were waiting for the FAA inspector to show up. It is now 8:30 p.m. and they are going to give us an update at 9:00 p.m. We are still in the airport and have missed the first day of the conference, a great disappointment. They had an opportunity to dance for the college students that they have been practicing for weeks. They missed that today. Not to mention the emotional energy they’ve expended getting excited and then disappointed upon the promise of a flight soon to take off. At this point we don't know if we will make it at all. Even if we do I now have exhausted yet patient kids that will have to try muster up the energy to enjoy the rest of their weekend. A great opportunity for advancement, education and personal experience have been taken away. --Sandra Shackleford, Compton, CA (submitted on April 11, 2008)

No apologies, just excuses

We arrived at LAX on Sunday two hours early. We were told once we boarded the 767 (not a MD-80) we were on had no secondary power and couldn't start the engines. We waited for the ground crew to come. Two hours later we finally took off, but our connecting flight in Dallas had already left 1 1/2 hours earlier. I found a supervisor in Dallas who promised us a flight to Huntsville, Ala., and ground transportation from Huntsville to Birmingham. We were also promised that our bags would be on the Huntsville flight. This took another two hours to do. We boarded the Huntsville flight, scheduled to take off at 9 p.m. We didn't leave until 9:30. When we arrived at Huntsville, we found the airport closed. No cabs, no rental cars, no airport shuttles ... and no bags. So here we are in a closed airport with no way to get to Birmingham. I tried to bribe the pilot to charter the plane we just came in on to fly us to Birmingham. I was so ready to hand over my credit card! We tried to find out where our bags were. We filed a claim with the lone agent in the airport. Then we called the 800 claims number. No one could tell us where our bags were or if/ when we might ever see them again. I went outside only to find a deserted parking lot. Even if there was a hotel, I had no way to get to it. Finally a cab drove by and parked. I asked the driver if he would drive us to Birmingham. By now it's well after 11:30 p.m. He agreed. We went back into the airport and managed to get the agent to change the transportation voucher to his cab company. It took another two hours to get home. Still, no idea where our bags were. I was at my office by 7 a.m. Monday. When I called the baggage claims again, I was told our bags would be on one of four flights coming in that day, but they didn't know which one. We had to stake out the baggage claim area until they finally came through the curtain. You may be asking why we had to stake out the baggage area ... we were told that the attendant would get our bags. But, since they have no idea which ones were ours, they wait until all the bags are taken off and then get what's left. So anyone could walk off with our bag and they would have no idea. I had to be at work, so one of us went and sat for the first flight. I got a call at noon. Our bags had arrived. No thanks to American. There were no apologies from the agent in Huntsville, only excuses. What is the point of tags with codes on our bags if they don't use them? What should have been a five-hour trip turned into 24. I still haven't recovered. And if anyone found a plastic bag in Dallas with a L.A. phone book and a jacket tied inside, let me know. No one knows where that is either! --Anonymous , Birmingham, AL (submitted on April 11, 2008)

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