Travelers share their tales

Denied at every turn

I was traveling United from Cincinnati to Omaha; flight canceled in Omaha with no clear explanation; the Wednesday 8 a.m. departure to Chicago was delayed by fog, then to add injury to insult, United canceled my 6:59 p.m. departure from Chicago to Cincinnati with no reason and put me on a 9:30 flight that was more than one hour late. I asked for a free pass to the United airport club and was denied, was denied an upgrade to first class, was denied a dinner voucher. We need the passenger bill of rights because the airlines could care less about the flying public. --Larry Garascia, Cincinnati, OH (submitted on April 10, 2008)

Blame American — up to a point

I was stuck in San Francisco but decided to postpone my trip. While I can understand the frustration of the traveling public, I find it completely absurd that anyone would stay at the airport once their flight is canceled. And if you know your flight is canceled, don't go to the airport. Sounds too simple but I can't believe the number of stupid people who knew the flight was canceled and showed up anyhow. It's been in the news for 3 days now. You can only blame American Airlines so much. --Anonymous , San Francisco, CA (submitted on April 10, 2008)

It's the FAA's fault

My flights were canceled and I was never notified. I was even rebooked and never notified of that. I do not take it personally and just rebooked on another airline so I can get to my meeting on time. People need to suck it up as there are worst things than can happen in life and getting in an AA agent's face about it and yelling at them is not going to help. If you don't like it, go fly Delta or United regularly (you'll get hosed 10 times to every 1 time on AA). I stand united with American because I know it is not their fault. The FAA finally woke up and decided that it was time to do their job, after years of putting our lives in jeopardy with 1970s computer equipment. The FAA is to blame. The airlines are just complying. Complainers need to get perspective on things before they go out there whining or getting angry! This is a perfect time for you to sit at the airport and do some introspection on your life. The only people I feel sorry for are people with kids. Give them Benadrayl so they'll be knocked out for a few hours! --Jeanette C., Chicago, IL (submitted on April 10, 2008)

Bad weather my foot!

My flight that was scheduled for today (Thursday) on AA was canceled late yesterday. GET THIS ... the customer service rep tried to claim the cancellation was due to expected bad weather in Chicago NOT due to the fact my plane was a MD-80 jet. I flipped the he** out! I told the rep that bad weather flights do not get canceled almost 24 hours in advance with the exception of a hurricane. In cases of bad weather flights get DELAYED hours before the flight, NOT CANCELED a day in advance! How dare AA to try to cut back on their liability claims by trying to classify some MD-80 flights as canceled due to bad weather. MOREOVER, when I inquired about compensation for a paid event I would miss because of their incompetence she told me it wasn't AA"s fault and that I should take my issue up with the FAA. According to the customer service rep, none of this is AA's fault. How do you like them apples? I checked AA's flight status today and ALL flights from St Louis to Chicago were canceled. I guess only flight 362 was due to bad weather. Interestingly enough, I checked with the FAA, Delta, United, Southwest, Northwest to see if any other flights were canceled due to bad weather. Granted, there were DELAYS but none were canceled. OBVIOUSLY AA IS TRYING TO SIDE STEP LIABILITY ON SOME OF THIS MESS. Where do I sign up for my piece of this class-action lawsuit!!! --Moxie Gurl, New Orleans, LA (submitted on April 10, 2008)

Enough flying for now

I flew American to Chicago on Monday, and my return flight has been canceled. Thankfully, I'm within driving distance from home, and won't have to go anywhere near O'Hare in order to pick up my rental car. I will not fly again until the airlines get their act together. --Christine Vanoff, Indianapolis, IN (submitted on April 10, 2008)

Frontier to the rescue

My husband and I went to the airport in Colorado Springs, Colo., on April 9th, at 9 a.m. to catch an 11:00 flight to Dallas, then on home to Nashville. Upon arriving, we were told our flight had been rebooked — United to Denver, changing to Frontier headed to Nashville. The flight was scheduled to leave at 5:38 that evening. We had already turned in our rental car, so we stayed all day long in the tiny Colorado Springs Airport, boarded our United flight for Denver, (which is only 60-70 miles from the Springs — it took longer on the runway than in the air), arriving to find thousands stranded. We checked in at the Frontier desk, where we were told we'd be placed on standby (no, we cried, we have tickets, see!). Apparently, AMERICAN had booked flights for people without checking to see if there was availability, and flights were oversold everywhere. Frontier was most helpful, getting us on the slightly-delayed flight, and took us safely, and smoothly home, right on time. Our luggage arrived too! We were so pleased with the attention we were given by the Frontier staff, at the gate and on the plane, and we will definitely fly with them again. AMERICAN? Never again if I can help it. They were very little help — they couldn't tell us if we had a seat or not, they told us our luggage would get to Nashville but didn't know how or when, etc. I'll stick to Southwest — and Frontier — from now on. --Cheryl Stone, Nashville, TN (submitted on April 10, 2008)

Fine end to a vacation

We were on our way back from Puerto Vallarta, sitting in the Dallas/Ft. Worth terminal on Tuesday afternoon. Right as our 4-hour layover was supposed to come to an end I noticed our plane wasn't at our gate yet. I told my wife that it didn't look good for being on time. Then I overheard one of the counter clerks mutter quietly to another clerk, "You better call for some help because this doesn't look pretty." What an understatement! We were given help to get another flight out the next day — on United — but here we sit at home now with two pieces of luggage lost somewhere in the piles of baggage in Dallas. After a very relaxing vacation, this chaos sure wasn't what we needed. --Eric Reimer, Orland, CA (submitted on April 10, 2008)

Luggage location

Luggage! Luggage! Luggage! Where are my bags? I can understand that they will not be delivered immediately, but to not know what part of the earth they reside is frustrating. If only we could be advised of their location and that they are not in Never-Never-Land. I was returning from Tahiti on TN2 from PPT on April 7 to arrive LAX April 8. I flew to DFW and was to continue to West Palm Beach. Ultilmately I was able to reach Ft. Lauderdale at 3 a.m. on April 9. The frightening thing was that I noticed when I checked online my American Airlines bag claim report was in error. They filled out that my destination was L.A. and put on my old going tags and not the returning interline tags and the right final destination of West Palm Beach. How many other errors have been made by personnel incorrectly filling out the reports? --Anonymous , Boca Raton, FL (submitted on April 10, 2008)

Happy 90th?

My husband and I were supposed to travel from Sacramento to Oklahoma City for his mother's 90th birthday ... grounded! --Anonymous , Roseville, CA (submitted on April 10, 2008)

It's not all bad news

I arrived in Dallas from Paris almost at the moment of the grounding of the MD-80s. My connection to Detroit was on an MD-80. I made it through customs quickly and got to a counter in Terminal D. The very nice young lady earnestly listened to my coaching to get me to Miami, a 737-800 base for American. I got to Miami on a 757-200 for overnight at the Marriott. Early Wednesday to Chicago on a 757-200, connecting to Detroit on an ERJ-145. Made it to work by 3 p.m., just 7 hours late. The agent was terrific. --Anonymous , Detroit, MI (submitted on April 10, 2008)

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