Boo to American!

[akcire]

On Oct 25 I booked two rewards tickets on American to fly from ord to dca

The ticketed passengers were myself and my daughter who will be 2 as of the May 1 flight date.

For some reason that lacks all logic my daughter was changed from the flight that leaves at 4 pm to one that leaves at 8 am. Not both of us just my 2 year old. I highly doubt she can install her own car seat nor change her own diaper.

I am now on hour 2 attempting to get this corrected.

Really American, I mean really!

 

[DebbieB]

It's Christmas Eve, your flight is not until may 1, let it go for tonight. I'm sure they will be able to fix it, most likely computer error, not intentional.

 

[bumbershoot]

It's Christmas Eve, your flight is not until may 1, let it go for tonight. I'm sure they will be able to fix it, most likely computer error, not intentional.

Agreed.

I especially would not be bothering with this at Christmas, when 3/4 of the country is having winter storms and you KNOW the airline employees are getting screamed at from the start to the end of their shifts, and there are tons of other people waiting on hold to talk with them.

It's just a computer thing; the system obviously didn't know the reservations were linked. Fix it in a few days, once things have calmed down with the airlines.

 

[aubriee]

I posted on here last Feb about the same thing happening to us with AA. In our case, my husband and I were taking our then three y/o grandson for his first flight and his first trip to WDW. Shortly before the trip, I got an email stating that my husband's itinerary had changed. Nothing was said about mine or our grandson's. When I went online to check our itineray, I found both me and my husband had been switched to a flight that left Orlando an hour before our original flight. No big deal, except they left our 3 y/o grandson on the original flight. When I called to get it straightened out, the rep just said that the original flight was way overbooked and they had to move us to the earlier flight. Fine, but what about our grandson. At first the rep couldn't seem to comprehend why it was such a big deal and said he'd be just an hour behind us and we could just wait and meet up with him in Dallas an hour later. I finally said, "You are expecting me to just get on a plane in Orlando, leaving my 3 y/o GS alone in MCO, with instructions for him to get himself on a later plane by himself?" When she finally comprehended that he was just 3 y/o, she laughed and said, "No that won't work." She then put me on hold and came back to tell me, she had moved someone from our new flight to our old flight and moved my GS to the same flight as us. I asked about our seats, as at least one of us needed to be seated next to him. She put me on hold again, then came back to tell me she'd fixed it. Lo and behold, I checked the boarding passes that RAC gave us our last day and the three of us were scattered throughout the plane. Upon arriving at the airport, I made a beeline to the AA desk and the rep told us not to worry about it, because my husband had a prime aisle seat and she was sure whoever was assigned to sit next to our grandson, would be happy to switch seats with him. It was not necessary though, because just a little while later the gate agent called us up to the desk to inform us that she had opened up the first row of seats that they had been holding and she had gotten us all three seated in that first row, right behind first class.

 

[akcire]

First off I never yell at anyone on the phone. I worked in a banks call center while on college.

Also the reasons I was calling on Christmas Eve:
1. That was the day the airline notified me
2. I had the time after my kid went to bed

The airline answered immediately. The woman was very nice but couldn't figure out how to fix it. She had to make like 10 calls to get my daughter back to the original flight. She was eventually able to get us in the same row, we just moved to the back of the plane. Sorry to the people 20 rows ahead of us as I try not to hit them with her car seat while boarding.

I'm just irritated with American. I took the time in advance to get my desired flights/seats. To even book my daughter a rewards ticket, due to her age, I had to call back in Oct. Now some arbitrary computer changed what I bought, put my daughter on another flight and I had to spend hours on the phone fixing it. Boo!

It's not like I could just call American today and change my flight without incurring fees, they'd tell me I was out of luck.

Also the original flight still has seats available for less than $270 round trip which from Chicago is pretty cheap. So if it is oversold stop selling tickets.

I only posted on the dis last night because I was bored while waiting for the lady to fix it, and I wondered if anyone else had arbitrary flight change experience on American.

 

[maxiesmom]

I only posted on the dis last night because I was bored while waiting for the lady to fix it, and I wondered if anyone else had arbitrary flight change experience on American.

Airlines do shuffle people around from time to time. It is not just an American Airline thing.

I think other posters were just trying to point out that with the big storm and it being a holiday, customer service was not going to be very speedy. I understand wanting to get it fixed asap, but if you had waited a day or two you would probably have spent a lot less time on the phone.

I'm wondering if the fact that you booked your tickets with rewards had something to do with you being bumped.


At least it is taken care of now. That is the most important thing.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

On Oct 25 I booked two rewards tickets on American to fly from ord to dca

The ticketed passengers were myself and my daughter who will be 2 as of the May 1 flight date.

Out of curiosity, were you and your 2yo daughter ticketed two different PNRs, possibly because the points came from two different AAdvantage accounts or were ticketed at two different times?

If the tickets were on separate PNRs, were those PNRs linked?

Airlines normally keep passengers on the same PNR on the same flight, even when there's a major schedule change. Airlines should also keep passengers on linked PNRs together.

(A PNR is a Passenger Name Record, identified by a six-characer code.)

If there were two unlinked PNRs, the airline sees them as two unrelated travel itineraries. If a future flight is removed from a future schedule (or there's an aircraft change to a smaller plane), the airline accommodates passengers on other flights that have open seats, sometimes using up all inventory (or at least all inventory in a fare category) on those alternate flights.

It appears that American was able to correct the situation in the OP's case, although it took longer than it should have.

The lesson to be learned by people reading this thread is to put families on the same PNR or, at least, to link separate PNRs.

 

[NancyIL]

First off I never yell at anyone on the phone. I worked in a banks call center while on college.

Also the reasons I was calling on Christmas Eve:
1. That was the day the airline notified me
2. I had the time after my kid went to bed

The airline answered immediately. The woman was very nice but couldn't figure out how to fix it. She had to make like 10 calls to get my daughter back to the original flight. She was eventually able to get us in the same row, we just moved to the back of the plane. Sorry to the people 20 rows ahead of us as I try not to hit them with her car seat while boarding.

I'm just irritated with American. I took the time in advance to get my desired flights/seats. To even book my daughter a rewards ticket, due to her age, I had to call back in Oct. Now some arbitrary computer changed what I bought, put my daughter on another flight and I had to spend hours on the phone fixing it. Boo!

It's not like I could just call American today and change my flight without incurring fees, they'd tell me I was out of luck.

Also the original flight still has seats available for less than $270 round trip which from Chicago is pretty cheap. So if it is oversold stop selling tickets.

I only posted on the dis last night because I was bored while waiting for the lady to fix it, and I wondered if anyone else had arbitrary flight change experience on American.

I hope you had a lot of AA miles to burn! I won't use miles unless the ticket price is at least 2 cents per mile, or ~ $500 for a 25K mile domestic ticket.

By the way, I received 2 e-mails today from American about schedule changes on upcoming flights in April and June. I'll call them in a few days about one of the changes.

 

[akcire]

Out of curiosity, were you and your 2yo daughter ticketed two different PNRs, possibly because the points came from two different AAdvantage accounts or were ticketed at two different times?

If the tickets were on separate PNRs, were those PNRs linked?

Airlines normally keep passengers on the same PNR on the same flight, even when there's a major schedule change. Airlines should also keep passengers on linked PNRs together.

(A PNR is a Passenger Name Record, identified by a six-characer code.)

If there were two unlinked PNRs, the airline sees them as two unrelated travel itineraries. If a future flight is removed from a future schedule (or there's an aircraft change to a smaller plane), the airline accommodates passengers on other flights that have open seats, sometimes using up all inventory (or at least all inventory in a fare category) on those alternate flights.

It appears that American was able to correct the situation in the OP's case, although it took longer than it should have.

The lesson to be learned by people reading this thread is to put families on the same PNR or, at least, to link separate PNRs.

All points came from my frequent flyer account.

We each had a separate locator but they were supposed to be linked. When I booked I had to call to make her reservation and the agent had to book her ticket. Normally they charge a fee but she waived it since the computer would not allow me to book her. I booked my ticket online while on the phone and gave the agent back in Oct. the information. She needed my confirmations to book my daughters ticket. She even told me if I cancelled my ticket her ticket would cancel too unless we called, in the event my husband flew with her alone.

My husband has a cash ticket on same flights, probably not linked, but his flights were not changed. He has a different last name so even when we link our locators we often get split, not a big deal as an adult. Huge deal when your 2-2 yr old has my last name.

 

[bumbershoot]

First off I never yell at anyone on the phone. I worked in a banks call center while on college.

I was saying that everyone else was yelling at them. I had no idea if you were. You did sound pretty angry in your post, though, FWIW.

The eve of a big holiday is not a good time to have real problem that isn't a *currently* urgent problem. I would have waited. No doubt it took so long BECAUSE you were calling on the 24th during all the storms.

 

[akcire]

I hope you had a lot of AA miles to burn! I won't use miles unless the ticket price is at least 2 cents per mile, or ~ $500 for a 25K mile domestic ticket.

By the way, I received 2 e-mails today from American about schedule changes on upcoming flights in April and June. I'll call them in a few days about one of the changes.

Just under 2 million. I used to spend over 150 nights a year in hotels.

 

[akcire]

I was saying that everyone else was yelling at them. I had no idea if you were. You did sound pretty angry in your post, though, FWIW.

The eve of a big holiday is not a good time to have real problem that isn't a *currently* urgent problem. I would have waited. No doubt it took so long BECAUSE you were calling on the 24th during all the storms.

Tone is hard to judge online. I tend to write in short statements. People have, including you, accused me of being angry before. English is my third language and I am often misunderstood in print format. Of course in person I find most people short and abrupt?

I don't think the problem was when I called, but the fact that the rep could not get the computer to accept her command and it resulted in her making 10 calls. Airline call centers are often busy with weather related issues. Still when I called wasn't my complaint it was that the airline screwed around with my daughters reservation and I had to call.

I still say Boo! To American for switching my daughters flight. To bad she isn't old enough to understand how poorly she was treated, she'd be a United fan. She'll still be flying American. I have a lot of miles to burn.

 

[seashoreCM]

The airline may not move you to a different flight while the old flights still exist unchanged. If they are overbooked then the airline needs to deal with it at the airport on departure day, asking for volunteers if needed.

If you like the new flight you or your child got better, then fine. Quietly ask to have your child or you (respectively) moved to it too. But if you don't like it then they have to put you back on what you originally had confirmed.

The preceding advice still stands, don't yell through the phone at the reservationist and (for flights well off in the future) wait a few days for today's weather issues to settle down.

Frequent flyers who volunteer often should feel free to counteroffer (such as ask for a dollars off voucher instead of a free trip voucher not good on flights all of whose cheap seats are sold), if a request for volunteers remains open for a long time during boarding.

 

[Greysword]

Sorry you got shuffled. The systems work quite well, just not as we'd like. It is my understanding that the software is geared towards immediate reassignments, mainly for same-day travel, where it is critical that those in transit will get to their destination together.

While it may seem like a blunder, there are a few bright spots. First and foremost, you found out that your DD wasn't linked well to your reservation and are able to get it fixed well in advance. If the first instance of this occurring was the day of travel, it would be much worse. In addition, you will likely be very vigilant about tracking the flight before and during travel.

All said, pretty much every airline has this issue, it just happened to you on American. United is not better in customer service, by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, this past summer there were quite a significant number defections specifically from UA to AA (vice DL or US) by those who fly UA the most. AA actually worked with you as long as it took to fix the issue, where some competitors may not have do the same.

Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[ChristmasElf]

As often as we fly, we always fly American, as they by far have the BEST customer service.
And no other airline does first class better than AA does. The new planes are being put into service. Nice and roomy.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

As often as we fly, we always fly American, as they by far have the BEST customer service.
And no other airline does first class better than AA does. The new planes are being put into service. Nice and roomy.

A lot of frequent flyers would disagree with you. Many international carriers offer first class service which puts AA first class to shame.

As for the OP, if you didn't link your reservations, how was the airline supposed to know you were traveling with your daughter? You should not blame the airline for your error. Plenty of time to get this straightened out.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

A lot of frequent flyers would disagree with you. Many international carriers offer first class service which puts AA first class to shame.

Domestic first class and international first class as two different things. When it comes to domestic first class, AA has a reputation of providing a higher level of service than its competitors. I fly first class on AA quite often. I used to fly first class on Delta and United too. Unless Delta and United have improved their first class service in recent years, I would agree that AA deserves its reputation for superior domestic first class.

As for the OP, if you didn't link your reservations, how was the airline supposed to know you were traveling with your daughter? You should not blame the airline for your error. Plenty of time to get this straightened out.

After I wrote about linked PNRs, akcire wrote, "We each had a separate locator but they were supposed to be linked." If an AA agent failed to link the PNRs properly, or AA put the passengers on different flights despite properly linked PNRs, I fail to see how that's akcire's error.

Also, there is no way to tell on AA.com if PNRs have been linked.