My Letter to Ameican Airlines

Our vacation cruise was wonderful, but the return home was even more memorable. Below is the letter we sent to AA.I'll keep you all posted on AA's response, if any.

American Airlines Customer Relations P.O. Box 619612 MD 2400 DFW Airport, TX 75261-9612

Dear Sir or Madam:

While we have often travelled on American Airlines, usually without too many problems, my latest trip – Flights 111 and 2378 on August 26, 2011 from Rome to Chicago to Miami – was a major fiasco.

We left our cruise ship at 7:15 am to get to the airport three hours before departure for Flight 111, which was to leave at 11:30 am. When we arrived and checked in, we were told our flight would be delayed until 2:30 pm because of late incoming aircraft.  Since the flight would arrive long after our connection was to take off at 4:50 pm, we asked for boarding passes for a later connection, but were told they were not authorized to do that, and we would have to do it in Chicago. We were issued boarding passes for the connection we were certain to miss, but were told our luggage would be checked through to Miami.

We asked several others who were waiting for the flight if they had been notified of the delay. None had and none were issued new ongoing connections.

We then asked again at the gate if we could get new boarding passes for a later connecting flight. Again, we were told it was impossible. We were told, however, that there was an 8 pm connecting flight we could make and, if we missed that, another at midnight.

Since we knew we would not receive anything to eat until late afternoon, early evening, we purchased lunch at the airport at a cost of 28 Euros (US$42).

When our flight finally took off – at least another half-hour late, we asked several flight attendants if the pilot could call ahead and make certain we and other connecting passengers would be expedited. We were then told that the connecting Flight was at 7 pm, not 8, and that the problem with boarding passes was because AA had contracted the service out.  This is not an excuse passengers should hear.

When we finally arrived in Chicago, we quickly went through customs and immigration, but there was nobody to expedite the transfer. We found someone to recheck our bags, then ran to the next terminal.

When we arrived, panting, we were refused boarding passes because it was "too late." Had we already had those passes, we could have made the flight.

The next flight to Miami was not at midnight, but at 5:40 am the next morning. We asked for a supervisor and requested a hotel room, dinner, breakfast, and an upgrade. The first thing the supervisor told us was that we were not getting an upgrade.

The second thing was that the entire episode was caused because AA had contracted out their service in Rome and it wasn't their fault. Again, a problem for the company that should not be passed on to customers.

We finally arrived in Miami a day late, exhausted, and upset. Our baggage, by the way, made the 7PM flight the night before.

In light of these circumstances, we would like AA to reimburse us for our lunch in Rome  (receipt copy attached) and think that, at the very least, we should receive 25,000 frequent flyer miles each (accounts KT69642 for Nathan Bodner and 2A49K72 for Meryl Bodner). This would do much to calm us down and reassure us that American Airlines stands up for its customers.

We eagerly await your rapid reply regarding this matter.

NATHAN BODNER

MERYL BODNER