I know I have been blabbing on about our Orlando trip. We kept our food costs down, we said no to the timeshare salesman. The one that I have not shared was our flight cancellation, forcing us to stay two extra nights.
So, it was the last day of our trip. We caught a shuttle to the airport, very ready to come home. Let's face it, we had been gone for ten days, and had our fill of theme parks for at least a few years. We entered the airport, only to be faced with a check-in line that wrapped around the corner and back through the shops. Suitcases crammed the walkways, and travelers had the look not of exhaustion (ready to go home) or excitement (ready to go out of town), but of frustration and panic.
Somewhere around the corner, back near the Chili's, we found the end of the line.
"Wait here," I told my Fiancee, as I took our only check-in bag outside to see if I can get it checked at curbside. As I waited in the longest curbside check-in line that I have ever seen, an announcement was made that all flights through Dallas were canceled. Our flight to Los Angeles was scheduled to stop in Dallas. Apparently something about high cross winds making it impossible to land planes. Whatever.
As it turns out flights were also canceled to Chicago due to snow, and an American flight to Miami was canceled due to mechanical problems. Well, with two of the biggest airport hubs in the country shut down, flights all over the place were disrupted. American Airlines staff redirected us to another line for the problem children (the people with cancellations). I went to that line, while my Fiancee waited in the regular line.
Thank goodness for her foresight to stay in the original line, as I moved to the problem children line and waited three hours without moving more than twenty feet. Our theory (my fellow line waiters) was that the line was not actually moving, just scrunching closer together. Finally, I rejoined my Fiancee in the original line as she neared the ticket counter. All told, we waited more than four hours.
When we got to the counter, the agent told us that he could not get us on another flight until Monday. "Anything on the west coast," we told him. Seriously, we were willing to fly to Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco. Nothing. He could not get us on a flight going west until Monday. Now something that always bugged me. The flights on Sunday were running on time. So, here we were, scheduled to fly Saturday, but had to wait until Monday. While the people schedule to fly Sunday were going on time.
But what could we do? Fine, re-ticket us.
We went straight to the courtesy phones to find a hotel in the area with vacancy. It turned out that most of them had rooms available, just that they were all $160+ per night. We managed to find a room for $130/night with shuttle service to the airport. So, two nights at a mediocre airport hotel, plus tax ran us an unplanned $292.48.
Of course, the flight was canceled due to weather conditions. That's out of American Airline's control. And, of course, their website is very clear on their policy on this, "If a flight is adversely affected by events
beyond our control, you are responsible for your own overnight
accommodations, meals and incidental expenses."
So, I wrote a letter anyway. Here's my complaint letter:
On 2/24/07 my fiancee, and I were scheduled to return home on flight ### from MCO to DFW, continuing to LAX. Due to weather conditions in Dallas, our flight was canceled. Despite the fact that flights were on time the next day, we were unable to return home until Monday evening. We only learned this after being rerouted to different lines, and waiting more than four hours amidst the chaos.
Your policy states that in the event of cancellation due to factors outside of your control, your customers are responsible for their own accommodations, meals and incidentals. However, I appeal, today, to your sense of sympathy and justice.
We were in Orlando to attend a family wedding. We budget carefully for our travel expenses, and spent much of the week bringing sandwiches into the parks to reduce costs. Those efforts were wasted when we were forced to spend $292.48 for two nights at the Airport Inn, the cheapest available.
This joyous event was marred by the way our travels ended.
A corporate policy alleviating yourself of liability should not translate to, "it's here in print. Tough luck." Some effort should be made to make your customers' experience more pleasant. Reimbursement for the hotel seems just. However, short of that, 25,000 AAdvantage miles for each of us costs you nothing, and makes two unhappy customers happy again.
A check to "LA MoneyGuy" may be sent to [my address]
Our AAdvantage #s:
Me: ######
Fiancee: ######
Thank you.
So, you think we'll get anything from them? I'll let you know what happens.
Nicely written letter. I would have probably played up the fact that Sunday's people went on time, so it was obviously within AA's control to get you out in one day. As such you should have only been responsible for one night of overnight expenses according to the letter of their website.
Posted by: Lazy Man and Money | March 05, 2007 at 10:00 AM
I fly over 50,000 miles annually on AA so I have some experience on how they may handle this. You were absolutely correct to write them a letter, it's the only way you'd get any compensation in this circumstance. It's extremely doubtful that you would each get 25,000 miles. That's 2 domestic roundtrips, which would cost them future revenue. It's also unlikely you would get a cash reimbursement. They may offer you 5-6000 miles apiece. My guess is that you will be offered a $300 voucher to use against future travel on AA. If you're lucky, you'll get 2 vouchers. If you have elite status on AA (Gold, Platinum or Exec. Plat.), you may get more. Good luck.
Posted by: Jumpcut | March 05, 2007 at 10:00 AM
I'll play devil's advocate here...you mention the Sunday flights being on time, and that despite this, you had to wait until Monday. I'd be willing to bet that a good portion of those passengers are also at the end of vacations, ready to go home. Bumping them to get you back home means upset two customers for every seat (you're mad because you still had a day's delay with the extra hotel cost, and then the bumped Sunday passenger is mad because he has to wait until Monday to get back home), and it seems like in the long run, it's better for them to annoy one customer rather than two.
(Don't get me wrong, I'd be ticked off too, and I can see how it could really muck up your budget to have the unexpected $300 expense.)
Posted by: Emy | March 05, 2007 at 12:11 PM
Emy's right. This is exactly why they do this. But it doesn't make my predicament any more tenable. Essentially, the airline did what they could to inconvenience the fewest number of customers, not inconvenience those customers by the least amount. So, instead of inconveniencing us somewhat and the Sunday travelers somewhat, we were inconvenienced greatly.
But if Jumpcut is right, and we get a $300 voucher, I'm totally okay with that.
Posted by: lamoneyguy | March 05, 2007 at 02:22 PM
I'd have worked on hitting them up for half, pointing out that one night is bad enough, but two is utterly unreasonable.
Posted by: Deborah | March 05, 2007 at 10:12 PM
My guess is that you will receive a voucher for future flights. At least its something!
Posted by: Amanda | March 06, 2007 at 10:35 AM
Well, I got a "tough luck" letter. Check out my next post.
Posted by: lamoneyguy | March 06, 2007 at 12:31 PM
Good of your articles,and insist them,then if you have time to see others,pls link my name and order something you like.thanks.
Posted by: Jordan Spizike | September 19, 2010 at 07:59 PM
LO LO LO LO.....OUR CANON IN D....HANGS OUT EVERYDAY....
Posted by: Air Jordans | January 28, 2011 at 10:29 PM
Because people can't use their eyes or mouth, they must show their feelings with their hands and bodies!
Posted by: juicy couture store | February 23, 2011 at 06:38 PM
It's so nice to have you do all of the research for us. It makes our decision making so much easier!! Thanks.
Posted by: MBT Shoes | July 23, 2011 at 12:40 AM
This joyous event was marred by the way our travels ended.
A corporate policy alleviating yourself of liability should not translate to, "it's here in print. Tough luck." Some effort should be made to make your customers' experience more pleasant. Reimbursement for the hotel seems just. However, short of that, 25,000 AAdvantage miles for each of us costs you nothing, and makes two unhappy customers happy again.
Posted by: Pandora Necklace Canada | August 28, 2011 at 11:33 PM
nice to have you do all of the research for us. It makes our decision making so much easi
Posted by: mbt shoes clearance | September 24, 2011 at 08:15 PM
Thanks for sharing. This website is to I too have to help. Very good.
Posted by: cheap jordan 1 | October 06, 2011 at 11:34 AM