Roger Hale

Quick rant on why no one should ever fly @AmericanAir: Last year I bought tickets to fly me & my 3 boys from Madrid to South Carolina to visit my sister, their cousins, etc. (Obviously 4 roundtrip transatlantic flights cost a small fortune, almost $4K). Due to circumstances entirely beyond my control, we had to cancel the trip. A few months later, I tried using the credits to fly us to Connecticut for Christmas. AA, however, said the credits could only be used for the same destination. Later still, I was traveling to South Carolina without my kids & tried using the credits for that; AA again said no, the passengers had to be exactly the same. Finally, this last summer I tried using the credits for the same exact trip with the same passengers — but AA said “too bad,” the credit had somehow already expired (obviously they gave no notice that the $4k would soon vanish into thin air). As you can see, AA specifically endeavored to ensure it would be impossible for me to ever receive the flights I paid for. Keep in mind I’ve flown AA regularly & expected at least a little decency in recognition of all the money I’ve spent with them. Instead they simply used my bad luck as an opportunity to steal $4k. Of course, as soon as the original trip was canceled I suspected AA would rub salt in my wounds & make me pay a “change fee” to alter flights, like most airlines these days. But I never imagined they would simply take the $4k & give me a 🖕🏽in return. Meanwhile I called repeatedly to try getting this sorted; AA told me to email the complaint & someone would call back: did that, but instead got a form note back telling me better luck next time. Tried again & the same thing happened; basically it was impossible to ever discuss the issue with an actual human being. There are a lot of crap airlines out there, but this is absolutely the worst customer service experience I’ve ever encountered. If you’re looking for an airline that doesn’t steal your money & actually has customer service, definitely stay away from #AmericanAirlines. /rant