American Airlines — Attraction in Grapevine

I have been on American Airlines on several occasions and flying to multiple destinations. The overall service is pathetic, disappointing, unorganized, no regular follow-ups and along with frequent unconvincing explanations. It seemed to me that the Gate Agents had no clear idea whatsoever when a flight is delayed from its supposed expected departure as compared to the flight/s getting even further delayed. They provide no updates to the waiting and anxious passengers, at least some who would still have to travel more even after getting off from their arriving flights.

The Gate Agents seemed to be the least bothered at least to make any announcements, apart from the potential flight getting delayed further and further, except the delays showing up on their TVs above the Gate counter. It's a really dire situation, especially if you were arriving to DFW, Texas from abroad after multiple flights. This was from my own experience at DFW on two successive trips from Doha, Qatar back in August 2021 and again, in June 2022. The mist recent trip was a very bad, surprising and disappointing experience having to wait at the Boarding Gate indefinitely before being able to board the CVG flight.

The flights from CVG to O'hare, Chicago seemed to be okay, even though they usually fly their smaller aircrafts with usually very little space, not even being able to have your carry on bags or put it in the overhead compartments. The bags would usually be gate checked and would have to be physically picked up upon arrival at your destinations. At times, the crew would be able to keep your carry on bags or backpacks, even if it's slightly bigger in dimensions inside a small area just behind the door area and opposite to the cockpit, as it happened to me back in June 2021.

The domestic flights out of CVG are usually pretty congested, don't really have proper updates about your carry on bags ending up as checked in bags even without informing the passengers before the usual boarding process before the flight. The passenger would be totally surprised and be in shock to find out that if he/she kept something valuable, items to be handy when they would be needed midflight would only see the same carry on bag at their final destinations, let alone if they happened to fly overseas with couple more connecting flights. This was my recent experience on a flight to Boston. It's very very poor customer service on the airline's part being very inconsiderate and unapologetic!

The ticketing process at CVG on a recent flight was even more interesting and funny. The Gate Agent didn't even check my Visa either on my Passport or the secondary document, let alone the COVID Vaccination Card. I had to inform and remind her that I am on an international trip and even my final destination. The lady who helped me was nice or friendly and felt sorry for her because the airline didn't most probably train her well. At the end, she forgot to hand me over my third or last connecting flights boarding pass even when she correctly handed me overthe two other boarding passes, apart from my checked in bag tags. I realized it soon after I stepped away from the ticketing counter and when I was double checking all of the handed over travel documents. Luckily, she came walking over to me as I was actually walking back over to the same counter.

The domestic flights I have been to either Chicago or New York over the years had it's own other issues on board. Since, the aircrafts would typically be either like a 45-50 or 55 seating capacity ones, their supplies or essentials are limited as per the flight crew. You come to know this when you ask for either extra cream/milk and sugar, besides even when you request an extra small water bottle. This happened to me on multiple occasions and were the exact explanations which I got! The recent exceptions would be on their DFW-CVG flights (A320s/A330s) which tend to be luckily larger (still full) with spacious overhead compartments and enhanced seats. This is thoughtful on...

If you have a major medical condition I beg you to fly a different airlines. I am a mid 30s professional who also suffers from kidney failure and is on dialysis.

I have had 3 flights and on each flight I'm left feeling less human and each flight gets worse. I plan to ask my company for a flight exception to utilize another airline after this.

Flight 1 DFW to DC (pre dialysis): I needed one of the individuals to assist me with transport. The individual took me and then got very ugly with me wanting a tip. All of my coworkers who met me at the gate expressed concern over the situation. I would feel horrible if an elderly person was treated like that.

For the next two flights it's pertinent to mention I now have to travel with a suitcase just for medical supplies and equipment.

Before this flight I called both my nursing team and American Airlines to verify what needs to happen with my supplies. I was told to tell TSA it was a medical life saving gate check bag and to allow an extra hour for security checks and the gate attendants would know exactly what to do.

Flight 2 DFW to Detroit (post dialysis) I arrive at my gate and the lady working begins to chastise me for my large bag. She takes it from me and tells me it has to be normal checked. I was running behind as TSA took longer due to my unfamiliarity with how they would have to swab all of my suitcase so it took a while to pull everything out, rationalize it to the supervisor, and then repack. I wasn't sure what to do, but thankfully I was traveling with both an American frequent flyer and Doctor who was able to help me and ensured my bag was handled appropriately. Though this was hard to go through, I didn't complain as it was my first time traveling with these supplies so I figured it was my fault and I'd be better prepared next time.

My doctor colleague assisted me with asking for additional clarification upon returning home for my next flight 3 weeks later.

Flight 3 DFW to Orlando (post dialysis) Once announcements are over I approach the counter and tell the gate attendant I have a medical suitcase I need to have gate checked. What resulted was yet another terrible experience w/ American. He looks me up and down, looks at my bag, and just says no. Thinking it’s a joke I laugh, but he is serious. He tells me this isn’t the process (even though I called to check after a terrible flight to Detroit due to my medical bag). I try to ask him for clarification as I’m confused and he becomes frustrated and cuts me off and basically threatens me with “he’s only going to tell me one more time that he’s not going to check the bag with a medical tag and that I can either pay or he’ll have me escorted out exit to go through security again. This caught me off guard and left me both embarrassed and belittled in front of other travelers and my colleagues. I asked since I’m paying can I still get my medical tag and he states with annoyance that he can’t verify it’s medical and therefore isn’t obligated to help me. I flew from DFW to Orlando filled with anxiety that my life saving dialysis equipment and my sleep equipment would be damaged, lost, left behind, or not reachable in an emergency.

Flight 3 Orlando to DFW: Once I landed in Orlando I had similar complications with my bags above and had to again pay, though no one was as rude to me as they were before. Unfortunately upon returning home I realized that since my luggage was not stored in the right place and was instead thrown under the plane with the rest of the luggage some of my medical devices were damaged – one of which won’t turn off or on and I utilize it to sleep and...

Travel Nightmare with American Airlines - On Thursday, February 13th we took American flight from Dallas to Auckland. We were a little over 5 hours away from Auckland when our flight had to be diverted to Honolulu Airport due to a medical emergency. When we landed in Honolulu at 6 AM we were all taken to a room in the airport without our luggage and told we were to wait there until they could get a crew to fly us to Auckland. They could not tell us if it would have been that that night or the next day. They told us there were no hotels available, so they were not giving out vouchers. They would not give our luggage to us. We found a flight with another airline that left that afternoon, so we booked that and then talked to the associate from American about getting our luggage back. She told us she would be able to get our luggage transferred to the Honolulu flight for us. When we landed in Auckland, we waited for our luggage but is did not arrive. There was no one at the airport to help us and we were told to leave and call American. I spent over an hour on hold in the middle of the night to file a lost baggage claim. American told me that the bags would be heading to Auckland that day and they would deliver them to my hotel. We did not have any extra clothes except what we were wearing. The next day I received a call from American Airlines that two of my bags were in LAX and wanted to know what to do with the bags. She located the other two bags that were set to fly to Auckland that day on the next flight. She arranged for all for all of them to be delivered to our hotel in Te Anau. The next day I received a call the Christchurch airport to let us know that two of our bags were there and that we had to go to the airport to get the bags back. This was over eight hour drive away. I asked at that point if they could just be delivered back to our city of origin. I was told I would need to reclaim the bags at the airport because baggage service team will not change the destination. We spent the majority of our vacation on the phone or chatting on the app with American Airlines. This was very disruptive to our vacation. Also, we did not have any clothes and had to purchase items as we went, and I spent every evening washing clothes in the sink in my hotel room. In the middle of the week, I looked in my American app and realized there was no information about my return flight. I received no communication that they had canceled my return flight. I had to call American and have them rebook me . We finally received our luggage on Friday night, six days later. We were leaving on Sunday morning. After I returned home, I submitted a claim for expenses, they denied it saying I voluntary separated from my bags. This is not correct. When we were diverted to Honolulu, they did not give us our bags. When I talked to the American agent there to get my bags, she told me she could get them on my flight so I would not be any more inconvenienced. I was told by numerous American agents that we would be reimbursed for purchases and to keep our receipts. The customer service I have received from American has been horrible. I tried to call you customer service number, but they cannot help me with anything but baggage. I filed a complaint online and was sent a patronizing email and was offered 5000 bonus miles which is the equivalent of $85. American airlines disrupted my vacation and will not take ownership and fix their mistake. They have horrible...