How American Airlines Ruined My Vacation

Today we have a post that is coming out of left field. As I mentioned in My Travel Beauty Packing List post, I was supposed to go on vacation today. The plan was a cruise to the Caribbean for 5 days with my boyfriend and my friend. Instead of sailing on the open waters I’m at home thanks to American Airlines (I’ll call them AA in the post). I debated posting this as it’s not beauty related at all, but the experience was just too horrific not to share. I apologize in advance as this post will be long and ranty. TL;DR – NEVER fly American Airlines. It’s not worth the rudeness and incompetence.

Background

My boyfriend, my friend, and I were flying from Toronto to Miami to board our ship by 3pm (absolute latest). Our flight was scheduled for 6:29am and to arrive in Miami by around 9:30 ish.

Check-In & Customs

The first nightmare part of our trip started in customs (which is not American Airline’s fault). We arrived at the airport 2 hours before our flight. Check in and security was easy, but customs was where our first roadblock was. After completing a customs questionnaire, a receipt would print out for you to give to your boarder agent. My boyfriend’s printed out with a large X over it. We knew that this would probably cause trouble but not nearly as much as it did. The worker at Pearson International rudely separated me from my boyfriend and my friend (who is his sister). I asked why we were being separated and she snapped that since I was not at the same residence as them I couldn’t go with them. I had no idea why but bit my tongue. I was a little worried to go to the border agent by myself. I had to holler over to my boyfriend and friend to give my my cruise confirmation because since we thought we’d all be together, we kept all the documents in one bag.

As the line inched along, we knew the time would be an issue. Our flight was to depart at 6:29am and it was 5:15am once we entered the massive customs line. We thought we would have enough time but we did not. I finished my ‘regular’ customs line at 6:20am with enough time to run to the terminal but my boyfriend and friend were not nearly so lucky. Their X line moved at a snail’s pace. There was no reason for him to be chosen in that line, it seemed to be a random search. We think there might be a travel advisory out for his name, but that’s speculation. There was only one agent serving the X line while there were around five for the regular line.

Missing Our First Flight

I ran to the terminal knowing that my travel mates would be with me very soon. I hollered at the American Airlines agent that more people from this flight were coming. All she did was say that they hold planes for no one. Nice. My boyfriend and friend came at 6:31 am (exact time, I was checking my phone the whole time) to the terminal. At this point they had closed the gate and were no longer letting anyone on the plane. After only around 5 minutes a huge crowd gathered around the  AA counter asking if they could be let on the plane. There were around 20 people in the same situation that we were in (a lot of these people were with us through this entire experience). She said no and that we had missed it.

I already had time to accept that we were not making this flight so I wasn’t as upset as the others around me. We tried to talk to AA rep and all she said at first was that “we should have known to fly in the day before for our cruise”. When you’re pissed off and tired at 6 am in the morning, a lecture is the last thing we needed.

Booking the ‘Next’ Flight

Everyone at this point started scrambling trying to figure out what to do. Before we could decide, the AA rep gave me 3 tickets arriving to Miami at 2:41pm. Just by guessing, we would not have time to pick up our checked bags and taxi to the port by 3pm. It was just impossible. To confirm, my friend called the cruise ship. They indeed said that this timing was too late. After waiting in line, we were able to talk to the AA rep again to potentially change our flight. Most people who had missed the flight, some also going on a cruise, were booked on a West Jet flight to Fort Lauderdale arriving at 1:50pm. We decided to go with this flight as it gave us a tiny bit of a fighting chance to make our cruise. She printed out a receipt and we asked what we were to do with it. She told us to go to the West Jet terminal and ask them to print out our boarding passes.

Rejection from our ‘Next’ Flight

After killing time for 2 hours until West Jet reps got to the terminal, we were told that what we were showing were AA tickets and not West Jet tickets. The West Jet rep told us that we had to go find an AA rep to print our tickets. The 20 people in a our group were flabbergasted. After all this time, 2 hours, we had to have something printed? We were only told this when the plane started boarding even after attempts by multiple people in our group to get a West Jet rep to help us. The AA terminals were on the other end of the building and we all RAN to try and find a rep. After locating a rep, we were told that these were West Jet tickets and they cannot help us at all. The group of us said that we are being passed back and forth and AA provided us the tickets. We wanted some communication and clarity. All she said was that we had to show the docs to West Jet. So we ran back to our terminal to talk to the West Jet rep. All they said again was she couldn’t check any of us in as it wasn’t a ticket.

So again, we ran back to the AA rep. We were all more than exhausted, frustrated and tired. It seemed very likely at this point that we would be missing this flight too. The AA rep was not at her terminal so we couldn’t talk to her. This is when my boyfriend, my friend and I split up.

My boyfriend went to find another AA rep. He found one at another terminal and tried to talk to him.

My friend called AA customer service. They ended up putting her on hold for 20 minutes and then the line was disconnected.

I, with another fellow traveler noticed another West Jet rep to talk to. She got on the phone internally and discussed the situation with the person at our West Jet gate. She did not understand as it showed that we were in fact listed on the flight. She was very nice and actually walked with us back to the terminal to help sort it out. She was still on the phone as we were walking when she got more info. In her exact words, “American Airlines f’ed up’. They did not properly check us into the flight and it did not clear between the 2 systems. Something about the weight checks that were not cleared properly on the West Jet end (the rep didn’t even know what that meant).

Booking Another Flight?

After these separate experiences, my boyfriend, my friend and I met up with a separate AA rep. He pretty much said we were out of luck and he could rebook us something for tomorrow. We demanded to see a manager. Once the manager came, we again, like with the other reps, got no where. We asked to then speak to his manager. He led us to a terminal where we reunited with our other 20 passengers. It was just a disaster. Everyone was trying to get something figured out. The three of us took some time to figure out what to do. When we finally got the chance to talk to another AA rep, we asked if we could go from Toronto to Grand Cayman Island (the first port of call for our cruise). She flat out refused saying that we did not have the tickets for that destination.

At this point, it was around 12:30. Everyone was so exhausted and frustrated from the complete disaster this was. One family that was stranded with us had a son, around 2 or 3 years old, and was sleeping on the benches. It was just a completely overwhelming experience. After some thought, we decided to ask for a refund. After the day we had, we didn’t want to see another AA rep for as long as we lived. We were getting emotional, heated, and just wanted to go home.

The Refund

When we asked for a refund, the reps replied that it would have to be done online at aa.com. We asked if there was anyway we could do it on site, and they said no. Thank goodness we were still in Canada and I had my data to work off of. We tried to submit our refund and it looked like it went through. We have no idea since it’s through the website. We got a confirmation # but I will not be satisfied until I see the money back on the credit card.

Our Bags?

After all of this was done, we asked where our checked bags were. One of the managers looked through, and said that our bags were on the flight to Fort Lauderdale. That was definitely the cherry on top to all of this. This was a major issue as there are strict rules that the luggage must fly with the passenger if it’s an international flight. Well for the 20 of us, this seemed to not apply. After learning this, we definitely would not have been able to pick up on a new leg of the cruise. If we somehow got to Miami and then Grand Cayman Island, our checked luggage would not be with us. We saw some of our travel companions in the luggage carousal area trying to find their bags as they were trying to get to Jamaica. They were told apparently after an hour that their bags were not in Toronto anymore. Just a complete disaster for everyone.

Considerations

I just wanted to note, that we never really fought for the first flight that we missed. ALL of the AA reps kept on bringing up the fact that since we all missed the plane, it was our own fault. Our qualms come from the 2nd flight which was 100% and completely their fault. No one apologized and no one took responsibility for this. West Jet even has a part to play in this as they loaded our bags onto their flight without us being on it. All in all just a very messed up situation.

Also as another note, we did spend hours looking through other possibilities. We looked at flights, other resorts we could potentially stay at etc. etc. We didn’t want to completely double the price of our trip and everything was so expensive. What we also thought was since the cruise was only five days, we wanted to make sure all this hassle was worth it. In the end we made the best decision I think we could have made. As our bags are god knows where, we would not have even been able to board the ship at the Cayman Islands.

Final Words

I tried to make this account as concise as possible and left out a lot of the actual interactions with the AA reps. For the around 8 reps we talked to today. Every single one was rude, demeaning, unable to provide answers, and completely unsympathetic. One rep asked if my friend could read properly. Another constantly rolled his eyes and smirked at us. I broke down multiple times today just because already feeling completely devastated that we wouldn’t be on the cruise didn’t bode well with the active aggression and rudeness that we were met with.

Through all of this though, we were so glad to have been through this as the group of 20. We were all able to really stick by each other and provide info where we could. One poor family of four actually got on the West Jet flight to Fort Lauderdale but was actually asked to leave the plane once these issues came to light. This completely breaks my heart. How completely embarrassing and disgusting that this had to happen to this family. I wish every person we met today good fortune and hope they were/ are able to get where they are going (or cut their losses like us).

As I said, I tried to cut out as many details as I could to make this somewhat readable. We have notes of most of the reps names along with the main manager’s business card, timing of events and words that were spoken by the AA reps to us. We plan to launch a formal complaint about this entire process. We were NEVER offered anything other then a potential rebooking to another flight to Miami or Fort Lauderdale. No credit, or anything. Not that I would ever use it.

As of now we are in limbo it seems. Our bags are supposed to arrive either today (July 23, it’s past midnight so i’m guessing not) or tomorrow. I’m not holding my breath for these timelines. I just want my stuff back. We are also waiting for our refund.

Thanks so much for reading!! Do you have any nightmare travel experiences to share?

UPDATE #1 (July 24th): I called West Jet to see if they had any insights on my checked bags. I wasn’t expecting much as American Airlines was supposed to have picked it up. I surprisingly learned that my bag and only my bag was in Fort Lauderdale in West Jet custody. They said they would fly it home on the evening flight. After calling over 4 times, the West Jet Baggage Centre Rep said they could not get a hold of the YYZ West Jet Baggage terminal reps. I physically went down to the airport and was told at 11:00pm that my bag was not on the intended flight and was still in Fort Lauderdale.

I’m completely disappointed with West Jet now as they:

1. Made no effort to contact me about my lost bag they had in my custody. As quoted by the rep: “It seems like you’re the only person looking for this bag.
2. My bag was NOT on the flight promised and communicated to me.
3. The YYZ Baggage Terminal reps were unresponsive to internal messages by the Baggage Centre reps, multiple voicemails, and calls from the Baggage Centre reps. I was forced to physically go down to the counter to talk to someone.

For my boyfriend and friend they’re in even worse shape. West Jet does not have any tracking or visibility on their bags, and what we were told by AA is that their bags are in Miami. The sketchy thing is that apparently on the AA side, my bag is said to be in Miami too. West Jet has a tracking on my bag only through their system. No one knows where my boyfriend and friend’s bags are. The nightmare continues.

UPDATE #2 (July 30th): So it’s been a couple of days since the last update. As of July 25th, myself, my boyfriend and my friend all have our luggage back. Long story short, it seems that my bag did in fact fly with West Jet and while my boyfriend and friend’s flew with American Airlines. From the luggage tags, it looks like mine was in Fort Lauderdale while their’s was in Miami. There is also a tag on all three of ours that lists that our bags were scanned in Charlotte North Carolina which doesn’t make any sense.

Other than having our bags back, there has been no other movement with the refunds. The AA refund website provides no information or updates. It seems that unfortunately we’ll have to call and talk to an actual person from their organization. The thought of this makes my skin crawl a bit.

We plan to file formal complaints with the Better Business Bureau, TICO, AA, West Jet, and then send the story to the media. If anything, this makes for a pretty unbelievable story in the worst way possible.