kleroux

We recently arrived at Dallas, from SFO, for our flight to Leon Mexico. It was a tiny plane and they needed 4 people to volunteer to give up their seats. Since we were not in a hurry, we volunteered. We were told we'd have a night in a hotel, and meal vouchers for the two of us.
The hotel was actually a cheap motel MILES away from the airport. We waited more than 45 minutes for them to pick us up, when we got there there was no restaurant on site. It was now 9 pm and we had to eat at the only open restaurant, a horrible chain place in a near by shopping mall. The motel told us that AA does this all the time...sends people to them, and tells them they have a restaurant. The next morning we were unable to use the motels shuttle back to the airport, since it didn't arrive in time for our flight. We had to take a taxi. We finally got to the airport, and it was too close to flight time to actually get any breakfast with our coupons. When we returned from Mexico, AA had booked us with an hour between arrival at Dallas, and leaving for our San Francisco flight. This was not enough time to clear customs, recheck our luggage and make our flight. We actually did make the flight by running, but our luggage did not. The plane was dirty with BM stuck to the toilet, and dirty seat back trays. We've flown with AA for years out of loyalty, but are now seriously considering changing to another airline's FF program!!

Gardyloo

Go immediately to http://www.aa.com/content/urls/customerRelations.jhtml and provide them with as many details as you can. Your experience is unacceptable and you have every reason to ask AA to make it as right for you as possible. Let us know how it works out.

AAFrequentFlyer

You volunteered so that means you got vouchers. Why didn't you mentioned that in your report here?

It is not AA's fault that the hotel/motel shuttle took 45 minutes to arrive.

It it not AA's fault that the motel does not run a shuttle early in the morning.

You did make the connection.

So, the only complaint that's valid IMHO is the dirty plane.

If you think that you'll never run into similar problems with other airlines then perhaps you should look at some other airline. SFO seems to be your homebase so why not UA?

Just don't be surprised if you run into similar problems.

And don't forget, <b>you volunteered!</b>

Sorry, but unlike Gardyloo I don't see what the big deal is???

toedtoes

It sounds like you had issues on two different flights.

On the flight from Dallas to Leon, Mexico, you volunteered to give up your seats in exchange for a hotel and meal vouchers.

On the return flight, you had a very close connection and the plane was dirty.

On the first part, I don't think the airline was at fault. Unless they told you what hotel you were being set up at and then changed it, then they didn't do anything wrong. It might not have been convenient for you, but they never guaranteed it would be. As for the meal vouchers, it's your responsibility to get to the airport in time. If you wanted to use the meal vouchers, you should have allowed for extra time at the airport. It was your responsibility to verify the hotel's shuttle times - the airport is not responsible if the shuttle doesn't coincide with your flight.

The second trip, you have a legitimate complaint. If the airline gave you the connection (and it wasn't booked by a third party), then you have a reasonable expectation that you and your luggage would be able to make the connection. You also have a reasonable expectation that the toilet would be clean, but remember that the trays, seats, etc. don't get washed down after every flight - I believe it's usually done after the last flight of the day.

I would write a letter to AA and explain the lack of time for the connection and the unsanitary conditions of the restroom. I would request a reasonable compensation (such as a $50 discount off your next flight) for the inconvenience you suffered. I would keep it very factual and I wouldn't bring up the other issues.

kleroux

I certainly understand the points you all are making. But if the airline had told us the hotel was actually a motel and 30 minutes from the airport ...after a 45 minute wait for the motel shuttle, we would have reconsidered volunteering. They led us to believe that they had a shuttle waiting and the hotel was near the airport. If we would have been told to eat in the airport, we would have done so. Instead we were told the &quot;hotel&quot; had a restaurant and we could eat there. According to the motel in question, &quot;AA does this all the time&quot; and the motel has the unhappy chore of telling AA customers that they have no food service available. Since it was already almost 9pm we wanted to get settled for the night and expected to be able to have a light meal at our hotel.
The motel shuttle gave us a choice of arriving 3 hours before an early morning flight, or 1 hr before. We were unfamiliar with the area we were in and relied on the motel telling us the taxi would get us there in time. Unfortunately the motel was wrong and we got to DFW with no time to spare. The coupons, it turns out, were only good in the DFW airport. Yes we got vouchers...which is also part of the reason we volunteered..and also to help out a family that absolutely HAD to make the original flight. We just think American Airlines did not handle the situation well. Full disclosure might have been a start. There were 4 of us who volunteered and all of us felt the same way about this experience.
And yes, there was the issue of the dirty plane, and lack of connecting time on our return trip. BTW, we decided to use our AA meal voucher upon landing in SFO, however it was not valid in another airport. I feel a meal voucher should be valid in any airport serviced by that airline!

marigold

AAFlyer,
I think the OP is upset because she trusted AA to have selected a convenient hotel with a restaurant for their passengers. After all, it's in AA's interest, too, to have passengers accept vouchers and later flights. (In fact, it's AA's fault for overbooking.) AA might have saved a few bucks by sending them to Motel No-Tell, with lousy shuttle service, but it cost them in customer satisfaction.
That said, while I've never been able to volunteer for a voucher -- despite a few times when the value got quite high -- I've missed connections a few times because of late departures, and I've been put up at hotels overnight at airline expense. I've learned to ask the name and location of the hotel.

mjz

I'm with marigold on this one.

I was booked on an AA flight from ORD to MKE a few weeks ago. They needed volunteers as the flight was overbooked and over the weight limit. I was in a situation where I could have volunteered, but the gate agent was extremely rude when I asked her what accomadations were being offered. She could offer me no specific details, so I declined. We sat on the aircraft for 40 minutes until 4 passengers volunteered.

I would have been more than happy to help out AA, but the way the gate agent handled the situation turned me off. Not to mention, I did not feel comfortable without knowing where I would be put up. I wasn't expecting a 5 star hotel, but after being placed in a dump once, I've learned to ask.

Regarding meal vouchers, I believe they specifically state that they are good only at the airport of issuance.

kleroux - I don't know if you'll receive anything from AA as you received your travel voucher, accomadations, meal vouchure and shuttle service was offered. Unfortunately, luggage is delayed whether you have 10 minutes between flights or 2 hours. However, AA should hear about your experience and know that offers made don't always measure up to what was stated.

AA is a good airline for the most part and I hope you give them another shot.

tmh

Welcome to Dallas where AA rules and knows it.

Now that they are #2 in passengers, maybe they'll start paying attention to people but I doubt it. They can't even get their own union to back their bid for the China route which has made for quite a stir here in TexAAs where everyone is suppose to git along.

kleroux

Thanks for all your understanding and input. We are newly retired and its the first time we have been in a situation where we could accept vouchers and delayed flights. We didn't know meal vouchers were only good at the airport that issued them, and only on that same day. Its a learning experience all the way around. But I won't be so quick to volunteer the next time without a lot of questions answered first. As I said, if AA had had better communications it all would have worked out better for all of us.

lynnejoel1015

kleroux, that's a crappy situation and you have my sympathies!

i hope AA does right by you. they're my airline of choice, and i've had overwhelmingly good experiences with them, so hearing about yours made me feel let down on your behalf.

good luck!

Gardyloo

I think those of us who are (perhaps overly) frequent flyers need to remember that this is still very much a consumer-driven business. I wouldn't be surprised if <b>kleroux</b> decides to use a different airline next time. Multiply this by a few thousand and pretty soon you're talking about major numbers.

This was indeed at DFW thus not exactly unknown territory to AA. I believe a reasonably-worded (brief!) email to AA should be sent, not to troll for compensation, but as feedback from customers who indeed had a choice as to what airline to take, and may not make the same choice again.

Carrybean

I've been &quot;off&quot; AA occasionally in the past 20+ years I've been flying them &amp; they seem to go through patches of bad service or a run of rude employees.

HOWEVER, contact them about your situation. They have always won me back to being a very loyal customer despite the occasional bump in the road as I've found them very responsive to any of my complaints.

AAFrequentFlyer

I still don't see what the complaints are about?

As I explained before, the OP VOLUNTEERED. Before I do that I make sure I'm satisfied with the reward. I have volunteered in DFW before but I only did that when I was offered $1000 voucher (it was a flight to London), meal voucher, a phone card and I insisted on the DFW Hyatt. The old DFW Hyatt is not exactly luxury, but it is right there at the airport.

Perhaps the OP should not have gotten greedy and volunteered. The OP did get voucher($) for voluntering and chose to do it. Nobody forced the OP to do that. What happened after it's not AA's fault.

Once again, the only valid complaint I see was the dirty plane. That's inexcusable because it was the first flight of the day and the plane should have been cleaned overnight.

mjz

Give the OP a break. It hardly sounds as if they were being greedy. Furthermore, they clearly stated this was their first time dealing with this situation. Without previous experience, they probably thought it sounded like a great deal. Those of us that travel frequently know what questions to ask. If what the OP stated actually occured, then AA did not quite deliver what they promised - a hotel with a restaurant - which was important to the OP. Other than that, the OP made some inaccurate assumptions - but live andlearn.

wally34949

The next time they want volunteers to give up their seats, I will take the time to listen to what they are offering before saying yes. In the past, airlines offered excellent incentives for people to give up their seats. Obviously, things are changing.

AAFrequentFlyer

Not delivered what???

They promised a roof over their head - delivered

They promised a meal voucher - delivered

They promised travel voucher$ - delivered

The OP weighted the issues, and <b>chose</b> to accept the offer.

Live and learn is correct, but why the complaint now?

If you <b>volunteer</b> for army because the promised you a college fund but within days after you are there the nation declares a war, and you have to go and face the enemy, does that give you the right to complain? You have to know what you are <b>volunteering for</b> before signing up, and if it doesn't work quite up to your expectations because you didn't want to be shot at, then perhaps you should not <b>volunteer</b>!

<b>Nobody forced the OP to volunteer</b>

kleroux

Wow AAFrequentFlyer.. I've read your postings and wonder if by your email address you represent American Airlines? If so, I'd really need to watch my step in the future. You seem so angry, and don't seem to understand our situation. This was a FIRST time occurance for us. We did volunteer, I made that clear. I just felt that the airline misled us as to what options were available. We thought we were doing a good turn for another family who had a need to get to Leon. We had time to spare being newly retired. Now after reading all these postings I see we could have held out for a much better deal, which we did not. We took what was offered. So we're hardly greedy! But I have learned through this forum what questions I will need to ask should this situation occur again.

rkkwan

kleroux - AAFF is just a customer of AA, not an employee.

Anyways, I think all have been said. You aren't owed anything, and you learned a lesson about volunteering.

Never do this out of goodwill. Do it for selfish reasons only, and examine the deal carefully before deciding. That's how I, and everybody, do it.

AAFrequentFlyer

I'm not an AA employee and I'm not angry. What I'm is just realistic. Others could give you some falls expectation, I tell you like it is. I'm a seasoned flyer and I know what's what (in most cases ). Sorry that I didn't provide better news, but at least I gave you realistic anaysis of the situation.

That said, if you e-mail AA CS dept. with a brief and detailed complaint you may get few thousand miles.

Good luck and happy travels!

RBCal

Never ever volunteer on any airline. All airlines are packed now and you never know when you will make it and what type of seat you may get. Also, the coupons are difficult to redeem.