dutyfree

My daughter is flying AA this next week for work from DEN to DFW to SCL (Santiago Chile) to PUQ (Punta Arenas) . Travel times will be over 18 hours.The AA flight from DFW to SCL has been running late all week and last night it was delayed over 8 hours. She is concerned that she will miss her connection out of Santiago to PUQ thus missing her chance to connect with her research vessel. The work problems with AA in the past couple weeks seem to be getting worse so she asked me to write on here to ask what she should do if everything goes to" hell in a hand basket" for her on the flights?
We have read the AA website their conditions but am wondering if they cancel flights or you miss a major connection on an international flight-are you able to get a hotel room,food money,etc.?
Thanks for any tips or info.

clevelandbrown

If missing the flight is attributable to the airline, they provide you a hotel voucher and a meal voucher. If missing the flight is due to an act of God (such as a weather delay), they don't.

There is no guarantee that they will get you there on time, and if she misses the boat, I doubt the airline will help. Prudent travelers who are taking a cruise, for example, will fly to the port the day before, or even earlier. I hope she has allowed time for this possibility. It might be worth paying the change fee to get an earlier flight.

doug_stallings

At best, all I can say is that it's complicated. What you get depends on the reason for the delay. If it's a mechanical delay, then the airline generally owes you food, lodging, etc. They aren't obligated to offer food, etc. if the delays are due to weather or acts of god (and a strike or work stoppage might be considered one of those).

Regardless of the reason, AA is obligated to move your daughter to the destination she's been booked to, and if it's a single ticket, they are usually obligated to get her on the next available flight out of Santiago to Punta Arenas even if that means putting her on a different airline. I can't say what the bankruptcy will do to that obligation. If you are really concerned, you can probably find the airline's contract of carriage, which should be available on its web site.

However, they may not be able to get here there without delays (especially if they have to transfer her to a LAN flight), because these Punta Arenas flights are booked solid in most cases (though this is the off-season for cruises). But if her research vessel leaves without her, that's hard. I hope she has at least a day or two as a buffer. It's unwise to arrange any flight to the other end of the world without a buffer zone.

dutyfree

She cannot change anything as it was booked through the company's travel agency so I quess we will just have to wait and see.
It honks me off so much to see and hear the antics of AA to their customers during this bankruptcy/union issues. After reading the NY Times article "30 hours from CDG to JFK" that another Fodorite posted,it causes one to be concerned?

DonTopaz

> "It honks me off so much to see and hear the antics of AA to their customers..."

Is the author of this not a Delta employee? It's one thing to cheerlead for your employer, as the author has done in the past, but it seems to me a bit disingenuous to snipe at American without disclosing that one's paycheck comes from one of their main competitors.

dutyfree

Hey Don-I am a million miler with AA and have enjoyed flying them for over 55 plus years.I fly them quite frequently and have always thought that they were a great airline with wonderful employees.
It is no secret that American is currently having problems as I received a note from AA just last week asking for "my patience and understanding".Most of the major US carriers have gone through bankruptcy and it is a difficult time for all which I understand.
I am just concerned when I hear or read the union antics of disrupting the public's flying and/or safety for an edge over management.

mlgb

LAN and AA are both OneWorld partners, I imagine her flight SCL to PUQ is operated by LAN. All I can say us good luck. LAN Customer sevice is a nightmare. When AA dropped a connecting flight that was part of a ticket I had booked through LAN, not only did they not notify me, they refused to book me on their half empty nonstop (different fare class). I did not have a new ticket issued unt 2 am the day of my flight.

I would be armed with info on Sky's schedule SCL to PUQ just in case.

alanRow

The airline's only duty is to get you to the last airport on your itinerary - they will pay for "reasonable" expenses for delays & missed flights en-route.

What they won't do is give assistance or pay for anything to do with reaching her ship.

She needs to go back to the <i>company's travel agency</i> and find out what THEY will do if she misses the boat

doug_stallings

Actually, I think your daughter is lucky. She has a corporate travel agent backing her up, and that's a good thing. If she runs into any problems, she needs to contact the employer's travel agency immediately to get things sorted out. This can often work better than if she were completely on her own.