American Airlines sucks gargantuan donkey turds

Rule 240

Unless the cancellation was due to weather (often invoked even when the weather is fine) AA is obligated to put you on another carrier within x hours. Don't just take this shit. There must be plenty of options from RDU to NYC area airports. Convert your ticket to paper and have AA endorse it over to another carrier, but it's probably too late to get out tonight.

I'm no expert but look up Rule 240 (which actually doesn't exist anymore) for AA and see what your options are.

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by: Forty2 @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 19:12:04 PM CDT

Pam, try this link

Amtrak:

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/...

You could be able to get a red-eye from Durham to NYC!  

I've done the run from DC to Boston many times in the past and enjoyed it immensely- they now run as far north as Portland.

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by: Louise @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 19:21:49 PM CDT

10+ hours on Amtrak

is another nightmare. It's great for a leisurely experience, though.

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 19:48:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I know

Popped the link up fast, as it looked like the station closes at 9pm down there. Then went back and plugged in the locations; 10 hours would be hard unless it were a sleeper train.

Sorry; Charlie and I scanned everything we could think of, trying to come up with SOMETHING...

He even threw "rent a car?" out there for a second.

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by: Louise @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 20:01:17 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Note to American Airlines

Don't piss off a blogger with a big audience!

I understand, Pam. It does suck. US Airways jerked me around last week. It took me 14 hours to fly from NY to NC. They finally got me there, but it was a mess.

Do insist that they put you on another carrier if they mess up tomorrow's flight.

Thinking positive thoughts for tomorrow's attempt!

http://www.whosoever.org Whosoever: An Online Magazine for GLBT Christians

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by: revtheodyke @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 19:57:35 PM CDT

Sorry your plans got disrupted by this and the loss of your hotel costs

American Airlines I protested when they made the statement the blankets and pillows used on the return flight from the March on DC to Minneapolis, had to be DESTROYED because a few passengers were HIV+/AIDS.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 20:02:15 PM CDT

F*ck the Airlines

That is why I absolutely REFUSE to fly until I have to cross an ocean.  I will not have my day ruined, I will not have my luggage searched, and I will not take my goddamned shoes off in order to get on an airplane.  If I can't drive there (even if it takes a couple days) I don't need to go.

"When religion and politics ride in the same cart, the whirlwind follows." - Frank Herbert, DUNE

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by: Voenixrising @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 20:54:36 PM CDT

This--and a lot else--

is the logical and expectable result of Reagan's deregulating the airline industry 20+ years ago.  Hasn't it worked out just swell?  Not that I mean to lay the blame on Ronnie alone.  Both parties--you know, the two that we're always being told are so different--have been unwilling to consider re-regulating ever since.

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  

-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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by: QScribe @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 22:19:20 PM CDT

hah. not only on the swell comment, but,

I wonder if you've taken a look at this baby http://www.consumeraffairs.com... Great to know that naked pics of us all will be available for guys with the security mentality of a mall-cop. Isn't this country just awesome?

"It's hard to free fools from the chains they revere." ~ François Marie Arouet.

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by: TSinGarnNC16 @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 23:51:42 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

And our friend Barack wants to do the same with Health Insurers

Not to change the subject, but this is the perfect example of what's going on today. Remember when they were about to re-regulate the airline industry a few years ago, and the airlines all promised to "change" and make nice, and treat us all better..."really, we promise, cross our hearts."

And Obama is now letting the health care insurance companies pull the same crap..."oh we promise, just don't change things, don't regulate us, don't compete with us, and we promise to treat people better...really, we do."

Let's see, what's the definition of "crazy" again...oh yeah, doing the same thing over and expecting a different result.

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by: bjohnm @ Tue Jun 16, 2009 at 09:27:09 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

WHAA? YOUR ANALOGY IS OFF

Having a public insurance option is NOT the same as airline deregulation--in fact, it's the opposite.  In fact, it's more like when telephone lines were publicly held.  

Have you had a transaction with AT&T lately?  They can do whatever they want.  That's DE-regulation.  Public insurance is a regulating model to check the abuses of private insurers--but it will never be universal--without the corresponding right to opt out of healthcare altogether and to give providers the right to set their prices.  

Unfortunately, at COBRA rates, public insurance is close to $800 per month--more than the total monthly salary of a minimum mage worker who is working "full-time" at 35 hours per week.  Also, hospitals and doctors have the right to reject patients with public insurance.  Many hospitals "Don't Accept Medicaid/Medicare" or other insurers who won't pay their price.  Unless the price of services is regulated, forget universal coverage.  Under the current system, we all pay for the healthcare of the poor.

Flying is not a fundamental right of human beings.  Access to medicine is an inalienable human right.

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by: blakelight @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 09:53:39 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I feel your pain

And have felt it many, many times on this Hairline.  My favorite excuse was "equipment failure", their euphemism for not enough confirmed passengers to make the flight profitable.  If your equipment fails this often, perhaps it's time to get some new equipment?

Something Special In The Air...(if we ever get you off the ground).

Two words: Virgin America.  The meals in coach (which you do pay for) are better than First Class (even coast-to-coast) on AA, just without the real silverware.  Oh, and about a grand cheaper.

When was the last time a gate or flight attendant actually smiled at you rather than snarl grudgingly?

(and no, I don't work for any airline or travel-related business).

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by: BradK @ Tue Jun 16, 2009 at 00:31:35 AM CDT

AA sucks

Having said that, most treat you pretty badly.

The best thing you can do if you fly enough is to try to fly a decent airline enough to get elite status.  Typically around 35K miles flown or so per year. This way you are never the first to get bumped.

Second, if you do get bumped, waitlist yourself on another flight immediately with the first agent you find who may help you. Don't forget to suggest alternate routing to get you home.

On the east coast in the summer, thunderstorms are the main culprit.  If you can, avoid late afternoon flights and leave either earlier or later.  

Keep documentation of your hotel bill, you may be able to get a refund.

Write the company and tell them where you posted your story.  These bimbo's are smart enough to avoid negative press if at all possible.

Just a few hints here but sometimes you are just screwed and at their mercy.

Hope you have a good trip tomorrow.

vanhattan

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by: vanhattan @ Tue Jun 16, 2009 at 01:37:02 AM CDT

I piss and moan about Alaska, then I read stories like this

Suddenly, an hour's delay because the plane's coffee machine won't heat up seems reasonable.

I'm sorry about your bad flight. There is probably nothing you can do -- the industry has successfully fought for rules where they can do just about anything to you except first degree murder -- but I hope I'm wrong.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même merde.

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by: TechBear @ Tue Jun 16, 2009 at 10:28:24 AM CDT

I Fly

About three times a month, and granted, it's out in the west here, but I quit flying AA a few years back, they are the worst of the worst when it comes to delays and cancellations, and I don't know how many times I piled into one of their cattle cars that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in ages.

The other airlines aren't much better, as a rule, but I personally haven't had to deal with one that was worse than AA...

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by: sfalken @ Tue Jun 16, 2009 at 11:09:25 AM CDT