It’s not often I complain to airlines nowadays. I maybe send in a note an average of once per year, or so. With that in mind, I figured it would be interesting to share what I was offered as compensation for my recent delay.
What happened on my flight
I was flying from Miami to Quito on American, and my flight was delayed by four hours. My flight was supposed to land at 10:30PM, but instead landed at 2:30AM. This was due to a mechanical, and then when the plane couldn’t be fixed it took them quite a while to find a new one.
The next morning we were being picked up at 8AM, so I went from getting a full night of sleep to only getting under four hours of sleep (it was 3:30AM by the time we got to the hotel).
On top of that:
- This was my first flight on the 737 MAX, which is rather unpleasant
- The flight attendants were downright lazy
- The ground crew communicated horribly during the delay; for example, they promised they’d bring refreshments into the gate area, but didn’t (why announce it if you’re not going to do it?)
How I complained
I had filled out a survey that I was emailed regarding this flight, as I usually do, because I think it’s a useful way to send a message to management if there are things you don’t like.
In the past I’ve sometimes had customer relations proactively reach out regarding negative survey results, though they didn’t in this case. So I just submitted a complaint through American’s online customer relations form.
When writing a complaint letter I think it’s important to stick to one primary point and keep it short. Some people love writing five page letters, but:
a) The person at customer relations has no interest in reading five pages
b) These types of complaints almost always lack focus, so they lose out on the core of the message
So stick to one point and write about it. In this case I made the primary focus the four hour delay, and I also (probably unnecessarily) threw in how poorly the delay was handled. I didn’t mention that the 737 MAX is a bad plane, that the food wasn’t great, etc. That takes away from it, in my opinion.
The response I received
I usually find that American emails back Executive Platinum members within a day or so of a complaint. In this case I didn’t hear for three days, and then I got a call from American Airlines.
The lady was friendly and sincere, she apologized for the delay and the bad service. I mean, what more can she really say?
She proactively offered me 20,000 AAdvantage miles. She noted I had a companion on the reservation (Ford is also Executive Platinum) and offered him 20,000 miles as well. The miles posted to our accounts immediately.
Bottom line
Like I said, it’s not often I write complaint notes to airlines, because I tend to think most things aren’t a huge deal. However, in this case we were being picked up for Mashpi Lodge at 8AM, so while we were supposed to get a full night of sleep, we ended up only getting a few hours of sleep due to a mechanical delay on American’s part.
We paid 20,000 British Airways Avios in each direction for these tickets (transferred from Amex with a 40% bonus, so we really paid about 15,000 Amex points per person), so getting 20,000 American miles as compensation seemed pretty good to me.
Obviously when deciding on this compensation it’s based on your status, the type of flight you’re taking, and the type of ticket you booked (class of service definitely matters, but I’m not sure if they differentiate between paid tickets and award tickets).
Recently took my family to Hawaii. AA from DSM to PHX, PHX to HNL, coach, no status, with PHX layover of 2:50 to be safe. AA delayed our departure by 25 min due to crew contract time off, then said it was due to weather. Over two hours after the "original" departure time, they decided to start boarding and then immediately held boarding so they could fuel the plane. Once that was done, they let...
Recently took my family to Hawaii. AA from DSM to PHX, PHX to HNL, coach, no status, with PHX layover of 2:50 to be safe. AA delayed our departure by 25 min due to crew contract time off, then said it was due to weather. Over two hours after the "original" departure time, they decided to start boarding and then immediately held boarding so they could fuel the plane. Once that was done, they let everyone board. Next, we sat on the plane for 20 min and then taxied and sat for 20 more minutes "due to weather" before we finally took off. Over 3 hours of delay "due to weather" and missed our connection flight to Honolulu. In the three hours, we watched no less than 30 flights take off, including the rest of our vacation party. They then diverted us to LAX where we were put up in a hotel, but they couldn't find our luggage, so they gave us a tooth brush and we endured our clothes for a second day. PHX AA customer service admitted that the delay was due to crew and mechanical issues, but said there was nothing they could do and to contact customer relations once my travel was completed. Which I did. A man called me and said there was nothing they could do, due to weather related delays. When I told him about the host of other flights that left on time and the admission of crew/mechanical problems, he said it was weather and started getting rude and trying to end the call. I have never been treated so poorly by an airline with no recourse.
I recently was supposed to fly on AA to go from PHL to Charlotte with a 1 hour and 15 minute layover in Charlotte for a connecting flight on AA to Frankfurt Germany. I had a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt Germany before catching another flight flying on Air France flight to Paris. (Final destination) My flight at PHL was delayed due to mechanical issues 4 hours and 30 minutes which caused me to miss...
I recently was supposed to fly on AA to go from PHL to Charlotte with a 1 hour and 15 minute layover in Charlotte for a connecting flight on AA to Frankfurt Germany. I had a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt Germany before catching another flight flying on Air France flight to Paris. (Final destination) My flight at PHL was delayed due to mechanical issues 4 hours and 30 minutes which caused me to miss both the connecting flight to Germany and the connecting flight on Air France to Paris. AA rebooked me on a direct flight from PHL to Paris to leave the next evening. On the way back I was flying Air France back to Germany and then leaving Germany the next morning on an AA flight back to Charlotte with a connecting flight to PHL. However when I went to check in for Air France Flight the night before leaving France to fly from Paris back to Germany I was not able to check in. Called Air France and they told me because I was not on the original flight to go from Germany to France my roundtrip ticket was cancelled and I had to purchase another ticket to get back to Germany costing me 776.00. I was traveling to Germany as my spouse was working in Germany for a few weeks and then I was meeting him for us to take a little vacation. Is there anything I can do? Any advice would be appreciated. I am already filing a claim as my luggage went to Charlotte after waiting 4 hours for them to pull my bag and it ended up getting loaded on the plane and it went all over the place and never made it to my destination. I received my luggage the day after I returned home from my trip. So discouraged as first vacation in several years and it was one thing after another and arrived 1 day and a half later having to buy a new ticket and purchase some clothes.
I read this thread with great interest. I had a recent bad experience on AA on January 6, 2019. I don’t know how to escalate this.
When my AA flight from Salt Lake City to LAX was delayed by almost 8 hours, it would result in missing my connecting flight from LAX to Japan (NRT). So the AA agents at the counter in Salt Lake City rebooked my flights which included rerouting me through...
I read this thread with great interest. I had a recent bad experience on AA on January 6, 2019. I don’t know how to escalate this.
When my AA flight from Salt Lake City to LAX was delayed by almost 8 hours, it would result in missing my connecting flight from LAX to Japan (NRT). So the AA agents at the counter in Salt Lake City rebooked my flights which included rerouting me through Chicago. I accepted even though I would have waited at the Salt Lake City airport for almost 12 hours by then. I was given my boarding passes and I checked-in my luggages 9 hours before this flight. However, after I boarded this AA flight from Salt Lake City to Chicago, when I was already sitting at my seat, the door to the plane was closed, and the jetway retracted from the plane, that I was told by the flight attendant to “get off the plane right away”.
Of course I was horribly stressed, confused, felt embarrassed and humiliated. Everyone was looking at me and I was scared. The jetway moved back-in towards the plane, the door opened, and I quickly got off the plane. The plane took off immediately without me, but with my luggages still on board! That is a security violation isn’t it?! After back and forth arguments and many illogical excuses (which involved the AA agents at the gate taking and throwing away my boarding pass into the trash and me insisting on them digging into their trash to give it back to me.. yeah omg dramaaaa...), I found out that everything that happened was not my fault. The rebookings that the AA agents did earlier in the day involved crucial mistakes that made a segment of my itinerary invalid (of course I didn't know that as I was given the itinerary and boarding pass).
A lot of things went wrong along the way. The delay at the origin of my travel created a domino effect that at the end made me arrive 1.5 days late with lost luggages. I would appreciate any advice/input what I should do and what I can/should expect in terms of compensation. Thank you so much!
After reading this yesterday I wrote a complaint to United as on 5 out of 6 flights last week the WiFi wasn't working and I was beyond frustrated. I really wasn't expecting anything as I had already filed refund requests for the flights where I was able to purchase WiFi, but did receive a personalized response and a $200 voucher. I am Platinum but I don't think that matters at all.
As always thanks for the tips.
The US needs legislation in place to keep the airlines under control. In Europe, there are very clear laws that apply in situations like this. We had a 4 hour delay on an EasyJet flight from Barcelona to Paris and was awarded $250 per person by the airline, which was more than twice what I’d paid for the tickets.
@Lucky, your account is definitely flagged for priority treatment. I had a RDU-LHR flight cancelled due to mx and had to rebook for the following day. AA agents provided hotel vouchers for a hotel with no rooms available - and the desk agent at the hotel told us she had told the agent there was no space available. I wrote CS over the weekend and just got a response today. I did not get a...
@Lucky, your account is definitely flagged for priority treatment. I had a RDU-LHR flight cancelled due to mx and had to rebook for the following day. AA agents provided hotel vouchers for a hotel with no rooms available - and the desk agent at the hotel told us she had told the agent there was no space available. I wrote CS over the weekend and just got a response today. I did not get a phone call, instead I received a basically canned "sorry for the inconvenience" response saying they are not responsible for out-of-pocket expenses and giving us 15k miles each. I couldn't believe it. I'm an EXP as well who almost never complains. Have followed up, but just know that your experience is definitely not typical, even for EXPs.
So, most people agree that AA is the worst of the US carriers and Delta is better amongst the US carriers.
So 5,000 miles per hour of delay. It could be more.
I had a 3hr mechanical delay that required completely deplaning (which is always a joy) and getting a new one. While the staff were fairly helpful, no snacks were provided. As a Platinum, I was proactively offered 5K miles. 20K seems totally unheard of; I have to believe some of this was because of Lucky's profession.
On the topic of compensation, Delta once lost my bags on an international trip for 4 days. The local...
I had a 3hr mechanical delay that required completely deplaning (which is always a joy) and getting a new one. While the staff were fairly helpful, no snacks were provided. As a Platinum, I was proactively offered 5K miles. 20K seems totally unheard of; I have to believe some of this was because of Lucky's profession.
On the topic of compensation, Delta once lost my bags on an international trip for 4 days. The local communication wasn't good, but they were excellent about reimbursing my clothing and incidental costs after the fact and offering a $300 voucher for my trouble.
The fact that Suzanne Rubin left her position was the harbinger of further deterioration.
Bottom line: You got this because of your social media footprint. AA wants to minimize the face-front damage.
I'm a CK with AA and they haven't given me this kind of mileage comp for things that MUCH worse than a simple 4-hour mechanical.
I had the following delays on my AA flight recently:
Tarmac delay of 1:30 due to mechanical delay at RSW (our orgin)
Then we diverted to Columbia, SC from CLT because of storms. Sat on the tarmac for 3:15 without being able to get out.
Finally landed in CLT but sat there for 1:45 because of gate space.
So that's a total of 6:30 hours of sitting in the plane for tarmac delay. AA...
I had the following delays on my AA flight recently:
Tarmac delay of 1:30 due to mechanical delay at RSW (our orgin)
Then we diverted to Columbia, SC from CLT because of storms. Sat on the tarmac for 3:15 without being able to get out.
Finally landed in CLT but sat there for 1:45 because of gate space.
So that's a total of 6:30 hours of sitting in the plane for tarmac delay. AA gave me only 12,500 miles and says that the delay in Columbia was only 2:58 so there was no ramp delay violation.
I sent a complaint to the DOT. What do you guys think?
I only got 10k from them only after escalating to both CEO and DoT for a rolling 12h delay where I was stuck awake throughout the night at JFK. Their response was slow and useless. Extremely poor customer service.
I agree with Debit...
Must be nice... I’m just a lowly gold member and was delayed 7+ hrs at MIA trying to get to MCO recently. It would have been faster to have rented a car, to get to Ocala (final destination).
Yeah... no compensation was offered from American on that one.
AA did provide sandwiches & sodas at about the 7+ hour mark, just before boarding the plane to finally get to...
I agree with Debit...
Must be nice... I’m just a lowly gold member and was delayed 7+ hrs at MIA trying to get to MCO recently. It would have been faster to have rented a car, to get to Ocala (final destination).
Yeah... no compensation was offered from American on that one.
AA did provide sandwiches & sodas at about the 7+ hour mark, just before boarding the plane to finally get to Orlando. The food cart was mobbed by the hangry passengers.
I lost my bus transport (Redcoach) to Ocala from the airport when finally landing after 11pm.
I complained on Twitter and was NEVER offered some kind of compensation.
@lu was your delay because of weather? Or was it something else?
@cargocult have you had any other positive responses with United like this? I complained to AA about a customer service agent who harassed me (literally bitched me out because "you're asking too many questions" about a flight change) and they gave me a generic email response.
Delayed 6 hours on a paid first class fare and had to spend the night in a hotel because of AA. I am Executive Platinum for 3 years running and AA told me to pound sand. It's weird because I have previously been proactively compensated like others in this thread without complaining but this time turned up nothing. I sent them an email with this blogpost cited asking them to reconsider how they treat EPs.
...Delayed 6 hours on a paid first class fare and had to spend the night in a hotel because of AA. I am Executive Platinum for 3 years running and AA told me to pound sand. It's weird because I have previously been proactively compensated like others in this thread without complaining but this time turned up nothing. I sent them an email with this blogpost cited asking them to reconsider how they treat EPs.
If they still say no then I will complain to the DOT like someone else mentioned.
Absolutely ridiculous that there is no SOP for delays like this.
Can anyone confirm if Delta or United is better than this? I'm that pissed off that I might convert my 150k miles/year to them.
United is far more generous with compensation than American. I expressed displeasure about a gate checking situation as well as some other baggage mishaps earlier this year to a flight attendant and was issued a $400 voucher during the flight (I had not requested compensation of any sort). 1K > EXP.
Just another date point: I was delayed 8 hours for LAX-HNL in April 2017. I am non-elite and flew first class. Compensation was 10,000 AA miles. I sent a complaint to DOT, AA would not do anything extra.
When I was ExecPlat I received similar compensation for similar issues. So I don’t think it’s just a special treatment for Ben.
I tend to give a lot of feedback, both good and bad. When I have a great flight, I’ll send an email and praise the FA’s. My impression is that the CR reps have a standard chart that tells them how many miles to award different “types“ of customers (kettle, ExecPlat, etc) in...
When I was ExecPlat I received similar compensation for similar issues. So I don’t think it’s just a special treatment for Ben.
I tend to give a lot of feedback, both good and bad. When I have a great flight, I’ll send an email and praise the FA’s. My impression is that the CR reps have a standard chart that tells them how many miles to award different “types“ of customers (kettle, ExecPlat, etc) in different specific situations. I also wonder if the “eagle rating” still exists, and I have a hunch it might come into play as well. If so, Ben probably has a pretty high eagle rating, so that actually could have influenced things here.
I had a lengthy mechanical delay with Delta from Atlanta to Europe a while ago. I have no status and was in coach
They gave me a 600 euro voucher, which was equivalent to the cash comp I would be entitled to had the flight departed Europe It was also valid on klm Air France and virgin
The thing is I didn’t even ask for compensation. I asked them to cover my hotel costs
We had a delay on Delta this summer (SEA-AMS). We (4 of us) were in J on awards; no status. Plane went mechanical and was delayed about 22 hours. DL paid for hotel and breakfast. They also had a luncheon the next day for the entire flight at the airport at what looked like a pretty nice restaurant (we didn't attend as we went to the Space Needle instead). We also got 12.5K miles plus a check for $100, each.
Yah, pretty naive to think they didn’t know who Lucky is... and that this offer would be publicized to make AA look better.
I havent flown American in years now. Looks like they have really gone to crap.
20K is a great offer though for a 4 hour delay!
interesting, I was delayed lax/san by 2 hours and they gave me 5K miles without even asking.
I did not mind the delay, gave me time to shower and unwind in the lounge after the long hkg/lax flight
I complained as well and only received 5,000 miles? Same flight. Should I ask for more?
@AdamR: I was on the flight, in coach, and got 30k miles. I didn't send a complaint though, delays are just part of air travel. No need to whine about every little setback in life.
I’d be more interested to see compensation for literally anyone other than Ben on that flight who might have also complained. EXP or otherwise. I’m not so sure this a fair example of how AA treats it’s customers given Ben’s notoriety.
I'm sure this is because of who you are.
Wife and I booked 2 Anytime business class seats MIA-GIG and the seats were broken (would not go flat) for the first 1/2 of the flight. Also the F/A was rude beyond belief, and my wife never received her breakfast (asked 3 times)
I asked for 1/2 of the miles back. Got 10K each, which was a joke.
I have no status on AA but I'm BA Gold (OWE) and majority of my flights are PAID AA first class domestic.
AA is pathetic these days.
AA has been all over the place with compensation. I had an 18+ hour delay (first due to weather and then mechanical issues) and I ultimately did not take the flight, opting instead to drive to another airport and get a direct flight. Their "compensation" was to refund the price of the connecting segment ($86) that I skipped out on. On another occasion I had a first class seat that did not recline fully on...
AA has been all over the place with compensation. I had an 18+ hour delay (first due to weather and then mechanical issues) and I ultimately did not take the flight, opting instead to drive to another airport and get a direct flight. Their "compensation" was to refund the price of the connecting segment ($86) that I skipped out on. On another occasion I had a first class seat that did not recline fully on a 2 hour flight and they gave me 15,000 miles. I wasn't even expecting anything for the seat issue--I merely wrote in to note it so that they would have a record that seat 2A on a particular aircraft had an issue as I forgot to raise it with the FA in flight. There seems to be no logic or guidelines.
By the way, I escalated the complaint regarding the 18+ hour delay and got a full refund of the RT fare (all four segments), plus compensation for the car rental to the other airport.
I was delayed 90 minutes or so on transcon F (LAX-JFK) a few weeks ago and requested and got 15k miles, also in 3 days. No status. Had used Iberia avios to book originally. Also tried to keep my letter short and focused on the delay, though I did add short bullets on a couple other legitimately subpar parts of the experience.
This week, I emailed AA Customer Relations as I had a 2.5 HR tarmac delay in PHL that led to misconnect in MAD for an onward flight with an oneworld partner; the alliance airline rebooked me on an non-partner airline with additional routing. I have no status and travel was an AA award ticket in economy. Delay was described as a technical issue related to passenger count. Customer Relations credited me 15k miles; this equals...
This week, I emailed AA Customer Relations as I had a 2.5 HR tarmac delay in PHL that led to misconnect in MAD for an onward flight with an oneworld partner; the alliance airline rebooked me on an non-partner airline with additional routing. I have no status and travel was an AA award ticket in economy. Delay was described as a technical issue related to passenger count. Customer Relations credited me 15k miles; this equals 50% of the miles used to book the travel and rather generous in my opinion.
Only because you are EXP.
Others would get sorry blahs, blah and then nothing.
That sounds fair. My last delay of three hours because of a mechanical issue I was given 10,000 miles without complaining as an executive platinum. Was on a paid first class fare.
20,000 miles for a four hour delay? Not minimizing the pain it was for you, but I'd take that every time.
AA has been pretty stingy with compensation so I say you'd to more than most.
They probably also figured out who you are. That is why it took a couple days and then gave you a call. Their executives where deciding what to do to kiss up to you. Not that you want them to treat you special.
AA used to be good with compensation. In the last year and a half or so, customer relations for the most part has been poor if not downright rude. And I am EXP and still happens. Glad you had a better experience @Lucky.