American Airlines

Everytime i use an US airline, i promise to myself that that would be the last … never again. But time after time i am lured into the trap by the prospect of cheaper fares :(
I don’t live in the US and so i am usually spared the horrors that i hear of domestic flights there. But even international flights aren’t much better.
American Airlines charge for alcohol on their prized trans-​Atlantic routes. I once travelled on an inter-​continental route where the aircraft didn’t have tv screens for individual seats.
But the worst thing about AA is their extreme rigidity. They insisted that I fly my original route (London-​Chicago-​Miami) rather than get me a seat on a direct flight at around the same time … which would have caused me less stress and have saved them some fuel (hence money).
On a Miami — New York flight, they refused to get me an earlier flight. «We don’t do stand-by’s, even when the flight is empty», I was told. Guess what, I saw a list of stand by’s when I was at the gate.
Once my plans changed and I wanted to take a Monday morning flight out from New York to London rather than the Sunday night flight I was booked on. They refused to reschedule me if I didn’t pay a big sum of money. I decided to stick to my original plan. Incidentally, the flight was overbooked and at departure time they were looking for 2 volunteers to leave their seats … In return for hotel stay and $ 800. Serves them right for their arrogance and stupidity.
AA is usually one of the cheapest airlines in the UK-​USA routes and they do have a very extensive network. So I will almost certainly need to travel on AA again … though I will try my level best not to.

Like the business check in for «elite» card holders. They check you in and get you on your way to security pretty quickly.

You are a horrible customer service representative that has been employed by American Airlines. We need to get on our plane ASAP. We ask you to find out if there is a way we can get to the front of the line, because we are in a hurry. You say, «I will go find out» and NEVER COME BACK. Approximately 15 minutes later, we find out that our plane is nearly done boarding but haven’t seen us check in yet, so another AA employee asks if anyone is waiting to get on this flight. We say yes, of course, we are trying to get to the front of the line but you were too incompetent to help us. You almost make us miss our flight basically but we persevere in spite of your suckiness. We have to run to our flight, but finally get on. Miss, you suck. (And so do UK charter buses. This wouldn’t have even happened if it weren’t for those.)

You know I had no beef with you up until today. Seriously. I’ve heard loads of crap about you, from your horrible website usability to your appalling customer service. I figured I must be immune as I’d never had a problem with you. Hell, I’ve even experienced your first class; I have to say I was in love with your sundaes and lovely beds!
P. S. this is going to be a rant.
So, I wanted to bring my cat from the US to the UK. I’ve followed all the rules (PETS travel scheme /​Defra /​microchipping /​blood tests /​etc etc) to get the little bugger over here, and have waited patiently 6 months to go and collect him. So, I started researching my options for tickets. I called your customer AND cargo service, as well as your competitors. You all said you allowed animals on your airlines. When I spoke to AA Cargo here in the UK, you said I had to make my own booking and then I could make a booking for my little Hugo. Cool, fair enough.
The ONLY reason I chose you was price. I commend you as summer travel can be expensive, especially to the States, but you had a nice little promotion going on that worked out in my favour. I booked my ticket online, counting down the days to be with my little guy.
But I called you today to arrange my ‘cargo’ reservation. Where I am then told there is an embargo on ALL warm blooded animals into and through the UK. What. The. F!!! I insist on speaking to a supervisor, tell them my story, am transferred again, yadda yadda. The SUPERVISOR didn’t even know their trade regulations!!! You give me some mad bullshit about how I didn’t have to book a ticket with them, etc etc. I am fuming and almost in tears. Can I refund my ticket? NO, I can only cancel my itinerary and use it within a year. I told them that would’ve been handy to know BEFORE i booked my ticket.
The only airlines that can transport warm-​blooded pets to the UK are now Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.
Luckily for me, it turns out to work in my favour that we’ll fly separate airlines. BA is the best handler of pets, and I can also put him on a flight before me so I don’t have to wait around 2 or 3 hours after his flight to be quarantined and paperworked. Also, the man I spoke with from BA told me if he’d had a daughter he’d have named her Michaelia. I am already in love with British Airways.
Eff you M-​Effing American Airlines. You’re freaking AMERICAN, so shouldn’t you have some sort of automatic customer satisfaction guarantee built in? It’s been so ingrained in me that I tell cashiers to have a nice day after paying at the till.

I used AA recently on four different occasions over my holiday. Three times for long haul flights (7+ Hours) and one short hop (1 Hour) and I found nothing wrong with the service. The plane was clean and the service from the stewardesses was good. Food was nice and the free soft drinks were a great service I had never experienced before. Checking in and out was a breeze and the Admirals club was worth every penny I paid for it.
To be honest I had no gripes at all and would reccomend this airline.