I hate American

[Latbear4blk]

Unfortunately, their prices are reasonable, so I may be doomed to keep flying with them. However, I am having the worst traveling experience of my life.

My flight left DC 4 hours delayed. When we landed in Miami, we had to wait 25 minutes on the tarmac for a gate. When I exited the gate, my flight to Buenos Aires was still boarding. However, I did not make it. They did not assign fast transportation from one gate to the other, and all the passengers in my situation lost their flight. 

We were re-directed to the rebooking counter, with not much empathy. The line was endless. After 2 hours in the line, I was assigned a stand-by seat on a flight tonight. No hotel, no meals, not even a voucher for the Admirals Club. I slept a couple of hours on the floor, and everything started to open up for morning business. 

The silver lining is the Cuban men in the airport. As the situation was beyond my control, my frustration was short-lived. I now sit in the concourse, admiring the parade of sexy security and airport staff. I may log into my hookup apps. I have a lot of time.

By the way, I saw a lot of Pride stuff in Reagan. Here in Miami, there is nothing (besides the hot men).

[floridarob]

Have you looked at Copa, their fares are usually fair and is a good airline.

[Latbear4blk]

18 minutes ago, floridarob said:

Have you looked at Copa, their fares are usually fair and is a good airline.

American gave me the best prices and... I was going to write "convenient times." Fuck them. I will look at Copa for my next trips.

[floridarob]

What I like about Copa, besides their good service and young F/A's, lot of very good looking male F/A's, btw. You can buy basic economy and then "bid" for upgrades for money. I got 3 out of my last 4 legs to Brasil confirmed...and they have lie flat seats in Business to Brasil and EZE from Panama. Plus, if you get upgraded on the check in legs, you get 2-50lb luggage for free.

Most Copa travelers are Central and S. American non frequent or budget travelers,  many don't bother with the bidding or don't know about it because they buy from a Travel Agent.

[Latbear4blk]

26 minutes ago, floridarob said:

What I like about Copa, besides their good service and young F/A's, lot of very good looking male F/A's, btw.

Well, you know how to sell it to me. 😇

[Lucky]

I am glad to hear good things about Copa as we are flying their Business Class this summer.

[vinapu]

11 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

 

My flight left DC 4 hours delayed. When we landed in Miami, we had to wait 25 minutes on the tarmac for a gate. When I exited the gate, my flight to Buenos Aires was still boarding. However, I did not make it. They did not assign fast transportation from one gate to the other, and all the passengers in my situation lost their flight. 

 

not  to defend anything or anybody but when flying to Mexico City in Nov my experience with  them was exactly opposite. Granted , it was in Dulles not Miami. they wait for us , and organized fast track . So questions , did you have bad luck or I had good luck. Or simply choice of connecting airport was wrong.

Hope you arrive home safe and sound

[asdsrfr]

Just flew back from the D.R. on United-on outbound flights both returned to the gate with mechanical issues-ultimately arrived in D.R. 4-1/2 hours late. On return arrived in Newark--waited 40 minutes for gate, 25 minutes for bags to appear.  After clearing customs and re-checking bags dashed to another terminal to catch connecting flight (near sprint) to find the gate agent telling me I couldn't board because door was closed. They sat there for another 10-15 minutes with jet bridge still attached. I had to spend the night in Newark--fortunately United paid. Bottom line all airlines can be good or bad on any given day. For traveling this summer I'm afraid it's "Buyer Beware!"

[buttercawan]

@Latbear4blk

Are you to BR again? 

[Latbear4blk]

6 hours ago, buttercawan said:

@Latbear4blk

Are you to BR again? 

No, my friend. I am on my annual family visit to Argentina.

I am back to loving America. Although I am not happy with how they handled the situation, they upgraded me and had a fantastic flight with excellent service. After 24 hours in the airport, I slept like a baby for the entire flight. 

[fedssocr]

fill out their customer service form and you should at least get some extra miles compensation. Better than nothing

[Latbear4blk]

 

fill out their customer service form and you should at least get some extra miles compensation. Better than nothing

I did! 

[macdaddi]

Que te disfrutes mucho este ratico con la familia y los familiares!  Un abrazo.

[Axiom2020]

On 6/20/2023 at 9:27 PM, macdaddi said:

Que te disfrutes mucho este ratico con la familia y los familiares!  Un abrazo.

I can't translate this into Ingles.

[Mavica]

 

 

2 hours ago, Axiom2020 said:

I can't translate this into Ingles.

"Enjoy this little time with your family and relatives! A hug."

[PeterRS]

I have had horror stories with several airlines, including one with American at La Guardia, although it was not totally American's fault. I was booked on a round-the-world trip using One World. The ticket originated in Bangkok where I lived. All went well until the Sunday I was due to fly to LAX. With time to spare in the morning, I popped down to the Village to get a few porn DVDs (in the days when we all used them). Arriving a little late back at my hotel, instead of putting them in my large case, I just put the brown paper bag in one of the flaps of my carry-on.

All went well until I went through the security check. For reasons I only found out later, the grossly obese American Airlines security lady stopped me, asked to move to one side, made me take off various pieces of clothing and then searched my carry on. This was extremely embarrassing, more because my 3 porn DVDs had been discovered and laid out on the table beside me for all other passengers to see. Realising I had no bomb or saran gas, I was informed I could carry on to my aircraft gate.

In business class, I settled down to have a glass of wine and after take off a stiff vodka tonic. I then heard my name mentioned over the tannoy. I was asked to go to the entrance door along with my baggage. Great, I thought, I'm going to be upgraded to first class! But no! There were 2 American Airlines security staff waiting to escort me off the plane. What on earth is going on here, I thought? The staff were extremely polite and apologised for the inconvenience but they needed to have my bag re-checked!

Soon the fat security lady waddled into view. "Hurry up," shouted one of the security guys. "We need to get this plane away from the gate." It's in the flap at the front, she puffed. It turned out she had moral objections to my having gay DVDs in my bag. The security staff almost had a fit. You're an idiot, is virtually what they shouted at her. Get back to your station! They they apologised profusely for my inconvenience and embarrassment. They asked for my name, address and other personal details. I assume this was so that a letter of apology could later be sent to me as that lady had probably violated my rights. I just wanted to get to LAX where I had dinner booked with an old friend. So I thanked the security guys and said all I wanted to do was get back on the 767.

Once on board, the purser came up and apologised on behalf of the airline. He also gave me a bottle of wine from first class (although no upgrade!) Throughout the flight I wondered why I had been selected for a major search when that had never happened to me before in millions of miles of travel. It was only much later when checking my boarding passes and going through my mileage statement that I noticed three large letters 'SSS'. I had no idea what this meant, so I asked a friend who worked for Cathay Pacific. He told me that meant 'Special Security Screening'. He assumed it was because my ticket originated in Bangkok and I should be checked for drugs! Yet in several other flights within the USA in folowing years, I never noticed those 'SSS' letters again!

[reader]

There was a period about 15 years ago if memory serves me that scrutinizing single males arriving from Thailand were more carefully screened at certain US airports, Detroit being the most well known for the practice. I was sent for special screening on successive trips but they turned up nothing. Although the luggage searches were conducted professionally they still left me uneasy so I began flying back through different airports and never experienced that again. IMO, customs and immigration practices have improved markedly since.

[paulsf]

If the Grossly Obese AA security woman was of what you consider normal size, would it have changed your story at all.    Was she AA security person or a TSA agent.?    Glad you got your wine when you made it onboard.  

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, paulsf said:

If the Grossly Obese AA security woman was of what you consider normal size, would it have changed your story at all.    Was she AA security person or a TSA agent.?

I suppose if it had been a slim young handsome early 20s guy, it might have changed my mind! Frankly I do not know if she was AA staff or a TSA agent. At LGA I am pretty certain American had its own wing for its own flights. But it's perfectly possible she was a TSA agent. I have no idea who controls security at each wing although I imagine there has to be at least one TSA agent around.

1 hour ago, reader said:

There was a period about 15 years ago if memory serves me that scrutinizing single males arriving from Thailand were more carefully screened at certain US airports, Detroit being the most well known for the practice.

As my trans Atlantic flights were almost always on BA, I usually arrived from Europe at JFK. When the queues for Immigration for non US citizens became horrendous (around 2 hours), I switched to Boston which was a breeze by comparison. At the JFK Customs checks, I was sometimes asked to move to a different line instead of being allowed immediately to exit the airport. Then I would either answer a few brief questions or twice had the bags searched and I was asked to switch on my laptop. It was all done quickly and pleasantly. I think this was after 9/11.

If I was flying over the Pacific, it was a mix mostly of SFO, MSP and JFK all via Tokyo until Cathay Pacific started their non-stops. In the early-mid 1980s, arriving in JFK on Pan Am or Northwest's business class was great as you got a free helicopter trip from the airport to the 34th Street Terminal and back. I never stopped at MSP, merely changed aircraft and connected usually to LGA. One time I broke the trip with 3 days in Honolulu. Departing on the evening flight to MSP, I took a sleeping pill as we taxied to the runway. When I became slightly awake, I checked my watch and assumed we'd be landing within a couple of hours. Checking with the flight attendant, she told me we'd not be landing for about 5 hours! She then told me a passenger had experienced a medical emergency a couple of hours out of Honolulu and it had been decided to land the aircraft at SFO to get him quickly to a hospital. Apparently I was so 'out', they could not wake me up and so merely raised my seat. I slept through it all. Unfortunately I missed my connection and the lunch I had set up in NYC.

[PeterRS]

There was one time I all but screamed at an AA agent. In late 2010 I planned a month long trip to three countries in South America. For this I needed four business class flights to get from BKK to Buenos Aires and I knew I would not have quite enough BA miles. So on a business round-the-world trip in the summer the year before, I decided to use the mileage/sector allowances on RTW tickets to the maximum. For LHR to New York, therefore, I booked LHR to SFO, stayed on London time and overnighted using points at the airport Hyatt, was on a 6:00 am AA flight to Miami where I had allowed over two hours to connect to a flight to LGA due to arrive around 7:30pm. 

All went well until we were about to land at MIA. The captain announced that there was an electric storm in the area and this might result in some delay. This worried me not in the slightest, the more so when we actually landed on time. But then we were stuck on a taxiway as the airport had had to close due to lightning. No flights could land or take off. After an hour, I began to get slightly worried. After another 15 minutes and no movement, I become really concerned. But as no flights were taking off, I assumed my LGA flight would be delayed. 

We finally reached our gate within minutes of the take-off time for my LGA flight - but it was from a different terminal. I raced to the new gate. It had just been closed and the plane was being pushed back. I was advised to go to the lounge and see what the staff could do. I know from experience that there is no point screaming and yelling in such a situation, partly because other passengers are usually venting their anger and partly there is little these ladies can do. So when I reached the desk, I politely apologised for giving the lady another problem but I had to be in New York by lunchtime the next day. Was there anything she could possibly do? Eventually she said the only other flight to NYC was full. The earliest she could get me to LGA would be a flight via Charlotte the next day landing at 3:05 pm. Too late for my lunch. But she suggested I have a drink or two in the lounge and she would page me if anything earlier came up.

Sure enough, within 20 minutes, I heard my name called. She had found a first class seat on the last flight arriving at 10:30 pm. I could have kissed her. The flight was fine, the meal even seemed quite tasty and the vodkas calmed me down. But . . . standing at the baggage carousel, half the bags arrived within about 20 minutes. The other half, including mine, did not. We waited more than an hour before an AA rep finally appeared. It turned out the lock on the aft door of the 757 had stuck and the baggage handlers could not open it! I was ready to scream! We were advised it should only take another 10 minutes or so. It took 40! Completely exhausted, I immediately grabbed a cab. When I got to the Warwick Hotel, I could barely walk to the reception desk only to be told by the young man on duty that as they had expected me to arrive several hours earlier, the hotel was full and my room had been given away - even though it had been pre-booked and pre-paid! Only then was I ready really to explode, when he told me that instead of a normal room he would put me in the Westminster Suite on the top floor for my three nights! So sometimes good things can happen after bad ones.

[floridarob]

15 hours ago, PeterRS said:

He told me that meant 'Special Security Screening'. He assumed it was because my ticket originated in Bangkok and I should be checked for drugs! Yet in several other flights within the USA in folowing years, I never noticed those 'SSS' letters again!

There are events that automatically get an SSSS but most are random, just like the metal detectors have random selection, it beeps even though metal didn't cause it to go off.

[Keithambrose]

On 7/14/2023 at 9:03 PM, floridarob said:

There are events that automatically get an SSSS but most are random, just like the metal detectors have random selection, it beeps even though metal didn't cause it to go off.

Same with x ray bag check.

[Josh Perez]

On 16/7/2023 at 7:52, Keithambrose said:

Lo mismo con el control de la bolsa de rayos X. https://cl.simpleescorts.com/

Por lo general siempre estan revisando todo en rayos x y no se ecapa nada... Pero en fin mucho exito en este nuevo viaje colega saludos!

[Keithambrose]

On 7/14/2023 at 9:03 PM, floridarob said:

There are events that automatically get an SSSS but most are random, just like the metal detectors have random selection, it beeps even though metal didn't cause it to go off.

I was a random victim at T5, flying BA.