American Flight Fiasco

Our visit to Kathy and Tom’s was great – once we arrived. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike, actually hate, American Airlines?

To begin with, on Friday, 1 hour before we were to leave for the airport, the airlines called and informed us that the flight had been cancelled. Well, somehow I was not ready to believe them. (I’d had previous bad experience with them and they didn’t even rebook us that time). This time they at least rebooked us on a flight leaving at 6am the next day. That would be Saturday, 4/18. I called Rick Husband airport to see if, in fact, it had been cancelled due to weather. Well, yes it had. When I gave her my flight number she first said there was no flight with that number scheduled. I said “look again”. “Oh yes, here it is”. “That flight’s been cancelled. Bad weather in Dallas.” The last time this happened we were supposed to be on our way to Europe, meeting up with the rest of the group in Wisconsin. We ended up driving to OKC to catch a TWA flight – that cost $700 per person. Would American book us on a flight? No!! Anyway, that’s another story.

Needless to say, I was very frustrated, but as it turned out, it worked out better as I got a few things done that absolutely needed doing and wouldn’t have been done had we left that Friday.

Saturday morning we flew out of Amarillo, on time, no problems. It was a different story once we got to Dallas. The new terminal at DFW is pretty nice. It’s fairly easy to get around in, with lots of shopping and a few restaurants/fast food places but nothing to write home about. I was able get our seat assignments and check in the night before so there was not a problem there. However, it seemed we didn’t have a crew for the plane. Dah! They were flying in from Austin and arrived about an hour after we were to lift off. So what’s new?!

After boarding, which seemed to take forever, we pushed back from the gate. Then, all the lights went out, along with the air, and the engines. The electrical problems and engine start up couldn’t be done sitting away from the gate so we were pulled back to the gate where we sat for another hour. We were eventually moved off the plane to await who knows what – another aircraft for all the passengers or rebooking on many different flights, though I can’t say that I minded getting on a different aircraft. I’d rather have a different plane that didn’t have to be fixed on the runway while we waited. Another hour passed, and we were given $5 vouchers for a meal which, by the way, we had to obtain at a restaurant. Now, what restaurant in an airport sells a meal for $5? We had already purchased a sandwich when we originally got off the plane so it wasn’t like I was starving. I did stand in line at a restaurant, only to be the next customer when they called our flight to board. I gave away our 2 vouchers to someone in line and hurried back to the gate.

We arrived in Ft Lauderdale over 4 hours later than scheduled. The visit was going to be short enough but now would be even shorter.

This trip was originally going to be our Caribbean Cruise but due to business conflicts we had to postpone again! After the flight fiasco, I’m glad we didn’t plan to cruise. Many passengers were trying to get to the docks to board their ships on time. It could be pretty frustrating.

We had a very good visit with Kathy and Tom and Marcello. Kelsey and Cassandra were little whirlwinds and we didn’t see much of them. Cassandra has a boyfriend and spends much of her time with him or her girlfriends. Kelsey is 18 and has a life of her own. (How did they grow up so fast!). Monday, while Kathy was at work, we went to the park and Marcello completely wore us out. The parks in Coconut Creek are beautifully manicured and well kept. Other places could learn some lessons from them.

The evening before we left, Marcello kept saying he didn’t want Nana and Grandpa to go. How good did that make us feel?

We woke up to storm clouds the morning we were to leave for home. Not bad, and they desperately need the rain, though probably not as much as we do in Amarillo, but it was welcome rain. The flight was going to be on time so no worries. Except that I was not able to get seat assignments for us online. When we checked in we were told our seats would be assigned at the gate. So much for that! The flight was way oversold. Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but you would think that since we only booked the flight on Wednesday of last week, we would have been told that it was oversold WHEN WE BOOKED THE FLIGHT!! Thankfully, enough people accepted the airlines offer of a $300 voucher so we got seats.

We arrived home and in no time, felt like we hadn’t been away at all. So, today, we receive e-mails from American Airlines apologizing for the long delay on Saturday, and awarding each of us 4000 AA Advantage miles. I may think twice before sending the letter of complaint I had composed. If they read it, they may take the miles back (along with our other "many" accumulated miles).