American Airlines

[gharter]

With all the issues we have had in the past with American cancelling or rescheduling flights, wanted to post my last experience.
They moved our flight later by over 3 hours. That really didn't work for us.
Called their customer service and they did everything I would have expected. Nice to see as that doesn't always happen. They were able to move our flight to a different departure city within a short drive, adjusted our departure and return flights, selected our seats, all at no additional charge.
This may not seem like a big deal, but similar issues like this with Orbitz and others has required escalating to a manger to get them to change a flight at no additional charges due to flight changes or cancellations.

 

[georgina]

With all the issues we have had in the past with American cancelling or rescheduling flights, wanted to post my last experience.
They moved our flight later by over 3 hours. That really didn't work for us.
Called their customer service and they did everything I would have expected. Nice to see as that doesn't always happen. They were able to move our flight to a different departure city within a short drive, adjusted our departure and return flights, selected our seats, all at no additional charge.
This may not seem like a big deal, but similar issues like this with Orbitz and others has required escalating to a manger to get them to change a flight at no additional charges due to flight changes or cancellations.

That's good. My DD is still trying to get them to cover her hotel from when they cancelled the 2nd leg of her flight and stranded her in Texas overnight.

 

[gharter]

That's good. My DD is still trying to get them to cover her hotel from when they cancelled the 2nd leg of her flight and stranded her in Texas overnight.

Done that in April. Had a different airline cancel our return flight and had to layover till the next morning. Never did get the hotel covered.

 

[EACarlson]

This may not seem like a big deal, but similar issues like this with Orbitz and others has required escalating to a manger to get them to change a flight at no additional charges due to flight changes or cancellations.

That is an issue with booking with a third party in general and an OTA in particular. They are more than happy to take your money but don't want to do any of the work they agreed to do when they did. I only book directly with airlines and hotels specifically to solve this type of problem. I've never had an issue with any airline when I call up and tell them what flights I want to be put on when they make changes.

 

[carol48b]

That is an issue with booking with a third party in general and an OTA in particular. They are more than happy to take your money but don't want to do any of the work they agreed to do when they did. I only book directly with airlines and hotels specifically to solve this type of problem. I've never had an issue with any airline when I call up and tell them what flights I want to be put on when they make changes.

Same here - I mistakenly booked through Priceline - thinking I was on the American Website. I will NEVER make that mistake again.

 

[gharter]

That is an issue with booking with a third party in general and an OTA in particular. They are more than happy to take your money but don't want to do any of the work they agreed to do when they did. I only book directly with airlines and hotels specifically to solve this type of problem. I've never had an issue with any airline when I call up and tell them what flights I want to be put on when they make changes.

After that episode, we have come to the same conclusion.

 

[JimMIA]

This may not seem like a big deal, but similar issues like this with Orbitz and others has required escalating to a manger to get them to change a flight at no additional charges due to flight changes or cancellations.

The thing people need to remember about booking through third parties (Orbits, et al) is that you have introduced another company's policies on everything into your travel plans. It's not that they are bad people, but their contracts with airlines, hotels, etc, etc, may severely limit their ability to make adjustments or refunds.

In addition, I've never found I saved any money by booking through third parties. I use them all the time to research pricing, but when I go direct to the airline, hotel, or car rental site to do the actual booking, I never have paid more. Not only that, but I always have more options and often even less expensive options.

That's particularly true of airfare. An individual online travel site may only have a few seats available on a handful of flights to my destination, but the airline itself may have numerous options -- additional flights, better connections, non-stop instead of connecting, etc, etc. The same is true of hotels and car rentals -- MANY more options usually.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

The thing people need to remember about booking through third parties (Orbits, et al) is that you have introduced another company's policies on everything into your travel plans. It's not that they are bad people, but their contracts with airlines, hotels, etc, etc, may severely limit their ability to make adjustments or refunds.

In addition, I've never found I saved any money by booking through third parties. I use them all the time to research pricing, but when I go direct to the airline, hotel, or car rental site to do the actual booking, I never have paid more. Not only that, but I always have more options and often even less expensive options.

That's particularly true of airfare. An individual online travel site may only have a few seats available on a handful of flights to my destination, but the airline itself may have numerous options -- additional flights, better connections, non-stop instead of connecting, etc, etc. The same is true of hotels and car rentals -- MANY more options usually.

We often use skyscanner.com for the initial search.... sometimes they are waaaaay cheaper.

Having 3 airports to fly out of is helpful when I'm searching prices... I really like 3rd party sites that let me search them all.
I'm glad they were helpful

 

[gharter]

The thing people need to remember about booking through third parties (Orbits, et al) is that you have introduced another company's policies on everything into your travel plans. It's not that they are bad people, but their contracts with airlines, hotels, etc, etc, may severely limit their ability to make adjustments or refunds.

In addition, I've never found I saved any money by booking through third parties. I use them all the time to research pricing, but when I go direct to the airline, hotel, or car rental site to do the actual booking, I never have paid more. Not only that, but I always have more options and often even less expensive options.

That's particularly true of airfare. An individual online travel site may only have a few seats available on a handful of flights to my destination, but the airline itself may have numerous options -- additional flights, better connections, non-stop instead of connecting, etc, etc. The same is true of hotels and car rentals -- MANY more options usually.

In the past, we used to save a fair amount of money using 3rd parties. In the last few years, that has not been true.
Comparing prices the 3rd parties are the same and some times even more than booking directly.

 

[MrKnight]

American is my preferred airline and if I have multiple airlines options to the same destination I always opt for American. I have never had any major issues with them and have found their service and response to any customer service needs to always be at least on par if not better than other airlines.

 

[gharter]

We have tried to fly American when we can as they are the only airline flying out of our airport. However, we have been burned by them several times to where we are now hesitant to trust them locally. Flying the same airline an hour away gives us many more options.