Prove Me Wrong: American Airlines is the worst domestic airline

[Mappable 37]

Flew home on the British Airways London to Austin non-stop with the family yesterday.  

Both the outbound flight and return flight were delayed to allow the planes to be “cleaned”.  

On the outbound flight from Austin, they tried to bump my family of five off the plane until the boss made a scene.  It took over an hour of waiting line to check bags.  Plane was old with low res old TVs and worn out seats.   

Heathrow is the best airport I’ve ever been through.  The whole process of automation to check in for boarding passes,  check the bags, then pass through security was efficient and painless.  Took about 15-20 minutes total before you reached the terminal after getting out of the taxi.   Amazing efficiency.

the plane home was much newer with better TVs, but the same shitty narrow seats. Upgrade if you can afford it.

Beers were free.  Older lady in front of my knocked my beer into my lap when she lowered her seat.

[DaysOff 7946]

I've never heard anyone describe Heathrow security as being painless.

[Uncle Nate 2097]

10 minutes ago, DaysOff said:

I've never heard anyone describe Heathrow security as being painless.

Right?

Heathrow is a fucking beating if you are transferring flights.  When friends of mine said if you don't have at least 1.5 - 2 hours layover time between flights you won't make it, they weren't kidding.  Last year our plane out of Budapest was delayed, and we landed at Heathrow 30-40 minutes before our flight to DFW was scheduled to depart.  British Airways said, "Nope, you missed your flight because there is no way you are making it through Heathrow in that time."

Last month we had a 2 hour layover scheduled, and our flight from IAH actually landed early.  When it was all said and done, we had 30 minutes before they started boarding our next flight by the time we got through the maze you have to go through deplaning and then back through security.  

I thought AA had bad service and I thought both AA & SWA had cramped flights.  Nope.  British Airways is worse in both regards.  Now from IAH to London we had Business Class, so it was somewhat better service.  But from London to Zurich we were in coach and that was the worst legroom I've ever had on a plane and the worst service (and no free drinks at all...not even water or coffee).

Not a fan of BA or Heathrow.

Edited June 5, 2019 by Uncle Nate

[hayden_horn 11362]

23 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

Has anyone tried to fly transatlantic on American in the past 2 weeks?  Or does anyone have plans/tickets for transatlantic the next 2 months?

All hell is breaking loose from the mechanics going scorched earth after AA sued the union.

i just did.

i woke up on sunday to find out my morning aus-dfw flight had been canceled. so aa helpfully bumped my off my 4:55pm flight from dfw to frankfurt and helpfully booked me on the earliest possible flight - to arrive frankfurt wednesday instead of monday morning. 

well, i'm here for work, so wednesday would've washed it all out, so i was about to say fuck it. called the company travel agency, and they could get me here on delta or united for $3000+. no thanks.

i called aa. they cannot help me. i asked if the dfw - fra flight was till flying. they said "yes, that's not affected by the austin to dfw cancellation. i said "well, put me back on there, and i'll rent a car and get there." the phone agent paused and asked if i was sure. "i got like 5 hours to get there. i reckon i can make that happen."

they rebooked me, i made it to dfw, and arrived on time in germany.

the flight itself seemed okay. little turbulence, and a little attitude from the sky waitress after i asked for more wine after dinner (look, lady, i can't sleep on planes, BOOZE ME UP), it was just fine. 

now we'll see about getting home on the weekend. i will let you know how it goes.

[hayden_horn 11362]

18 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

I don't get the LAX hate.  It's a fucking airport.  They have a TGI Fridays, a Chili's Too, some newsstands, and some overpriced bars,  LIKE EVERY OTHER FUCKING AIRPORT.

What exactly is better about other airports?    What can you get at DFW that you can't get at LAX?  At ORD?  

returning from hong kong through lax was a fucking beating. it's the only airport that i remember my international transfer going via the fucking outside curb and back through security with everyone else.

[Uncle Nate 2097]

4 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i just did.

i woke up on sunday to find out my morning aus-dfw flight had been canceled. so aa helpfully bumped my off my 4:55pm flight from dfw to frankfurt and helpfully booked me on the earliest possible flight - to arrive frankfurt wednesday instead of monday morning. 

well, i'm here for work, so wednesday would've washed it all out, so i was about to say fuck it. called the company travel agency, and they could get me here on delta or united for $3000+. no thanks.

i called aa. they cannot help me. i asked if the dfw - fra flight was till flying. they said "yes, that's not affected by the austin to dfw cancellation. i said "well, put me back on there, and i'll rent a car and get there." the phone agent paused and asked if i was sure. "i got like 5 hours to get there. i reckon i can make that happen."

they rebooked me, i made it to dfw, and arrived on time in germany.

the flight itself seemed okay. little turbulence, and a little attitude from the sky waitress after i asked for more wine after dinner (look, lady, i can't sleep on planes, BOOZE ME UP), it was just fine. 

now we'll see about getting home on the weekend. i will let you know how it goes.

I just flew Zurich to Philly to DFW via Charlotte on Saturday (well it was 12:00am Sunday by the time we got to DFW).

Only delays we had were due to weather.

[hayden_horn 11362]

Just now, Uncle Nate said:

I just flew Zurich to Philly to DFW via Charlotte on Saturday (well it was 12:00am Sunday by the time we got to DFW).

Only delays we had were due to weather.

yeah, i forgot to mention, the cancellation from aus - dfw kind of made sense due to the severe weather in dallas the night prior.

[kevwun 15758]

When we came back from London last year on BA, there was a group of 3 or 4 Italian bros who decided they were going to hang out by the bathroom and drink, talk loudly and harass any moderately attractive women who had the misfortune of needing to go to the bathroom.  The flight attendants told them to sit down 3 or 4 times before they finally did so and that was over the course of a couple of hours.  If it had been a US flight, those fuckers would have ended up in Guantanamo.  I really like Italy, but holy shit I can't deal with Italians on airplanes.

Edited June 5, 2019 by kevwun

[Mappable 37]

we had a couple of people that were hanging out by the bathrooms at the back of the plane the entire flight.  i just assumed they were there for the fart and shit trailers that leaked out from the bathrooms.

At Heathrow, we obtained our boarding passes immediately upon arrival from an automated terminal that scanned our passports, then immediately checked our bags again using an automated terminal.  Security took the longest when my computer bag was inspected and rubbed with butt wipes.

Everything was super modern and clean.  The wife and kids liked the high end stores and electronics shops in Terminal 5.

Heathrow Terminal 5 is the “passengers’ pick”, topping list of the world’s best airport terminals at the annual Skytrax Awards.

As we approached Austin, the BA Pilot described Bergstrom as a "...sleepy little airport."

 

 

[Anastasis 23455]

American appears to be a total shit show ATM. 

[hookemATL 11701]

13 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

American appears to be a total shit show ATM. 

I can confirm!!!!!! IM BOUT TO SHIT IN MY HAT GODDAMMIT. 

 

ok ok now I feel better. 

[Anastasis 23455]

I am connecting through DFW tomorrow.  The flight that I am connecting to was cancelled both Sunday and Today.  I am predicting pain tomorrow. 

[Homercles 10205]

Yeah I posted on the rain thread. Our flight PVR-DFW was put in a short hold but landed essentially on time. Our last leg to AUS was delayed, gate changed 4 times, and incrementally delayed by 30m each round until they were ready to board at 930p (4 hours late), then went tech at 10 when they were unable to fix it.

Waited another 30m hoping for a crew and bird before canceled at 1030. We rented a car and got home about 2am. They urged us to wait in the 2hr customer service line with basically no shot at getting rebooked the next morning, I knew the app would offer choices anyways but decided to just suck it up and drive home...no way they’d risk putting birds and crew out of the home base for our piddling short hop.

This morning the app rebooked us...to Tuesday afternoon. All the morning flights today were cancelled, so that cascading cluster means everyone is turbo fucked.

Good luck! I’m at least knowledgeable enough to understand the very right windows, crew duty times, hail damage checks and everything else that causes those things to rapidly get out of control...I just wished they’d proactively canceled our flights after 3+ hours of constantly teasing us instead of throwing in the towel so late.

[Js1 85260]

On 6/5/2019 at 11:04 AM, kevwun said:

I really like Italy, but holy shit I can't deal with Italians.

QFT.

[Rougarou 594]

I fly out tomorrow and have already been upgraded to first class. If it cancels, I will be beside myself. Beside myself I tell you!

 

 

[hayden_horn 11362]

yeah, i didn't get home until about 3:00am. my flight from germany was delayed three hours, then my dallas flight kept getting delayed in 20-30 minute chunks, until we finally departed at 11:50pm. got to austin in an hour, and then it took 1.5 hours to get our bags. apparently, our bags were on a trailing flight or something? the bag claim area was chaos, but amazingly, there was very little in the way of anger or frustration. the bag claim carousel got too crowded and clogged up, so everyone pitched in to unload the thing so more bags could come through. there were WAY more bags than there were people, and there were plenty of people. anyways, finally got my bag at 2:30am. got home just prior to 3:00. 

i'm sure it could have been worse. i'm home, with my luggage.

/csb

[Beau Vine 54203]

Daughter was home for weekend, and flying out of AUS on SWA at 11.  It got delayed to midnight.  We got a text from her at 12:30 saying that they were boarding.  The phone rang at 2am, and they had just cancelled the flight after everyone sat on the plane for 90 minutes because the crew was going to be over hours for the day and they couldn't get a fresh copilot to the airport.  So I drive to AUS to get her, and they had no open seats today to DEN so she was booked on a Tuesday afternoon flight.  I got on Orbitz app and got her a flight tonight on United.  Got back home at 4am.  It had better not storm this evening.  

[Armin Tamzarian 58]

On 6/5/2019 at 10:33 AM, Uncle Nate said:

Not a fan of BA or Heathrow.

Heathrow (T5) is a mall they drive planes up to. Completely ridiculous.

[DaysOff 7946]

Daughter was home for weekend, and flying out of AUS on SWA at 11.  It got delayed to midnight.  We got a text from her at 12:30 saying that they were boarding.  The phone rang at 2am, and they had just cancelled the flight after everyone sat on the plane for 90 minutes because the crew was going to be over hours for the day and they couldn't get a fresh copilot to the airport.  So I drive to AUS to get her, and they had no open seats today to DEN so she was booked on a Tuesday afternoon flight.  I got on Orbitz app and got her a flight tonight on United.  Got back home at 4am.  It had better not storm this evening.  

Thanks for flying United. Buh bye.

[crash_davis 23096]

1 hour ago, hayden_horn said:

yeah, i didn't get home until about 3:00am. my flight from germany was delayed three hours, then my dallas flight kept getting delayed in 20-30 minute chunks, until we finally departed at 11:50pm. got to austin in an hour, and then it took 1.5 hours to get our bags. apparently, our bags were on a trailing flight or something? the bag claim area was chaos, but amazingly, there was very little in the way of anger or frustration. the bag claim carousel got too crowded and clogged up, so everyone pitched in to unload the thing so more bags could come through. there were WAY more bags than there were people, and there were plenty of people. anyways, finally got my bag at 2:30am. got home just prior to 3:00. 

i'm sure it could have been worse. i'm home, with my luggage.

/csb

my daughter was returning from a long ass travel day from london - brussels - iad - dfw - aus.  she was stuck on the same flight as you.  she was up for over 24 hours.  i was going to drive up to dallas to get her.  wasn't really AA's fault.  that line of storm moving through fucked everything up.  her flight from iad - dfw sat on the tarmac in dfw for over an 1.5 hours waiting for a gate to open.  then your/her flight was delayed because that flight crew was sitting on the tarmac on another plane.  

travel is such a fucking shitshow.

[YChang 3441]

Haven't read through the entire thread but reading some horror stories online about redeeming paper voucher from American. Anyone with recent experience with this? 

[BearSchlong 8083]

Saw this today - https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/06/09/hundreds-of-u-s-flights-canceled-as-gps-based-aircraft-navigation-system-fails/#7c9914593878

Forbes version - https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/09/regional-airlines-ground-flights-due-to-navigation-system-problem.html

I can't imagine that this doesn't have a ripple affect of additional cancellations.

 

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by BearSchlong

[Telegraph_it 3357]

I flew ten flight segments last week on United. Every single flight was on time and the stewardesses were not stingy with the booze. One time 5 years ago I flew American to JAC and was delayed 5 hours. Therefore, United is better then American. 

[hayden_horn 11362]

57 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

my daughter was returning from a long ass travel day from london - brussels - iad - dfw - aus.  she was stuck on the same flight as you.  she was up for over 24 hours.  i was going to drive up to dallas to get her.  wasn't really AA's fault.  that line of storm moving through fucked everything up.  her flight from iad - dfw sat on the tarmac in dfw for over an 1.5 hours waiting for a gate to open.  then your/her flight was delayed because that flight crew was sitting on the tarmac on another plane.  

travel is such a fucking shitshow.

i honestly was too exhausted to be mad. i had been up since 8am german time, had a delay for that flight. which, no big deal, some more time to pack, make sure everything is in order. but then you get to the goddamn airport. what the fuck, germany? i almost always forget that their airport design is the fucking worst. you can't check in until a certain time. then, once you go through security you sit at the gate with very few amenities. 

but i have to give american props. they canceled me outbound out of austin, so i rented a car to make my dfw connection. they delayed this leg from fra-dal, but then they upgraded me to premium economy and a bulkhead seat to boot. nice.

i think my main issue was in dallas, when they just kept bumping the time back. i understand it wasn't their fault, and the gate agent was busy AF, but take 30 seconds, apprise the people at the gate that he situation is chaotic, and these are the reasons we aren't leaving, and get on with it. 

but i honestly think other than that, they made the best they could out of a total clusterfuck.

[DallasGatr 216]

My DFW-SFO flight was cancelled last night and something stinks. The weather lasted roughly 1330-1500. The inbound flight landed at 1945, a full hour before the SFO flight was scheduled to depart. By the time my flight was cancelled, (2300) our aircraft had still not made it to the gate. Another aircraft was at our gate however. I’m thinking the mechanics dispute with AA is affecting their pushback abilities. This (lack of) effort has forced me to sit with the poors this evening. Anyone else notice something similar recently?

And did some mention “good” and Heathrow in the same sentence. I transfer thru there occasionally and that process is one of the worlds biggest beatings.

[elfenix 34221]

On 6/4/2019 at 4:50 PM, Gil Bang said:

I don't get the LAX hate.  It's a fucking airport.  They have a TGI Fridays, a Chili's Too, some newsstands, and some overpriced bars,  LIKE EVERY OTHER FUCKING AIRPORT.

What exactly is better about other airports?    What can you get at DFW that you can't get at LAX?  At ORD?  

easy airside transit between terminals?

[ChiTownDoc 21139]

Vegas and Miami trips were delayed on AA last couple weekends.  I think in large part with their mechanics pissed at them.  Changed to United for LAX/ORD shitshow for this past weekend...everything on time but I barely fucking made it because the last 2 miles to LAX were even worse than usual. 35 min to go 2 miles at 11pm Sunday night.  Are they ever gonna fix that shit?   

[hayden_horn 11362]

35 minutes ago, DallasGatr said:

My DFW-SFO flight was cancelled last night and something stinks. The weather lasted roughly 1330-1500. The inbound flight landed at 1945, a full hour before the SFO flight was scheduled to depart. By the time my flight was cancelled, (2300) our aircraft had still not made it to the gate. Another aircraft was at our gate however. I’m thinking the mechanics dispute with AA is affecting their pushback abilities. This (lack of) effort has forced me to sit with the poors this evening. Anyone else notice something similar recently?

And did some mention “good” and Heathrow in the same sentence. I transfer thru there occasionally and that process is one of the worlds biggest beatings.

yeah, the problem is that he mechanics seem like they could leverage a bad weather situation like what happened yesterday. very rarely have i ever had a flight outright canceled. yet it's happened twice in a week...yeah, dallas had storms, but dallas always has weather. 

but i do think yesterday was an unhappy accident. 

what i don't understand is american's use of "rolling" delays. just delay it for another hour, and i'll hit up the bar. but when you do that every twenty minutes shit, it means we all have to crowd the gate.

[DaysOff 7946]

Vegas and Miami trips were delayed on AA last couple weekends.  I think in large part with their mechanics pissed at them.  Changed to United for LAX/ORD shitshow for this past weekend...everything on time but I barely fucking made it because the last 2 miles to LAX were even worse than usual. 35 min to go 2 miles at 11pm Sunday night.  Are they ever gonna fix that shit?   

Gutting the inside of the airport with new HVAC, lounges, and restaurants won't fix shit. The pushback alleys between the terminals is the reason for the slow taxi times inbound. The entire footprint sans Bradley needs to be razed. So, no it's never going to be fixed.

[Surly Bevo 24908]

I was at DFW last night. My 6:55 flight to DCA left a little before midnight. The plane we rode there had landed at DFW around 7:15. They got a gate to park the thing at.....11pm.

Watching those people get off at C26 and then walk headlong into the easily 2 football fields long rebooking line (being serviced by 4 agents) was sadistic entertainment.

When we arrived at DCA captains exact words to me exiting the plane were “thanks for flying sorry about that Fall of Saigon scene we left behind”

My head hit a pillow at 4:45am. It’s been a shitty day.

[Surly Bevo 24908]

I was at DFW last night. My 6:55 flight to DCA left a little before midnight. The plane we rode there had landed at DFW around 7:15. They got a gate to park the thing at.....11pm.

Watching those people get off at C26 and then walk headlong into the easily 2 football fields long rebooking line (being serviced by 4 agents) was sadistic entertainment.

When we arrived at DCA captains exact words to me exiting the plane were “thanks for flying sorry about that Fall of Saigon scene we left behind”

My head hit a pillow at 4:45am. It’s been a shitty day.

[Surly Bevo 24908]

I was at DFW last night. My 6:55 flight to DCA left a little before midnight. The plane we rode there had landed at DFW around 7:15. They got a gate to park the thing at.....11pm.

Watching those people get off at C26 and then walk headlong into the easily 2 football fields long rebooking line (being serviced by 4 agents) was sadistic entertainment.

When we arrived at DCA captains exact words to me exiting the plane were “thanks for flying sorry about that Fall of Saigon scene we left behind”

My head hit a pillow at 4:45am. It’s been a shitty day.

[Surly Bevo 24908]

I was at DFW last night. My 6:55 flight to DCA left a little before midnight. The plane we rode there had landed at DFW around 7:15. They got a gate to park the thing at.....11pm.

Watching those people get off at C26 and then walk headlong into the easily 2 football fields long rebooking line (being serviced by 4 agents) was sadistic entertainment.

When we arrived at DCA captains exact words to me exiting the plane were “thanks for flying sorry about that Fall of Saigon scene we left behind”

My head hit a pillow at 4:45am. It’s been a shitty day.

[hookemATL 11701]

Tell it again. This time with vigor!

[Lhorn 4908]

Alright, alright!  WE GET IT!

[Chet Steadman 940]

But, how has your day been?

[C-Man 27183]

I was out there yesterday trying to get to Vegas. My 2:37 flight finally left around 8:15. It rained hard for 30 mins at DFW. That’s it. Then it was sunshine. No reason for the massive AA disruption yesterday. Love got hammered but not DFW. That was some bullshit.

[Gil Bang 25907]

18 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I was out there yesterday trying to get to Vegas. My 2:37 flight finally left around 8:15. It rained hard for 30 mins at DFW. That’s it. Then it was sunshine. No reason for the massive AA disruption yesterday. Love got hammered but not DFW. That was some bullshit.

Was it just AA that was disrupted, or everybody at DFW?

[RPM 26315]

I read where there was a GPS guidance problem yesterday. Not sure if it affected AA, but a hundreds of flights were grounded.

[bmbmd 1027]

Sucks to be me-wife booked Spirit for some reason to return from Orlando.  (I swore I'd never board a Spirit plane again).  Scheduled to land at DFW about 2:30.  Take off delayed an hour, then diverted to Houston Bush about halfway in.  Spent an hour on the tarmac, another hour in the terminal, then headed back to DFW.  Landed, spent half an hour on the tarmac, then deplaned about 7 pm.  Considering the shitstorm that was DFW yesterday, Spirit did okay.  I was home in my jammies by eight o'clock.  Our captain said there was a GPS failure at DFW. 

[Homercles 10205]

Even though I’m not going to take the flight they rebooked me on, as I drove back from DFW Sunday night...it won’t let me cancel online and have to wait 45m for a callback. All seats on that flight are full so I’m trying to help out some poor bastard who has probably been rebooked 11 times already, and open up my spot so they don’t have to sweat on standby until the last second.

 

Probably still a mess there.

 

Maybe they should negotiate with their mechanic union...my last hope to get home by air went Tech and I’m sure that’s not a coincidence.

[Anastasis 23455]

12 minutes ago, Homercles said:

Probably still a mess there.

Both of my flights went off on time this morning. Dfw was not a total zoo, but there were still a few very frustrated travelers. Only saw one “let me talk to your manger” lady while waiting to board my connection.  

[Rougarou 594]

Again, flying out today with a confirmed upgrade to first class in hand. if it gets cancelled, I'll be crestfallen.

Have tight connections to make it to meetings later this week in MSP and LGA and I can't afford delays. Wish me luck.

Also, one of the benefits of exec plat is the AAdvantage line to get rebooked and not wait in lines like I've seen in CLT where there are 300 people waiting to get rebooked. Misery.

[Gil Bang 25907]

I don't fly enough these days to justify the expense of the Admiral's club, but when I did, I always rebooked in there. 

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

3 hours ago, Homercles said:

Even though I’m not going to take the flight they rebooked me on, as I drove back from DFW Sunday night...it won’t let me cancel online and have to wait 45m for a callback. All seats on that flight are full so I’m trying to help out some poor bastard who has probably been rebooked 11 times already, and open up my spot so they don’t have to sweat on standby until the last second.

 

Probably still a mess there.

 

Maybe they should negotiate with their mechanic union...my last hope to get home by air went Tech and I’m sure that’s not a coincidence.

The problem is that there MX Union is tied at the hip with their rampers. So their contract for guys turning wrenched will also effect the ones throwing bags. 

[Gil Bang 25907]

20 hours ago, elfenix said:

easy airside transit between terminals?

OK, that's a completely legit complaint.   Having never connected through LAX, I've never realized that terminal switches are an issue.  

When I fly LAX, I start there and end there.  I never ever connect there.   I prefer to fly from SNA or SAN, but if I'm flying international or transcon, I make the drive to LAX. 

[Updawg 2266]

AA got these kids there, eventually

Delta Air Lines came to the rescue of a group of Oklahoma elementary school students who were left stranded at an airport after American Airlines canceled their flight to Virginia and Washington, D.C.

USA TODAY: Delta Air Lines steps in to help stranded students

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2019/06/11/delta-air-lines-saves-school-trip-oklahoma-5th-graders/1417334001/

[Homercles 10205]

OK, that's a completely legit complaint.   Having never connected through LAX, I've never realized that terminal switches are an issue.  

When I fly LAX, I start there and end there.  I never ever connect there.   I prefer to fly from SNA or SAN, but if I'm flying international or transcon, I make the drive to LAX. 

I hate you and your hub choices...the only time I envy my BiL living in Dallas is his ability to get almost anywhere without connecting flights. AUS is slowly coming around but it’ll never be DFW

[Rougarou 594]

2.5 hour delay after boarding; at least first class seat but gosh, never on time.

[Gil Bang 25907]

24 minutes ago, Homercles said:

 

I hate you and your hub choices...the only time I envy my BiL living in Dallas is his ability to get almost anywhere without connecting flights. AUS is slowly coming around but it’ll never be DFW

 

Lots of airport choices here.  LAX, SNA, LGB, ONT, SAN are all doable for me.  Admittedly, I haven't used LGB since Reno Air flew LGB-ORD, so it's been a while.  But yeah, it's pretty cool to be able to drive to LAX and get on a flight to Narita and have time to get shitfaced AND sober up, and not have to worry about any connections.