I had a flight scheduled from Detroit to London with a layover through Chicago. Due to bad weather in Chicago, I had 60 seconds to get to my flight departing for London. Being a seasoned traveller, I knew that my bags would not be in London when I arrived.
Arrived in London at 10:30am, had a connecting flight to Dublin at 1:30pm on another carrier. Of course my bags were not there. I was told that since I was travelling on to Dublin, my bags would be out on the first Aer Lingus (AA's partner) flight and that I would have my bags by 8am. Since my hotel only said "Lower Rathmines, Dublin) I was instructed to call the London desk as soon as I was checked in with the actual address.
I arrived at my hotel around 5pm and immediately went two doors down to the Internet cafe to call American in London. I called for 2 hours straight and all the phone did was ring and ring and ring. I finally called the main Heathrow line and asked to be connected to someone in baggage. The number I was transferred to informed me that the center was CLOSED! So I get the number in Fort Worth and call overseas to the United States. It is now 7:45pm. The lady in customer service enters my address and confirms that the baggage will be on the Aer Lingus flight in the morning. Fine. I go and purchase clothes suitable for dinner and theatre in Dublin (they have very strict rules on dress codes) but I'm not upset at this point. I understand that weather cannot be controlled.
I wake up at 11am the next morning and am excited to go downstairs and get my bags. I get down there and... NO BAGGAGE! So I throw on clothes, go back to the internet cafe, and start calling again. For the first hour of calling, I again cannot get through to anyone. After calling a different number, I get a gentleman who says that he has no idea where my bags are, but he will call around and find out and can I call back in a half hour? So I get something to eat and go back to call-same thing-no answer. I tried calling for another half hour. I finally call the main number to American in London and speak with a very rude agent. The time is now almost 2pm. She informs me that yes, the bags are in Dublin, but she does not know where. She advises me to contact Aer Lingus. When I ask her for the number, she says that she doesn't have it. I get the number from the internet and call Aer Lingus. Another hour goes by and still no answer as to where my bags are. So I call the guy from earlier that is supposed to be finding them. He says that Aer Lingus tried to deliver, but did not have an address. You know, the address that the agent in Texas supposedly entered. So I give him the address, and he tells me to call back in a half hour to find out when the bags will be delivered. Another hour, still no person answering the phones. I finally get through to him at 5pm and he tells me that my bags will be there "sometime that evening". My bags finally showed up at 8pm, the time we were supposed to be leaving for my friend's band's concert.
My flight back to London left Sunday morning at 6am. So out of the 2 1/2 days I was in Dublin, I spent a day and a half trying to locate my bags, without much help from American Airlines. Not to mention the $150 on phone calls alone. When I contacted American about this, their idea of "proper compensation" was a $100 voucher. Gee, thanks. I'll be sure to fly your airline again in the future.
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