I am writing to you because of a problem I encountered while traveling with your airline. The flight was out of San Diego with a destination of Minneapolis.
I called your reservation desk and asked about upgrading a ticket to first class. The ticket was being purchased for me by a company I do business with and I requested that they purchase the ticket from American. I used my miles to purchase the upgrade. I was informed that all was in order and a record locator was given to me. The printout confirmed my flight and my seat assignment. The day before the flight I attempted to check in but was told that I must check in at the airport.
I decided to leave early to be sure I had enough time to check in. I arrived at the airport two hours before the flight. I checked my bag curbside but the porter was on the phone for 20 minutes and then informed me I had to go to the ticket counter because of some problem. I was second in line at the first class check in but it took almost 20 minutes before I was waited on as there was some problem with a large family in front of me. The ticket person said that there was a problem with my ticket and she needed a certificate number to process me. She made several phone calls and was put on hold each time. Time went by and I began to be concerned. I reported my concern to the agent and she informed me that I need not worry. She said she called ahead to the boarding area and they know I am coming. I said that I couldnt afford to miss the flight and asked why it was taking so long. She said that someone had neglected to process my upgrade and they were doing it now. She said that I could relax and that I would not miss the flight. I asked if I could go to the gate and have her send the number she needed to them there. She said no and then reassured me that I would not miss the flight. I finally got the number and my boarding pass and I ran to security. I went to the first class security and was in a fairly short line but it took about 10 minutes to get through. While in the line I was paged by someone. I told security that I was being paged and they said I could not leave until I was cleared. Once I was cleared I ran to the gate just as the door was closing and presented my pass. The agent told me that I had missed the flight. I told her that I saw that the door had just closed to the ramp and that the plane door was still open. She informed me that they had already given my seat to someone else. I asked if they had been informed that I was coming and she said that she had paged me and I didnt answer. I informed her that I was in security during the page and couldnt respond immediately but that it had only been 5 minutes after your page that I arrived at the gate. It was 8:35 but I was refused boarding.
I suppressed my anger and calmly waited as they booked me on a flight 4 hours later. The new flight was to St. Louis on a smaller plane with little room in first class and then I had to ride a smaller plane to Minneapolis with no first class at all.
I had an important meeting scheduled for 6PM which I missed. I had planned this trip two months earlier and had done everything possible to be sure I would be on time.
I can understand snow storms, hurricanes and other acts of god delaying flights. I understand that mistakes can happen because we are all human.in this case it was a collection of mistakes.
1. The mistake of not processing my upgrade at the time it was made.
2. The mistake of allowing me to wait in line for 20 minutes even though I was first in line in the first class line.
3. The number of phone calls required to get the certificate number.
4. The time the ticket person was kept on hold.
5. Poor communication about my arrival delay at the gate.
6. Giving my seat away, disregarding that they were told I was on my way.
The worst one of all was
7. The lack of concern for my trouble and the attitude that is was my fault that I missed the flight.
You have been my airline of choice for many years. I have over 2 million miles with you. I stood in disbelief as I watched my flight take off without me and realized what it was costing me. Do you care for your good customers? Do you care if I travel with you again? Do you care about your reputation?
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