I purchased an airline ticket from American Airlines (AA) for my 22 year old daughter who got married 6 months ago and moved to California with her husband who is in the Marines. She is now 4 months pregnant with their first child and my first grandchild.
I haven't seen my daughter since she moved and miss her very much. I bought a ticket with American Airlines because they offered the best price, and I wanted to see my daugher. My daughter was to depart from San Diego at 4:18pm on 10/22/04 and arrive in Houston at 10:58pm with one stop in Dallas.
Unfortunately there was bad weather in Dallas which caused her flight from San Diego to be delayed. Upon arrival at Dallas, her flight was to pick up passengers going from Dallas to Houston so my daughter was not to get off the plain. Her flight from San Diego to Houston, was the same flight from Dallas to Houston. My daughter's flight finally arrived in Dallas about 10:30pm. As she waited on the plane in Dallas for the passengers to board so that she could continue on to Houston, she was informed that she need to exit the plane. She explained that she was going to Houston and therefore was to remain on the plane. She was informed that the flight to Houston and already left and she had missed it due to the late departure from San Diego. My daughter became very upset and began to cry. She was instructed to go to the counter of AA to see when the next flight out was.
She went to talk to a representative of AA and asked how she could miss the flight to Houston, when she was already on the flight to Houston. She was told that they could not explain why AA did what they did when there was bad weather. She was told that they could try to put her on a flight the next morning, which was Saturday. My daughter's departure time to return to San Diego was at 7:00am on Sunday, 10/24. As it was, she was already only going to stay 2 nights and one day. Now they cut her time with her family down just 1 night and 1 day.
As my daughter was talking to the rep. Trying to find out how she could miss the flight to Houston when she was on THE flight to Houston, a man representing himself as the General Manager of AA approached her to inquire what was wrong since she was crying. My daughter explained what had happened and how she just could not understand how the flight to Houston had already left, when she was in fact already on the flight to Houston.
The GM could not explain either, and offered her a discount on a hotel room for the night. My daughter told him that unless the room was free it would not do her any good, because she didn't have any money. So, his BEST offer to her was to bring a cot so she could have something to sleep on in the airport lobby. She is 4 months pregnant, and this yo-yo is offering her a cot to sleep on.
Well, as I arrived at Intercontinental airport in Houston at 10:45 to pick up my daughter that should be arriving at 10:58, she calls me crying because she is stranded at DFW in Dallas with no money, she hadn't eaten since 3:00 that afternoon and she was hungry and nothing was opened in the airport. However, she was expected to sleep on a cot in the airport lobby. She was not offered any food, or any help from anyone with AA.
Well, of course, as any mother, I surely didn't want my 22 year old, pregnant daugher, who is traveling alone, to spend all night at DFW. I immediately left Houston for Dallas to pick up my daughter. Even though I paid money to AA to bring my daughter safely to Houston, I had to drive from Houston to Dallas to ensure my daughter arrived safely in Houston.
I arrived at DFW about 3:00am because the weather was bad and I had to drive slow. I picked my daughter up and we drove back to Houston. We arrived in Houston about 7:00am on Saturday morning. My daughter immediately went to sleep and slept until about noon. She had plans to have breakfast with her father Saturday morning, but had to cancel due to fatigue.
Now instead of being able to spend the entire Saturday with my daughter, because she didn't get to sleep until 7:00am, and got up at noon, I was only able to spend 1/2 with my daughter.
When my daughter found out at DFW that she wasn't able to get to Houston until the next day, she asked if AA could give her a later flight out on Sunday, rather than leaving at 7:00am, so she could make up the time that she was going to miss spending with her family. She was told "absolutely not, " that the flight was going out of Houston and they could not help her. She asked what that had to do with anything since it was still American Airlines, whether it was going out of Houston or out of Dallas, it was the same airlines. She was told "they just couldn't do that."
The representatives for AA in DFW had extreme lack of care or concern for my daughter or her situation whatsoever. The fact that she was alone, hungry, and stranded with no money did not matter to any of the AA personnel at DFW at all. They just did not care!
I feel the least they could have done, was given my daugher something to eat, and put her up in a hotel room free of charge. If not that, they could have at least given her a later flight out of Houston on her departure date. They did absolutely nothing, because they just did not care.
That was my first time using American Airlines, and it will be my last. I will pay the extra $100.00 to $150.00 for another airline, just to ensure my daughter, or any of my family members are treated properly. This goes for any travel that is done in my office as well.
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