I am going to shout my story from the rooftops as I am officially done with American Airlines. I've flown them exclusively for the past two decades and I am over it after this most recent fallout.
I was headed from SAN to JAX on business and a week later planned on meeting my wife in south Florida as she was coming in from SAN to PBI. We couldn't find the same return flight when we tried to book online, so we had to purchase (and overpay for) four one-way tickets.
A week after we purchased the airfare, my wife found out she was pregnant and after a few doctors appointments over the next month, she was informed there were complications and she absolutely shouldn't fly until after the baby is born in December.
We attempted to contact AA on a few occasions, dealing with one jerk after another in customer service. In a down economy when jobs are sparse, we were amazed that these people were all so crass and insensitive -- almost happy to be unhelpful and to put us in place.
We wrote a letter to their refunds department, attached the doctor's note, explained our situation and they denied our request for a refund.
Furthermore, because they were four one-way tickets we would have to put a $150 change fee for each leg of the flight -- totaling $600. That, combined with the $800 in airfare, we're now looking at $1,400+ for round trip to Florida.... when two new tickets would be about $600 total --- the exact amount of the 'rebooking fee'.
With a new baby in December, there's no way we'd even be able to use the old tickets within the one-year span, voiding them.
We fought this battle for a good month, got absolutely nowhere and we were treated like crap regarding everyone we spoke with at AA.
I am absolutely done with this airline forever. I'll pay double and take an indirect route on another airline before I ever give AA another dime.
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