[sturuk]

I had a connecting flight from Los Angeles to San Diego on Thursday Oct 2, 2014 on American Eagle, departing at 7:05 pm, to arrive in San Diego at 7:50 pm. I had a 9:30 pm shuttle booked and paid for from San Diego to the Tijuana airport, where I had a 1 am flight to Acapulco. I arrived in LA at 4 pm, and went directly to the boarding gate at American Eagle, and received my boarding pass. Boarding time came and went, and when I explained my situation to the AA employee, and asked what was happening, he told me we were waiting for a pilot, but not to worry, one was on the way. After speaking to numerous other passengers in the waiting area, I learned that many of them were taking this flight, because the other AA flights from LA to San Diego during that day had been cancelled because the pilot who was to be on duty for the first LA to San Diego flight on Oct 2 did not arrive, creating a domino effect for the remainder of the flights. A pilot did arrive, but he was put on another flight which had been delayed more than an hour. At this point, I tried to find another flight to San Diego, but was unsuccessful. Shortly after 8 pm, we were told the flight was cancelled, and a bus would be there at 8:30 to take us to San Diego. To add insult to injury, an AA flight left for San Diego at 9:05, full of passengers whose flights had previously been cancelled. There was 1 seat available, and they filled it with an AA employee instead of one of us. Finally, at 9:30 we left for San Diego, arriving at the airport at 11:30 pm. I found a taxi willing to get me to the border in the least possible time. By the time I got through customs, and got another taxi to the airport in Tijuana, my 1 am flight had already left. There were no other flights that night, and that airline policy is if you are a no-show, you lose your ticket. I had to purchase another ticket on a different airline in the morning. Extra costs to me was $400 in total. I contacted AA customer service and explained my situation. They told me I was a valued customer and offered me a $50 voucher on my next AA flight. I explained the extra costs they caused me, but it was the standard $50 flight voucher they offered. I understand that flights have to be cancelled sometimes, but my problem in this case is that AA knew from the outset the flight was not going to depart. If they had told me when I arrived at the boarding gate, I would have had ample time to get a flight on another airline, and get to San Diego on time. Needless to say, I will NEVER fly AA again. In my opinion they place no value on their customers, and they do not deserve to have any.