[jw50mayo]

My son and I purchased two tickets through priceline.com to attend a film festival in San Antonio, Texas. We purchased the tickets on December 30th and were set to fly from SeaTac airport on January 7th, at 11:40 am. We picked the flight that had the best arrival time in San Antonio and that ended up being American Airlines. We live near Yakima, Washington and had planned to travel over the pass early on the morning of the 7th. Unfortunately, a series of events began in Washington State that are still with us. Snoqualmie pass ended up being closed that morning because of landslide danger. So, we headed up over White Pass as that pass usually stays open during bad weather, even though it is about 75 miles out of the way. We got caught in a mudslide part way up the mountain and after being warned not to go any further after we were pulled out we headed home to make sure our vehicle was okay. In the meantime my wife called to see about changing our flight times. The airline put us on standby for 3:30 or 11:55 pm. But they said standby was only good for that day. I tried to see if there were any flights out of Yakima, but there weren’t. We knew we couldn’t make the 3:30 flight driving so we decided to take an around about route to try to make the 11:55 pm flight. That involved heading south over Satus pass then west to Portland and then up I-5 to Seattle. Unfortunately, I-5 ended up closing because of flooding. So we had to turn around with no way to make it to SeaTac airport. At that point I called American Airlines to see if they could change my flight to fly out of Portland. They said they could, but it would be the next morning and there would be fees of $750 per ticket. I about flipped as I paid only $218.00 per ticket originally. I could understand a transfer fee of $50 or $100 to change this at the last minute, but my tickets were paid for and there were available seats. I got nowhere with the customer service rep, so I was transferred to a supervisor. He was even worse. Basically he refused to even consider that fact that there was no way to reach the airport and that every access point to Seattle was flooded out. The only way he could consider any adjustment would be if there was an issue with the airport, which there wasn’t. I asked to speak to his superior and he said that his supervisor doesn’t take any phone calls. Besides, he said, he had the authority to help me out but he wasn’t going to. He did not care that I wasn’t about to do business with American Airlines again. I just wanted him to extend standby until 6:00 am which was when the flight from Portland was going to leave. We weren’t about to pay $1500 more to fly, so we gave up. Our tickets are still there, but to make changes for the future we have to pay $150 per ticket, plus any addition costs. We drove almost 600 miles to make this flight that day. It wasn’t like we didn’t try. It would have been nice if the airline could have helped us out, but I honestly don’t think customer service is in their job description.

The question I have is this - Is American Airlines being so poorly run that they have to extort money from customers to try to make up for their losses?

Interestingly enough, the film festival had a policy of no refunds, but when I explained our dilemma they promptly refund what we paid. That was attentive customer service.

[countrynewsman]

If I understand your complaint correctly, I will tend to side with the airlines on this one. You booked a round-trip ticket one week in advance. You save by buying in advance and save on a round trip. Now you need a one way ticket the same day from a different city. I can about guarantee you it's going to be more expensive. I checked AA's website for flights from Portland to San Antonio tomorrow and the fare per person is $578.20 one way. The economy super saver was not available. The same trip a week from now is $ 268.00 round trip. So...you have a change fee and the difference was applied to the higher fare. Not all seats on a flight are the same price all the time. It's pretty clear that AA ran out of their economy super saver seats pretty early. Now...if your delay to Seattle was the airline's fault (mechanical delay on an inbound connecting flight, for example), then they would be responsible for putting you on another flight, no matter if there were super saver seats available or not. However, in this case, the delay to Seattle was your problem...not AA's. This is the chance we take when we purchase discounted seats. I do not believe you have a valid complaint.

[jimworcs]

You are right that AA are contractually correct to refuse to help this customer out, as would the festival organisers have been to also refuse a refund. What JW was saying was there was exceptional weather conditions which made it impossible for JW to get to the airport, and was asking the company to make an exception to their normal policy. AA were upfront.. we could, but we choose not too. The airlines however during weather related emergencies, often ask passengers to understand the exceptional weather conditions and come on this site almost daily bemoaning passengers who blame them for the weather. JW learned a lesson about AA's attitude towards it's customers, and now I hope he will apply the lessons learned and choose another carrier.

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by jw50mayo

My son and I purchased two tickets through priceline.com to attend a film festival in San Antonio, Texas.

Duplicated a R/T purchase on Priceline.com with a one-week advance purchase. After selecting the outbound and return flight options I was shown this:

Add Trip Protection - Get 24-hour protection for your trip!


For only $16 per person (plus $1 per day if you include a rental car*), U.S. residents can purchase protection against unforeseen illness, injury, baggage loss, and more. Details.

Trip Protection includes:
Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption (reimbursement up to the full cost of your trip)
Medical Expenses (up to $1500) and Emergency Evacuation (up to $50,000)
Travel Accident Protection (up to $50,000)
Baggage Protection (up to $500 for stolen, lost or damaged bags and personal effects)
24 Hour Worldwide Assistance Services

Yes! I'd like to purchase Trip Protection for only $16 per person (plus $1 per day if you include a rental car).
No, thanks. I prefer to decline Trip Protection.

Did you elect to insure your travel with this inexpensive option?

We purchased the tickets on December 30th and were set to fly from SeaTac airport on January 7th, at 11:40 am. We picked the flight that had the best arrival time in San Antonio and that ended up being American Airlines. We live near Yakima, Washington and had planned to travel over the pass early on the morning of the 7th.

I also searched a R/T one-week advance purchase from Yakima (YKM) to San Antionio (SAT) and the whole ticket priced at about $150 more per person. Seems like a lot but in hindsight would probably have been a better option than driving from YKM to SEA. I'm sure parking @YKM is cheaper too.

We knew we couldn’t make the 3:30 flight driving so we decided to take an around about route to try to make the 11:55 pm flight. That involved heading south over Satus pass then west to Portland and then up I-5 to Seattle. Unfortunately, I-5 ended up closing because of flooding. So we had to turn around with no way to make it to SeaTac airport. At that point I called American Airlines to see if they could change my flight to fly out of Portland. They said they could, but it would be the next morning and there would be fees of $750 per ticket.

The I-5 closure was well publicized in the media. Alaska Airlines (Horizon Air to be exact) lowered their walk-up fare to $179 O/W in reaction to this. I'm sure you could have gotten a lower return fare depending on the length of your stay in SAT. If not, $179 X 4 (2 ppl. ea. way) comes out to $716 which is less than half the $750 X 2 AA wanted to change your tickets.

[jw50mayo]

You are correct about the insurance. In hindsight I should have gotten that and in the future I will seriously consider that. Though I probably need to research it more.
The I-5 closure didn't happen until about an hour and a half before I arrived at the closure point. I had read that they were not expecting flooding until the morning.
I had planned to drop my car off at a relatives house and it was only going to cost me 30.00 in gas to drive there an back. But any winter travel in the future I need to think more seriously about flying out of Yakima.
I think the thing that got me the most is when a airline has open seats that it won't allow me to change airports for a reasonable fee.
But like someone said earlier, stay away from AA.

Thanks

[countrynewsman]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

JW learned a lesson about AA's attitude towards it's customers, and now I hope he will apply the lessons learned and choose another carrier.

I don't know if another airline would have done anything differently. Perhaps so, but I'm thinking not. However, in thinking about this a bit more, I have to wonder if the flight these folks could have taken did leave with empty seats. An empty seat is a perishable product. Better to get $200 than nothing.

[Silent Bob]

I don't believe another airline would have done anything differently. What should have been done, rather than talking to the airline, you should have gone directly to priceline for rebooking, especially since you booked through them. Plus they would have done a better job of rebooking you since they don't have to use AA, but any airline they choose to get you to your destination, within the price you paid. Orbitz is great at this, so is Expedia.

[jimworcs]

I am not so sure Bob, sounds like Horizon Air tried to help customers... AA chose not too, so customers should draw their own conclusions. In cases like this it often depends who you get. It sounds like the customer service person they got on the day was a bit more helpful than the one they got the next day.

Alaska Airlines (Horizon Air to be exact) lowered their walk-up fare to $179 O/W in reaction to this.

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by jw50mayo

You are correct about the insurance. In hindsight I should have gotten that and in the future I will seriously consider that. Though I probably need to research it more.
The I-5 closure didn't happen until about an hour and a half before I arrived at the closure point. I had read that they were not expecting flooding until the morning.
I had planned to drop my car off at a relatives house and it was only going to cost me 30.00 in gas to drive there an back. But any winter travel in the future I need to think more seriously about flying out of Yakima.
I think the thing that got me the most is when a airline has open seats that it won't allow me to change airports for a reasonable fee.
But like someone said earlier, stay away from AA.

Thanks

It isn't as simple as an airline having open seats. There is a different fare, depending on the airport you fly out of. You know that, which is why you chose to fly out of SEA, instead of closer to home, Yakima - it was cheaper. Sure, the weather/flooding messed with your plans, and I'm sure AA could have been a little more helpful, but ultimately, they have set fare prices, and rarely are those waived, unless the airline, itself, is at fault. You need to remember that AA is not to blame for this.

ALSO ... Priceline is a third party website. It is better to book through the airline, itself, than go through a third part website. Technically, when you book through Expedia, Travelocity, etc., the airline isn't even responsible for your reservation. I've had people come to the ticket counter, and there is a big problem with their reservation, or their reservation doesn't even exist. If they booked it through Expedia, Priceline, etc., I have to inform them to call Expedia, or Priceline, etc., to get it resolved.

Next time, I would use the Expedia and Priceline type website to see what airline has the cheapest fare, and then go book it directly with that airline, on their website. The same fare will exist on that airline's website. Many people don't realize this. Then, you'll have a little more protection.