Bad experience going to DFW with an IT outage then bad on the way back with a nearly 5 hour delay that’s started as maintenance then caused us to wait further due to weather - which would not have happened if we had left on time.
Horrible experience flying with American. Flight was delayed due to inbound flight delay. Fine, it happens. Then, we were delayed an additional almost 30 minutes due to the paperwork for departure having a "clerical error." Then, upon landing at the destination airport we were stuck on the plane for an HOUR after we landed and pulled up to the gate because apparently there was another plane. An hour waiting for the gate 12:30 AM when the flight has already been delayed due to operational error feels like a complete failure of the ability to do the one thing they need to do apart from actually have the plane takeoff and land. Very disappointing.
Upgraded to first class. I would consider the first class on that plane to be only slightly more comfortable than coach. Long delay.
The staff was nice. I appreciated that I was able to take an earlier flight, even though it was last minute. The boarding process felt rather chaotic.
We arrived 25 minutes early only to be told our gate was occupied and so we sat for close to 30 minutes to pull into a gate. That’s not an early arrival!
The actual trip was fine, however, the changes made to our flights and the layovers were had to endure were awful.
Terrible. Cancelled my original flight. It made getting a boarding pass difficult. The AA employee (in a loud voice, so everyone around could hear) griped at me for not getting a boarding pass 24 hours before. I asked how I was supposed to do that when I had no idea what flight I was going to be on. She said (loudly), “Talk to AA customer service, not me!” I could certainly tell serving customers was not important to her. Our new flight was set to a completely different city. We had to change our rental car, and the price went way up. It took 2-1/2 hours to get checked in. By then our new flight had left. We ended up on stand by and had to split up the family to get to our destination. It cost us the whole first day of the trip. AA needs to employ people who actually care about doing a good job. I suppose those people are getting harder to find, but atleast try.
Promised lounge access, gate agent didn't allow us entry.
The flight was great, and I have never ridden in first class previously so I don't have any practical knowledge of the norm. The flight out to DFW was delayed and I sat in economy which was as expected, not nearly as spoiled as I was in first class which had more general room but that is par for the course. I have no complaints and will wait until I fly American again before I can make a valid improvement. I will fly American again in the future.
My flight was on the busiest day for travelling, a day before Thanksgiving. There was no delay, boarding started on time, and we arrived on time. Nowadays it is enough to give the highest rating. Thank you!
