The Perils of Domestic Air Travel

I don't think it's a big secret that I hate American Airlines. But for our trip to New York I was using air miles, American air miles. And when you're using air miles, you're lucky if you can fly direct one way. You are certainly  not going to fly direct both ways, unless perhaps you want to stay for longer than a month. Another option for getting a direct flight is using double the air miles required for the trip. I personally don't like that option. It's like saying "Oh yes! Let me pay double the price for that!" That's just not something you're going to hear me say.

So our flight to New York was direct from Dallas to LaGuardia and our flight home was from New York JFK to Baltimore and then Baltimore to Dallas. Even though our flight wasn't until 4:00 we went to the airport around noon - because once you check out of the hotel, there's just no place else to go with your baggage. (Yes, you can leave your bags at the hotel in their storage area, and we've done that on occasion but it didn't seem like a good option at the time because you never know how long it will take to get to the airport.) It was okay. Mark likes to be early. In addition to not knowing how long it might to get to the airport, you never know how long it might take you to get through security and there were plenty of choices for food and drink.

We got suspicious when an email came through about 1 pm that told us that our flight "might" be affected by a winter storm and that we should consider changing our plans. I went to the American Airlines customer service desk (I honestly don't know why they call it that) to try to make other arrangements to get to Dallas. I was told that the direct flight to Dallas was oversold but that she would put us on the standby list. Other than that, my best bet was to hope that my flight to Baltimore left on time. It was still listed as "on time" for 4 pm and the Dallas flight was scheduled for 5:30 pm.

I kept looking at the weather radar. There was rain in NYC and snow in Pittsburgh. Rain in Washington DC and Baltimore. I monitored the weather radar every half hour or so because that snow in Pittsburgh was inching its way toward the eastern seaboard but when we went to the gate a bit after 3 pm it still looked okay.

To avoid making a long story even longer (and boring) let's just say that the flight was delayed for 30 minutes before it started boarding. But because I cancelled that credit card that guaranteed us Group 1 boarding, we were in Group 8. (That's last.) The entire plane had been boarded except for Group 8 and we were just about to go through the jetway when they stopped us. We didn't get to board. And everyone who had boarded were made to get off. We all stood and watched as the crew for "our" plane was reassigned.

Then they flashed it on the board - Canceled. Due to weather. Seriously? They don't have to pay for your hotel or other expenses if it's due to weather. (More on this in a moment.) In the meantime, the people at the gate would help us get rerouted. The same story "customer service" had given me earlier -the flight to Dallas was full but they could put us on the standby list. I told them we were already on the standby list. She looked and told me that we were not. Really? Why did the other woman tell me she'd put us on the list when clearly, she didn't? Why do some people feel it's necessary to lie when the truth will do just as well? Although in truth, being on the standby list on an oversold flight is an exercise in futility.

I wanted to go home. I wanted to go home on Saturday because I only packed enough medication for the days we were going to be gone. I'd assumed I'd be home Saturday night.

The next flight to Baltimore wouldn't be until 4 pm on Sunday afternoon. Although, if we wanted to go back to LaGuardia we could go to Baltimore as early as 7 am. We didn't really care about going to Baltimore. Dallas was where we wanted to go. She offered Pittsburgh but again not until Sunday afternoon. Remember that I'd been watching the weather radar all day long. Why on earth would I want to take a chance on getting in and out of Pittsburgh? I knew it had been snowing there for hours. As it turns out, she couldn't route us through any other city.

The best choice was becoming obvious. The options for going back to LaGuardia all included early morning flights to cities where it had been snowing all day and night and hoping to get a flight out to Dallas later in the day. The options leaving JFK were Pittsburgh around 3 and hope to get out of Pittsburgh to Dallas. Baltimore at 4 hoping to get out to Dallas OR direct to Dallas at 5:30. Guess what we picked? Somehow or another, they could now accommodate us on the direct flight home even though this wasn't an option when we booked the ticket in the first place. Do you see why American Airlines disgusts me?

Now back to the weather issue. No other flights were cancelled. It had been snowing in Pittsburgh for hours but that flight had gone. The airports in Baltimore and Washington DC are less than 50 miles apart and the flight to Washington DC left AFTER the canceled flight to Baltimore. The Delta flight to Baltimore which was scheduled to leave after the canceled AA flight left on time. (It wouldn't have done any good for us to take that one because we would have likely missed the connecting flight to Dallas - although I was informed later that even though it was scheduled to arrive around 9:30 it didn't actually get in until close to midnight.) Does American want me to believe that the weather in Washington DC is significantly different from the weather in Baltimore when they are about 50 miles apart? Or maybe they'd prefer I believe that Delta airlines has better planes and better pilots so they are able to fly in weather that grounds AA, although it seems their planes and pilots can go to Pittsburgh where it had been snowing for hours longer than it had been snowing in Baltimore.

Just not buying what they're trying to sell. They canceled it for reasons that had nothing to do with weather but didn't want to say so because then they'd have to reimburse the displaced passengers for their expenses associated with the cancellation. With hotel, additional meals, and taxis it probably cost us an extra $300. Not to mention the lost day. And aggravation and stress.

And to top it off, when we checked in for our flight the following day, they tried to charge us for the baggage again. Good thing I still had the receipt in my handbag. After we were back home, safe and sound (and with all our baggage) I got an email from American Airlines advising me to let them know where to deliver my "lost" baggage. Nothing to worry about folks! They are right on top of it!

We may be through with domestic air travel...