Beware of American Airlines from Hawaii (or anywhere else)

[JustPlainBill]

My wife and I flew back to LAX from Maui today on American. We had been preassigned adjoining seats. When we got our boarding passes, we were dismayed to discover that we had been reassigned to separate rows. I called an American agent on my cellular phone and asked how such a thing could happen--we wanted to be together for that 5-hour flight (I am 66 and have an ailment that makes it convenient for me to be near my wife). The agent said, "You didn't buy seats, you bought tickets. In your category [standard coach] we can seat you anyplace." I do quite a bit of flying and have never encountered such a thing before. On the plane, I explained our predicament to the flight attendant and asked if there were two seats together anywhere on the plane. She said, "No," walked away and did nothing to help us get togther. If you want to sit in your supposedly preassigned seat, you had better avoid this armpit of an airline.

[bigeyes1]

Hi,

My husband and I fly AA all of the time because of the nearby main hub. Unfortunately, what the AA rep said is true. They only guarantee your tickets, not your seat assignments.

I don't know how many times AA has changed our seat assignments, flight numbers and even plane configurations. I do know it's been so many times, I've lost count. That's why I make it a point to check our confirmed reservations almost daily. If a change has been made, I either try to fix it online myself or call an AA agent-- pronto.

Having said that, if you have a disability, they are usually pretty good in honoring your requests. I have a disability and made it a point to have them put this in my file AND to include that I need assistance from my companion. That way they have this information onhand just in case I do need to call them.

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I would have been disappointed if my companion and I had to sit apart on a five hour flight, too. I truly wish airlines would leave our seat assignments alone. Or at the very least, call us when a change has been made. In my personal experience AA does NOT do this. Sad shame, too, because despite that, it's a really good airline to fly with.

[Kauai Kid]

My wife is disabled--she had a stroke because she smoked--and I always request that we get seats across the isle from each other--so I can help her in and out of her seat. Never had a problem with that. But, you are right, they do change the seat assignment and aircraft flight at will--occassionally without notification. Let American know about the disability and also have them show you how to raise the arm rest to near vertical since it helps in getting in and out of the seat.

Hawaiian Air was the worst I've ever seen. Flight attendant forced a handicapped woman in coach to use the rest room at the rear of the plane when the first class restroom was 4 rows away.

Sterling

[Spence]

Most any airline will do this when they change equipment on your flight resulting in different seating configurations or change your schedule because of a flight cancellation. You'd think that they use some intelligent programming or a human touch to get it right, but they don't. Booking way in advance to get the best fares exacerbates the situation.

[Zib]

Boy, do I feel lucky! We fly AA a lot and
have never had this happen to us.
Thanks for the heads up! From now
on I'll check,check,check!

[Icc5]

This also happened to us recently while flying with 2 kids. They seperated me from the others. I don't think it would have been such a big deal for us except nobody said anything when we checked in. You would think they would at least mention something to you when seperating your family. The next step by them will most likely be seperate planes.
We also ran into some other problems with them and after several e-mails and them finally calling and talking to my wife they were going to send some vouchers. I guess they got seperated too because we never got them. If we did I was going to give them away since I don't plan on flying with them ever again unless they are my last (hope)less.
Bart

[Hoc]

AA has changed my seat assignments occasionally, but I continue to check my reservations every week or so (for flight changes, as well as seat changes), and if a change is made that I cannot tolerate, I call right away and have them fix it. So far, I haven't had any problems when I do it within a week or so of the change.

[bigeyes1]

Originally Posted by Hoc

AA has changed my seat assignments occasionally, but I continue to check my reservations every week or so (for flight changes, as well as seat changes), and if a change is made that I cannot tolerate, I call right away and have them fix it. So far, I haven't had any problems when I do it within a week or so of the change.

I wish I could say the same. AA changed our Hawaii flights so drastically that we were arriving in HNL AFTER our interisland flight. Funny thing is.. I booked my interisland flight through AA, also. They didn't even change that. It was a mess. Luckily, it's all straightened out. Of course, we're getting in HNL later and I had to change our car rental reservations, but all is well.. For now, anyway.

[dougp26364]

I'm sorry to say this but every airline does this. The only one I know of the doesn't is SWA and that's because they haven't had assigned seating in the past.

I learned a long time ago to recheck reservations occasionally to make sure our seating assignment stays the same. Even so, United snuck one in on us a couple of years ago and reassigned my wife and I for every flight on that trip.

So good luck finding one that won't eventually do the same thing to you. CS seems to be a thing of the past for airlines as well as many other businesses in America.

[falmouth3]

I usually fly United and US Airways. I don't recall ever having my seat reservations changed on a flight. However, on occassion my husband and I have traveled together when our reservations didn't have us sitting together (reservations made at different times) they have almost always managed to put us together.

One more good reason to avoid American. I hate that my miles always expire before I can get enough miles to get a free ticket. My miles don't expire on US Airways or United.

[debraxh]

I'm not a big AA fan, but have to agree with Doug -- this can happen on any airline that preassigns seats.

And I thought frequent flier miles for AA and UA expire at the same time -- after 3 years without activity in your account?