"Maintenace Problems"

 

Now those of you who know me, you know I am not a newbie to traveling. I have had my fair share of time wandering airports, drinking ridiculously priced beer, and taking floor naps all while waiting for delayed flights. However, I am realistic. I know that things happen; I understand not everything goes according to plan and sometimes you have to deal with the stress that comes with traveling. I view myself as pretty flexible and unaffected by these hiccups. I have never demanded to speak to a manager, asked for airline miles or requested my money back. But this time, this time the airline pushed to far.

I have been teaching abroad in Spain and decided to visit Lisbon, Portugal for a day or two before heading back to The Good Life (Nebraska). My flights were pretty standard: Lisbon to London, London to Chicago, Chicago to Omaha, and my return flights were the same in reverse order.

 

December 23rd, 4 a.m.- Lisbon.
I woke at 4 a.m. to get to the airport on time for my early flight. I boarded my British Airlines flight; I arrived in London, easily made my British Airline connection and arrived in Chicago just in time to make my Omaha American Airline connection. I rushed to the flight departure screen: Gate H4, - CANCELED…Not delayed, not gate changed, but CANCELED. I was told the flight was canceled due to LOW STAFFING! The day before Christmas Eve and an entire flight was canceled because the company didn’t have enough staff?! Thus began the crying. After being abroad, reunions with family and friends have become increasingly important, but as life unfolds it seems our availability dwindles. Thus, the 23rd was the only night that it worked for my best friends and I to catch up, wedding plan and laugh until we cried.  And I wouldn’t be there for it. I was heartbroken. I was exhausted. And I was homesick.

I had a few limited options.
Option 1: I could wait on standby, but I was number 14 on the list, making it nearly impossible for me to get a flight that night.
Option 2: I could rent a car and drive home, but I was far too exhausted and broke to afford it.
Option 3: I could sleep over night in Chicago and take the next available flight, but that wasn’t until 5pm on Christmas eve, which would result in me missing my family’s Christmas, as well as my sister’s SURPRISE ENGAGEMENT PROPOSAL!

Or Option 4: Take a 9 hour bus from Chicago to Omaha after some 20 hours of previous traveling.
So, with fingers crossed, I waited on standby. And, as suspected, I was denied due to the full flight. I informed the staff that I didn’t have time to wait until the next day and would be taking a bus to Omaha instead. I was also told I could get money back for the flight I didn’t take and maybe for the bus I had to take. So after forking over the money for the taxi and ticket, I boarded my 9-hour bus.

December 24th, 8 a.m.-Omaha

I finally arrived at 8am the next day, and though I was barely functional due to the jetlag, I made it home in time to see my sister get engage and spend time with my family.

January 4th, - Omaha
I had an amazing time at home and was packing up my bags in preparation for my next day flights. I decided to take advantage of still being in the US to send my request for my flight and bus ticket. However, when I called to retrieve my reservation number I was informed that I had no future American Airline flights, only a British Flight from London to Lisbon….as you expect I was panicked and furious. I was told that because I didn’t take my Chicago to Omaha flight, American Airlines canceled my future flights. After a sufficient amount of time on hold I was told my flights had been rebooked and a request had been sent on my behalf for my canceled flight.

January 5th, 6.a.m,- Omaha
I boarded my 6 a.m. flight on time, then waited on the plane for over an hour before we actually took off. Finally, take off occurred and I was positive I had missed my connecting flight, but luckily that one had been delayed as well. ..Which I thought was a good thing, until they CANCELED the flight to London! I have never had a flight canceled and both of my American Airlines flights had been canceled. This one was due to “maintenance problems”. We were informed that there would be no flights to London that day and we needed to wait in a ridiculously long line or call the rebooking center for alternative options, as well as go retrieve our luggage.

So, given the length of the line, I decided to try my luck on the phone, after an hour on the phone, I was told she was unable to process my request and I would need to speak to someone at the airport. After waiting a half hour to claim my bag, I was told I would have to come back in an hour to retrieve it. After waiting a half hour in the wrong line, I was redirected to the international flights line, to again…you guessed it: WAIT.  FINALLY, I was at the counter and again told I would not be able to fly to London that day and the next available flight wouldn’t be until the following evening, which would mean I wouldn’t get to Lisbon until the following day.  This flight cancelation not only made me miss a day of exploring Lisbon, but also my three return train tickets to get me back to Ourense, Spain, and would result in me missing my first day back at school.

I decided a better option would be to get a flight to Madrid instead, which would allow me to arrive in time to get a night’s sleep before I had class. So after discussing with the flight attendant and managers for TWO HOURS, I was finally able to rebook my flight, changing my destination from Lisbon to Madrid. So the next morning I would be taking a flight from Chicago to Miami, Miami to Madrid and everything would be more or less on track.

January 6th,  11 a.m.- Chicago.
I arrived at the airport and went to the Kiosk to check in because the line was long, but for some reason I wasn’t about to check in. I tried three different ones and they all informed me I needed to speak with a flight assistant. So once again, I took my place at the back of the line. When I finally arrived at the ticket desk, the lady scanned my passport and told me “You changed your destination?! That’s not allowed. I can’t check you in for this flight, you need to go to Lisbon not Madrid.”….Wonderful, this again. I informed her of the situation and that I got it approved yesterday. She didn’t believe me and had to speak to a manager. So, we waited and waited while she was on hold, until she finally spoke to a manager who said it had been approved the day before. So I quickly rushed through security, and spirited through the airport to my departure gate only to see the people had not yet begun to board. A few minutes later a flight attendant announce “The flight from Chicago to Miami has been CANCELED…due to a maintenance problem”.

 

 At this point I was about to lose it, I thought I would miss my connecting flight from Miami to Madrid, miss school and be stuck in Miami.  Luckily, the attendant quickly returned and said not to worry, they had found another plane they would take out of the hanger and have it ready in an hour. I did the math and if we left within an hour and half I would still make my Madrid connection. I was stressed, but relieved.

January 6th, 2 p.m.- Chicago

The plane was supposed to be ready at 2:00. It wasn’t. But at 2:30 the attendant announced they were completing final maintenance check-ups and we would be boarding shortly. A few short minutes later the attendant announced, “ We are extremely sorry but the plane has been CANCELED due to maintenance problems”.

I have never had one plane canceled in my life and from the three American Airline flights I had, FOUR were CANCELED?!?! I was in utter disbelief. I was so frustrated that the only reaction I had was to laugh because I was afraid to express my anger in any other way.

 

This would result in all the fears I had before: missing my flight to Madrid, missing my train tickets back to Ourense and first day of classes at school. So, I opened my Recent Calls and once again was speaking with the rebooking center. I was rebooked for the 100th time from Chicago to London, London to Madrid at 9 pm that night.

After speaking with a flight attendant to have my bag pulled off the plane and put on the London flight, I sat around with the other delayed passengers, nearly all of who were missing their international connections as well.  They had been informed they would have another plane to Miami in an hour. But, of course, three hours later they were still waiting to board and finally around 6pm, their flight to Miami took off.

January 6th, 9.pm- Chicago
Finally, at 9, an American Airline flight was boarding on time. We were all buckled in ready to go when the pilot came on and announced, “ We seem to be having some issues with a cargo door sensor, we’ve called maintenance and they should be sending someone shortly to take a closer look.”  Half hour later, “We can’t seem to get the issue resolved so we’re gonna need someone to come and replace it.” Half hour later, “Alright, looks like we got it taken care of and we are ready to take off.”

FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY I left Chicago!  Although, the flight was anything but pleasant.  Given the 5 planes I had been booked on had all had maintenance issues, I wasn’t exactly “relaxed” while in the air. I thought I would be able to watch a few movies to take my mind off of it, but there were no T.V.s for the 8 hour flight. I thought I’d curl up next to the window seat I had been assigned the day before, but due to the rebooking I stuck in the middle, unable to sleep.

January 7th, 1pm- London

8 miserable hours later I arrived, late, to London. I once again sprinted through the airport and made it to the gate just as the plane was boarding.
I finally arrived in Madrid and went to retrieve my bag. But as luck would have it, my bag didn’t show. Back to waiting in lines I went, but thankfully the lady informed me my bag was on the next flight from London, and if I wanted to wait it would be there shortly. Given I had been wearing the same clothes for two days straight and would be going to school the next morning, I needed my bag. So, I waited. Buuuuuut, the bag wasn’t on the next flight either. After more time in the waiting line, I was told that they were unsure of where my bags were and would send them to me when they were found.

January 7th , 10p.m.- Madrid
After being told my bags were lost, I rushed to the train station to catch the last overnight train to Ourense. I arrived at 5 a.m. in the morning, took a quick 3 hours nap, showered and went to school. Two day later I finally got my bag and clean clothes and I was ready to forget the recent hell.

However, I was too upset (, too broke,) to just let it go. So a few days later, after I had calmed down a bit, I decided to write a complaint letter to the company. I spent a significant amount of time writing the letter (as you can tell it’s quiet a lengthy story). Finally, once my letter was ready, I searched the website for an email address I could send it to…Unfortunately (as all of my previous experiences with America Airlines had been) …I discovered that American Airlines only allows 1500 CHARATERS to write a complaint letter. Not sentences, not words, CHARACTERS!! Given the length of my story, it was impossible to explain the detail to of what had happened, and the reason I was asking for my refund. I tried my best to summarize the situation, said I would appreciate an email address so I could better explain the situation and sent the letter. To my surprise, I received a fairly quick response stating the company was sorry for the inconvenience and would reward me with airline miles but I would first need to create and send my frequent flyer number. I did as I was told and went to respond that I had created my account. However, when I attempted to respond to his email I got an automated email stating I could not email that address and could only fill out a complaint form. I sent my frequent flyer number and said I was told I would be compensated then I waited.  A few weeks later I received an email stating my miles had been rewarded. I had asked for 60,000 miles, not full reimbursement for the trip but maybe enough to attempt one more international flight with the company. My account had been rewarded with 10,000, which isn’t even enough to fly me from Chicago to Omaha, a flight I was already told I would be reimbursed for due to me not taking my first flight.

So after 5 “maintenance issues”, 4 canceled planes, 2 delayed planes, lost baggage, 40 hours stuck in Chicago, missed worked, complete exhaustion, and hundreds of dollars wasted…I wasn’t even compensated enough for an hour long flight. Thanks American Airlines, you made my holidays “memorable”.