TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Kudos to AA - for a change

All too often over the past few years I've found myself making negative posts directed at AA with regard to their frequent flight changes. Not this time......

Back in April I used the last of my FF miles, expecting there might be changes, to book connecting flights to SXM from our regional airport in NY, about thirty minutes from home as opposed to traveling through JFK, roughly an hour and a half from here.

Sure enough, the Saturday flight was cancelled as I had suspected it might be, and in their infinite wisdom, AA thought we might like to overnight midway to SXM IN Charlotte and arrive on Sunday. NOT!!

At that time and after a lengthy call to the AAdvantage desk, we were rebooked on a same day connecting flight out of JFK but scheduled to arrive several hours later but at least no overnighting anywhere.

Playing around on the internet this morning I realized I could have been rebooked on the original flight but on Friday or Sunday. In researching FF tix I read all I could find and it sounded like I could still make the changes back to the original airport but there were a couple of hundred dollars worth of fees I would incur to reinstate miles and rebook changing both locations and dates since I had already accepted the once rebooked tickets.

I called AA and had a very nice chat with an agent, explaining the whole problem and at first she explained that once they've rebooked a flight I would be charged to change it, but she asked me to hold for a moment, and when she returned, she rebooked me to to the regional airport a day earlier, and at NO CHARGE to reinstate miles or make changes. She couldn't have been any nicer and seemed to agree we should have been offered the local airport and different days since they existed at the time.

I'm a happy camper - thank you, AA, for doing the right thing. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Good deal!

I'm sure your soft and sweet words had a lot to do with the favorable result!

Glad it worked out for you!

TY, GaKaye, I'm sure attitude and approach helped along with the fact I was talking to a very pleasant AA Ticketing Agent.

And Carol, we are both very pleased with the outcome.

And to make it a totally good day, the Towers is running a room special so the extra night there before our timeshare works out, too.

That's why I'm happy, happy, happy!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

Well it's about time AA did something good for you!

Good news, Pat!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Good for you Pat. Sometimes it is just the agent you get that can make all the difference. If they are having a good day and have the authority to make the changes themselves, it really is advantageous. If you get someone on their high horse, it makes changes very difficult.

I love adding those extra nights just to make the air work out! I saw the Towers special and thought of you two. We were going to just go for two weeks this year, but it was easier for us to book that extra week and well, we can work online from the island!

Cheers,
Todd

Todd, Aloha,

I saw that Towers ad and spoke to Maggie. It works out well for me so I'm taking advantage of it and arriving on a Friday. With any luck at all, maybe they'll be able to put me in our permanent room without necessitating a move. One can always hope, right? So sorry we will be missing you and MJ. Again! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I actually had a very good experience with AA yesterday when buying a ticket. I wanted to pay for the trip down and then use miles for the return which complicates things a bit. It took some time but the agents apologized and put me in the extra room seats for free.

Happy to learn others are finding a good side to AA. We usually have very positive experiences with the agents but the cancellation of flights really drives me crazy. One very nice thing about using up those air miles is you can choose any available seat on the plane in your class of awards, including the ones with big, fat Up-charges. I think the agent put us in preferred early boarding seats on both flights, too. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />