American Airlines review

Just thought I would share part of a letter that my supervisor sent to American Airlines reviewing our recent trip to San Francisco. She tried to enter the complaint on their website but there is a 1500 word max, and well, she went over. So she had to send it via fax. It was a pretty crazy trip. San Fran was fun, but the trip there sure wasn't.

Enjoy!

From STT, departure to SJU was delayed several hours. We were informed departure from SJU to LAX was also delayed so we would make our connection. This proved to be true. We did make the flight from SJU to LAX. We were also initially told the flight from LAX was also delayed so we would make that flight.
Upon landing in LAX, SFO passengers were asked to report to the customer service area at gate 42. The flight to SFO was literally pulling away from the gate when we landed shortly before 6pm.
AA then had to find flights for at least 20 passengers from LAX to SFO. We asked, wouldn't it have been easier and more cost effective to delay the flight to SFO a little longer?

My party was rerouted from LAX to SFO on United Airlines, on 2 different flights. This required us to exit the airport and report to United ticketing. If we hurried, we might get on the same flight, possibly an earlier departure.

After a mad dash from terminal 3 to United at terminal 7, we were all given seats on the 8pm departure to SFO. The United ticketing agent noted all our baggage tags and contacted AA for proper routing. Upon going through security, we were informed the duty free alcohol purchased in SJU for a colleague in SFO, which was carry-on luggage to this point, had to be checked in as it went outside the airport. It was still sealed and marked from when purchased, but now had to be checked in.

One of us had to return to United's counter to check it in. This of course, involved paying to check the bag. While the bag checked directly with United was received in SFO, one of the 4 bottles was broken and spilled. In addition, of the 6 bags checked in with AA, only one (1) arrived on the United flight. We were told they would be delivered to us. The other five (5) were delivered to our hotel Saturday morning 4/10.
Upon leaving SFO on April 16th, all passengers were informed the flight was full. Overhead space was not available for all. Persons who had difficulty finding same were asked to give bags to flight attendants for checking. Two persons in my party did this. Of course, the assumption was that the bags would be valet checked and available when we land in LAX.

This proved to not be the case. The bags were fully checked. My colleagues had to go down to baggage claim to pick up their carry-on luggage and re-enter the airport, going through security again. Unbelievable!
With a short connection time, this would have led to a lost bag. Flight attendants should have informed passengers of the type of check being done. Someone with a connecting flight should not have been made to go through that process.

All in all, this experience was problematic for all. After years of traveling on American, greater concern for passenger convenience is expected. This was not experienced on this flight at all. The lesson learned:…bypass American Airlines whenever possible!

Please investigate and provide some communication on this terrible travel experience!