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American Airlines earned an enemy

david.heinemeierhansson.com

31–40 of 55 posts

Re: American Airlines earned an enemy

#32
post #9

The baggage policy you agree to and pay for is basically, "if we lose your bag or smash it into very small pieces, we will pay you $20." Then when they lose your bag or smash it into small pieces, people want more than $20, and write angry blog posts when they don't get more than $20. I don't get it. Have these people never heard of FedEx or UPS? They will transport your bag on an aircraft and sell you insurance agai…

Shipping luggage via FedEx or UPS is a good idea, but the costs can be prohibitive. I haven't looked recently, but the last time a coworker checked FedEx, it would have cost her more than her ticket price to ship her bag to her destination.

Plus I think you're missing the larger issue. The airline is charging for this service, and they didn't deliver. Just because their terms of service are crappy doesn't mean that the OP should have to endure bad service like this.

Re: American Airlines earned an enemy

#33
post #9

The baggage policy you agree to and pay for is basically, "if we lose your bag or smash it into very small pieces, we will pay you $20." Then when they lose your bag or smash it into small pieces, people want more than $20, and write angry blog posts when they don't get more than $20. I don't get it. Have these people never heard of FedEx or UPS? They will transport your bag on an aircraft and sell you insurance agai…

Is it possible to ship stuff (laptops, cellphone maybe) via FedEX or UPS, internationally, and have it arrive at or near the same time/place as your destination w/o having to wait for it to clear customs? I had considered this but eliminated it as a dependable method because I assume that most countries have their own customs procedures for items shipped via FedEx/UPS and in some cases items might be tied up for days…

No. If it enters the country by post, you'll have way more headaches than just using the airline.

Taxes - personal items? They DGAF, you'll probably pay more in taxes than your items cost;

Proof of local address - y'see, they can't release your items without you having proof of your local address where you reside, WTF.

AND if they lose your stuff you're just as f'ed (yeah, waiting 3 months to get your insurance is fun)...

So, no, shipping your stuff separately via international post is not a good option.

Re: American Airlines earned an enemy

#35
post #9

The baggage policy you agree to and pay for is basically, "if we lose your bag or smash it into very small pieces, we will pay you $20." Then when they lose your bag or smash it into small pieces, people want more than $20, and write angry blog posts when they don't get more than $20. I don't get it. Have these people never heard of FedEx or UPS? They will transport your bag on an aircraft and sell you insurance agai…

Is it possible to ship stuff (laptops, cellphone maybe) via FedEX or UPS, internationally, and have it arrive at or near the same time/place as your destination w/o having to wait for it to clear customs? I had considered this but eliminated it as a dependable method because I assume that most countries have their own customs procedures for items shipped via FedEx/UPS and in some cases items might be tied up for days…

EDIT: My bad, no not internationally. Customs is always a massive risk that could delay your package by a month.

Yes, Ground is now guaranteed time-in-transit for both FedEx and UPS and they both have 1, 2, 3 day options.

Shipping an actual suitcase, however, is not financially viable.

Getting an account or using an association like USAA can cut your costs substantially for expedited but ground rates don't move as much.

Re: American Airlines earned an enemy

#36

The thing I hate most American is they decline all non-US issued cards or non-US PayPal accounts for ticketing, but do so silently in the background while appearing to have gone through. When you get to the airport you find your booking wasn't ticketed, the flight has gone up and have to pay a fee for paying at the airport. To get around this I try to book AA tickets with another OneWorld carrier. To their credit I t…

Weird. I've never bought an international AA ticket, but I've bought a few on United and Delta with a foreign CC, and never had a problem with that. I wonder why AA isn't just doing whatever the other US-based airlines do? At the very least, they could find a way to reject purchase attempts up front if they aren't going to let them through.

Re: American Airlines earned an enemy

#37
post #29
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you missed the point of the post - it's not about losing a bag, it's about the customer service failure that ensued. I had bags lost on a couple of occasions, and usually they are delivered on the same day or the next to the address I stay at. If I'd had such an experience, I wouldn't be flying the same airline either.

Nope ... when I read the post, I read that he'd declared himself to be an enemy of a large group of minimum-wage, overworked employees of a company who's executives are simply maximizing profit. I'd be willing to bet they calculate how many people will be angry enough to quit flying and account for this churn in their projections. These people have a high turn-over rate and absolutely no incentive to go beyond the co…

Airlines depend on loyalty, that's why they have significant loyalty programs.

Also that is a crazy comparison, an airline is responsible for getting you to your destination alive and with your bags, it's not acceptable for them to have ineffective customer service. Even if what they offered wasn't so important the fact is you pay money for their services, the deal has to be two sided.

Re: American Airlines earned an enemy

#38
post #29
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you missed the point of the post - it's not about losing a bag, it's about the customer service failure that ensued. I had bags lost on a couple of occasions, and usually they are delivered on the same day or the next to the address I stay at. If I'd had such an experience, I wouldn't be flying the same airline either.

Nope ... when I read the post, I read that he'd declared himself to be an enemy of a large group of minimum-wage, overworked employees of a company who's executives are simply maximizing profit. I'd be willing to bet they calculate how many people will be angry enough to quit flying and account for this churn in their projections. These people have a high turn-over rate and absolutely no incentive to go beyond the co…

Umm.. When I pay 1200$ for a plane ticket, I expect a minimum of customer service, and that's how those companies differentiate. The comparison to a free web service is not really relevant.

Re: American Airlines earned an enemy

#40
post #9

The baggage policy you agree to and pay for is basically, "if we lose your bag or smash it into very small pieces, we will pay you $20." Then when they lose your bag or smash it into small pieces, people want more than $20, and write angry blog posts when they don't get more than $20. I don't get it. Have these people never heard of FedEx or UPS? They will transport your bag on an aircraft and sell you insurance agai…

The OP was flying to/from Europe, so European law applies http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/consumer_topics/air_travel... > If your registered luggage is lost, damaged or delayed, you may be entitled to compensation from the airline, up to about €1,220 Far higher than $20.

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