American Airlines

GREMLINS IN THE FUEL THINGY
I love to fly. The thought of climbing into a giant metallic bird and soaring thousands of miles in a few hours’ time is still like, the coolest thing ever. Then again, I’m fairly easily impressed. So I put up with intolerable security lines, cramped quarters, clueless foreign families ‘on holiday’, and everything else associated with getting on a plane.
But sometimes… sometimes there is no word or emoji to express the sheer zaniness of air travel. Point in case, my return trip from New York’s LaGuardia to Chicago on the evening of 5÷17÷16. As always, my family flew American.
Despite a lack of a TSA pre-​check (which we qualified for), we boarded our flight with minimal issue. The plane was a Boeing 737, which might’ve been the exact same aircraft we flew from O’Hare to here 6 days prior, for all I know. All lights green, all systems go, ready for launch… or maybe not.
After a solid half hour of just chillin’ at the gate ready for taxiing and takeoff, I see two maintenance guys in neon vests board the plane and head toward the cockpit. Never a good sign. A short while later, the pilot comes over the PA and gives us this splendid little nugget of dialogue:
«Uhhhh ladies and gentlemen uhhhh… your captain speaking uhhhhh
…we’re gonna be delayed a bit uhhhh… we’ve discovered what appear to be some gremlins in the electricals of our fuel system uhhhh
…mechanics are working to get it resolved as soon as possible uhhh… we’ll keep you posted when we find out more.»
Stunned, I looked over at my mom and asked «did he just say ‘gremlins’?!?» Indeed he did. At that point I pretty much lost it in seat 12C with rolling fits of laughter, as my ears couldn’t believe what they’d heard.
Hey pilots: if there’s a glitch or anything electro-​mechanically wrong with the plane, it’s fine to tell your passengers, but keep it vague. Don’t tell us that it’s «in the fuel system», and DEFINITELY don’t use the word «gremlins». We’ve all seen that movie with Phoebe Cates, and for those that haven’t, lemme just tell ya that some serious sh*t does down and I think some old dude dies. Besides an IED, gremlins are the absolute *last* thing I want in the fuel tanks.
Unlike the flight over, I couldn’t catch a wink of sleep. Probably because I was envisioning that Twilight Zone (the movie, not the TV show) bit with John Lithgow, ‘Nightmare at 20,000 feet’ where there’s a hideous monster on the wing. { sidenote: I swear that those damn airplane seats got smaller, I was jammed in there like a freaking sardine. }
Flight attendants offered water to the passengers during the 1hr 15min wait, but no comped drinks, no extra peanuts, no vouchers, nada. Originally scheduled to land in Chicago at 10:30pm, we arrived shortly after midnight. That sucked. No one on the flight crew was particularly apologetic, either, which I would’ve cared more about were I not already sleepwalking to baggage claim area Z.
I’ll still fly AA, probably, since I’m too scared to switch over to Delta, United, or Southwest, and since most of the time flying American is just fine and dandy.
Just not this time.

Call the cleaning crew please!
Flew into terminal D and took shuttle to Terminal C for next leg of the trip.
Customer service has been fine. In fact, very helpful person greeting flight and directing flyers to shuttle from D to C for those who needed it.
However, cleanliness of the terminal is not good. You have to take stairs from concourse down to shuttle. Not great in D.
The stairway up from shuttle to concourse in C is horrible. It appeared not to have been swept for a long time. A long time! Makes a bad impression for American Airlines.
Restrooms are small and distant. And the line for the ladies room often extends far outside into the hallway.
Hoping that AA and Laguardia have renovation plans for these terminals.
Having been through the Delta LGA terminal many times, I’ll take Delta any day. Clean, bright, spacious. There is no comparison at this time.

On May 8, 2016 I was on flight AA1170 with American Airline. Flight attendant Marianna was extremely rude. She cut me off before I got to finish asking my question. I confronted her about her rudeness and explained there was no reason to be so nasty. Her response about her attitude was due to the fact that she was not supposed to be «up.» That is unacceptable behavior and does not give her the reason to be so rude.
When I got off the plane, I complained at the front desk and the representative directed me to the manager. After speaking the manager, I was on my way out to exit the terminal. As I was walking out the terminal, Marianna followed me and harassed me explaining her attempt to apologize earlier as I was walking out the plane. I told her I did not want to speak to her and I will file a complaint with her boss. She continued to yap her mouth as I repeated multiple times, «I do not want to speak to you!»
You do not confront an upset customer especially when I specifically repeated multiple times, «I do not want to speak to you!» She finally walks away and shouts back «WHATEVER!»
American Airline, these are the type of filthy animals you hire? Where is the customer service at? I will NEVER fly with you guys again and I will be filing a formal complain on your American airline website!

Terrible customer service. DO NOT FLY AMERICAN! They are looking for ways to squeeze their customers at this location. I flew out of LAX with two carry-​on bags– no problem. But coming home through this terminal they insisted that I check my bag, even though it was a legal size and weight for carry-​on. They don’t care about the people flying with them and should not be given your business. Fly United.

A bit higher tech than United with outlets under every seat, but overall 3 stars.
Security line — Typical queue. Wrapped around four times and took about 20 minutes to get through so plan accordingly.
Flight attendants — I think my ears are bleeding. Please use volume control on a 6am flight.
Safety announcement — Short and to the point, although my favorite has to be the new United safety announcement.
Seats — Economy seats on American are pretty comfortable. I’d say they’re better than United economy plus seats minus the leg room. No lower back pain today.

My experience flying American Airlines from LaGuardia to O’Hare was the last straw after a string of successive issues. For EVERY SINGLE AA flight I have ever taken, it has been delayed AND I have been forced to check my carry-​on. The last time my carry-​on was forced to be checked, two mugs I had inside were broken by the time I arrived. For my most recent flight, I thought I wouldn’t be stuck checking luggage because they announced those in boarding groups 3 and 4 would need to check. When it was my turn to get my ticket scanned in line, the employee said, «Oh…that’s a rolling luggage so that will have to be checked.» I responded by saying she would have to give me a moment to transfer some breakable items to my boyfriend’s smaller duffel carry-​on. «Well, you’ll both have to check your carry-​ons,» she retorted. I said, «Well, you’re going to have to give me some time to move these breakables to my purse. Last time I was forced to check my carry-​on, my mugs were broken.» She says, «You’re going to delay the flight even more if you do that. Just have faith.» Have FAITH?! Okay.
They make announcements like «Our flight attendants aren’t here yet» and that’s only if you’re lucky. Often, American Airlines didn’t even bother to announce why we were delayed. For example, on one flight we were about to take off (the pilot even announced that we would be taking off in five minutes), but then we taxi’ed for 45 minutes, thus delaying our flight even more than it already was. The pilot never bothered to give us any kind of explanation or new ETA.
All of these experiences together are completely unacceptable. I will not fly a budget airline that won’t get me from point A to point B, breaks my stuff, and lies to me. I will never fly American Airlines again and I will actively encourage friends to do the same. There are other affordable airlines that are much more reliable and offer better service.

Will never fly American Airlines again in life. Took family on a trip to South America and flights were cancelled with no notice for absolutely no reason except AA hadn’t booked enough
Passengers on flight. Spent all of our time on phone with AA TRYING TO GET FLIGHT INFO and new flights to replace the ones they cancelled. HORRIBLE. and nothing works. TV nothing. Crew is unbelievably rude and cruel to passengers. What a nightmare.

Been standing here 15 minutes. No one at all at the counter at LGR to help anyone. It’s 1:43 PM on a Monday. Customer service is awful. They do not care.

Flying from Dallas to LGA i was so surprised that they put me in middle of two very large passengers. So large that they requested and got extensions on their seat belts. I am not saying that because I am against large people but I thought AA staff should have recognized that and changed their seat accordingly. My seat basically was ¹⁄₃ smaller because of their size. To the point that it was impossible to seat there. I was very embarrassed but had to ask for new seat. Flight attendance were very nasty but after multiple requests they said (With nasty Tone) «you want to move, ok» they gave me seat next to bathroom. I would have understood that if they did not have seats closer to front actually it was more than one seat in front. They said those are upgraded seats. I get it and I almost paid to be upgraded but their nasty attitude pissed me off. So i did sit in the back. I suppose Flight Attendance are no longer paid to think. They all seem to be very unhappy. should AA start either paying their employees more or change them to people that want to be there?
Off course different problem flying LGA to Dallas where the Ground crew seem like they did not want to be there.
Other words AA employees are nasty.

They canceled my flight home and redirected me to another state for a 12 hr layover for TWO DAYS AFTER MY ORIGINAL DEPARTURE DATE. Called an AA rep who, albeit apologetic, told me there was nothing they could do (as in my hotel and meal vouchers). Called some other AA reps who also told me the same thing. The worst. Will never fly again.

Useless!!! Captain Tim Black showed up 45 minutes late for AA94 from JFK to Madrid. Completely irresponsible. I paid 1200 dollars to sit here while some piece of shit can’t get to the airport on time. If I had been late they would have left without me.

This review is specifically about AA out of LaGuardia. It started out great with curbside check-​in with a great skycap who was courteous and didn’t freaking quibble if the bag was a little overweight like the anal curbsiders in Miami. I got a boarding pass with a TSA pre-​check, which I never get leaving MIA. The terminal D food court we waited at was like stepping back into a 70’s movie about NYC, really bare bones and dull. Five Guys and Au Bön Pain are there, and their food kept it bearable. Finally, at boarding in Group 3, the gate agent (a bee-​otch, an ogre, the worst characterization of a New Yorker) declared roll-​on baggage would have to be checked in. WTF? This never happened to me before. Then, when I get to the seat, THERES A TON OF ROOM in the overhead. When I put our 3 winter coats in the bin, the flight attendant balked. When I mentioned the incredible rudeness of the gate agent, she allowed me to stow the coats. I’ve been flying many years, and I’ve had mainly good experiences with AA I’m in their frequent flyer program and they are the predominant carrier out of my home base of Miami, which is why I use them. However these last 2 flights LGA-​MIA were like a cattle car. The NYC-​MIA market has many routes and carriers. AA needs to get off their «we’re the biggest airline» high horse, improve service, or I can easily try another airline.

I wish I could give less than 1 star. AA is the worst airline in the game. I can’t even get started. Save yourself the agony — take ANY other airline. Seriously. NEVER EVER EVER take American.

I fucking Hate American Airlines… Like I never had a satisfying trip with them EVER. My plane was leaving from LGA to ATL. It was scheduled for 8Pm. It got delayed 4 TIMES and now we are not leaving until 10pm !! Then they completely change the gate and starts boarding another plane to Nashville. Like wtf ?! And when i asked why the delay ?? Because they are waiting for the crew to arrive. like are you kidding me ?!? And I still don’t know what gate the plane is boarding at cause this Nashville flight leaves at the same time from the same gate I’ve been sitting at for the last 4 hours …
I’m so over this… Don’t fly American Airlines unless you got time to waste.

I have emerald status, I’ve been with american airlines about 11 years now. I can’t wait to switch over to delta. Tired of the rude flight attendants, the nasty food served to us. Never upgrades available, constant black out dares, impossible to redeemm points. I have NEVER had a single good experience with this airline.

They are the WORST! WORST ! WORST!
flight was delayed by 2 hours for NO REASON. NO ONE received their checked baggage, bags were supposed to be delivered to us the next day. Lets just say Im STILL waiting and have no idea where my bag is and neither does STUPID American Airlines when you call. LAST TIME I will be flying with American Airlines EVER. United or Delta!

If I wasn’t an American Airlines rewards member my rating would be a lot lower. Their planes aren’t the most comfortable and they lack free entertainment (no personal TV’s) and they are skimpy on the snacks on the flights. I usually fly out of JFK and sometimes LaGuardia and never had a major issues with the airlines.
However, I love the opportunities this airlines give you to accumulate Advantage points. I’ve had several free flights from using the rewards points so I can’t complain that much. I haven’t had a lot of issues with flight delays or bad customer service either. I utilize their dining for points where they have selected restaurants that will give you Advantage points based on the amount of money you spend. They also have a shopping website that you can connect to third party department stores to purchase items and earn points. Right now I will use AA to continue to get my points to get my next free flight.

Delay to take off after everyone rushed to board the airplane without taking any food. And in the plane the food can be ordered only after taking off! Are you serious? We are just waiting in the airplane for hours!

I miss the ‘80s. So, when I feel nostalgic I book a flight on American Airlines. Seat back entertainment systems are too futuristic for AA. They prefer the drop down screens every 9^th row. Individual entertainment? Nope. It’s whatever AA thinks the group wants to watch.
If American Airlines is gonna’ cheap out and stick to 1980 entertainment technology, they should serve a little snack with their beverage service like they did in 1980. It must all be about the $$. Guess what? I paid $ 400 to fly r/​t LGA-​SUX on business. I paid a surcharge to not get stuck in a center seat. Sure, they’ve got WiFi on some jets, even the ones with the ‘80s drop down video screens. But, it’s outrageously expensive WiFi. I’d actually pay up to $ 7 for inflight WiFi– AA charges $ 16.
Give me a break AA. Maybe next time I fly to a city not served by JetBlue, I’ll just drive from the nearest city that JB jets into. Afterall, this is 2015!
Takes money to make money. And the ‘80s are gone. Ba-​Bye?

Terminal D is very bare bones minimum. Get your food before you come! This is not the JetBlue at JFK experience.
There is absolutely nothing to buy to eat here except Annie’s pretzels. They have rude people working at their little food kiosks and it takes forever to get anything warm. The best service is at the place with the chicken fingers and the only hot food options. Be warned though… don’t get anything unless you can wait fifteen minutes for it.
I’m only flying American today because there are no other flights to El Paso Texas.