AA: direct flight sold, 1-stop flight delivered
 

American Airlines, this happend twice: I book a flight Chicago-Frankfurt months in advance to make sure I get the good price and the diect flight which is very important to me. Then I get a second confirmation several month later that has cancelled my 8 hour flight and rebooked me on 13 hour flight via Dallas. On the phone AA offered to reimburse the money.

If I purchase a ticket that much closer to the date of the trip I pay hundrets of dollars more. My request to book me on a diffent carrier was rejected because non of their alliance partners flies directly. So, either I pay some hundrets $$$ for a different flight or fly Chicago-Dallas-Fankfurt and try to reschedule the appointments I have through the time I am in the air now. feels like ordering a car and they deliver a bike. If that happens once it's upsetting but if it happens twice within one year it's just TOO MUCH!
Customer care in my eyes would be to offer a voucher for a direct flight with a carrier outside of their group.

If your flight is scheduled to arrive now over 4 hours later than your original flight, you should be given the choice to rebook on another flight. I'm not sure about booking on other airlines, but they should do that as well.

I would write them a complaint and be cordial, but also state your facts. You have meetings and other important matters to attend to and the delay is going to disrupt those plans. The airlines usually have some "small print" which states flight and flight times are subject to change, etc., but they are supposed to accomodate you if your flight will arrive after a certain period of time of your original flight, in the case of a schedule change. (I want to say it is 4 hours - someone correct me if I'm wrong). I would also add to your complaint that you are planning to copy the DOT in on your complaint.

Oscar, if you want a guaranteed direct flight, book with the airline of the country you are travelling to. It is almost never better to book with a US based airline anymore. Over the last decade their standards of service have dropped dramatically and they simply do not care about your inconvenience. Had you booked Lufthansa for example, you simply could not have been "re-routed" because the US has protectionist laws to prevent foreign carriers from flying any domestic legs. It is almost never a good idea to book US based carriers for international travel... their standards are too low.

American stopped flying the non-stop to Frankfurt from Chicago :(

Thank you all for your very helpful responds!