[JennaD44444]

Here is the letter I wrote to American.

I am writing this letter today to let you know how appalled I am at your company. I recently flew on American Airlines Flight #2018 from St. Lucia Hewanorra (UVF) to New York (JFK) and had a less than pleasant experience. Not to mention this was my HONEYMOON which ended on a very sour note. This was supposed to be my dream vacation and a once in a lifetime experience but you impacted it in such a negative way that I am not planning on flying American Airlines ever again!

Back in January, I decided to book my honeymoon to St. Lucia and chose American because you are the only company who flies direct there from JFK. Unfortunately this was a bad decision and if I had to do it over again I would have chosen a different island and a different airline!

On June 30, 2008, I arrived at St. Lucia Hewanorra Airport at about 2:30PM to check in. I was faced with a long line of about 100 people and had to wait over an hour. While waiting on line we found out that the flight was delayed by five hours incoming from JFK! When we finally arrived at the checkout counter we found out that our flight had actually been cancelled all together due to a mechanical issue (toilet problem)! This was a big problem because I was due back at work the next day and now I had to take another day of vacation.

Next, I was put up at Coconut Bay Resort which was mediocre at best. The rooms were very old and run down and the overall appeal of the resort was not very nice. Our new flight was set to leave on July 1, 2008 at 8:30AM but our hotel had a sign up that we were scheduled to be picked up at 4:15AM in the morning! I could not understand why we had to be at the airport 3 hours in advance. I normally arrive 1 hour in advance when flying out of JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and other major airports and have never had a problem so I cannot understand why you requested us to be at this small airport over 3 hours early!

We then arrive at the airport as scheduled and are faced with another long line. After waiting on line and checking in we find out our flight is again delayed by one hour and would not be leaving until 9:30am. When we asked the reason why we were told: “The crew needs to rest”. We also asked why we needed to be at the airport 3-4 hours early and were told that was standard procedure! This seems absurd and you need to strongly reconsider your policies! Meanwhile the crew had arrived the evening before, all be it later than expected, they still arrived at approximately 9:30PM on 6/30/08, which would have given them more than 8 hours of rest until the scheduled 8:30AM departure needed to take place on 7/1/08.

After I checked my luggage I went to the waiting area and was faced with an 85+ degree room with no air conditioning! At 5:45AM, my husband asked a few different people if they could turn the air conditioning on or open a door and were told they couldn’t do it until 8:00AM when the maintenance people came in. They also said they could not open any doors to get some fresh air because there was nothing to prop them open with! So we sat there and sweated from 5:45AM until about 8:15AM when they finally turned the air on.

At around 7:30Am, I was given a $5.00 voucher to get breakfast. This was a slap in the face because we had already been there waiting over 2 hours and had already eaten breakfast! Also $5.00 is hardly enough to buy a can of Pringles and a bottle of water!

After 4 hours of sitting in the airport, I finally boarded the plane and flew to JFK. Once at JFK I was faced with yet another obstacle – our luggage took over an hour to come out. We were the only people waiting in the baggage claim and somehow two other flights arrived after we did (Mexico City and Switzerland) came and picked up their luggage in our claim carousel area.

Finally, we get our luggage only to find that my husbands bag was destroyed….the wheel on his bag is completely torn off and missing. Our bags were obviously not handled properly, and I feel that compensation should be allotted for this incident. See photos…

As for the rest of our experience, which caused far more heartache than the baggage issue I feel that something should without question be done. To leave a flight full of U.S. citizens, most of which were fresh off there honeymoon, stranded in a foreign country’s airport, coupled with all the mishaps that occurred in completely absurd. Even though American Airlines is unfortunately somewhat of a monopoly company when it comes to flying from JFK direct into UVF, it doesn’t make it right to mistreat your patrons and destroy great memories! I hope that you consider this note in all seriousness, as I’m sure I will not be the only person writing to your on this particular matter. At this time, my impression of American Airlines is less than poor and I will not speak positively about anything regarding American Airlines moving forward. Word of mouth is what makes the world go round in business. You either thrive or deteriorate because of it – take this into consideration. This statement coupled with the fact that the airline industry is clearly struggling as a whole, definitely does not bode well for you as an organization. If you are struggling to maintain business and be profitable, then at the very least you should be concerning yourselves with your customers first and foremost to ensure that they become repeat users of your airline!

[pattis]

you do realize of course that American airlines had nothing to do about the temp in the airport....let's see Caribbean island + July = hot weather. Hmmmmm.......

[Corbel]

i want to try to explain the crew rest...but most people dont really understand it. but if that crew already had a reduced rest the day before then had to do this trip (cause you said they came in later than usual), they get so many more hours of rest the next day..per the FAA. you try working 18 hours then only getting 9 hours of rest...1 hour of that is getting off the plane, going through customs, riding to the hotel, checking in, get ready for bed, get up at least 1 hour early to shower and get ready, go back to the airport, go through security and show up at the plane. that really only gives you about 3-4 hours of sleep...i know i just did it yesterday

[JennaD44444]

Yeah I know American couldn't do anything about the AC, however there r only 2 airlines that fly into the airport and I thought they should be aware that their customers were hot and sweaty for hours.

Also - about the crew rest...I understand that...however I feel we should have been informed about it the prior night. Instead they made us get there at 5am...only to delay for crew rest. That seems like something they should have known about the night prior...right??

[Leatherboy2006]

I have issues with original post stating about "To leave a flight full of U.S. citizens, most of which were fresh off there honeymoon,"
Like a plane load of any other nationality and that would be ok, no wonder other countries hate to have U.S. citizens visit with our arragonce and who cares that you are just off your honeymoon at least your not like us same sex couples and not allowed to marry. The United States will gladly take our TAX dollars but then denies us basic rights. Seems we fought a war with England in the 1770's about things like that.

[JennaD44444]

Originally Posted by Leatherboy2006

I have issues with original post stating about "To leave a flight full of U.S. citizens, most of which were fresh off there honeymoon,"
Like a plane load of any other nationality and that would be ok, no wonder other countries hate to have U.S. citizens visit with our arragonce and who cares that you are just off your honeymoon at least your not like us same sex couples and not allowed to marry. The United States will gladly take our TAX dollars but then denies us basic rights. Seems we fought a war with England in the 1770's about things like that.

Yes I guess that comment was uncalled for but my husband threw that one in there.

Either way the point is what they did is wrong!

[skram]

Ok i agree with you. One time i was flying from Chicago to New dehli on American Airlines
it was horrible. flight delayed 2 hrs and the crew were a litttle arrogant.
i would rather fly Lufthansa/United to Dehli or Northwest/KLM.
Now those airlines definetley Lufthansa are not bad. But bottom line American Airlines is bad.

[skram]

Whoa! i did not really go on subject on my quote there. I am really sorry.
Hey, a toliet problem is a quite major thing. You see, if a toliet is malfunctioning on a plane and if it overheats the circut it could cause a fire. it happened on a Air Canada flight from Dallas. Source: tv show: Air Crash investagation. And hey, the place this person went to was a big tourist attraction area so that's why there were so many people at the checkin counter. happened to me once when i was coming back from a family vacation from Aruba. And i do agree with how American Airlines is bad. Once i was traveling from Chicago to new dehli. flight came in on time, but the crew was quite nasty. That's all i have to say.