[Rahpsych]

On June 22nd my family and I were forced to wait to the last second to determine whether we would get seats on the overbooked Flight 285 to Lihue, Hawaii. We booked our (9) tickets approximately 2 months in advance and were given seat assignments through our phone contact at Expedia.com. Upon receipt of our AA itinerary, we noted that all but 3 seats on the return flight had been eliminated. We panicked and called the airline representative who assured us that the person at the Boarding desk would give us our seat assignments. We expressed the concern that 3 of the party were between 3 years and 7 years of age. Again, the agent stated that there was nothing that could be done at her end. We called, again, about a week before our trip. The agent explained that she was allowed access to only a few scattered seats and that we would have to talk to the representative when boarding. Again, at the airjport, we waited in line to talk to a human who told us that we would have to get boarding passes from the machines and try to arrange seats by family at the Boarding desk. We did so only to find that our boarding passes split up the small children and their parents and left all of us scattered throughout the plane.

At the gate, the person at the desk explained to us that we had no seats assigned and that the plane was overbooked by 5 people. We had no seat assignments and there were two other families with young children who were in the same boat. Finally, at the last moment we were allowed on board and had to beg passengers to change seats with parents so that at least one parent could sit with each child. My husban and I were seated at opposite ends of the plane.

THEN to make matters more horrible, we boarded the plane and encountered an incredibly foul odor. Everyone complained. But people in the back third of the plane were absolutely freaked out! They had to hold blankets and pillows over their mouths. The rotten sewage/urine smell was so bad that it took almost two hours for the smell to disappear after the air was turned on. The Captain came on the speaker and apologized but it was way too little, too late So for the grand sum of $4475.40, we had a nightmare trip that all but ruined a family vacation that had been planned for months!! Never, never, never will we fly AA again!