[dacooper74]

I booked my flight in March for a trip for my wife and I to Aruba in September. The orginal flights were to leave denver on tuesday morning and arrive in Aruba that night. I got a call in June that American has had a scheduling change(canceled flight) and was no longer flying to Aruba tuesay nights anymore and I would need to change flights. in fact the only flight to Aruba from Miami on tuesday is at 11:15 am. So after I talked to 2 very nice gentleman I rearranged my flights to get me to Miami Monday night and stay the night in a hotel and catch my flight to Aruba on tuesday. I asked them both about American picking up the tab for my hotel room explaing That my wife and I are now taking another day off work, and my orginal flight did not involve a hotel night stay in Miami, but he couldn't do anything. I then called AA and again got a very nice lady who after I explained my situation she talked to 2 different supervisors and both said that a hotel night stay was not warranted. One of the supervisors solution was to arrive in Aruba on Monday umm my hotel room in Aruba is for tuesday so where do I stay monday night? Another option was to leave denver at like 10:00PM stop at JFK then on to Miami landing around 7AM ugh no thanks. This is my first time flying AA and for a $92 dollar hotel room (which they most likely get at half that) they lose a customer for life? Am I out of line?

[jimworcs]

Personally, I think you are reasonable, but airlines one sided terms and conditions are not on your side. The schedules are not guaranteed, and they make this clear in their T&C's. The changes they have made are not as outrageous as some I have heard, but I think there is zero chance that you will get a hotel. This system puts people in a ridiculous bind. You book the tickets and cannot make changes, then you book your hotel and it has penalties for changes but the Terms and Conditions allow the airline to make changes without penalty and the customer is stuck with a hotel booking that can't be changed. Your problem will be who you change to.. every airline does this.

[martinpc]

jimworcs,Jim,you seem to be a very nice guy and it seems you now what you are talking about and willing to help.WHY WHY WHY WHY can something not be done to stop all airlines treating us like S--T and S--M,it is not right.they are not GOD.

[jimworcs]

The solution to this is entirely political I am afraid. When airlines were "de-regulated" they lobbied hard to ensure that they were able to rig the market. They have exemption to anti-trust laws, they cannot have consumer protection laws enforced by the states Attorney General's office, they are exempt from state regulation and they are protected from competitors entering the market. They then built up huge monopoly or duopoly hubs and set about screwing the american consumer. They sustain this by paying huge amounts in lobbying fees to politicians.

Ironically, the US which is the stongest advocate of the free market in the world manages it's domestic air market in a less competitive manner than Europe. In Europe, there is less protection for the airlines, more competition, stronger anti-trust regulation and much better consumer regulation.

It will only change when the passengers have had enough...and turn political. The abuse of consumers is similar to that of the financial sector and they believe they are "too big to fail". Sadly, the regulators reinforce this by allowing bankrupt carriers to re-emerge with anti-trust exemption. Every major legacy US carrier has filed bankruptcy at some point. Contrast this with BA, Lufthansa, Singapore, Emirates, Cathay Pacific and other great international carriers.

The US domestic air market is simply not functioning in the passenger interest.