[Concerned Father]

I was trying to make two reservations, one for each of my children. They were to be on separate dates. There was trouble getting the right fare for one, which led to some confusion. I ended up making a reservation for my son on the date for my daughter's travel. I just needed to change the date. That's fine with American, if I cough up $200, which is approximately twice the amount of the ticket. Given that Southwest never charges for this, is now at least the fourth largest airline, and has never gone bankrupt, I can attribute this predatory policy to sheer arrogance and greed, completely undisguised.

It is a disgrace. It was a book on the airline industry that established the phrase 'moments of truth'. This was one. In a flash, American turned me from a customer interested in booking with them if I can, to one that will go to great lengths to avoid them, all while talking up this policy to friends and family. A short term focus, certainly. They have their money and that is all they care about. May their merger be a disaster and may Southwest eat their lunch for such an inverted approach to 'customer satisfaction'.