[greeneyedraven]

Dec 22, my teen girls were flying by themselves to Springfield, Illinois via Chicago O'Hare. In the past we flew into Chicago and drove. Due to heavy traffic in Chicago during the holidays, we opted to go to Springfield. My family lives in between the two airports.

Upon check-in, the agent asked my girls their destination. They said they were flying to Chicago then connecting to Springfield. They are 16 & 14. The agent confused them with the unaccompanied minor fee, which they did not need. Then marked their tickets to block the return tickets if they flight wasn't completed.

Well, the plane was late. They missed their connecting flight. They asked about tickets and got no where. They panicked, phoned, and long story short....I paid for a last minute shuttle to get them to my mother's instead of leaving them abandoned at the airport at the mercy of AA.

THE RETURN. They check in online and print off their boarding passes. But they are refused boarding. Springfield tells them they need to fly out of O'Hare. So they drive all the way to O'Hare and were told they had to buy 2 more seats (on the same plane), new tickets if they want to get home. An additional $700. So they had 4 seats on the return.

TALK ABOUT EXTORTION!! And this entire mess is because the outbound agent was confused and confused my girls.

I disputed the charge on my credit card, but Chase won't do anything. I've emailed AA many times and keep getting a response saying that my girls didn't finish the flight so the tickets were voided.

SO.......AA ARRIVES LATE, MY KIDS MISS THE CONNECTION BECAUSE AA IS LATE.......THEN AA EXTORTS MORE MONEY AFTER THREATENING TO ABANDON MY KIDS.

I have emailed AA again. No response as of yet. But I want my $700 refunded.

[countrynewsman]

I would definitely threaten AA with small claims court action and post your complaint on the DOT website.

[jimworcs]

Spot on countrynewsman, this one is worth fighting. Call local media too.. AA abandons kids is a good story... take em on, you will most likely win this one.

[Leatherboy2006]

The only issue i have with this, is since they were not wanting to pay to be unaccompanied minors, then shouldnt they have been treated like adult passengars. If mom(dad?) was concerned about their kids then should have coughed up the extra fee for unaccompanied minor/kids so they would be extra watched out for.
Would be interesting to know were their travel started from. In this world I don't know if I had kids I would let them fly without that safety net. Also if there is non-stops to St. Louis from were starting from, it is a lot closer to Springfield.

[The_Judge]

Story is somewhat confusing to me. I don't understand why they had to fly back home out of ORD. Sounds like the whole return should have been canceled due to not completing the outbound portion of the trip. Right or wrong, that's the way the automated system works. If it sees a segment not boarded, the rest of the itinerary is canceled.

The part about "they asked about tickets and got no where." You mean they asked about another flight since they missed their original? What were they told? The airline is still responsible to provide them travel to their final destination.

Now to address the real problem that I see. AA dropped the ball on initial check-in. The airline I worked for REQUIRED anyone 14 and under who is not traveling with an adult (someone 18 or over) to be classified as a UM (Unaccompanied Minor) This would have made all the problems vanish. I am not saying who is to blame but if I were the parent and this service was offered, spending the extra 100 bucks or whatever the fee is now is certainly small price to pay for knowing my son is being personally looked after.

[jimworcs]

Guys, in some ways it makes no difference what the age of the passengers were. An inexperienced adult air traveller could just as easily have been caught out by how this situation was managed. AA fell down. The fact that they were teens just makes the story news worthy. Questioning the parenting choices of the the Mum & Dad is harsh. A sixteen year old is capable of such a journey without an adult. The parents were relying on the 16 year old to help the 14 year old. Those of us who are parents know that there are some kids at 19 who can't be trusted to cross the road, and other kids at 14 who could travel internationally without batting an eyelid.

[greeneyedraven]

Hi again. My girls are very mature for teenagers but as for the unaccompanied minor service....I booked online and the site would not allow me the service because my oldest was 16. When I called AA they said I could not since my oldest was 16. So I am not a wreckless or careless parent. Airports are very secure now since 911 and my girls were familiar with the airport.

The problem not only lies in the poor handling at check-in, but the fact that in Chicago they were not given a new flight. AA was several hours late and the connection was missed. They went to the gate desk to ask for assistance on a new connection. They were told they didn't know when they could get a connection. HENCE, paying for a shuttle to drive them home.

So, the problem lies in AA voiding the ticket because they didn't issue my girls new connection boarding passes. And any adult would have had the same problem getting a seat on the next plane or planes. Last year I was stuck in Chicago for 3 days for a connection while others gave up and rented a car or went to another airport.

In Springfield, they told us there should be no problem with the return since the flight was very late.

[jimworcs]

You gonna apologise Judge... seems Greeneyedraven is a good Mom afterall and AA are the baddies... wouldn't let her use the unaccompanied service, even though she called and requested it!!

[The_Judge]

Hmmmm. Again, I didn't work for AA but our regulations were very clear. When someone who is 14 or under is traveling, they are required to be in the program when they are not traveling with a legal adult. 15-17 year olds had the option but 4 people would go under one payment so both the 16 and 14 year old would have been covered. At the airline I worked for, a 16 year old was not entitled to be a guardian for a 14 year old. No apology yet, Jim.

[jimworcs]

Yeah, well some airlines are clearly more responsive that others. In this case, what could she do.. AA refused to offer it.. I think she should sue, go public (tv preferably) and go to the DOT

[greeneyedraven]

I too thought AA age limit was too restrictive. Can only tell you what I experienced and what AA told me on the phone. Its a confused mess. When I called about the tickets I was first told they were canceled because the girls denied unaccompanied minor service. hmmm, I argued,...what a minute, you said they couldn't get it because one was 16 and considered an adult.

Well they aren't using that excuse anymore. Now its.......they didn't finish the flight. Not addressing the late plane, the missing connection, the lack of attempt to reissue connecting tickets, etc.............

I just figured why have my children wait who knows how long for another flight to a small airport at holiday time when a driver could get them to my mother's in 2 hours. Didn't think AA would hold that against them since their service faltered. And I did call SPI and was told there should be no problem.

So when they checked in online and printed off boarding passes, I thought all was fine.

So I want my $700 for bogus tickets on the return. I think it's just a scam and they got away with it and refuse to look back.

[jimworcs]

I think if you go the DOT route, AA will have to give a detailed explanation... I would stop dealing with them and see if the DOT can get anywhere

[greeneyedraven]

Judge, I do have a question then you can help me with.

When an airline is late and the connection is missed.....Can the airline cancel the rest of your flight if you don't agree to being kept hostage in an airport?

Never thought of this before as I've never had a ticket canceled...but what harm does it do anyone if the passenger opts to drive versus wait for another seat. The airline is ahead. They have their money and the seat can be sold again at the last minute price.

I'm not being snide, but am curious as I have been stuck in airports for long periods due to delayed flights or missing connections.

[The_Judge]

I agree with you that the airline makes out in this case. But they are after the scammers and unfortunately they have programmed their system this way.

If you choose to drive or take alternate transportation on any segment of your itinerary, all subsequent segments will auto-cancel. At least at NWA. I'm betting all majors are the same. What they are trying to prevent is people buying a ticket that is cheaper from one market and using it to only fly part of a trip.

It sounds stupid, I agree. Let's use your case. Your kids flew from where you are to ORD then drove to Springfield. How does the airline know the kids just didn't get off in ORD? Believe it or not, sometimes flights to further destinations are cheaper than to just ORD to draw the market. So people will buy the ticket with a further destination at a cheaper price with no intention of using it. So to counteract this, the airlines put the auto cancel measure in. But in my experience, it has worked like crap cuz sometimes a case like yours comes up and the agent helping the passenger doesn't clean up the reservation to show what happened.

I don't know if that makes any sense or not. To me it does but I'm not a good teacher.

[Leatherboy2006]

Would still be curious to know were travel started at and if there is non-stop service from point of start to St. Louis which is a lot closer to Springfield(I am a history buff and have flown into St. Louis and driven to Springfield to visit the Lincoln sites)

[greeneyedraven]

Why are you stuck on St Louis? I believe I put in the first posting that my family lives between Chicago and Springfield. Not sure what difference the city origin is, but it was Love Field in Dallas.

Right now AA refuses to acknowledge their plane was even 3 hours late. So I guess I will learn about DOT. They aren't even willing to apologize for the hassle.

[Leatherboy2006]

Firstly..TAKE A CHILL PILL greeneyedraven.....you must be a Highland Park stuck on themselves (YES I live in the Love Field area). Your first post never never said they lived between Chicago and Springfield, if so that now makes sense.
The reason I mentioned St. Louis is its about 100 if not more miles closer to Springfield then Chicago and also a smaller and easier airport then Ohare.
Now believing more that your alleged "mature" children are probably stuck ups that better marry rich to make it in the world

[greeneyedraven]

Oh brother. No, not stuck up nor rich, but I can read.


[quote=greeneyedraven;7980]Dec 22, my teen girls were flying by themselves to Springfield, Illinois via Chicago O'Hare. In the past we flew into Chicago and drove. Due to heavy traffic in Chicago during the holidays, we opted to go to Springfield. My family lives in between the two airports.