[Texasghd]

My wife was diagnosed with Ocular Cancer and we were blessed enought to get an appt. at Willseye Hospital in Phil. Pa. the next week. She is living in Az right now, but I made reservations with AA for her to fly to DFW and then we would both go to Pa together. Because of a computer glitch, my credic card did not accept the bill submitted by AA and they notified me and agreed to hold the tickets for one more day. Problem resolved and AA was paid for her trip to DFW.

Now the night before we are suppose to fly to Pa, I double check our tickets and find the 2nd half of the trip has been cancelled. When I finally got hold of someone, they explained that I was given a notice and that I hadnt responded in time and the tickets were no longer available. After going through a supervisor, he stated the same thing, but offered me the same tickets at $900 instead of the $300 we originally accepted.

Seems funny I could get a notice for the first part of the trip but not the second and the same flight has the same seats, but now it cost $600 more. I have flown with AA for business and pleasure over the past 20+ years, but I am happy to announce that Southwest had tickets for 1/2 the cost, bags fly free and they will welcome my 8-10 trips per year. Since I have a blog to let friends and family know how my wife is doing, I will definately put this information in my next update tonight so maybe instead of AA losing 8-10 tickets next year, they will lose many more. After all, the best advertisement is word of mouth. I am very disappointed they handled this situation the way they did.

Guy H Drennan
316TVF8

[ChrisH]

I hate to say it, but I am just being honest as a former 4+ year airline employee, but I doubt AA cares about the 8 to 10 tickets that you will go elsewhere for, or that you will place this story in a blog. If they cared in the first place, they would have resolved the situation. That is just it. The airlines do not care. They understand that while you have experienced an inconvenience and are bringing your business to SouthWest, along with your family and friends you will inform of this incident, there are also others who are experiencing an inconvenience with SouthWest and other airlines that will do just the same and will end up flying somebody else next time, as well, such as AA. There is a forum here for SouthWest complaints. They aren't perfect either.

I think that is the point that some people miss and why using the line that "I am going elsewhere" or "I'm never flying [insert airline here] again" doesn't bother the airlines and is a waste of time for the customer to use those lines. If it did matter to them, they would resolve these issues to keep the business. They don't care.

It is ashame that you experienced this, but it is unfortunately the way of the airline industry unless and until some major changes are made to regulate it again.

[jimworcs]

There is something very odd about this story. It is ridiculous to that the tickets were being sold separately. I would consider a small claims court. If they took your money for the tickets when the second transaction went through, I think they are in breach of contract. You did not contract them to take her to DFW, but rather to Philly. Unless you booked each transaction as a separate booking?

ChrisH is right. They do not care. The fig leaf of competition is created by the "de-regulated market". In fact, they are a series of monopolies and duopolies in huge fortress hubs. For this reason, they are quite willing to exploit people, even those with cancer, to increase their profit. You should also contact the local media with this story. Outrageous.