I Will Never Fly American Airlines Again.
Dear American Airlines,
I’m done with you. Absolutely done.
Despite my friends constantly badgering, you have been my airline of choice for a good part of the last decade. I defended you when people said they had bad experiences. When friends said that you were “old-fashioned” and “bloated,” I would say, “yes, but they still work. And they’ve gone out of their way to fix any bump in the road I’ve ever had.”
I had every reason to defend you: it’s easy to get to JFK, your prices have been relatively reasonable, you haven’t screwed me over, and when I faced the prospect of getting stuck in O’Hare for a whole day, you gladly changed my reservation - on an award ticket!
But today, we are through. I will never fly your airline again after the announcement you made today.
YOU ARE CHARGING $15 TO CHECK A BAG. A BAG. ONE BAG.
Screw you. If other airlines jump on board this obscene policy, you are to blame. The government has made it illegal for me to carry liquids through security. The only way to get past this is to check a bag.
Do I want to bring a bottle of wine for being a houseguest? $15.
Am I having a bout of extremely dry skin and need to carry a bottle of lotion? $15.
Is my tube of toothpaste 1 ounce too large to get through security? $15.
You say that this will help you cover fuel costs. Heavy planes cost more to operate. In the end, it’s just a big fuck you to your passengers.
If I check a 20-pound bag of luggage and weigh 180 pounds, I pay $15. Yet the 300-pound fat guy wedging me into my seat took a massive backpack, so he pays nothing. He also spent five minutes trying to jam it into the overhead bin, holding up the entire plane by slowing down the boarding process. Oh, and before he got there, it took him ten minutes to shove his backpack through the x-ray machine at security, slowing up the entire airport.
And you want to charge me $15. Each way, by the way. Fuck you. We’re through.
Your Formerly Loyal Customer,
Chris
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 11:22 am and is filed under On the Road. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 21st, 2008 at 11:25 am
keith says:i am reminded of a letter i wrote to american airlines on behalf of a flamboyantly gay friend whose baggage was lost on the way home from my wedding:
dear mr. crandall:
be on the lookout for a baggage handler wearing pink and green pants, big clompy shoes and a cashmere turtleneck. that’s the motherfucker who stole my louis vuitton bag.
sincerely,
[name redacted]
May 21st, 2008 at 11:33 am
Kelly says:Yeah, and this also means you’re fucked for self check-in… and since they’ve reduced the number of ticket agents, everyone is fucked. Welcome to getting to the airport 3 hours early.
May 21st, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Sarah says:Deregulation sure ended up working out great, didn’t it?
May 21st, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Mel says:I just read American Airlines currently charges you $25 to check a second bag. I wonder if that charge will stay after they institute the $15 charge for your first bag.
May 21st, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Chris says:Mel: Yes, it will. $40 for two bags.
By the way, Southwest Airlines charges nothing to check two bags.
May 21st, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Tina-cious.com says:Totally sharing this post on my google reader.
I love that bloggers have discovered the best disgruntled customer revenge. Blogging!
May 21st, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Dave Amirault says:AA’s new policy of $15 for ONE piece of checked luggage is ABSURD. I fly over 25 times a year and I can in all honesty say that I will take all available steps to avoid flying on American Airlines. What’s next? Is AA going to make the toilets on the plane cost money to use? Or perhaps we will have to buy locker keys for the overhead bins?
May 21st, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Gwin says:Ugh… my company insists that we fly on AA whenever possible. This sucks!!
May 21st, 2008 at 3:39 pm
7 says:Hey Dave - Be QUIET!
You’re going to give them ideas!!!
May 21st, 2008 at 5:55 pm
NYGabriel says:gwin…what’s the big deal if your company is paying for your travel. This only directly impacts the leisure traveler.
May 21st, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Kelly says:American has a laundry list of exceptions to the new rule. Included are AAdvantage elite members, which I’m sure you are if you fly that often, Dave.
May 21st, 2008 at 6:12 pm
*Red says:Jetblue doesn’t charge anything for 2 bags either. Unless they are over 50 lbs, that will cost you for a second bag. I’m thinking American Airlines will lose more customers with this little trick.
May 21st, 2008 at 6:38 pm
val says:I just went to the aa website and the dont say anything about the $15 charge. It says you may check one bag at no charge and a second bag at a $25 charge.
May 21st, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Conservatives and Normals says:Man, it’s a tough life…. flying that is. You definitely have a reason to be angry. How dare they change your routine. Where are the sheep? JK
May 21st, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Todd says:Ridiculous… Continental isn’t charging for one bag, but bring a second one and it’ll cost you $25.
I’m all for a “fuel/fat surcharge”. It’d be easy! If someone needs one of those seatbelt-extenders, they should get billed the price of a second ticket!
May 21st, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Todd says:“Chairman and Chief Executive Gerard J. Arpey said he expects the fees will raise “several hundred million dollars” for American.”
Now change “the fees” to “raping his clients”
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:45 am
jamie says:Airlines should charge by the pound. That goes for both fat bags and fat passengers. They do it with the space shuttle, don’t they?
Being the skinny bitch that I am, of course, I would get the better end of this deal
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
Tyler says:I’m going to make it my business to steal $25 worth of merchandise off of American Airlines flights whenever I have the misfortune enough to take them. Until they start charging for blankets, then I’m going to take a home a flight attendant.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:13 am
Sheryl says:I’m with you on the fat surcharge. I’ve taken off 60 pounds, so I should be able to check at least that much luggage for free! And when your seat-neighbor’s fat is spilling over onto your lap, they should be charged for a second seat. That’s just disgusting.
I’m so glad I don’t fly often… It’s a horrific mess.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Megan says:My last flight ever on American was the one where a flight attendant told a hungry passenger, complaining because they had run out of food by the 27th row of a 40 row plane, that “maybe you should have booked a ticket on JetBlue.” Thank you, I will never have the audacity to expect the right to pay for food on an airplane ever again.
Please, make people pay by weight!!! And save the food for the skinny people who might starve!!!
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
nicotine.queen. says:Actually, JetBlue is implementing as of June 1, that a second checked bag will cost $20, they started charging for the extra legroom seats ($15 each flight) and they will no longer be giving away headsets. Plus their flights have gone up in price.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Gr8dan2 says:$15 EACH WAY. It’s really a $30 tack on to a RT ticket. Ridiculous, completely ridiculous. I’d have been find with them saying “gas is killing us, we’re raising prices” but to do it as a bag check fee, they totally suck. I’ve always been an american flyer– hell with that–southwest here i come.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Eric says:I don’t think I’ve flown American since 2004. And that was a free ticket, purchased with miles racked up mainly during college, when I lived in Miami, and American dominated. They aren’t very convenient to fly from where I am now, and I plan to try to avoid them thanks to this little surcharge.
My airline of choice, Delta, has said it does not plan to implement a fee like this. I hope it stays that way.
May 25th, 2008 at 11:46 am
magickat says:I am JetBlue all the way. They might fuck me over come June - but at least they offer plenty of leg room for me to properly bend over so they can get the job done.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Patrick says:I had an AA business credit card and something like 70,000 points earned from expenditures. I’m currently planing a trip to St. Thomas, and apparently AA won’t allow you to use those points on a Saturday or Sunday.
Resorts only book week and weekend trips on Saturdays and Sundays. Hence, the entire get-a-way idea is a scam. AA is a scam.
I will never fly AA again and I hope their scams get uncovered. Never get an AA credit card and never fly AA again.
Our govt bails them out whenever they go down and they go down because they scam people. I say let them burn and go bankrupt, starting with their CEO’s and corp management.
March 5th, 2009 at 11:00 am
kathryn McElroy says:If I died and came back a zombie I wouldn’t fly on this good-for-nothing airline! The trip I booked for my high school reunion was ruined by these idiots. Some bag checker screamed at me and when I asked him why he said he had to it was too noisy outside.Then I said look you shouldn’t have your job you should be fired. So their secret detectives followed me all around hassling me, delayed every connection, followed me into the bathroom! Went through my bags and fucked everything up. FUCK YOU YOU MORONS!
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 am
dr@gon says:Who boards the aircraft only to tell their captive audience - “Oh, you mean that 50 min. delay, that’s just an engine that’s not working anyways” as we are taxiing down the runway…
“Connection flight. What’s that?” You mean you have somewhere else to be and this whole structure of air travel revolves around a magic invention called a clock? Jebus stop the press that’s breaking news!
If you’ve guessed American Airlines; you are correct…the last time is the last time. May this airline be the latest collateral damage from the economy.