On our recent trip to South Carolina, our flight out of Columbia on American Airlines was cancelled. They put us on another flight 2 days later, which we couldn't do, so they booked us on a flight out of Savannah GA. Since we now had to drop off our rental car at a different airport, Hertz charged me $175. Is there any chance I could get reimbursed for this from the airlines?

Bring it up with them. Can't hurt to ask. Was the flight canceled due to weather?

Or dispute the charge with your credit card company. When US Airways screwed me way way back when for a flight, I disputed the charge with Amex, and they took care of it.

quote:

Bring it up with them. Can't hurt to ask. Was the flight canceled due to weather?

^^^^^^^^^^^
Blaming it on the weather if I recall relieves the airline of any responsibility. It seems there are no longer cancellations due to mechanical issues. You fly more than I do, what are your thoughts?

I agree, if it was weather, then no reimbursement, but if it was their problem in some way the airline will probably reimburse.

They will want receipts of course.

I do wonder why the hell they sent you to Savannah when Charlotte, a major hub with many flights, was only an hour from Columbia.

https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights

https://travelsort.com/how-to-...and-get-compensated/

American airlines Contract of Carriage:
https://www.aa.com/i18n/custom...-carriage.jsp#Delays

From the AA Contract of Carriage, regarding "Events Beyond Our Control:

quote:

When there's an event we can't control like weather, a strike or other civil disorder, we may have to cancel, divert or delay flights. If your ticket still has value (if you were, for example, re-accommodated in a different class of service) we'll refund the unused portion to the original form of payment, but beyond that we are not liable.

Such "Force Majeure" events include:

Meteorological or weather conditions
Civil disturbances including war, embargoes or unsettled international conditions (real or threatened)
Acts of terror
Labor disputes that involve or affect our service
Government regulations or requirements
Shortage of labor, fuel or facilities of American or others
Any fact not reasonably foreseen or predicted by American

quote:

International air transportation liability is regulated by the Montreal Convention and Warsaw Convention.

You may be able to negotiate AA paying for your rental car, but it's very unlikely.

American Airlines on Delays, Cancellations, or Diversions:

quote:

Our goal is to provide timely, frequent and helpful updates – at the airport and on board – when there are delays, cancellations and diversions.

Rebooking your delayed/canceled flight
When your flight is canceled or a delay will cause you to miss your connection, we'll rebook you on the next flight with available seats. If you decide not to fly because your flight was delayed or canceled, we'll refund the remaining ticket value and any optional fees.

Delays caused by us

If the delay is our fault or you're diverted to another city, and we don't board before 11:59 p.m. local time on your scheduled arrival day, we'll arrange an overnight stay or cover the cost of an approved hotel, if available.

Delays beyond our control (like weather)

If the delay is beyond our control, you're responsible to pay for your hotel, meals and other expenses. An American Airlines agent may be able to help you find a hotel.

Taking care of delayed passengers
We'll do our best to ensure delayed passengers are as comfortable as possible. Gate agents are asked to look after customers with special needs including unaccompanied minors, customers with disabilities and the elderly.

In the event of long delays on the plane, we'll make every reasonable effort to ensure you have food (such as crackers or biscuits), water, access to the restroom and basic medical assistance if needed.

We are not responsible for any special, incidental or consequential damages if we're unable to meet this commitment.

Yeah, if it's weather, it'll be very difficult to get reimbursed for the rental which is why disputing the charge with your credit card company is your best option.

That is why I use my amex for everything like that. Like I said already, they've taken care of me in the past for stuff just like this.

Yep, it was weather related.

American Airlines are the biggest lairs you could ever deal with. I have experienced more lying that is blatant from these assholes than you can imagine. Weather...they wont fly when it is snowing, raining, windy, sunny, dark, and too bright out.
I was on one of their flights 2 weeks ago where they had a mechanical issue...we waited for them to fix it...and then when we are ready to go they say the weather has turned and they have to cancel the flight.
They were giving no free hotel rooms and there were people that were going ballistic and rightfully so.
This will tell you how they treat customers...there is NO customer service number you can call...you have to send them an email.

American Airlines, or another airline with code sharing/affiliate, with American Airlines paint? Not the same thing.

I've diverted or cancelled for weather before when others felt that we should have gone; they weren't being paid to make that decision, however, and didn't necessarily have the same experience or judgement when it came to the weather.

There are a lot of factors that come into play with weather which may not be apparent to a passenger. Departure weather, enroute, weather, and destination weather are factors, but so is weather at the alternate airport (something which most passengers never know). Additionally, delays due to weather at other locations play a factor: these turn into delays that prevent gate availability at the destination, holding, or that maybe causing delays in the system or diversions that add up to fuel issues, time or connection issues, etc. The flying public would have no way of knowing about this in most cases, but the crew will, as will the dispatch for that airline.

There are many cases in which it's not legal to launch or dispatch the flight because of forecast weather: rain at the destination may mean that the available runway (determined by closures, prevailing winds, and other factors) won't allow stopping within the required distance using planning charts. That is, the aircraft must be able to stop within 60% of the destination runway, but when wet, 115% of that total distance is required. I've seen cases in which we could have launched, except for the rain.

It's not a matter of refusing to fly because of snow or rain; there are typically extenuating circumstances which the passenger may not appreciate, but which the airline and certainly the crew will.

In a former life, one one of my jobs was atmospheric research. Specifically, I flew turbojet airplanes into thunderstorms with a lot of scientific gear, sensor pods, cameras, pyrotechnics, and other things on board, for research purposes. I learned a lot about weather, but what I got most out of that experience was a very healthy respect for convective weather: thunderstorms. I avoid them like the plague, because I have a strong appreciation for what's inside and what it can do to an airplane and the contents of that airplane. Consequently, I've had others question my decision to avoid convective weather, or a refusal to fly through it, because they didn't have that experience and didn't know better. Being paid for my judgement, that ruled the day, and whether others knew it or not, they were safer for it.

I can't speak to a specific experience that a passenger has had, but certainly to my own: if a flight is cancelled due to weather, there's a good reason, and in my nearly 40 years of experience as a professional, I've never done it or seen it done frivolously.

American Airlines Customer Service (ticketing) 24/7: 800-433-7300

American Airlines Customer Service (ticketing) 24/7: 800-433-7300

Exactly...ticketing.
I had first class tickets from Maui to Tampa through LAX. Delay causes the connection flight to be missed. They put us on coach and say ..."sorry...no refund for the fare difference. Called Customer Service and are told..."this is reservations..cant do anything for you"...send a email.

See links from my previous post, including DOT discussion about this topic.

Aviation Consumer Protection Division, C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590

https://www.transportation.gov...e-consumer-complaint

You may call the ACPD 24 hours a day at 202-366-2220 (TTY 202-366-0511) to record your complaint.



American airlines (refunds):
Send a letter, fax or email

Mail to:
American Airlines
Attention: Passenger Refunds
4000 E. Sky Harbor Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 85034

Fax:
800-892-3447 (U.S.)
480-693-2759 (International)

Email:
https://prefunds.aa.com/refunds/
https://www.aa.com/contact/forms?topic=CR#/


Be sure to include:

Passenger names
Email or U.S. mail address
Reason for request
Receipts
Ticket numbers
Date of travel
Departure and arrival cities


https://magazine.northeast.aaa...nger-bill-of-rights/

Article 9 of the Montreal Convention dictates that airlines are liable for damages caused by delays. Currently that liability is up to 5,500 dollars. This financial liability is not imposed if the airline can show that it applied all (reasonable) measures, by the airline and by its agents.

https://flyersrights.org/delayedcancelled-flights/

American is no worse than any of the airlines, but they all will use the weather excuse if possible. "The plane coming in was delayed due to weather where it was taking off from." "There is bad weather in (Chicago, Atlanta, DFW, etc.) and it is rippling through the system countrywide". My personal favorite was when my wife was traveling between NYC and Chicago and they told her the flight was delayed due to weather in Chicago. I looked out the window and said "you mean the beautiful blue skies with no clouds and a light breeze? That weather?"

Good luck with the reimbursement, though.

I feel your pain but your chances of recovering anything from American airlines is only slightly greater than my being elected President next November

American will not give you a dime - you were simply cargo

quote:

Originally posted by Nuclear:
American is no worse than any of the airlines, but they all will use the weather excuse if possible. "The plane coming in was delayed due to weather where it was taking off from." "There is bad weather in (Chicago, Atlanta, DFW, etc.) and it is rippling through the system countrywide". My personal favorite was when my wife was traveling between NYC and Chicago and they told her the flight was delayed due to weather in Chicago. I looked out the window and said "you mean the beautiful blue skies with no clouds and a light breeze? That weather?"

What did the aviation weather forecast and products tell you when you looked at them?

Fortunately for the flying public, we don't simply look out the window and say "it looks pretty good. Let's go."

quote:

Originally posted by Nuclear:
I looked out the window and said "you mean the beautiful blue skies with no clouds and a light breeze? That weather?"

Point being that the airline isn't doing it's forecasting or dispatching based on what someone in Chicago saw out their window. Federal regulations invoke aviation weather forecasts as well as reports.

I held over Baghram AFB in Afghanistan for nearly three hours one night, with a clear view of the airport from above, unable to get cleared for the approach because it was being reported below instrument approach minimums. Nothing in or out.

There are a lot of cases in aviation in which someone makes a casual observation and believe they've got the big picture, when in fact they don't. Simply because one looks out their window and thinks they've got it, isn't necessarily license to brand the airline all "liars."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sns3guppy,

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:

I held over Baghram AFB in Afghanistan for nearly three hours on night, with a clear view of the airport from above, unable to get cleared for the approach because it was being reported below instrument approach minimums.

I flew the approach at Duchess County (POU) one night when AWOS was reporting 1/4 mile visibility. Broke out well above DH and could clearly see the lights at the far end of the runway, so visibility was well over 1 mile. I was Part 91 so it was legal for me to fly the approach.

A 135 flight was in the hold behind me, asked me the actual visibility was, I told him more than a mile, he thanked me and flew the approach legally.

I had a flight on Spirit canceled for weather once. This was from LAX to PHX - pretty much a bus route in the sky that follows I-10 through the desert, never rain, often super hot. Spirit said they canceled due to heat. So why didn't all the other airlines also cancel? Lots of them continued flying to PHX, but somehow Spirit's newish fleet of 737s couldn't do it? There was almost a riot at that ticket counter. This was a Thurs. and Spirit said they might be able to get people home by Sat. I just rented a car and drove.

The reason for heat cancellation or heat affecting the flight is specific to that flight; it has to do with operating limitations for that aircraft, that company, the weight of that aircraft on that day on that specific flight, etc.

I have been on flights out of Phoenix that got cancelled due to the heat, when others were flying. It may be that the specific aircraft type doesn't have performance data beyond a specific temperature; I've seen that happen. It may be that the temperature reduces performance for that specific flight, given it's weight, that it can't meet takeoff requirements, or climb with one engine inoperative after takeoff requirements.

Again, looking out the window and seeing what appears to be good weather is not the same as using the aviation weather reports, working within the framework of the airline operation specifications and the federal aviation regulations and the aircraft flight manual performance data, as well as crunching the weight and balance numbers and doing all the performance calculations that make the flight both legal and safe.

It's very possible for one aircraft to be able to operate, but not another, under a given set of circumstances.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I flew the approach at Duchess County (POU) one night when AWOS was reporting 1/4 mile visibility. Broke out well above DH and could clearly see the lights at the far end of the runway, so visibility was well over 1 mile. I was Part 91 so it was legal for me to fly the approach.

A 135 flight was in the hold behind me, asked me the actual visibility was, I told him more than a mile, he thanked me and flew the approach legally.

Actually, for Part 121 and 135 operations (airline and charter), it's not legal to begin the approach if the published aviation weather reports show weather below minimums, if the aircraft is outside the final approach fix. While it's useful to have a report from the pilot ahead, to be legal under 135, the weather report must come from "weather reporting facility operated by the U.S. National Weather Service, a source approved by U.S. National Weather Service, or a source approved by the Administrator." The last one will be specified in the 135 certificate holders Operations Specifications.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/t....3.135_1225&rgn=div8

In the case of the hold over Baghram, previously described, it's not uncommon to be able to see the runway or airport from overhead, but for everything to change while on an approach. It can look fine from over head, but can easily be below minimums when flying the approach. I've seen that many times. While a Part 91 airplane can begin the approach and go have a look, the same is not true of charter and airline operations, which cannot begin the approach if the authorized weather reporting indicates that the weather does not meet approach criteria (below minimums).

Where weather reporting is not given, an operator may be issued OpSpecs that allow an approach to be flown if the alternate airport has approved weather and a current altimeter setting, and the weather shows above minimums. That only applies to on-demand operators, and only those "Eligible On-Demand" operators with specific authorization.

Ok I get that the weather issue is complicated. Have you ever known an airline to be dishonest in saying the weather is a problem, when it is not? Is there a way to confirm? This question is directed to pilots or those who work in the airline industry. Thanks