American bumped me and dumped me...what is standard compensation?

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Jayfarmlaw

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Divemaster
Messages
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Location
Tuttle, Ok
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On our last trip to Coz....American had a mechanical issue leaving OKC at 6:58 am and pulled back into the gate. We're told we will still make our 10:00 flight to Coz out of Dallas. Turns out our flight does not leave OKC until almost 11:00. We end up getting on a different flight that just left a few minutes before our original flight to Dallas.

we get to Dallas well after our Coz flight has left. They offer to put us up in a hotel, but we have a dive boat waiting at 8:00 am the next morning. I asked if they can get us to Cancun and they do. We get to Cancun at about 5:30 and no one from American is there to help us get to Cozumel. We take a shuttle and the ferry to get to Cozumel at about 9:30 pm, 9 hours after we were supposed to and with and addition $110 out of pocket on shuttles and ferry tickets. The point behind the more expensive tickets to Cozumel was so we would not have to play the shuttle/ferry game in tHe first place...so we paid more for the Coz tickets AND still paid ferry and shuttle costs.

and they break our hard sided suitcase containing dive gear. We should have a new suitcase in 4 to 6 weeks...

i have gone through the process of the complaint form and they have offered $300 in travel vouchers. I have read the Travelers Bill Of Rights and is says delays beyond 4 hours on international flights are entitled to up to 400% of the fare up to 1300 max.

Ive sent a new complaint asking for two round trip vouchers to Cozumel.

My Question is....what is typical compensation in this scenario? Other than the email based complaint process, is there a better way to go?

thanks in advance for your response.

jay
 
trip interuption insurance should cover things like the extra shuttle and ferry tickets.

in the big picture, suitcases are small change and just a nuisance to try and get compensation for. unless you travel a lot. then get suitcases that are guaranteed by the manufacturer. not many are.

and they did get you close to your destination and on the same day, so i do not think they will be in a hurry to give you much attention.
 
I don't see where you were bumped, from what you describe they don't need to compensate you at all except for the broken suitcase.
 
I asked if they can get us to Cancun and they do...


At that point... any additional costs you incurred to get to Coz from Cancun are your responsibility.
 
They offered to put you up for the night and get you there the next day. That would have been at no charge to you. You wanted to make the AM dive boat so you initiated other options. Been in the same situation. Spent a night in NY and missed a day in Bermuda. But that is how it goes. Sounds like you were made the standard offer.

I will note that I wound up in NY early one morning after delays and rerouting. I had been given a pass on Air France to make up a missed connection. They would not honor it at 8 Am since the AM flight was on the concord. Afternoon flights full so on to Miami and then to Paris. Wound up getting to Paris a day late which forced a change in train connections, etc. Stuff happens. Be glad they caught the mechanical problem in OKC.
 
At that point... any additional costs you incurred to get to Coz from Cancun are your responsibility.[/COLOR]


Agreed. I also don't see where you were bumped, they had another flight option to COZ for you but you decided to go another route on your own even though still under AA. Also did they say they would assist you with transport to COZ?

As for luggage you may get a small compensation, some will only even pay a certain amount per KG not what was in there. As mentioned check with the MFG of the luggage some have warranties.
 
As mentioned check with the MFG of the luggage some have warranties.
and be sure you understand the type of warranty provided.

many (most, all?) provide a limited time manufacturer defect warranty. that's right! if they failed to build it properly, they will fix it. some outfits provide a lifetime manufacturer defect warranty. again they only fix a limited set of issues.

none of these provide any protection against normal wear and tear or damage inflicted by luggage apes. break the zipper, tear off a handle, smash a wheel off, crack the shell? not covered.

some retailers provide a "warranty". we have an outdoor gear chain (Mountain Equipment Co-op) that provides a "rock solid guarantee" on the products they sell. they covered a duffle bag that was torn open by an airport luggage system.

we travel a lot and eventually got tired of having to buy a yet another piece of replacment luggage every few years. so we now use a high end luggage manufacturer that guarantees their product for life. regardless of the cause of the damage. they specifically cover luggage ape damage. http://www.briggs-riley.com/simple-as-that-lifetime-guarantee/ we had a wheel smashed off a bag, took it into the local retailer and it was back within 2 weeks.
 
After spending a night in the Philly airport thanks to US Airways, I looked up on the government website what my rights were and they were none. The government's website said that airlines do not guarantee your arrival at your destination at the scheduled time. You do have the option of requesting a refund for the unused portion of the ticket. I am not sure why FedEx can guarantee a delivery but an airline cannot. The government's website was very apologetic towards the airline.

When flying into Miami on a weekend there are always people begging to get on a flight because they are in danger of missing their cruise.
 
I assume tjhe dive boat you were trying to get to was a liveaboard given your concern. If not, I'm not sure I see this as a major issue.

On two occasions (Belize and Bahamas) I've had airlines get me to the destination after a liveaboard was scheduled to depart. In the first case, the boat was close enough to come part way back and send a Zodiac for me since I was the on-board marine biologist and underwater videographer. In the second case the liveaboard (Blackbeards) delayed departure several hours causing the other divers to miss a dive or two.

Based on these experiences, I always try to schedule my arrival a day prior to departure. I had actually done that on the Bahamas trip but the airline had two issues getting me there and I arrived the day of departure instead of the day before after sleeping in the terminal in Atlanta (they offered a hotel room but with only 5 hours between the offer and the next morning's departure I declined). Ugh.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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