American's New Baggage Charges

[Dustyreefdiving]

Be cautious...I had scheduled a dive group that went to Roatan, Honduras. It was a great trip. We went down on June 14th and returned on June 21st. I called American Airlines numerous times to make sure our contract for airfare was in good order, no changes were going to occur and they reassured me that everything was fine. We had no problems going down to Roatan, but coming back was a different story.
Besides the airport being a complete zoo, American changed their baggage changes coming from Central America and never bothered to put the information on the internet until the day. On April 8th if you bought tickets on American you were charged the new baggage fees.
When I made my contract with American Airlines, they gave me charges for baggage, which is what I passed along to my customers. But that changed on April 8th. If you purchased your tickets before you got the 1st bag free, 2nd bag $25.
If purchased after April 8th, its $25 for 1st and $40 for 2nd, regardless if it was a sport bag or not.
It cost each person $75 to get their personal bag and their dive bag home from Roatan, which some of our group got their dive bags routed to the wrong city.

For those that put trips together, it is useless to argue with American, make contracts or whatever else.

 

[fisheater]

How can it be legal for them to ignore your contract?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[redacted]

Be cautious...I had scheduled a dive group that went to Roatan, Honduras. It was a great trip. We went down on June 14th and returned on June 21st. I called American Airlines numerous times to make sure our contract for airfare was in good order, no changes were going to occur and they reassured me that everything was fine. We had no problems going down to Roatan, but coming back was a different story.
Besides the airport being a complete zoo, American changed their baggage changes coming from Central America and never bothered to put the information on the internet until the day. On April 8th if you bought tickets on American you were charged the new baggage fees.
When I made my contract with American Airlines, they gave me charges for baggage, which is what I passed along to my customers. But that changed on April 8th. If you purchased your tickets before you got the 1st bag free, 2nd bag $25.
If purchased after April 8th, its $25 for 1st and $40 for 2nd, regardless if it was a sport bag or not.
It cost each person $75 to get their personal bag and their dive bag home from Roatan, which some of our group got their dive bags routed to the wrong city.

For those that put trips together, it is useless to argue with American, make contracts or whatever else.

Are you saying that none of those divers were able to pack for a Caribbean dive destination in one 50 lb checked bag?

 

[DeputyDan]

So what's the big deal?

 

[Doc]

If you were IATAN approved or CLIA the airlines would have let you know in advance of any changes. You state that this was, for you, a commercial venture. Welcome to the new age of Wild-West Impromptu Travel Agencies.

Most big players in the travel industry have avoided Roatan because of the lack of volume and the small margins of profit (between the publicly super-discounted tertiary "resorts that offer diving" and the obvious collusion of identical usury rates charged by airlines for tickets to RTB). Most people coming to Roatan simply book on-line, 15 years gone are the days when Roatan was a Clutch Cargo destination, thanks to it being one of the last easily accessed "good" dive destinations (for now) and the increase in volume that allowed for other (non-competing priced) airlines to come in. Most everybody books direct, there is no reason to not do so.

On your recent trip to AKR, you could have booked the trip and/or the air through a long time RTB Player such as Roatan Charters. You would have lost your %, but it is a no-brainer, no surprise, big stick way to get what you pay for. Since you really don't make squat in airline ticketing, since companies like Roatan Charter pass along the comps if any, why play on the uneven playing field that the airlines provide?

Large volume re-sellers also have the crank to get charges waived even post-facto. Complications arise when these fees were paid in another country because there is always some doubt as to the actual accounting of those fees between airport local front ticket desk agents and the corporate office of the airline. Getting any refund is hard enough, but add to it the international division between "local accounting practices"... where did that money go and the impolite nature of that line of questioning. Even if properly coded into the correct account, the local station gets their cut for the actual "extra" work performed. At this point, anger is generated over what, to the airline management, is not worth arguing over your measly $75.

Arguing over a surprise (up front at the airport ticket counter) airline baggage fee is like screaming at your cat. They will not alter their behavior and will likely piss in your coffee. In the case of the airline, engaging in a negative and especially heated argument has high correlation with getting your bags routed incorrectly. Plain fact.

Arguing over an airline charge when you get home is like screaming at a dead cat, especially in your likely position as a new-age tour operator, a category which airlines have despised since the 1960's and hence they embraced vertically integrated marketing models.

So, for the largest volume of RTB bound flyers that book directly: Keep documentation. If you get slammed or crammed (check you Urban Dictionary), be polite, pay up, but then beat the snot out of the airline upon return. It will take some effort, but you may get some satisfaction. They still almost shiv-a-git about happy, end-user customers. (at lest the ones with their affinity Visa Card and the Mileage Account totals greater than their zip code)

This too will change. It's only a matter of hours before glossy magazines with in-flight airline package deals feature Roatan. Maybe they already do, but no "resort" that I would care to spend a week inside of. Resorts that have websites with no dive boat pictures, that kind of thing. Apple Vacation type drek. The kind of complaints commonly found on Trip Advisor.

But, I do agree. American Airlines suck. Delta sucks, TACA Sucks, American sucks.
And, most of all, K-Mart sucks.