By Steve Moran
I am sitting in the Las Vegas airport trying to get to Boston for a conference. The journey started almost 24 hours ago, and I have been booked and rebooked again and again. Some of it was weather-related. Some of it is because the leaders at American Airlines have decided they are big enough that customers don’t matter.
How It All Went Sideways
I left Sacramento for Phoenix. We were diverted to Las Vegas for fuel.
While we were on the ground in Vegas, American told me I would miss my connection in Phoenix and rebooked me on a later, more complicated flight. When I got to Phoenix, my original flight was still sitting at the gate, so they put me back on it.
Then we sat for two hours, maybe a bit more, waiting for flight attendants. The flight was pushed to 6 am the next morning. Then it was pushed to 7:20.
They rebooked me through Charlotte in a middle seat in coach. I am tall and old. I normally fly first class.
I got that changed to Las Vegas to Charlotte to Boston. That flight was delayed, and now I am in Vegas with a delayed flight to LAX, then LAX to Boston, arriving around midnight.
Yesterday, while I was in Las Vegas, I asked a phone agent to code-share me onto a Delta or JetBlue flight to Boston. I was told it wasn’t possible, which is simply not true. Airlines can do it. They just don’t like to, and I assume it is because it costs them money. They would rather wreck my trip than spend a few extra dollars helping me get where I need to be.
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