Complaints

This profile includes complaints for American Airlines's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  American Airlines

  4333 Amon Carter Blvd Fort Worth, TX 76155-2605

• 

  American Airlines

  940 S Kimball Ave Ste 100 Southlake, TX 76092-9026

• 

  American Airlines

  5900 Messer Airport Hwy Birmingham, AL 35212-1057

• 

  American Airlines

  2900 Woodcock Blvd 222 Atlanta, GA 30341-4004

• 

  American Airlines, Inc.

  1357 Kapiolani Boulevard, #1145 Honolulu, HI 96814

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I paid for a flight for my son. The flight record number was ******* The flight was cancelled the morning of the flight. The only option was to not travel or rebook a different flight. The flight they booked him on was a flight that was cheaper when I booked originally. In fact, these same flights fly every week and the later flights are still cheaper (see attached screen shot of the exact same flights one week from now - $85 difference). When I called to ask for a refund for the difference-they said the flights are now the same price. Of course they are-the day of the flight they always jack the prices up because there are limited flights by then. I shouldn’t be penalized because they cancelled a flight. I should get the difference in the cost of my flight and the cheaper flight on the day I booked.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2022

  Passenger was contacted on July 19, 2022 under case# ************** Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/25/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 

  
  

  Despite what the email said, they did offer my son a credit for the difference between the more expensive flight and the seat upgrade I paid for and he did not get on his new flight. 
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ***** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased two round trip flights to phoenix in March 2020 shortly before the pandemic shut down. Due to the shut down we postponed our flight until May 2021. Because the price of airfare had dropped, I received a credit voucher for the remaining balance to be used later in the amount of $346:00. No refunds were issued. I reached out to American Airlines on 7/12/2022 to inquire about the balance but was told that my voucher had expired. I was perplexed as this was my own money that I left in their care. I wrote to American Airlines customer service via email and was offered $50 to placate my complaint. I wrote back explaining that we had extenuating circumstances and simply wanted the voucher reinstated. I have not heard back. American Airlines offers no clear and transparent way to view a credit voucher. Only after calling and being filtered through several layers of customer service was i able to learn how much credit i had, or lost, for that matter. This information is not listed anywhere on the website or app. No reminders were sent; no letters of any kind. It is cumbersome, hidden and frustratingly deceptive. I am simply asking for my own money back to be used for travel with American Airlines in the amount or $346.00.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/26/2022

  Passenger was contacted on July 19, 2022 under case# 1-31658176517. Please see attached.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We were booked on a flight returning from ******* and our first stop was in ******* we did not have the appropriate time to make our connecting flight we had less than 30 minutes to make our connecting flight from ******* to ******** ******** even though we would have had to the ***** of ***** go all the way through customs baggage claims and then back into the airport in order to make a connecting flight we had zero chance of making this flight the plane was 10 minutes late arriving to the dock even with that consideration there still was not ample time for us to get to our next flight we were stuck in the airport overnight and missed out on being home at a time frame that we had planned for also causing us to miss work I feel like this is very unprofessional when booking planes tickets and routes therapy should be consideration of time it takes to get in and out of checkpoints in order to make and connecting flight on top of that when we did arrive to the airport there was another plane that was still in the area that took off late causing us to be even later than we need to be had this been thought out with the booking the flights does never would have happened

  Business Response

  Date: 07/26/2022

  Passenger was contacted on July 19, 2022 under case# 1-31674264491. Please see attached.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  As a result of a change in my reservation (Record Locator: VQBPXY), I got a credit for $459. It's worth mentioning that I paid the original reservation (Record Locator: VQBPXY) with my credit card and without using miles.I partially used the credit of $459 in a reservation (AA Record Locator: DJWDDV) both for the flight and the taxes. Then, with the remaining credit ($64.70), I did want to pay for another ticket (Record locator: CDEVOI), which was partially paid with miles, and AA didn't allow me. They explained that taxes should be paid in cash/credit card but my rationale was that my original credit resulted from cash that I paid in excess. So, at last, they have had my cash in their bank account and now, I wanted to apply it towards the taxes and they didn't allow me. Because I need the ticket, I am paying the taxes with a credit card but by this request, I want AA to refund my credit card with the $64.70 that I am paying now because they are not allowing me to use the credit.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2022

  Passenger was contacted on July 19, 2022 under case# 1-31672214985. Please see attached.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had a ticket for a flight from ********* to **********. They knew they overbooked the flight and offered me money to delay my flight via the app. I chose a $750 option to delay my flight. I was told that I would be notified at the gate. Instead, they just cancelled my flight when I arrived at the airport. This caused me to pay extra for Uber's and meals because the next flight was not until fourteen hours later. Also, I had paid over a hundred dollars to upgrade my tickets. This money was not refunded even though my new flights were not upgraded. I contacted the airline and their resolution was to give me airline miles. **** good are miles when it will be a cold day in h*** before I fly American again.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2022

  Passenger was contacted on July 18, 2022 under case# 1-31672377186. Please see attached.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have filed the following complaint through your AA channels, and also filed a complaint with the ****************************, but thought it important to let you each know of the absolutely terrible experience my husband and I had on flight 731 from ****** to ********* on Friday, July 15, 2022.On my flight to ********* from ******, there were multiple children crawling around in the aisles and free spaces, and flight attendants did nothing to prevent this. The parents of the children also changed diapers on the floor directly in front of me, releasing who knows what germs into the air; no hand washing took place after, and then the parents held onto the dirty diapers, or piled them on the floor instead of throwing them away. Again, flight attendants did nothing but say how cute the child was. I do not expect to be directly exposed to ***** matter germs on an aircraft. *athrooms are for changing diapers, not the aisle and open space in front of me. This was disgusting and needs to be stopped. The constant smell of ***** waste and dirty diapers made for an extremely unpleasant eight hour flight, and I now intend to visit a doctor to see what medications or vaccinations I might preventatively need after being exposed to ***** matter.In addition to the ***** matter, once we landed in *********, we were subjected to a multi-hour delay to get home to ***********. Due to our unpleasant experience on the trans-Atlantic flight, the customer service representatives in ********* directed ** to the ************* to request a voucher for entry. When we did that, we were rudely told no such thing existed by ******************* in the Terminal * *************, and when we told him the customer service representatives told us to come the *************, he said if we did not leave that he would call security and have us arrested for trespassing.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2022

  Passenger was contacted on July 19, 2022 under case# 1-31666839577. Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/25/2022

  Complaint: 17578203
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  

  The company apologizes, but does not take any responsibility for the poor quality of the product or offerings. The company also makes no effort to comment on doing better or trying to rectify future problems of a similar nature. The company offered something worth $100 at most to try to make better a situation involving ***** waste and terrible conditions directly caused by its negligence. 

  
  

  If airlines are not held responsible to higher standards than what American provided and offered as a response and apology, nothing will ever change. Once companies like American Airlines have your money, they do not care what happens after. This airline exposed me for several hours to ***** waste and germs associated with ***** waste, in addition to not providing adequate environmental controls in regards to temperature, or providing the product it promised to provide in regard to upgrades. 

  
  

  This is a constant problem with American Airlines; taking money and failing to live up to its contractual end of providing proper and safe services to customers. Covid-19, monkeypox, cholera, e.coli, etc. could all have been viruses or illnesses exposed during the ***** fiasco, and the airline knowingly putting me and my partner is unacceptable. Just as unacceptable is their near dismissal of my complaint and paltry apology. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/02/2022

  Passenger was contacted on July 29, 2022 under case# 1-31703870581. Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/02/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  One leg of a multi-leg booking was canceled by American Airlines (AA ****, 7/16/2022 from *** to ***) - American Airlines attempted to rebook the flight about 30 hours later, but we decided to rent a car to complete our travel.As this situation entitles me to a refund - I attempted to follow instructions on the American Airlines website to complete one. Despite following those instructions - the American Airlines representatives I was connected to have been unwilling to complete a refund for the canceled flight - citing department policy.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2022

  ********* was contacted on July 18, 2022 under case# 1-31672017474. Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/26/2022

  Complaint: 17578175
  
  I am rejecting this response because American Airlines did eventually offer a partial refund it was not commiserate with the ticket price and did not include a refund for applicable taxes and fees. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/02/2022

  Passenger currently has case# 1-31702631901 open and will receive a response soon. Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/09/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  American Airlines did reach out to me regarding the complaint (********) but failed to resolve the issue with an appropriate refund.  Can you please reopen the complaint?

   

  Specifically - they offered a partial refund that was not commensurate with the value of the unused ticket and did not account for taxes and fees that should have been returned.

   

  
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I work for a nonprofit that raises funds for schools in *************, in the poorest areas we help students get an education. My boss bought me a ticket on American to attend a meeting at one of those schools in ****** and it was booked on American Airlines. Since the company bought the ticket and we have a limited budget, I used my personal advantage miles account (**** miles from 0F3YJ54) to purchase a seat with more legroom on June 26. I was given the option by American Airlines to get a credit to rebook the ticket on around 7/14 I believe, the credit was $400 and the online offer asked me to select which segment to change, I chose only the first segment which I did not use my miles because I knew I had used miles on the second segment from ****** to *****. For some reason the entire ticket was changed and I lost my seat (10A) and called American, called them twice actually because the first time I was on hold with an Advantage Representative who said she would refund my miles and I said that wasn't necessary I just wanted the seat since it was still available, she said no problem, we got disconnected, then I called back and was on hold for two hours where another Advantage representative said no problem in refunding my miles I just had to wait for her to speak with someone to do it, then a ticketing representative got on the phone and refused to assist me and refused to send me any of the policies she was quoting that I had no knowledge of. It was very unfair and I feel corrupt to cheat me out of my miles, I did not change my entire ticket, I used the online portal and used an option the airline gave me to change my flight from DC to ***** for a lower fair, unaware that it was going to cause me to lose my seat from ****** and the miles. I want my miles back or a $250 credit as that's the cost for the same miles today.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2022

  Passenger was contacted on July 18, 2022 under case# 1-31672214360. Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/25/2022

  Complaint: 17578134
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  

  This is the same response given to me on the phone, and every time I have spoken with an advantage miles representative they apologized and said they would be willing to reinstate my miles, but then I get put on hold and sent back to the ticketing agent who then states that they cannot reissue them only the advantage team can.  It's a game they play and terrible customer service.  I was offered the opportunity to change the ticket without any penalties yet they still will not give my miles back.  They are really stealing money.  They also charged me $100 for being 6 lbs over the weight limit which is another scam for an international flight.
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/02/2022

  Passenger was contacted on July 28, 2022 under case# 1-31703870666. Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/02/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me as long as the fulfill their promise, which they have not yet.
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My wife and I purchased tickets to travel to ********** to visit family on June 2, 2022. Our original flight number was AA2017 and the total cost of the tickets roundtrip was $832.40 Flight AA2017 from **************** was cancelled, so they sent ** to ******, which incurred more costs as we drive up and rent an additional parking space. We flew from ****** to ********* and waiting in the airplane for over an hour before they cancelled that flight, too. We spent the night in the airport, and the following day hoping we could continue our journey to **********. This never happened. They sent ** home, back to ******. We wasted time and money never made it to our destination. They never gave ** a refund for our tickets, despite sending in a complaint to their offices. We want a full refund for this trip that left us stranded for no fault of our own.-*********************

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2022

  Passenger was contacted by phone on July 19, 2022 under case# 1-31672214165.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On June 24,2022 I purchased an airline ticket with asap tickets with a flight leaving that evening with a departure of 7:45pm.I was told to be at the airport between 6-6:30.I arrived at 6:24pm to the best of my knowledge.I went directly to the "American " airlines line there were about 10 people in line.I waited for a little while until a nice gentleman (his flight was canceled) was talking a bit to me and I told him where I was going and he tried to help me with the self check in but we were unsuccessful so he apologized to the people in line and asked the staff to help me because I needed to get onto the flight,there were only 2 employees working,so he told me to try upstairs where my flight was and ask them if they could help me so that's what I did but they couldn't help me without a boarding pass,explained to me to go downstairs and get in the priority line and they would have to help me so I did exactly what I was told and still neither employee paid any attention to me standing there,the same "nice gentleman " was still there and he again asked them to help me,even asked them to help me with self check in and at that time,it was 7:31pm one of the employees who said she was the supervisor said "it's too late,they already boarded and departed ",I then said"excuse me?What do you mean they departed,departure is at 7:45"she responded "well I guess they were ready to go early",I was devestated.So after the plane departed 2 more employees came out.I went to self check out again and with multiple attempts finally printed a ticket that stated I missed my flight, and on the ticket it said to take it to an attendant to help get me on my way so I did that and she searched for flights bit it was the last flight of the night,she also searched other airports but no more flights to where I needed desperately to go,asked the "supervisor " if she could search other airlines but was turned down and I was told there was nothing they could do for me. I missed my son's wedding.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/26/2022

  ********* was contacted on July 19, 2022 under case# 1-31674150193. Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/26/2022

  Complaint: 17576148
  
  I am rejecting this response because:I do not want a $150 trip credit,I would like a full refund.I haven't flien in over 35 years and I most likely won't be flying for another 35 years if ever.This was a special occasion and I needed to get to my destination quickly so a trip credit does nothing for me nor does it help any with this situation.I paid for a service I did not recieve at no fault of my own. 

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  Regards,
  
  *********************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/03/2022

  ********* was contacted on July 31, 2022 under case# 1-31707026856. Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/03/2022

  Complaint: 17576148
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Regards,
  
  *********************