AA258 LAS-JFK 5 APR 11 (COACH)
Posted: 07 Apr 2011, 21:35Checked in online the date before to secure the seats I'd originally chosen 25 A and B - I wanted to try for exit rows again when checking in but remembered to secure a good "back up!"
Woke up nice and early at 5am, got a lovely birthday call from my dad at 5:15 - for some reason he thought there were only 5 hours time difference between London and LAS - luckily I was up anyway!!
Left the hotel at 6:15 for the short ride over to Mccarren. Taxi was nice as the sun was rising on the beautiful desert, 15 minutes later we were arriving at Mccarren.
This is where it all went horribly wrong......
I already knew that I was dreading the flight, following the experience a few days early from JFK to LAS (see my other TR) - the light at the end of this tunnel was that I had a nice PE seat waiting for me on my JFK to LHR flight that evening.
The queues for AA were out of the door of the terminal, actually they ran past most of the doors for all airlines. What was going on?!! Suggested that my partner join the line with the luggage whilst I went off to find out what was happening and if we were in the right line!
Entered the terminal in absolute mayhem - queues everywhere and no AA staff in site. Airport staff acted like security at a concert and wouldn't let me anywhere near the desks - all I wanted to do was make sure I was joining the right line - afterall getting in the wrong one could have major problems. They were no help at all.
By the time I got back outside the queue had gotten longer, there was a TSA guy there but he knew nothing, he pretty much said "You might miss your flight or you might not!" or "it might be this line or it might not, i can't say" - exactly, helpful!!
Anyway, after 5 minutes it was established that there had been a power cut which had caused the issues but things were up and running now. There were 2 lines, 1 for international and 1 for domestic! Now, I was on an international flight but with a domestic connection. As we all know, VS and AA don't get along so clearly saying I had a VS connection was getting me no where. I joined the domestic queue.
It was clear the international line was moving much faster as it was being serviced inside by 5+ checkin agents whereas the domestic was being serviced by 2 (very old) skycabin check in agens outside. I decided to move lines - the best move we made as minutes later people who had queued in the “domestic” checkin for over an hour were told they were in the wrong line and had to move into the other “international” line !! Clearly a lot of Americans were very unhappy and OMG don’t they tell you (I would have been upset too!) – it was verging on a riot! A couple of ladies who were let in behind us were on their way to LAX for a connection to Hawaii – they had missed their flight having waited 2 hours to be told to join another line.
It was now 7:15 and we’d been waiting 45 minutes – finally got into the terminal to join the even bigger snake lines inside! There was 1 AA rep in the whole area, who were being shouted at from all directions. AA got it immensely wrong and didn’t have enough staff on hand to manage it. There was no priority of departure times so people were unnecessarily missing their flights and they were checking people in who were on a later departure who had plenty of time!
I wasn’t sure if we were going to make the flight, so had an idea. Check what the VS44 was looking like – perhaps I could switch to fly direct from LAS to LGW – Checked expert flying using the free LAS wifi and saw PE wide open, loads of K class fares. I knew I’d have to pay the difference in fare and the change fee. Called and spoke to a very enthusiastic but useless Indian lady (definitely Indian call centre) who was unable to help, said she needed to call London for pricing – I explained the time constraints and she promised to call me back. 15 minutes later, right before checking in I held my breath as I answer the call - $4800 pp to amend the flight! I just don’t get it, there were LOADS of empty seats, I had to ask if it had been worked out correctly which it had! I had honestly anticipated roughly £1000 for both of us, nothing like this. Oh well, suffice to say it was a no and we proceeded to wait and worry. Not how I wanted to spend my birthday, but my choice, hindsight etc!
It got to 7:45 and I started to get concerned for our 8:19 departure, especially with security and monorail etc. We finally got to speak with the AA rep who allowed us to come out of the queue and jump to the front to make our flight, along with a few others travelling to JFK on the 8:19, we checked our bags in, paid the $50 and got told very bluntly to RUN to the gate if we wanted to make it. The staff were SO rude, there was no co ordination or queue management and it was a complete sham.
What frustrated me is that other airlines had also experience the same issues with the powercut but had no queues – they had loads of staff on hand “managing” – AA had no contingency planning and the staff were not equipped to handle this. Yes the other airlines were smaller and had less flights going out – but they still had more staff on hand than AA – virgin America had atleast 3 VX branded staff managing their welcome for their flights out.
Finally made it through security and on our way to D37 – Miles away!! Got on the monorail, ran up the HUGE escalator and finally to the gate with minutes to spare. I just about had 2 minutes to grab a bottle of water from the shop.
I had wanted to ask at check in about exit row but as it was so manic, that was the last thing on my mind. I saw the lady at the desk free and thought I’d try really quick. Fortunately 2 seats in row 14 exit row were free, we were re-issued boarding passes and on to 14 E and F. The flight was fairly empty, I expect many didn’t make it from the nightmare at checkin – we ended up with the 3 to ourselves, same as the 2 in row 13 and in 13 and 14 on the opposite aisle.
Crew were actually more positive than on the outbound – captain confirmed a flight time of 4 hrs 20 minutes – music to my ears on a 5 hr planned flight. Settled in to the most uncomfortable seat in the world – it was a very old 737 – this one didn’t even have the TV’s that electronically came down from above the heads, they were the really old style box TV’s in about the aisle – very old and fuzzy!!
I’m not sure if it’s just me but AA captains seem to like to floor it! You really felt the speed as the captain ‘put his foot down’ for take off.
Once up, I thought i’d try and get some sleep but the couple behind decided to let their baby play with their toys on the table behind my seat, meaning lots of banging and pushing and screaming – very frustrating but what could I do? Headphones on and lots of praying that the baby fell asleep (which to be fair it did).
The movie was going to be the Tourist with Angelina Jolie but ended up being The Blindside – I love that movie so enjoyed watching it.
Drinks run completed once on the flight with top ups every now and then. It wasn’t long until we were nearing JFK. Captain advised of a bumpy landing due to the storms and high winds in the area – he wasn’t wrong. A very very bumpy ride in for the last 45 minutes, felt very ill and glad to get off.
Overall, an awful experience with AA customer service. It was enough to make me not want to fly with them again. Yes the crew were better on this flight, but still didn’t compare to the VX crew. The plane was probably older than me and in dire need of modernisation. My money will always go to VX where I can now!
Note to self – don’t travel on your birthday!
Luke
Glad you made the flight though.
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