Question regarding AA into Cozumel

[Diverlady13]

Ugh! Super frustrated with American Airlines today as I sit on the sofa typing. At this moment, I should be deplaning a flight into Cancun. I'm not doing that because at 2:15 this morning AA texted my originating 6 a.m. flight was canceled. Tried calling to sort out rebooking (because online was only giving us options for tomorrow) but the hold time was more than 4 hours! AA auto rebooked us for tomorrow, but we had to cancel the trip altogether because the change completely screwed up our plans. We were supposed to take a drift diving class in Cozumel tomorrow.

AA claims the cancelation was due to weather, but I call BS. It's clear and calm....actually perfect weather in our area and much cooler than normal. If I was still flying, I'd be out doing so today. AA is taking forever to bring its crews back online and I'm certain this cancelation was due to a crew shortage. Could be that another flight was delayed due to weather and that the crew was beyond their flying time, but that's AA's fault for not getting back on the ball. This is what happened to us in June also, except that they were able to delay the originating flight rather than cancel.

And, yes, AA is refunding me but by issuing credit. I've been trying to use up my credit because it expires in December, but AA is not making it easy to fly with them. Honestly, at this point IDK which airline to fly. United is the worst airline ever and 6 years ago I vowed to never fly with them again. Delta is almost as bad, but at least they don't lose our luggage. AA is at least friendly and doesn't lose our bags, but this is the 5th trip now since November that we've had last minute changes or cancelations. I really think they ought to have to compensate customers in some way BEYOND issuing refunds. I'm just hoping to not lose the $$ I spent to rent the condo. The management company is being extremely kind and says that if I rebook today or tomorrow they will push my funds to those dates and not charge me extra. Guess I'm stuck driving to Dallas from now on if I want a better chance of getting anywhere. That turns a 5.5 hour trip (one way) into a 10 hour trip, but at least I don't have to wear a mask in the car!

ETA: Just adding that it probably doesn't sound so bad because I'm not out money right now, but moving the trip means that I'll now be out $1500 for boarding my dogs. (Son goes back to college next week.) Plus, I feel like I need to compensate our dive shop owner in some way since he set aside the entire day tomorrow just for us and it's unlikely he'll pick up divers with such late notice.

 

[flyboy08]

JetBlue to Cancun!

That's what were doing come October to alleviate flying AA. At any cost, I'll refrain from AA!

 

[Diverlady13]

JetBlue to Cancun!

That's what were doing come October to alleviate flying AA. At any cost, I'll refrain from AA!

That might be an option. Either way it looks like we're stuck driving to Dallas if we want to be sure to get to Mexico. But, hey, at least we can go the night before and have a nice dinner out.

ETA: DARN! They don't fly from Dallas to Cancun.

 

[ggunn]

And, yes, AA is refunding me but by issuing credit.

Since they canceled the flight I'm pretty sure that if you paid for it they have to give the money back if you ask for it.

 

[DandyDon]

Since they canceled the flight I'm pretty sure that if you paid for it they have to give the money back if you ask for it.

Yeah, but she is trying to use old AA credits that expire this year.

I really think they ought to have to compensate customers in some way BEYOND issuing refunds.

They often will if you complain to Customer Service. Send that email.

Guess I'm stuck driving to Dallas from now on if I want a better chance of getting anywhere. That turns a 5.5 hour trip (one way) into a 10 hour trip

Ugh, that's beyond my acceptance level.

JetBlue to Cancun!

So is the bag drag with the current ferry nightmare.

 

[Diverlady13]

Since they canceled the flight I'm pretty sure that if you paid for it they have to give the money back if you ask for it.

I'd booked using credit from a trip we canceled last December. I should have pushed for a cash refund then, but I initiate that cancelation, so I didn't have much choice. We were supposed to go to Kauai, but the island was not guaranteeing we wouldn't have to quarantine, so we opted to cancel and go to Key Largo instead. I'd booked first class tickets for three of us, so I'm still working down that approx. $13,000 credit. AA says that since I booked with a credit, they will only "refund" by credit. That's OK as long as they give me a new, separate credit. My existing credit expires mid-December and I still have about $1,500 to use. I paid $3800 for the two tickets to CUN, so at least I'd like to carry that past December since travel is still looking bleak. (Plus I'm building a house right now, so likely won't get a lot more travel in this year.)

 

[Diverlady13]

They often will if you complain to Customer Service. Send that email.

I definitely will send an email. The most frustrating thing is that I'm certain if we'd been able to get someone on the phone relatively quickly, we could have motored to Dallas and made that second flight. Unfortunately, AA auto rebooked us, canceling that connection.

And, yeah, it's a long drive, but we don't mind so much - at least for long trips - if we plan in advance. Annoyingly long way though when it's for short flights. We did the drive when we flew Emirates out of Dallas in 2019. We didn't trust that AA would get us there on time, so we drove to Dallas the day before. We had a lovely evening out and didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn either. The hotel was kind enough to let us park our car in their lot for 3 weeks at no charge, so we didn't have to pay to park at DFW. Emirates sent a limo for us and the driver escorted us to the check in. So far, best airline we've flown with. Too bad all of their connections are in Dubai because that's a long long way to go to come back to the Americas (and then go back).

So is the bag drag with the current ferry nightmare.

I'm sure that's not fun. We're heading back to Akumal, so CUN is the better airport for that. We were supposed to drive up and ferry over to to Coz tomorrow. Hoping they improve the ferry situation very very soon (ha ha) because it looks like we'll reschedule this trip for the end of August.

 

[Dan G]

That might be an option. Either way it looks like we're stuck driving to Dallas if we want to be sure to get to Mexico. But, hey, at least we can go the night before and have a nice dinner out.

ETA: DARN! They don't fly from Dallas to Cancun.

We just got back home late last night with delays in Houston due to weather in Vegas, because our HOU-DEN plane was late arriving from Vegas. The HOU-OK flight at the gate next to us was delayed, as well, but they did eventually get going late like we did. Perhaps your plane was impacted by these delays.

Flyboy's Jet Blue option is a good one. We flew SW DEN-HOU-CZM RT and it went well. We have also done multiple trips with SW DEN-CUN and those were good flights, too. I generally find SW to be a very good airline to deal with regardless of where I have flown with them.

 

[DandyDon]

The delays today seem to be related to storms in DFW slowing the connecting system so AA will likely use that to avoid responsibility, but that's crap. Efficient airlines with modern aircraft can fly around storms, etc. See discussion: American Airlines Flight Delays & Cancelations | One Mile at a Time

 

[flyboy08]

That might be an option. Either way it looks like we're stuck driving to Dallas if we want to be sure to get to Mexico. But, hey, at least we can go the night before and have a nice dinner out.

ETA: DARN! They don't fly from Dallas to Cancun.

I would buy a RT ticket to wherever JB flies out of to CUN and buy two RT...probably cheaper and much better on the nerves than AA to CZM!

I used our remaining AA miles for 2 seats to Zagreb later this month and I expect issues, but happy that I'll never have to fly AA again after this trip!

I actually booked the trip on line-paid for it and then received an email immediately saying the London Zagreb flight was cancelled...LOL! We had to move the trip up by one day. AA is by far the worst company to deal with!