What Compensation Should I Request From American Airlines?
Since American Airlines is still my secondary airline and I’ve never once asked for compensation, I’d love your help in determining how best to constructively approach AA and what kind of compensation to ask for after issues on my last four transcontinental flights in business class.
American Airlines Compensation: What Is A Reasonable Request?
Yesterday, I wrote about my latest flight on AA from New York to LA: the seat cushion was worn out, the service was poor, and the IFE system was choppy like satellite TV during rain.
That comes on the back of three previous flights with glaring issues, all onboard the A321T aircraft (which AA will soon retrofit, but in the meantime has apparently stopped any effort to maintain).
- Flight 1 (LAX-JFK) – broken seat, dirty cabin, inoperable power outlet, poor service
- Flight 2 (LAX-BOS) – inoperable power outlet, broken foot rest
- Flight 3 (JFK-LAX) – broken seat, broken IFE, inoperable power outlet
- Flight 4 (JFK-LAX) – broken IFE, poor service, worn-out seat
If I were only concerned about maximizing my compensation, I probably should have complained after each flight. But I’m not a complainer (well, at least I try not to be) and as a business owner myself, I’m also antagonistic toward the folks who always find something to complain about and then do.
But here I was not looking to complain or create problems that really did not exist. And the fact that I had similar issues on all four flights suggests a pattern (further confirmed by the comments in the stories above from other travelers who have had similar experiences)
Thus, a very simple question: what should I ask for from American Airlines for what I experienced on these four flights?
Travel credit? If so, how much?
Miles? if so, how many?
Off the top of my head, it seems to me that a $150 travel credit per incident is reasonable, therefore $600…or 10,000 miles per incident, therefore 40,000…but maybe y’all will burst out laughing…like I said, I’ve never asked AA for compensation before and the Dallas-based carrier may be far stingier than what I imagine.
Part of the reason I write about this is not so that I can profit from any potential compensation, but becuase I know the folks at AA read my blog and I’m hoping (even if it’s just a slim hoope) that someone will say “enough is enough” and a better effort will be made to maintain these aircraft interiors, even if they are on their way to the scrap heap.
Because folks pay top dollar for business class on a premium transcontinental flights and little things like power outlets or IFE should always be expected to function. That’s not asking too much, is it?
image: American Airlines