Woman’s American Airlines Flight Gets Delayed, Causing Her to Miss Her Connections. Then They Offer Her a $12 Food Voucher: ‘It is Just Outrageous’
What can you do when cancellations mean you're missing your connected flights?
No one wants an unfavorable in-flight experience but unfortunately, for @smkayla12345 (Sage), there wasn’t anything she could do to avoid one. On her TikTok account, Sage shared a video in which she explained she and her boyfriend had booked tickets to Lisbon several months in advance.
However, on the day of the journey, American Airlines allegedly informed them that their first flight was delayed, which meant they would miss their connecting flight in Philadelphia, so they rebooked. Sage said that the rebooked flight would have more than one layover, as opposed to the earlier one. Their earlier layover was just in Philadelphia, but for the new flight there was also a layover in London Heathrow, and then on to Lisbon.
However, this arrangement also didn’t end up working for Sage and her boyfriend, as she notes that that flight was also delayed, causing them to miss these two connections. What is even worse is that following the ordeal Sage went through, the airline showed reluctance toward paying for their hotel stay and gave them a $12 voucher for food.
“About three hours before our boarding time…”
While sitting in a hotel in Philadelphia, Sage, in her TikTok video, said she was “devastated” and “angry.” People in the comments section (not many of them in there), on the other hand, seemed a bit disappointed. One user wrote, “@American Airlines continues to disappoint.” Another user said, “@American Airlines do better.”
Some people spoke about their own experiences with American Airlines. One user commented saying, “this happened to me omw to copenhagen and the couple next to me got the hotel but I didn’t and we were in the same plane luckily my mom fought for me through the phone and the couple stayed by me but that was traumatic i never flew w aa again.”
Another user stated, “They’re the worst, always have been. When I was 3 my mom and I were flying internationally… We… check in, and see that they’ve seated us separately… She explained that she was traveling alone with a three year old and we needed to be together and they shrugged and told her to ask people to move. So she tried again at the gate and got the same response. Tried again on the plane and again, they didn’t care. Finally she said “fine” and handed the flight attendant my bag of toys, snacks, etc. and said “she’s your responsibility, then. Don’t come find me. She’s just now potty training, by the way. So expect accidents.” They RAPIDLY started asking people to change….”
Seeing comments like this and videos on social media suggests that some people have had negative experiences with American Airlines. For example, a Black woman boarded a Miami flight, and a flight attendant did not believe she was in First Class.
According to American Airlines, if a flight is canceled or a delay causes someone to miss a connecting flight, the airline would book the person on the next available flight. In this case, Sage missed her connecting flight due to a delay on her flight from her origin.
The airline booked her on a different flight, but that one had a 22-hour layover in Philadelphia. This meant she had to stop at a hotel, which she did, and it also meant that she had to eat food, but the $12 voucher she received barely bought anything. American Airlines has not commented directly on Sage’s experience.
Unfortunately, situations like this aren’t rare. A woman on a United Airlines flight had gotten stranded in New Jersey and had to pay out of pocket for food, despite being given a voucher.
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