If you’ve traveled during the holiday season or Thanksgiving before, you know that the airports are going to be packed. The airlines tell you to get to the airport early and give yourself plenty of time to deal with the long lines. Despite how unpleasant it can be to travel during this time, millions of Americans take to the skies to spend Thanksgiving and the Holidays with family and friends. I happen to be one of those people that make the trek home every year for Thanksgiving, but almost didn’t make it this year because of weather delays and the airlines.
I was scheduled to fly with American from Indianapolis to Miami, with a change of planes in Chicago, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel days of the year. I made it to Indianapolis airport a full 90 minutes before my flight, which left me with enough time to grab a cup of coffee before boarding. Surprisingly, we took off on-time for Chicago, but were left circling in the air for close to 45 minutes because of weather delays on the ground at O’Hare airport (and the flight only takes about 30-35 minutes to get from Indianapolis to Chicago). When we landed, we did not have a gate to pull into due to other flights being delayed from the weather. Consequently, we were forced to wait another hour until a gate opened.
After getting off the plane over an hour and a half late, I thought I had missed my connecting flight to Miami. When I checked the airport monitors to see if it was delayed, I was relieved to see that it had been delayed 2 hours, leaving me with more than enough time to make my connection. I grabbed a quick bite for dinner and was sitting at the gate when I heard the gate agent make an announcement that they were offering a voucher for anyone willing to take a bump. No one took her up on the offer, even as they continued to increase their offer. After a few more minutes, they listed off a few names to come talk to the agent, and I was surprised to hear my name.
When I went to the gate agent, she told me that they gave my seat away because I was the last to check in. I explained to her that she was incorrect, since I had checked in almost 24 hours before my flight online. She insisted I was one of the last until I showed her the time stamp at the bottom of the page that was my boarding pass. She then told me that I was automatically bumped when my flight from Indianapolis was delayed. I explained to her that they are not allowed to do that and requested a supervisor. The supervisor then told me there was nothing he could do and that since my flight from Indianapolis was delayed due to weather, they could bump me and offers no compensation.
Thankfully, I had my phone and I pulled up the passenger bill of rights that was passed in the United States, which outlined my rights and that I was going to be eligible for up to 4 times the price of my ticket, which would have been over the $1,300 limit. The 15 minute rule, stating you need to be at the gate 15 minutes before departure, was not enforceable due to the circumstances. After a bit more yelling, I was able to get on a flight to Ft. Lauderdale leaving a few hours later AND received a $600 voucher for a future trip. Unfortunately, my new flight to Ft. Lauderdale was delayed 3 hours as well and I didn’t get into Ft. Lauderdale until 3:30 am, over 9 hours after I was expected to get in. When traveling for the holidays, a lot of things are going to be out of your control. Know your rights as a passenger and don’t let the airlines try to push you around like American tried to do to me.
[box]Bio: Adam Bruk is an avid traveler who loves traveling and sharing advice with his friends. When he isn’t busy at work analyzing the latest fashion trends in men’s sunglasses, he enjoys traveling the world and visiting new places every chance he gets![/box]
