Business Profile

Airlines

American Airlines

Headquarters

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Complaints

This profile includes complaints for American Airlines's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

Customer Complaints Summary

7,410 total complaints in the last 3 years.
3,424 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

If you've experienced an issue

Submit a Complaint

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

Initial Complaint
Date:11/15/2022
Type:Product Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
In March 2019 my flight from ************ to ************** was cancelled with American Airlines (AA) due to Covid-19. At that time, I was told my credits would never expire. They weren't refunding anyone, but giving flight credits that wouldn't expire. Now, I tried to use those credits (which were still in my account last month) and they are now gone. I called and first, a nasty agent named ***************** up on me when I asked to speak to someone else about the matter. She said they changed the policy and the credits expired on 10/30 -- just 4 days before I called. Then, I called back and was told by another agent that my credits weren't expired, she could tell me exactly how much I had ($447) and that I could book with them any time I just had to call to do so. I was not able to book online. So, I said great - I will call back when I'm ready to book. A few days go by and I call back to book and am now told they're expired. Now I've been back and forth emailing with customer relations and they are not giving me my credits back. They also have recorded conversations of the agent telling me I could book with those credits as long as I did so over the phone. I would like an extension on my credits or to be refunded. I am a platinum member with AA and spend plenty of money with them - the least they could do is extend my credits.
Business Response
Date: 11/23/2022
Uploaded response from 1-32199479668 to the BBB portal.
Customer Answer
Date: 11/28/2022
Complaint: 18408695

I am rejecting this response because: it does not resolve my issue.

Regards,

***********************
Business Response
Date: 12/06/2022
********* was contacted on November 28, 2022 under case# 1-32235559854. Please see attached.
Initial Complaint
Date:11/15/2022
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
On March 12, 2022 a group of friends and I had a flight scheduled from ****** back home to ************. To keep this part of the complaint short/simple -- the flight was pushed several times and then canceled. We were forced to go back through customs, pick up luggage, take a ***************************** a hotel to wake up 4 hours later for a morning flight -- that also got pushed with no communication. It was a terrible experience and we were immediately emailed by American Airlines (AA) promising my husband, ***********************, and I 10K miles a piece. I filed a complaint with the airline immediately and said that wasn't enough. They agreed in writing to give us each - in addition to the miles - a $125 trip credit. I have the email from AA customer service saying she would honor both the trip credit AND the miles. *** that I have used the trip credit, they refuse to ***** me the miles. I believe I am entitled to both. In my opinion, for what they put us through on March 12 -- it should be a lot more. But I am willing to accept the trip credit (which I have received and used) and the 10K miles a piece for ***** and I.For the record, my AAdvantage number is: F6WB06 (*******************************) and my husband's is N66UD60 (***********************)
Business Response
Date: 11/23/2022
Customer was contacted on November 17, 2022 under TID 1-32199974499 is attached.
Customer Answer
Date: 11/28/2022
Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

*******************************
Initial Complaint
Date:11/15/2022
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
There is a letter attach to explain the incident on American Airline on June 28th, 2022. I have sent them 3 letters and no answer from them. Ater, they cancel the flight I had to book with Frontier for ******** and I have receipts for these tickets. We also had to pay ***** per bag for each person. I lost my money for *********** we had to reserve in advance. I lost a day at the ************** that cost ******* per day. I have copies of all receipts to support my claim. Please help me to resolve this issue, this was the worst day. I booked about 40 family members to ****** for my grandson's birthday. I wasn't able to enjoy myself after all the money I had lost.
Business Response
Date: 11/23/2022
Customer was contacted on November 17, 2022 under TID 1-32200212735 is attached.
Initial Complaint
Date:11/15/2022
Type:Product Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
Because of change of flights I was downgraded from a class, I also experienced wildly unreasonable travel experience on the return. Due to mechanical failure our plane was delayed in takeoff while in flight we were diverted to a different city, forced to circle for hours in the air because an American Airlines owned airport didnt want to pay overtime for customs to stay open so that we could return to the country. Rebooked on ridiculous other flights forced to sleep in airports. A seven hour transportation ended up taking 27 hours to return. When I requested reimbursement for the downgrade of my flights and the credit for the experience I received a response in the amount of $50. That means I paid large amount for a flight that was downgraded to economy and they will not make it right. Record locator: RTGSLO
Business Response
Date: 11/22/2022
********* was contacted on November 17, 2022 under case# 1-32199974195. Please see attached.
Initial Complaint
Date:11/15/2022
Type:Product Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
My wife and I, plus another couple, flew First Class to ****** on vacation. Due to Hurricane ***, AA offered us $600 each, and our friends $1,000 each, to change flights and downgrade to Economy. On return home, we received less than $100 each and AA are refusing to honour the original offer made
Business Response
Date: 11/22/2022
********* was contacted on November 17, 2022 under case# 1-32200212608. Please see attached.
Customer Answer
Date: 11/22/2022
Complaint: 18406841

I am rejecting this response because:

Unfortunately ******* is not in possession of all of the facts.
We received the offer to change our flights, and accepted it. The App failed because of an issue with the ** site, according to the error. We went back and the offer was still there and valid. The error message informed us to call **, which we did. I explained the offer to the Agent, and the agent confirmed we would receive the offer and confirmed the change of flights. At no no point were we advised the offer had changed or the compensation we would receive different from the offer. Had she done that, we would have rejected the offer there and then. I am not sure why anyone would give up their First Class flight, to arrive 4 hours later via a worse route, for $78. It makes zero sense, and ** trying to suggest it does is an insult to anyone's intelligence.

This only happened AFTER we returned when the offer was significantly reduced from $3,200 total, to $156 and $150 flight credit.. that is quite a difference, especially when we paid circa $7,000 for our 4 tickets.

If ** would like to provide the evidence that I accepted a different and lesser offer from their Rep, then I am happy to listen to that recording of my call with their agent. Please ensure you provide that transcript in your next reply, along with the Session playback from the ** App. Most modern companies have the ability to do this and retain this data. It should all be evidence that ** can supply to back up their claim. Sadly, none of this has been made available, which means they have no evidence of the facts

I have written to ** on numerous occasions asking for someone to call me and explain this.

** need to honor the deal we were offered, or provide evidence that refutes my claim

Regards,

***************************
Business Response
Date: 12/05/2022
Passenger currently has case #1-32237621598 open and will receive a response soon. Please see attached.
Initial Complaint
Date:11/15/2022
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
Record locator - YPDAIQ This trip I should be put in the top of my worse trip on American Airlines. My trip was on Oct 29th ********* to *****************) via *****. My flight AA **** was supposed to depart from *** at **** pm and it departed at **** pm and arrived ***** at **** pm at the gate. The flight was delyed due to 2 reasons first one we departed from the gate almost on time and during taxing pilot announced the flight is overweight and need to get couple of passengers and luggage need to be disembark to keep the weight. 2. When we landed at the ************* our gate was occupied and we had to wait by the time we reached the gate it was **** pm I ran to my gate to catch the flight to EZE by the time I reached the gate my flight AA 907 gate is already departed. I went to the customer service agent at the airport and they put me on AA 937 on ECONOMY class. I do have a dietary restriction and in this flight my preorder meal was not available and starved the entire long flight. My ticket was on Business class. This was the only option given to me to reach on Sunday. I paid premium for my trip and not for economy seat. On my return trip I got a email from American Airlines saying the chances of my flight being canceled or delayed is high and recommend me to change it. I called customer service and they put me in a different flight and they could not get me on business class from ***** to CLT I was put on economy again I asked customer service team to make sure my food request to change to the new flight and they confirmed they did it. And on my return flight from EZE to ***** again I was forced to sit without any food. I am asking American Airlines to refund me $2500 and credit ***** miles for degradation of the class of service and severe inconveniences and mental agony caused. Amertican refunded around $890 which is way lower than the cost of a business class. If I have to buy the ticket on that day it was costing more than $7500.
Business Response
Date: 11/22/2022
********* was contacted regarding this concern on the following dates. Please see attached.
November 10, 2022 under case# 1-32173081610
November 17, 2022 under case# 1-32173648754
November 19, 2022 under case# 1-32206094902
Customer Answer
Date: 11/22/2022
Complaint: 18405582

I am rejecting this response because: there was no resolution to this case. Only lip service only thing they said they escalated to refund department. Why the refund department cannot respond. It looks like American is treating there refund department as a separate company. Why the same people sending me letter call their own department and find the resolution.

Regards,

*******************************
Business Response
Date: 12/05/2022
********* was contacted on November 29, 2022 under case #1-32234254075. Please see attached.
Customer Answer
Date: 12/05/2022
Complaint: 18405582

I am rejecting this response because: The letter said someone will contact me and I have not received any communication from American and American is not providing the information requested for providing the refund.

Thanks

Regards,

*******************************
Initial Complaint
Date:11/15/2022
Type:Product Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
My husband and I purchased 2 tickets to fly home for my sister's graduation in 5/2020. The flights were canceled due to covid. I became pregnant shortly after that and did not feel comfortable flying with covid numbers being high. We received an email stating we could still use the money we originally paid for the two tickets ~$600 and would just need to call a number when we were ready to schedule. A refund was never offered. We tried to schedule this flight recently now that covid numbers are down and I am no longer pregnant. When I called, I was told that the tickets were expired and no refunds would be issued. We were never offered a refund for the tickets that were canceled due to covid and never received emails stating the tickets would expire.
Business Response
Date: 11/21/2022
Customer was contacted on November 14, 2022 under TID 1-32199122640 is attached.
Customer Answer
Date: 11/21/2022
Complaint: 18404870

I am rejecting this response because: we never received the emails they are claiming they sent out. During our original communication at the time that American Airlines canceled our tickets, the ** representative told us that the normal expiration period of 1 year was waived, given the uncertain circumstances of the pandemic.
Since we were left with the understanding that the tickets would not expire, and because we did not receive any communication to suggest otherwise, we waited until we had a reason to reschedule.
We tried to do that at the beginning of November, and that was the first time we had heard anything about the tickets expiring, at which point they told us we couldn't reschedule the tickets.
We needed to book flights this month and instead of being able to use the money we paid for our tickets prior to covid, we had to pay more money for new tickets. We no longer have a use for the original tickets, so American Airlines letting us use our original tickets would be useless. Now, the only way for American Airlines to rectify the situation is to refund the tickets.

Regards,

***********************
Business Response
Date: 11/29/2022
********* was contacted on November 25, 2022 under case# 1-32222327270. Please see attached.
Customer Answer
Date: 11/29/2022
Complaint: 18404870

I am rejecting this response because: I am requesting a refund for the tickets that were purchased and canceled by american airlines due to covid. I have not received my refund yet.

Regards,

******** ***
Initial Complaint
Date:11/15/2022
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
On November 10th, 2022, I booked a flight, one way, to *********** from ******* for December 1st, 2022, leaving ****** at 6:40 AM and arriving at *** at 9:05 AM. I found the flight on ****** Flights and then it redirected me to the American Airlines website to complete the reservation. After booking the reservation, I noticed a glitch and the date had changed to December 3rd, 2022, leaving ****** at 6:40 AM and arriving at *** at 9:05 AM. Only 5 minutes after booking the flight, I tried to change my flight online to the correct date, December 1st, 2022 for the same morning flight. I was guided through selecting the flight date change (December 1st, 2022 leaving ****** at 6:40 AM and arriving at *** at 9:05 AM with no fee change), seats, and lastly, a review and confirmation of the change. After pressing confirm, I received an error message. I went on to try to change this 3 times after the initial attempt. I am now attempting to change my flight and I cannot because my flight is considered 'Basic Economy' and it is stated you can receive a refund or change your flight within 24 hours of booking the reservation. I tried several times within the 24 hours time-frame and there was an error on the American Airlines website, technical difficulties that were not my fault. Alongside this, I do not want to pay for a flight change fee nor flight change of price because when I initially tried to change it on the night of November 10th, 2022, I did not have any price difference owed any of the 4 attempts at change. When I attempted to solve this by calling the ***** number provided by American Airlines, and I was transferred three times to no avail. I am just looking to get my flight to the correct date I had initially filtered and booked for before the glitch occurred to December 3rd.
Business Response
Date: 11/22/2022
********* was contacted on November 16, 2022 under case# 1-32198872824. Please see attached.
Initial Complaint
Date:11/14/2022
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
A deduction was taking from my Paypal account for a ticket that was not used and I was not aware that the ticket was a transaction and was not in my name. #Ticket ************* I had know way of cancelling or even being notified. I was told it was not possible for a $700 that was not use and not in my name.
Business Response
Date: 11/21/2022
Customer was contacted on November 15, 2022 under TID 1-32198627503 is attached.
Customer Answer
Date: 11/21/2022
Complaint: 18402952

I am rejecting this response because:

There was no attempt to rectify the charge. I was out of the country and not allowing a refund that was not reflective on my account was inconsiderate and unreasonable. There is no recourse regardless of if the ticket was knowledgeable, because the charge doesnt fall inside cancellation window by default.

Regards,

*********************************
Business Response
Date: 11/28/2022

Passenger was contacted on November 26, 2022 under case# 1-32218510768. Please see attached.
Initial Complaint
Date:11/14/2022
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
Resolved:
The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
Unresolved:
The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
Answered:
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Unanswered:
The business failed to respond to the dispute.
Unpursuable:
BBB is unable to locate the business.
On October 25, 2022 I purchased two seat upgrades for my flight and American Airlines overcharged me $202.00. I have called customer service to reimburse me the full amount and they have declined to help or connect me with a representative to fix this issue.
Business Response
Date: 11/22/2022
********* was contacted on November 15, 2022 under case# 1-32198627230. Please see attached.

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American Airlines is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.