Down and Out in the Caribbean

February 2, 2008

Dear American Airlines,

On January 19, 2008, I set out to travel on Flight # 637 from La Guardia, ultimately destined for a relaxing beach vacation in the Cayman Islands.

My flight was delayed several hours. I spent a half hour on the phone with an agent figuring out how to get me to Cayman that day, was put on hold and eventually hung up on.

I figured that was just an understandable mistake.

Eventually I got on a flight with the same number, leaving LGA at 5pm. It was also delayed.

I figured I'd rather be on a late plane than a broken one.

In Miami I rushed to catch my connection on the last Cayman Airways flight of the day, which I had a seat on, but because no one had ever given me a boarding pass I was turned away by security at the entrance to the gates. There was no one left at the Cayman Airways desk and I missed my flight.

I figured AA had no control over this situation and there was nothing to be done.

I was given hotel, shuttle and meal vouchers by an American Airlines agent, which was nice. I noticed others who were not so lucky.

Due to the party atmosphere in the shuttle I didn't notice at first, but was puzzled when I realized the "fifteen minute ride to the hotel" found me out somewhere in the middle of the Everglades. I was actually lucky on several accounts. I told a fellow traveler I had a toothbrush but no toothpaste and he reached back into his back and said, "Here, I insist..I work for a cosmetics company," and handed me a small tube of toothpaste.

Forty Minutes later I saw circling spotlights in the sky, and found myself at a casino! (With a hotel.)

Which was a problem only because the shuttle was booked for the entire day for the return trip, (I mean thank goodness I don't have a gambling addiction! Really, I am quite flush with luck!) so I paid over $50 out of pocket for a cab. The cab driver was quite an interesting guy. Yet I've enclosed the receipt for the cab (minus tip), along with my unused voucher for travel on the shuttle.

Miami airport, which I'd tried my hardest to avoid on a Sunday (aka Cruise Day), was a virtual zoo, with security lines out the door and wait times over an hour and a half for the privilege of being screened.

Again, my flight #561 from Miami to Cayman, was delayed.

I figured this was all part of the "spirit" of travel.

Not surprisingly, my luggage wasn't at the airport when I arrived. No one knew if it had gotten on the Cayman Airways flight which I missed, or was on an American flight somewhere.

My luggage didn't appear the next day, so an agent released $50 for me to spend on clothing. With the dollar as weak as it was in Cayman, it bought me a pair of sunglasses and a clean tank top. I figured this was a life lesson in doing without. Receipt enclosed.

On the evening of Tuesday, Jan 22 (after my third night without luggage), I was excited to hear my suitcase arrived at the front desk of my hotel!

I noticed right away my bag was damaged. The handle was bent right in the middle, so I couldn't retract it without a lot of difficulty.

It had all my stuff in it, though, so I was happy. Now I could finally go snorkeling, which was the whole purpose of my trip. I'd already missed 4 days of potential 6 days of snorkeling, so I got right to it.

I figured of course American would take responsibility for the damage and fix or replace my suitcase, so all would be well. The next day (after snorkeling) I called American Airlines. I was advised to call my arrival airport, Grand Cayman.

A few (expensive) phone calls there revealed a troubling conundrum: I had to return my luggage to the airport between the hours of 6 and 9pm the next day in order for them to even consider taking responsibility for the damage. A cab ride to the airport would cost me $75 each way, making it a $150 round trip. Which I'm sure is more than the luggage cost in the first place. And the offer didn't come with any promise of a fix.

So on Friday, Jan 25 I went to the airport for my return flight, and presented my luggage problem for help. I waited a half hour to talk to someone, who has surprising news for me. Apparently because the damage was to the handle, it isn't covered my American Airlines. The agent handed me a piece of paper explaining that they aren't responsible for any part of the luggage which is protruding.

But the handle should never have been "protruding." When I checked my suitcase, the handle was completely retracted. On its journey from New York to the Grand Cayman Islands, the handle of my little red suitcase should never have been extracted. It should have remained tucked in, where it was safe and sound.

Instead, it looks like someone took it out, stomped on it, took a hack saw to it, and then tried to bend it back in.

I was told I could accept the damage or leave it. As I had no other place to put my stuff, I chose the former.

At security I discovered I was supposed to have put my Flax seed oil pills in a zip-lock bag, and didn't have one big enough, so I had to do some last minute re-arranging. I understand the federal government is in charge of this but somehow that doesn't make me any more chipper about it.

My flight #1018 on Friday, Jan 25, back to Miami was, of course, delayed. There was somebody with a broken plane in our gate, so we had to sit on the runway while it was fixed. The line for customs was really long. The line for security was longer. So, despite a layover time of 2 hours and 20 minutes, I had to run to the gate - this is beginning to feel familiar to me now - and almost missed my flight (#1076) to New York.

Of course there were delays at our arrival airport, La Guardia (when is there not?), and we ended up circling over Phili on the way in. My back was killing me - I have a bulging disk, and an autoimmune connective tissue disease and sitting is just no fun for me (why do you think I like snorkeling so much?) so I was pretty strung out by this point.

When I got home I noticed my luggage was damaged further - the metal edge reinforcement was broken in half. I don't know if that part of the damage was there when I arrived in Cayman, but I do know I can't use it anymore.

But the damage apparently isn't covered my American's luggage damaged policy.

I'm really disappointed by that. I took all the other hassles in stride, but not taking responsibility for what was certainly a gross mishandling of my luggage is not in the character of the airline I use most.

I do appreciate the 4K miles added to my FF account in response to the overnight delay. But I'd like my bag fixed or replaced, and reimbursement for the cab I had to take and the clothes bought while I waited three days for my luggage.

I think I'll post this letter to my blog (http://nikinaeve.blogspot.com/) and see if others find it entertaining.


Thanks,



Nicole Naeve
Record Locator #GUVVHZ

Enclosed:
Clothes receipt
Taxi receipt
Unused travel voucher (unusable because service was booked)
Damaged luggage report
Pics of damaged luggage