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An American Airlines customer accused the airline of not caring about its passengers after being disappointed by her recent experience. She says she was offered a $12 meal voucher after her flight was delayed by six hours. The only problem? All the restaurants were closed at the time, making her voucher useless.
No one wants to get stuck in an airport for hours on end because of no fault of their own.
You’d expect the airline at fault to do everything in their power to not only get you on the next flight out but also make your current bad experience as comfortable as possible—be it through a flight voucher, hotel accommodation, or a decent meal voucher.
That’s why this passenger was so surprised by American Airlines’ handling of a six-hour flight delay.
Passenger Calls Out American Airlines
Content creator and golfer Tyler (@tyler_loriel) shares her experience with a recent American Airlines flight. Her video has more than 49,000 views.
In the video, Tyler seems to be going back home after enjoying her trip to New Orleans.
Instead of leaving at the scheduled time, she notes that her flight is delayed by a whopping six hours (that’s nearly an entire workday).
No one wants to be stuck in an airport, standing by for a flight that never seems to come. It’s uncomfortable, boring, and can get expensive. Anything you buy, from food to a charger, will incur an airport upcharge.
Tyler says that instead of offering passengers proper compensation, American Airlines gave each of them a $12 voucher.
The kicker is that they couldn’t even use the measly bucks since all of the restaurants were closed by then.
“I remember the days when companies actually cared if customers had positive experiences,” Tyler said in the caption.
How Often Are American Airlines Flights Delayed?
“If you’re delayed on an American Airlines flight, you’re in good company,” NerdWallet reported.
With almost a quarter of flights delayed in a specific time frame, American was voted as one of the least reliable airlines in a 2024 NerdWallet survey.
What To Do If Your American Airlines Flight Is Delayed
If your flight is significantly delayed, use the American Airlines app, website, or an airline kiosk to check if an earlier flight is available.
Wait in the comfort of a lounge that you can access through your credit card, ticket class, or membership. If none of these are an option, you can also purchase a day pass, NerdWallet reported.
And if the delay is longer than three hours for domestic and four hours for international, and you don’t accept the alternate flight (or there aren’t any available), then American will refund you any remaining ticket value.
Plus, if American is at fault for the delay and the flight doesn’t board by 11:50pm local time on your scheduled arrival day, American may be able to cover the cost of an overnight stay. Beware that if you book your own room and try to follow up after for reimbursement, the company is unlikely to reimburse you.
What Can $12 Buy At An Airport?
Viewers felt that even if the restaurants were open, $12 wouldn’t go very far at the airport.
“This is offensive. you cannot buy [anything] to eat in an airport with $12,” a person said.
“$12? not even a lemonade,” another claimed.
“No one can convince me American isn’t the worst airline out there,” a top comment that was favorited by Tyler read.
“Ik they weren’t worth nun when they gave me 20 free minutes of WiFi on a 3+ hour flight,” another wrote.
BroBible reached out to Tyler for comment via email and Instagram direct message and to American Airlines via email.
Content shared from brobible.com.