Chris Pirillo » flight

What’s the Problem with American Airlines?

Chris — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:04:33 +0000

What’s the Problem with American Airlines? is a post from Chris Pirillo

This post was written by my mom, who was more than a bit peeved when American Airlines lost her luggage – only to find out that they mishandled it. If you’ve also had a problem with American Airlines, be grateful to know that you’re not alone.

When a person visits another country, they will likely purchase items from that country as souvenirs. As tourists in Jamaica, my girlfriend and I purchased 3 bottles each of Jamaican Rum to bring home (one of which is unavailable for purchase in the States). These were wrapped and packed in a heavy cardboard box with cardboard placed in between the bottles. Before going through customs in Miami, we opened our luggage to make sure the bottles were still intact. They were. My girlfriend’s luggage made it to the Dallas / Ft. Worth airport with all the bottles unscathed.

My luggage was lost between Miami and Dallas, apparently taking another plane ride.

The first time I called to check on the status of my luggage, around 12:30am, I was told it had arrived at Midnight and that I would be called before it was delivered to my son’s house. The implication was that it would be delivered that night. The next morning, I called again to check on it and was told that it would be four to six hours before the truck would deliver anything. When the luggage finally arrived (WITHOUT me receiving a phone call), I found broken bottles of Jamaican Rum which had spilled all over my suitcase and the contents inside. Luckily, I always pack many of my clothes in plastic bags; however, my suitcase and some items didn’t escape the sticky mess.

Since we are understandably required to put any liquids over 3 ounces in checked baggage, this eliminates “hand” carrying and protecting fragile liquid items. However, my girlfriend’s checked luggage made it through with everything intact – bottles and all. This tells me that the EXTRA plane ride, EXTRA baggage handling and the (four to six hour) truck ride took a toll on my bottles and broke them.

When I called the American Airlines customer service line for recompense, I was told that American Airlines wasn’t responsible for broken bottles and alcohol. I asked the representative for her manager’s name and phone number and was given the name – but was told the manager had only a FAX number to reach her!

I didn’t ask American Airlines for an arm or a leg – I only asked for the cost of my Jamaican Rum. This amounts to about $36. I didn’t even ask for anything for my possibly-ruined luggage or the contents! (I’m rethinking that though!). I was told unequivocally “NO” even though my luggage traveled extra miles, received extra handling, and likely a long, bouncy truck ride. I find this type of customer service incomprehensible. I worked in customer service for over 15 years and always tried to work out problems to benefit both the customers and the company. I am very upset with American Airlines’ policy, with the lack of ability to talk directly to a higher authority, with the loss of my luggage (which I truly feel caused the breakage), and with my ruined items.

Would I think twice about flying American Airlines again? You bet – and you might think twice as well.

KermitRocks: @jboeckman has a beef with American Airlines too. Don't get him started. I'm sure he'd be happy to help your mom.

about 4 days ago

Thu Mar 19 01:54:33 +0000 2009

nathangilder: Looking forward to your mom's blog post :-)

about 4 days ago

Thu Mar 19 01:55:12 +0000 2009

nerdseyeview: more for that AA guest blog? 4 hour delay IN SEATAC? http://is.gd/nX8W or ANOTHER guest blogger #AASUX ? i'm in.

about 4 days ago

Thu Mar 19 01:56:05 +0000 2009

phuzion: I don't know the details of the situation, but maybe you should have her contact Consumerist?

about 4 days ago

Thu Mar 19 01:56:30 +0000 2009

hpduong: i've been flying American Airlines on and off for the past year and half and it has always been TERRIBLE

about 4 days ago

Thu Mar 19 01:57:42 +0000 2009

CA20K1: Try Singapore Airlines. It's a great way to fly ;)

about 4 days ago

Thu Mar 19 01:59:57 +0000 2009

UncleJohn97420: She must not watched the A&E show.lol I would never fly with them. (Airlines was a show on A&E bout America Airlines.)

about 4 days ago

Thu Mar 19 02:03:16 +0000 2009

KyleVanKooten: that's right.. Better stick with Southwest!

about 3 days ago

Thu Mar 19 02:08:30 +0000 2009

pcasey44: – I am still angry at AMR. They lost my passport and my mother's at a checkpoint on the way back to US from Virgin Islands.

about 3 days ago

Thu Mar 19 02:12:08 +0000 2009

caseygotcher: @ianmcnaughton is twittering on his unhappiness with them too

about 3 days ago

Thu Mar 19 02:12:58 +0000 2009

ZenTigerpaw: Ouch. That I gotta read.

about 3 days ago

Thu Mar 19 02:16:11 +0000 2009

pcasey44: – AMR lost my mother's passport at checkpoint on return from cruise. That was her final cruise, she died shortly after that.

about 3 days ago

Thu Mar 19 02:20:58 +0000 2009

DC616: yelling at your chest? LOL!

about 3 days ago

Thu Mar 19 02:40:25 +0000 2009

MorningMist: AA has alot of not so happy customers they are what I call a cheap hotel of airlines. Low amenities with low service.

about 3 days ago

Thu Mar 19 03:10:18 +0000 2009

donsmith: American is on my bad list too.

about 3 days ago

Thu Mar 19 03:15:55 +0000 2009

jboeckman: Don't get me started on AA, I had a very bad experience when I went to a conference in Chicago.

about 3 days ago

Thu Mar 19 12:25:17 +0000 2009

limelight: Who really enjoys flying? Seriously! If it wasn't so convenient I'd elect to take my car cross country in my underwear.

about a day ago

Sun Mar 22 02:02:23 +0000 2009

How to Win a Zero G Flight Giveaway

Chris — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:59:26 +0000

How to Win a Zero G Flight Giveaway is a post from Chris Pirillo

Remember when I went flying in Zero G a few months ago? It was so much fun, I convinced Symantec to sponsor a ticket for ONE of you, too! This is finally your chance to experience the feeling of zero gravity for yourself. Fly Zero G and rule the Geekosphere!

To qualify for this giveaway, you must:

be registered on geeks.pirillo.com
have received at least twenty five (25) comments to their profile on Geeks
have at least twenty five (25) Profile followers on Geeks
have given at least forty (40) Profile comments to other Geeks on Geeks
have created at least 10 Original Blog posts with 100 words or more on Geeks
have commented in at least ten (10) Blog posts made by other Geeks on Geeks
have uploaded or embedded at least ten (10) Videos on Geeks
have submitted at least 10 Original Events on Geeks
have responded to at least twenty (20) Forum posts on Geeks
have created at least five (5) Forum threads on Geeks
have actively participated in at least 5 Groups on Geeks
have invited at least ten (10) friends to join the Geeks community (with legitimate email addresses) through Geeks
be subscribed to the YouTube Channel at youtube.com/lockergnome
at all times have been in compliance with the Geeks terms of service: geeks.pirillo.com/main/authorization/termsOfService?noBack=1

Act quick: the deadline is on January 10th. Official rules are posted here (if you had specific questions, they’re likely answered therein).

Zero Gravity Flight: Prize includes round-trip, coach class air transportation for one (1) from any airport in the U.S. to launch city departing February 20, 2009 and returning February 22, 2009; one (1) standard hotel room for two (2) nights/three (3) days; ground transportation to and from the airport; ground transportation to and from the Zero Gravity Flight launch facility; and meals. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) up to $7,500 USD, depending upon winner’s point of travel origin and airfare fluctuations at the time of taking the trip. Any differences between stated and actual value will not be awarded. Selection of airline and hotel are solely within Prize Provider’s discretion. All other expenses not specifically mentioned herein are solely the winner’s responsibility. Expenses related to acceptance and use of the prize and not specified herein are the sole responsibility of the winner. All travel must be taken on dates specified; no alternative travel dates are available or prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to an alternate. All travel subject to availability and restrictions. Winner must sign and return a travel release before any ticketing of travel occurs. Winner is solely responsible for obtaining all necessary identification and/or governmental travel documents (e.g., a valid U.S. driver’s license, passport, etc) required for travel to launch city. (Approximate Retail Value: $7,500 USD).

What is the Future of Air Travel?

Chris — Thu, 22 May 2008 06:24:34 +0000

What is the Future of Air Travel? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Flying is an excellent way to travel. However, there is much room for improvement, wouldn’t you say? What kinds of things would you like to see on airplanes if you could choose? We had a good time in my chat room discussing this, and throwing around ideas. Some of them were a tad over-the-top, but these are the five things we all agreed on.

Outer Space We’ll be there. I don’t mean just flying to the Moon. I mean we’ll be able to take our crafts higher and higher, and be able to get to our destinations much quicker.
Luggage Tracker I can’t imagine not wanting to have something implanted into your luggage so you can keep track of it at all times. It would be kind of cool to be able to broadcast that, wouldn’t it?
Internet Access I had this once. I was on a connection by a Boeing flight. It was a test flight, flying around Mt. Ranier. The Internet was free-flowing, and it was truly awesome. It would be great to have Internet access, and some kind of powering station. Heck, even a USB port would be good. We could have our iPod going!
Massages!!! Imagine being on a flight, stressed out and in a rush. You could plunk down some money and get a massage. I would totally do that in a heartbeat. Airlines could heal their financial deficits by offering paid massages!
In-Flight Competitions and Gaming You’re not going anywhere. Why not have a LAN party on the plane, and have gaming competitions against other passengers? Have fun on the plane. The best flight I ever took was a trip from Seattle to NewYork. It was a red eye flight. I was in between my wife Ponzi, and a friend. Everyone had their own television screen, pulling in Satellite tv. It was so excellent! Airlines seriously need to offer some type of mindless entertainment.

I know the cost of travel is going up rapidly. The whole industry is in trouble. It needs to concentrate more on consumers. Given a choice between spending a lot of money or not, and possibly postponing a trip due to cost… there’s no contest. It’s a no-brainer. You cannot raise prices without raising expectations as well.

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How to Choose the Best Airline

Chris — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:48:18 +0000

How to Choose the Best Airline is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Do you travel by air often? Are you going to be flying in the near future? What airline do you choose? How do you know which is best? Here are some tips to help you decide the next time (or first time!) you will fly.

If the airline is new to you, you may want to look up their safety record and look at the ways they are criticized by others. If the airline has a crappy safety record and their maintenance allegedly sucks, you may want to give that airline second thoughts. A good place for this is Wikipedia.
You may want to look at reviews of this airline If they allegedly have crappy service and the pilots don’t seem well trained, you may want to reconsider your decision to fly with this airline. But don’t let just one review convince you, only really get concerned when there are several reviews criticizing the same issue.
If you have flown this airline before and you had a pretty bad experience while the reviews are mostly good, you may want to give this airline a second chance; it could just be that one crew.
I know this may sound silly, but research the type of plane you are going to be on; the airline website when you are looking at flights will usually give you the plane model (e.g. 757, 737, A320, etc.). You can look at passenger comfort reviews of the plane and see what type of plane would be your best choice.
And last, but not least, check out other airlines’ prices. You don’t want to spend $1000 on an airline that is the same quality as an airline that offers $100 for the same thing.

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How to Travel

Chris — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:40:45 +0000

How to Travel is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Along with the holidays comes travel to visit friends and family. Here are some great tips sent in by a community member to make your traveling a bit easier.

Always plan ahead of time. This will always come in handy especially when holidays come. This is a very famous tip. It will save you money and you will get flight or room ahead of time while late people (people who plan at the same minute as the trip) will have to look and look for a flight or room.
Buy online airplane tickets. You should shop online because you don’t have to go over to the place where they sale the ticket and shopping online will be right in front of you and you might even save gas money.
Car or bus travel. If you can’t find or afford airplane tickets take the bus or drive your car. This will save you money but this will probably waste gas money but you save money on the airplane ticket so you don’t waste money.
Don’t waste money before the trip. You should always save money in case of things you need to eat on the way things you want to buy to remember the trip. The only thing you need to buy before the trip is food and drinks if you are on a car or bus.
Get a travel agent. Usually they can find great deals and save you money and can get you a lot of fun with less money the average person spends without a travel agent.

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Airport Delays

Chris — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 19:49:09 +0000

Airport Delays is a post from Chris Pirillo

pt is sending out a warning: “the airports are fzcked today, tell everyone to get to the airports like 3 hours in advance, my flight took off without most of the people because of the lines, and now we’re playing the standby game for the day… so, i might not make it to the party tonight, fyi – but i will be at the airport drinking as soon as the bar opens while i wait to dull the pain.”

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Starting at just $3.99/month, web hosting from GoDaddy includes 99.9% uptime, 24/7 support and free access to GoDaddy Hosting Connection, THE place to install over 30 FREE applications sure to help you get the most from your hosting plan and Web site. Enter code CP2 at checkout, and save an additional 10% on any order.

Plus, as a friend of Chris Pirillo, enter code CHRIS7, that's C-H-R-I-S and the number 7, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com.

VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.