American/US Airways

I will write about my flight to and from Colorado Springs on American/US Airways here. It won’t be in chronological order, but will show how much I dislike both American/US Airways and Dallas as I flew on/to both.

Towards CO: I flew US Airways/American to Colorado Springs (via Philadelphia and Dallas.) From the moment I bought my tickets last January until I got back last night I have had nothing but issues and problems with them. I have received several e-mails with “corrections” on my itinerary.  They kept changing my flight times, airlines, confirmation numbers and flight numbers. I understand that American Airlines took over US Airways and it is supposed to be one airline, but they still operate as two separate ones (ie different customer service numbers, different check-in counters, different planes, crews, etc.) The day before I left I had an issue checking-in online (the airport I was leaving from only has US Airways and not American so I used the US Airways site) and so I called the US Airways customer service number. A man answered and I explained everything and he told me he was putting me on hold to look into the matter. Fifteen minutes later a woman (with a thick Indian accent) came on and wanted me to explain everything to her. I told her I had been speaking to a guy and had told him everything, but she needed to know so I told her. It was very hard to understand her (I will never understand why Indians have such thick and unrecognizable accents  - even the ones that only speak English.) I told her I had been given three different confirmation numbers and she just kept asking me to get it to her (so I gave her all three.) She said she found my reservation on their system, but was of no help as to why I couldn’t check-in online. In the end it was a wasted call and so I hung-up. I was finally able to check-in and pay for my bag online several hours later.

The day I was leaving (a Thursday) we left my house around 1 am to go get something to eat at a McDonalds by the airport (the only things that are 24 hours in my state are: gas stations, hospitals and a few McDonald’s.) Since it was so early there weren’t many cars and so no delays in eating or getting to the airport. At the airport I had to wait for the US Airways ticket counter to open (even though I was told to be there 2 hours before my flight and it was already two hours.) The woman asked me if my final destination was Dallas   - because that was the last destination she could see on her computer screen. I told her I was going to Colorado Springs through Philly and Dallas and made sure the package slip she put on my luggage said COS.  After checking-in I went upstairs to go through security. Again, I had to wait about 25 minutes because the TSA wasn’t set-in that early. I had no issues going through security- everyone was doing their job correctly as far as I could see (one reason I chose my local airport that is small versus leaving from Logan and dealing with idiots.)

There also weren’t any issues waiting at my gate, boarding or on the flight to Philadelphia. It was a small plane and no one sat next to me. When I landed in Philly I had to walk from one terminal to another one (they don’t have an airport monorail, but you can walk to all the terminals except for F – more about that later.)  I had plenty of time until my next flight and so didn’t have to rush. Not much was open so early so I just sat by the gate.

The plane to Dallas was bigger than my earlier one to Philly and I was sitting in an aisle seat (actually all my seats were on the aisles even when I couldn’t choose them) but this plane had three seats in a row and someone was at the window which left the middle seat free between us. The only memorable thing on that flight was the strong turbulence. It was so bad that the seat-belt sign stayed on most of the time.

Then I landed in Dallas. I have been to Dallas once before and should have known better than ever go back. I had to take the airport monorail to another terminal for my next flight. The terminal I landed in had air conditioning and felt nice, but none of the other ones did. I found my next gate and waited. At first the sign at the gate had “Colorado Springs” on it – I usually check – but apparently they changed it to “San Antonio” shortly after I sat down. It was operated by American Airlines and when people flying to Colorado kept going up to the desk and asking about their flight the ticket agents were very rude and then made fun of them when they left the desk. They should have had the intelligence to make an announcement telling everyone that the flight to Colorado was still flying at that gate, but there was a flight to San Antonio - actually there were two flights to San Antonio  - one was cancelled and so they had to cram as many people onto the already packed flight as they could – I watched the chaos from my seat.)

It was very hot in the terminal (there was no ac) and right when we were supposed to board our flight to Colorado Springs – the San Antonio one had already left – they made an announcement that we had to change terminals (from terminal C to A) and that it was boarding in 15 minutes. After waiting so long at the one gate and terminal we now had to run to the monorail to get to the other gate and terminal. When I left the old gate I saw the American ticket agents leave the desk and there were still 2 people in wheelchairs waiting to go to CO. I felt bad for them and mentioned it at the new gate and terminal after I ran there. They didn’t seem to care – big surprise.  It turns out there was no need to run since our plane was still being fixed – something that was never mentioned to us until the plane was supposed to have taken off and wasn’t even at the gate. Eventually, the plane came and we were rushed on-board.

It was burning hot and very humid. A guy with a temperature app on his phone said it was 103 F inside the plane. Apparently, the plane was being worked on on the tarmac someplace and had the engine off so the ac wasn’t on in the hot Texas sun. I have flown many times, but this was the first time I ever experienced this extreme heat inside a plane. An hour and a half later when we landed in Colorado  - after some turbulence - it was 87 F inside the plane – still very hot. I was just so glad to be out the extreme heat and away from Dallas (and in Colorado Springs.) My sister was waiting in the airport, I got my bag and we left.

 

From CO:   I was able to check-in online the day before my flight, but wasn’t able to pay for my bag online – I would have to do that at the airport – I didn’t want to call their customer service and waste my time like before. I had to leave my sister’s house early (3 am) and we went to eat at McDonald’s. The first place we went to near her house didn’t accept credit cards and I didn’t want to waste my cash so we went to another one. The second McDonald’s was pretty creepy. The cashier even asked us if we were travelling (ie we were very white and out-of-place.) We quickly ate and left since we felt very uncomfortable there. Colorado Springs Airport is a nice airport (I have only been there once before to rent a car – usually I fly to/from Denver.) I had to use a self -check-in counter and then wait for the American employees to go to their counters. After that I went to the security line, said good-bye to my sister and then went through. There were no issues at security (COS is small like my airport), at my gate or on-board.

Then I landed in Dallas. It seems like infamous last words. Again I had to take the train to another terminal and was ready for a gate/terminal change – which didn’t happen this time. I did get a “show” while sitting at the gate as the ticket agents treated the customers badly – even ones asking simple questions. I wasn’t too surprised with American/US Airways since they have been unprofessional and unintelligent the whole trip. I got on my flight to Philly with no issues – other than a very crowded flight and having to sit next to two crying kid. I didn’t have a long layover in Philly and unlike when I first flew into the airport and could walk to the other terminal this time I had to take a bus to Terminal F and that took some time.

There was a very strange woman at the gate. I sat away from her and waited, but she kept walking over to me and talking to me. She was very butch and had an odd voice and told me (and others) that she had just flown in from Toronto and was going to our state. She also kept showing everyone her emergency Canadian passport. It was very annoying. She also had 4 carry-ones and was scared since our plane was small and she had to gate-check them. Luckily, I sat 5 rows away from her, but when I was boarding and had to wait for the person in front of me to move she continued talking to me. I just smiled and nodded and then went to my seat. There were no issues on the flight – it wasn’t crowded. When we landed I didn’t see my dad –who was waiting for me – and so got my bag, then found my dad and we left. Since I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since that creepy McDonalds back in CO we went to a Taco Bell/Long John Silver’s. The place was pretty chaotic and under-staffed, but the food was ok. I was glad when we finally made it home (only to see that one of my dogs had something wrong with his eye.) I have kept an eye on him since yesterday and will take him to the vet when they open tomorrow.

All-in-all I am not impressed with either American/US Airways or the Dallas Airport. I will do everything in my power to never have to fly that airline or that airport ever again as they are one of the worst airlines and airports I have ever used.