American Airlines Reviews 3,100

Upon arrival from my flight, I immediately discovered that my checked luggage had been severely damaged. One of the wheels was completely broken off, rendering the suitcase unusable. This is not a cosmetic issue or “minor imperfection”—the luggage can no longer function as designed and must now be carried.

I documented the damage with photos at the airport and attempted to report it in person at the baggage service desk. Instead of providing assistance, I was dismissively directed to scan a QR code and file a claim online.

I followed those instructions and submitted a claim with photo evidence clearly showing the missing wheel. Despite this, American Airlines denied my claim, inaccurately categorizing the damage as “minor imperfections and scratches.” This response demonstrates either a failure to review the submitted evidence or a deliberate attempt to avoid responsibility.

Additionally, after denying my claim, I was told I could return to the airport to present the same damaged luggage I had already attempted to show before leaving. This is unreasonable, inconvenient, and indicative of poor customer service and a flawed claims process.

My luggage was brand new and I was only able to use it once. It is now effectively unusable. A generic apology does not resolve the financial loss or the inconvenience caused.

American Airlines has failed to:

* Properly assess documented damage
* Provide a fair and accurate claims review
* Offer a reasonable resolution

I’ll consider other airlines for future travel, and if I do fly with American Airlines, it will only be for short trips since I won’t be checking any luggage with them again.

I couldn't check in for my flight online or on the app, which was very strange. Contacted customer service by chat. They said they could reserve my seats for me and I asked several times how much that would be. They said $26. Later that day I received a receipt and had been charged a $100 "external booking fee." I chatted again and the rep said I could submit a claim after my flight and would be able to get the transcript of the chat.After my flight I requested the transcripts but could not open the file. Contacted customer service 3 times; received 2 form letters. The third time I did receive a personal reply, but was told they could not get the transcripts and that the fee was standard.But they do want to "rebuild my confidence in their service". They won't get the chance.Huge scam!

I was in business class from Chicago to London and got delayed after boarding abd taxiing off. Back to gate at 1am and offloaded. Put in ghastly 3 star hotel and not allowed to have our luggage back. Flew the bect day at 6pm and arr7ved in London 20 hours late. Sick with a cold from being so cold. Waiting for taxi nearly one hour. None would accept the AA taxi vouchers. Contacted customer service, they just said they would contact their staff and basically hard luck. No compensation or miles for sich an awful experience. Will avoid them in future. There is usually a choice.

Forget the long TSA lines. Forget the normal delays and wait times. They are not AA fault. However after that this airlines is the WORST. Why? Two words: FLIGHT ATTENDANTS and in-plane staff. Yes, their job is often thankless and always very difficult, granted, still they are all so condescending, rude and mean. They're like slaughterhouse workers with cattle prongs and passengers are the cattle. The snack is some kind of punishing, inedible sugar cracker that's thrown in the passengers' laps without so much as a, "here, take it or leave it." The aisle are restrictively tight and un-passable. The seats cramped, jammed together without an inch of space between passengers. All of that would be hard enough if the in flight staff had in just modicum of grace and good will. THEY DO NOT!

Got to BTR this morning and no one to check in. The lady said we had to wait. Then the flight was delayed for mechanical issues. Then my 2nd flight from DCA was late arrival and the crew was not present to fly the aircraft so delayed again. Everytime I have issues with American Airlines. Also the flight attendants were super rude.

My experience with American Airlines on this trip was an absolute disaster from the moment we landed in Philadelphia. Our connecting flight to Reagan was cancelled less than an hour after we arrived, and that’s when the real chaos began.

We waited in a long line at the customer service desk, only for the agents to **close the counter right as we were about to be helped**. No explanation, no apology—just a door slammed in the faces of passengers who had already been stranded. We were then forced to trek across the terminal to another service desk, where the situation somehow got worse.

When we finally reached an agent, she made **zero effort** to rebook us. We were told there were **no direct flights for two days**, not to Reagan, not even back to our original destination in Salt Lake City. Everything was booked, and instead of offering solutions, the agent shrugged and told us that American “isn’t going to do anything” and that we’d be better off renting a car or taking Amtrak to Washington DC. That was the extent of their “assistance.”

To make matters worse, I was promised a refund for the unused portion of our flight—**which never happened**. Not a penny. Not even a follow‑up.

Then came baggage claim. When we arrived at the baggage office, the agent literally put up a sign saying he’d be back in 15 minutes. He returned **an hour later**, casually admitting it was his dinner break. No urgency, no concern for the dozens of passengers waiting on him, just a shrug and a “yeah, I was gone for a while.”

This entire experience showed a complete lack of organization, accountability, and basic customer service. American Airlines left us stranded, uninformed, and unsupported at every step. I’ve never encountered an airline so unwilling to help its own passengers during a disruption it caused.

I will go out of my way to avoid flying American again. No traveler deserves to be treated like this.

Bought Premiun Economy seats with American Airlines. At the time of check in, I got basic seats. I have called and communicated with American trying to get my refund for the downgraded seats. Countless hours wasted. I am now filing a small claim lawsuit. Trying to get some money back and making sure no one else gets this experience. Stay away from American Airlines

Flew Heathrow to lax. Wonderful experience staff very friendly, moved me to a better seat with more leg room as I’m tall and obviously 11.5 hrs flight was made more comfortable the 777 is a great aircraft for long cruising great space and layout staff were awesome

Booked upgraded main plus (no further upgrades available on that flight) allows for extra checked baggage (taking food to family in Cuba) get to airport and they want $200 more , only allowed one bag, when I showed them paper work and website , thanks for extorting me... we don't care if you leave the food and medicine for your family or leave some of the money for your family.. but leave.

Before my dad and my sisters traveled to visit my family and me, they called American Airlines, making sure they could take someone with reduced movement capacity (My dad lost 80% of his movement in an accident). They said there wasn't any problem with that but guess what: They do not care about disabilities and discriminated against my dad, who needed this "special treatment" because of his condition- believe he would rather walk than have to go through all this. He was treated as a problem, and no one helped on that flight. Every time they asked for help, they were ignored, making him feel like a burden. He was a customer who paid full price to get the seat he wanted next to my siblings so he could ensure he would be comfortable and get the help he needed on a 8 hr flight. When they asked to get the seats they paid for, AA lied, saying they couldn't do anything when in fact they could. Why would you pay for the expensive ticket to get a better seat if you will be sitting somewhere else?
Do not use this Airline if you have a disability; they couldn't care less.

I booked a flight with AA in December of 2025 with a flight in January 22nd, return January 27th, 2026. As I was ready to leave for my flight home, I received multiple texts starting with a delay x3 then a cancellation and rebooked. After a 6 hour callback from AA, I was told my flight was now scheduled for January 28th, going to DFW then LAX. I originally booked my flight from San Antonio TX to Phoenix then to Santa Ana, CA. I explained to CS that LAX is not acceptable as I live hours away from LAX. I asked why I would be booked going through DFW as that is where all the weather delays were occurring. I was told "we don't fly to Phoenix". That is impossible as I just came through Phoenix on my flight to San Antonio. After many phone calls to AA, they were able to book a flight on January 29th through Phoenix to Santa Ana. It left at 06:24 AM (also a flight delay) as originally leaving at 06:00 AM. I had a 3 hour wait in Phoenix, lost my aisle seat a originally booked and had to sit in the middle aisle. I was told by Raymond in CS that he will send me an email to follow to get a refund for my flight. When I got home, I found the email regarding how to request a refund which I reported. After a week, I received another email stating my refund was denied with no explanation. I then emailed AACS refund dept. and received a reply stating the same thing. The email gave a name Desiree with her callback number. I called this number and LVM x3 and she never called me back. Everyone I spoke with at AACS was nice and apologetic. AA Reservation dept. was another issue. When I asked to speak with a manager, I was hung up on. I finally sent a certified letter on March 18, 2026 to David Seymour, Chief Operating Officer with all of the issues. At present, I have not received a reply. In all of the emails and conversations, I am only requesting a refund for the return flight and my luggage fee of $40.00. I do not think this is unreasonable considering the time, expense of staying 2 more days and the frustration. I will never fly American Airlines again.

One of the worst travel experiences I’ve ever had.

My flight from Philadelphia to Buffalo (AA4588) was cancelled after hours on the plane, and I was traveling with my mother who had emergency surgery just one week prior.

We were left overnight at the airport with no practical help. The only hotel offered was 13–17 miles away, with transportation costing over $150, which was not realistic given her condition.

The most frustrating part was being told to wait for standby boarding the next morning. I followed instructions, yet other passengers checked in separately and were boarded, while my mother and Ifirst on the listwere left behind.

There was a clear lack of communication, coordination, and empathy from staff, including management. The only positive was one Spanish-speaking agent who truly helped us.

This experience was exhausting, stressful, and unacceptableespecially when traveling with a medical passenger.

Half the plane was boarded and they bumped us. We were in line to board and they said your group cant get on this plane due to weight. What a joke, tickets were bought months in advance. They overbooked and our group gets bumped. Might not even get out today. Never again will I fly american!

Delays galore, stuck in the plane on the runway.

UPDATE for 03/2026!
American Airlines are literally taking your money for flights and canceling the ticket right before the flight so you cannot check in. I’ve called over a dozen times to be caught in a game of who to speak to next about my refund. Lost a job opportunity and as of today showed proof that the flight was cancelled 3 hours before the flight when I went to check, job lost and everything. No Refund! Don’t let them scam you!

I wasted hours on a chat and emailed customer relations. I needed to add an advantage number BEFORE cancelling a flight and the chat agent instead added the number AFTER creating 6 month vs 1 year for the trip credit booking deadline. It was their fault and I can’t get anyone to fix it! I’m a platinum member and customer relations simply thanked me for my feedback. Impossible to get a real human to take care of resolving their error.

had a horrible with American Airlines flying from JFK to Memphis through CLT. Flight out of JFK delayed for hours missed connection at CLT no available flights from CLT to memphis for 24 hours.

tried every way possible to contact American called, used app, texted and spoke to employees @ the gate and their so called “help” desk at JFK the most common response i received from these efforts was that they couldn’t help me and was directed to one of the other options. Finally the 4 th person i spoke to at the help desk got me seats on a flight from CLT to MEM 24 hours after my original flight

still no offers of any type of accommodation or assistance in with a hotel. we had flown to JFK from Rome on a different airline so we had already been traveling for almost 24 hours at this point

side note the first person i spoke to at help desk didn’t have her glasses on so she couldn’t read my boarding pass and was having a lot of trouble seeing her screen the second person at the help desk was very obviously texting friends on her phone and not really listening to me and she was wearing a mask which made it almost impossible for me to understand her

i’m finally home after spending lots of money i wasn’t planning on and missing 2 extra days of work

BTW i just found out for sure the delays were not due to the weather but due to poor maintenance on by American Airlines

Please always choose United or Delta to go through US, never again American Airlines, will never choose to make same mistake again. I travel a lot and often, use different airlines. Perhaps that is why I have been treated the way I was. If I had been a member of AA, I could have received a different treatment.
I am really frustrated with the time waste over AA customer service that seems to have double standards. I do not understand how people in front of line got meal vouchers, or hotel accommodations (before the system got overwhelmed), and I didn't, and was told by you "it is not a standard" instead in case over 30h+ layover caused by airline. Perhaps, it was a courtesy at the airport, but then I do not understand why AA agents said to collect receipts, you could have just saved us time, patience, and nerves. However, they did mentioned that because they knew the crew was timing out and they acted accordingly until somebody covered the whole misunderstanding with "weather". All the airlines in such situation give away meal and hotel vouchers and reimburse you fully for such a cancellations.
I do not appreciate companies and businesses operating on double standards and treating customers differently in same case situations. Nobody escalated my problem for real, nobody investigated my case, I was only bounced back from one agent to another with no executive power, and kept being repeated over and over same "weather" thing like "I cannot get it"; it is very rude to be treated like this by any customer service, and I though AA had better standards, but unfortunately, no; at the same time I feel relief I will never deal with American Airlines again choosing United or Delta over AA in any future flight through US. Definitely will spread the news amongst people I know, saving them from unnecessary stress served by American Airlines customer service. It is a pity the miscommunication between AA agents leads to poor transfer choices, flying customers to airport with complete chaos, total lack of control and then covering flights cancellations with "weather" when "crew timing out" is really the case. Very sad story, hope it works for their business to keep losing passengers like this, it wouldn't work well in the world of business I am used to.

I am a frequent traveler and find American Airlines Customer Service the absolute worst of all airlines. I am currently stuck in Merida Mexico airport for two days. American Airlines keep rebooking me for same flight combination of Merida-Miami, Miami-Pittsburgh. The first flight keeps delaying daily for 3 to 4 hours which would make me miss second flight. They keep telling me that if I rebook for next day I am guaranteed a flight from Mia-Pit but not if I take first flight to Miami and on second day I take the Mia-Pit flight. Where is the logic in that? Asking American Airlines check-in counter and Customer Service Staff on cause for delay , I was told it was not weather related and that it was related to maintenance crew in Miami and American Airlines not having enough employees. This is not the first time I have encountered Customer Service issues. Furthermore, American Airlines Customer service has no empathy and hang up the phone when a problem us presented instead of escalating to pursue a solution.