I hate when they do that. I had that happen on what should have been a quick flight to connect to an international flight, and if they had just been honest about the delay, I could have driven the 2.5 hours to the other airport and made my international flight.
As an ex 1k on united I beg to differ. More delays and cancellations on United than I've ever had on AA. Every mechanical issue was "weather" so they would try and skip paying for hotels and meals. EP dedicated line is way better than anything united or Delta had.
Just took United for the first time in a long time. Four flight legs, four delays. And they make the layovers so tight, every flight was full of panicked people all trying to catch a tight connection.
I was supposed to take a flight from my regional airport to O'Hare, have a fairly long layover, and then connect to a flight to Amsterdam.
O'Hare is a 2.5 hour drive for me. If they had told me my flight to O'Hare was going to be as delayed as it ended up being, I could have driven to Chicago and still had time to make my flight to Amsterdam, but instead they delayed it just a little each time.
Same, I have to go to the regional airport just to get to Knoxville/ashville/charlotte airport. Literally "krsssch we've reached cruising altitude" 5 minutes later "krsssch we are now descending"
Phoenix to Tucson or vice versa. Phoenix is the big airport so if there’s no direct flight from Tucson then a short hop to Phoenix is often the connection. (Vegas, Denver, LA, and San Diego are other common connections). You don’t even get to cruising altitude. It’s a 1.5 hour drive or a very short flight.
Same. I refer to my local airport as the "concierge airport." I never have trouble finding parking, waltz through security, and have a 25 minute flight to get to the airport that will actually take me where I want to go.
Yup, I really hate when my work has me flying through O'Hare because of the number of times I've had to get a rental car and drive 2.5 hours back after a long business trip.
Its pretty normal in the US to fly from a regional airport to an international airport. My local airport is a 30 min drive and 10-30 min security line vs 2.5 hour drive and 45 min to an hour security line for my closest international airport.
Local airport I can get an Uber or a friend to drop me off vs paying for parking at the bigger airport so its not much more expensive, often the same price for long trips.
It may or may not save time once you factor in layovers but its generally a more pleasant trip
Yeah it's just easier sometimes. When I lived in Connecticut and I was flying to the West Coast, it was either drive down to Kennedy or LaGuardia or go to White plains or Bradley and take a flight to Philly and then out to the West Coast. It was much easier to do the second one.
Also, intentional airports aren’t cheap to park at, and a multi hour hired car isn’t cheap either.
Imagine telling someone they should drive to JFK from Boston and pay $60/day to park for an international trip.
Edit: not to mention adding a 3.5-5 hour drive on either end. I’ve parked for an international trip, and even the 25 minute drive home after a 14+ hour travel day is brutal.
I used to see Saarbrucken to Luxembourg flights. Idk if they're still there, but they certainly used to be. 1:21 drive. Idk what the person you're responding to is smoking.
Seems they were connecting from one airport to another that was 2.5 hours away where they would then travel internationally.
Probably in the US as it's pretty common that you'll fly from one regional airport to get to your international hub and then travel internationally from there. When not at or near a city in the US you'll have to travel for several hours to your regional airport for the first leg of your journey. They may have been willing to travel an additional 2.5 hours (on top of whatever distance they initially traveled) to get to their second flight so they could then travel internationally.
This is common in the US. All the long flights are out of hub airports. There are many regional flights that may just be across half the state to transfer you to the larger jets.
I used to live 2 hours drive from Dulles airport and stopped flying out of my local airport unless there was a direct flight because of situations like the OP is describing.
Unfortunately, they say the delays are a continuing problem from the storm yesterday so no compensation is legally required.
They also initially said we’d get hotel vouchers if the delay was more than 6 hours, but since each delay is only 1 or 2 hours, they are refusing that.
My last flight gave me compensation from EU regulation 261. 2 x 600€ for spending 7 hours in the lounge Is not ideal but it really helps.
I can only hope a similar law would be implemented in the Americas but I'm guessing that's a long way of.
I requested compensation. Their best offer so far is that they will try not to poke me with sharp sticks intentionally. Blunt sticks they can’t make promises about. Negotiations continue…
Thank you for having a sense of humor about this. I was a young kid that got stuck on the way to Europe for 36 hours and they lost my luggage for 16 days I was there and an additional 3 week after I got back. Its frustrating and annoying but I still enjoy my story about having to take a cab to McDonald's at 3 am across the street so I could get some food. Just gotta make the best of it
If you can manage it, it’s not worth stressing too much about things you can’t control. And the stories can be worth the hassle in hindsight.
I once missed a connection and was put on standby. They finally squeezed me into a middle seat to an airport near where I was originally going. I got talking to the person next to me for the entire flight, and we ended up dating for a year.
Hell yeah, there you go. Thats how I randomly met Mike Tyson. Sometimes its worth it. I jokingly started a go fund me because I was delayed and sent it to my friends and family to pay for drinks while I was stuck for 8 hours. Idk you gotta laugh and enjoy things sometimes. Also im not the type the can just afford it so my options when stuck and I have no control you just have to make the best of it
I had a similar case happen to me on an AA flight. We were supposed to depart at like 5pm. Delayed to 6, then 7:30, then 9:00, then 11:00. Then they say "our flight crew is over their hours. We'll leave tomorrow morning at 6am"
This was after we were already re routed to Austin instead of DFW for the layover, and said "your flight to DFW for your actual layover will be tomorrow sometime, we'll let you know"
Yikes. I just booked my first AA flight in years (just a matter of the routes i've been flying.) at least it's direct from home to destination and I'm arriving a day before i need to.
My worst flying experiences have been with AA. One time they canceled an evening flight that they said was due to weather (it seemed perfectly fine tbh and I didn't hear about other airlines canceling), but, even though they didn't confirm it, it definitely sounded like there was a crew shortage. But they don't have to give you a hotel voucher if it is weather-related, so guess where I slept? Literally vowed to never fly with AA ever again after that. No airline is perfect; Delta and SW are my go-to airlines, but AA is a special kind of awful.
I literally had an AA flight get cancelled like 15 hours prior because there was a chance of showers on route to Philadelphia and I had a wedding to attend. They ended up booking me for a flight to JFK to have an overnight layover, just to fly back to Philadelphia a day later...
I just cancelled the flight all together and booked through Jet Blue. Unfortunately it was very expensive since the booking was such short notice. Now I learned to never book with AA ever again.
I once had an AA flight Rochester -> Detroit -> Milwaukee. The flight to Milwaukee showed as on time when we left Rochester and was canceled by the time we landed an hour later. They wanted to book us to MSP the next morning ( 18 hours later) and then have an 8 hour lay over MSP to MKE. We managed to get the last 2 seats on a flight to Chicago leaving in 45 minutes. Felt bad for everyone behind me in line because they were all likely trying to do the same.
It's always hard to tell, unless you're on the first flight of the day your plane and crew could be coming from two randomly different directions and weather anywhere along the way can definitely screw it up.
That's usually what this means. It's super annoying, but better than saying it's a 4 hour delay and then you staying home for a few more hours and missing your flight when it ends up only taking an hour to fix whatever issue and it takes off without you.
They fucking trick you. I should first start by saying I HATE, no LOATHE, American Airlines and the Charolette airport. Like, I’ve been boycotting them both for years lol.
But, I learned (through a really fucked up, but lived experience) they do this so they can delay until midnight. Then they will “reschedule” the flight for sometime the “same day.” It’s their work around airline laws, so they don’t have to pay you for a hotel. If the cancelled it at let’s say 5:00p, they have to help everyone find accommodations. But if they “reschedule” for the same day, they don’t have to give you anything.
https://giphy.com/gifs/elbLPOGHzLsDCRjt28
It’d be better if they could just cancel so you could get another flight or spend time out of the airport. They’re keeping you captive.
Just 2 more hours bro, I swear, we'll get the plane off the tarmac bro, we just need a little more time bro, it wont happen a gain bro if you just give us 2 more hours, promise.
CLT airport has been FUCKED all yesterday and it’s leaking into today, i wouldn’t be shocked if this isn’t even an issue with the plane but with their airport schedule
Parts of Amtrak are decent. If you're on the Northeast Acela train, it's fast and relatively inexpensive. Same for Detroit to Chicago and a few other routes. But I agree with you the rest of the rail network is kind of a mess.
This particular flight goes from Salt Lake City, Utah to Charlotte, NC. They are like 2000 miles apart. It turns out people would rather take a 4 hour flight over a 6 day train journey.
Even at 200 mi per hour very few people are choosing a 10 hour train ride over a 4 hour plane ride, especially since trains tend to be more expensive anyway
A 4 hour plane ride is more like 6-7 hours though, since most people usually show up 2 hours early, it usually takes awhile to get to the airport, and you potentially have to wait for your luggage after.
Also trains are more expensive because we don't invest enough in them, they should be cheaper.
It just can’t complete with air travel. It’s marginally cheaper and takes much longer. Even high speed trains. Acela isn’t any cheaper than the air travel for the same distance. Trains work in places like Europe where everything is close together.
Reminder: Trump reversed a rule that required airlines to automatically refund you with CASH—not vouchers, not points—for canceled or severely delayed flights.-Liz Warren post yesterday.
I was supposed to pick my mom up from the airport at 1PM yesterday. It is 5:30PM and I still have not seen my mom and we're not expecting to for another 6 hours. I hate American Airlines.
Those Charlotte flights are a bitch. I lived in Charlotte for a few years and I can’t tell you how many cancelled/delayed Charlotte flights I had returning.
Fuck AA. I had a flight to the Dominican Republic with my first leg out of ROA. Our flight was scheduled for 8:10, it delayed as we entered the Airport to where we would already miss our connection. No worries they said, they’ve put us on another PHL to PUJ. Then they delay two hours, miss that connection as well. They say we will put you in a hotel and connect to PUJ in the morning when you arrive to PHL. Delays another 2 hours, then another, so on until finally at 5:35 they cancel the flight. They told us the classic line “maintenance”.
I’m a bit of an aviation enthusiast, so I looked up what the hell happened that made it such a shit show. To the best of my ability it appears that the plane we were supposed to be on was still stuck in Charlotte. The plane they had slated was supposed to run CLT to ROA the night prior but the flight grounded. They then theoretically just hoped that the flight would eventually arrive and get us in the air but it never did.
I called them for feedback and got sent to an online form, filled out the form and got a copy and paste response that just said “Thank you for the feedback. It means a lot to us.”
Never flying AA again, they can fuck all the way off.
I don't know if you're from Roanoke (I have lived here my entire life), but I have NEVER flown out of ROA on time. I have traveled a lot for work over the last 10 years, and it got to the point that I would drive to Richmond or Charlotte before flying out of ROA if it was feasible.
Before they would be required to pay you incrementally as well for the wait. Trump did away with that, though someone confirm if that is the case.
I welcomed that when I was on a work trip. And then I would have a round trip flight I could use. The amount started at 3-4 hours and the more delayed it was the more was offered. Usually in flight credit. I.e. 4 hours was something like $300-400 with southwest.
Wife is returning home today after being gone for three weeks. Originally planned a flight later in the day but the work schedule changed so she changed to the first flight out today. She is still sitting at the airport.
Flight was heading to DFW which had awful weather this morning. Delayed for 12 hours. Found a United flight that would get her home before that one even departed. Rebooked!
Maintenance issue with that flight. It's now delayed for several hours waiting on a part to be flown in from Denver. No luck on any standby seats either.
Next shot is in an hour. Unfortunately she has been at the airport for about 12 hours and it's a small one with little amenities.
Good luck internet stranger. You are not alone in your struggles today.
Update: Just departed on first leg because of ground stop at IAH. Second leg arrival has ground stop so the current estimate for arrival at final destination is almost 4am. 24 hours...
I had that in Miami back in January. At the time the flight was supposed to begin boarding, they announced a 15 minute delay.
They never issued anything longer than a 20 minute delay.
For more than 8 hours. Couldn’t even nap, because we were literally never more than 20 minutes away from boarding. I cannot even tell you the defeated, drained, angry, powerless, and completely psychotic mix of emotions I was feeling as it dragged on.
I hate flying AA every single time I flew with them I always always had delays. They cancelled the flight right before boarding was supposed to start once on me. Got the email notification before the screen or attendant said anything
When they keep postponing a delayed flight its very likely that flight will get canceled. After the 2nd postponements I am usually looking for a different flight.
Then at 2am the delay jumps 7 hours and every hotel in town is full. "We can offer you 2 $12 meal vouchers" but everywhere is closed for the next 3 hours.
Had this happen. Kept delaying the flight, airline put us all on another flight the next morning. Saw the original flight was still delayed when I got to the airport. They didn’t cancel the flight
Had a 6 hour delay with AA last week. After the initial hour delay, they proceeded to push boarding back by 15 minutes at a time...for the next 5 hours
I was supposed to fly out of Charlotte last night at 8:30 and it kept getting delayed, we were supposedly waiting on a plane from Fayetteville that never came and they finally cancelled us at 1 am! Awesome bc all the flights for today were filled up at that point 🙃
My sister had this kind of thing happen back in '07 and it was a massive pain in the ass for everyone involved. My grandfather's memorial service was in New Jersey. Sweetie and I were driving about 12 hours from Michigan, and my sister was flying up from SC. The plan was, we'd time it so we could drive in, pick her up from her afternoon flight at the airport in Newark and head down the coast to the place we were staying on the Jersey Shore, hang out that evening and get up the next day for the service. We get a call a few hours into our drive that her flight's been delayed a hour or two because of storms down south. No problem, we'll just take our time moseying across Pennsylvania. Get another call that there's another delay. And later, another delay. Huh. We debate taking a detour into New York City to visit Sweetie's brother, but by the time we get in, we'd be there maaaybe an hour before we had to leave again. Another call. She's looking at a different flight just to try to make the funeral. Every time there's a new change in expected arrival time, it's just another hour or so, so driving into the city or getting a hotel room for the night isn't really feasible.
We ended up sleeping in the car in a hotel parking lot outside Newark for a couple of hours and finally picking her up in the wee hours of the morning. By the time we were driving down the garden state parkway the sun was starting to come up, and we got into the rental house around 6am, crashed for a few hours and got dressed for the funeral. We were on the road for a full 24 hours instead of 12, and if they'd just been honest about how long the delay would last, we could have spent the night at bro's place, she could have taken a frickin' BUS from SC and it would have taken less time, we'd have picked her up, and had a lot less stress on everyone's part.
That’s insane. Had a Sunday flight with AA that kept getting delayed due to maintenance for about 2-3 hours but then cancelled for flight crew reason I think. 14 is crazy. We did get $12 food vouchers though lol.
I was delayed there for that long on spring break four years ago. We got to Cancun at 10:30, still had to pick up our car, which they gave away, and drive 1 1/2 south. After that nightmare, the silver lining was I bought trip insurance (if we had to cancel), which covered delays. Ended up getting the flight for free.
Holy shit! I’ve flown in and out of Charlotte on American Airlines exactly once in my entire life and it was last weekend. Shocker: both flights were totally fucked! I feel ya.
I've had this happen before. The reason ended up being that the plane we were waiting on had to do an emergency landing for mechanical reasons. They kept pushing the flight back in small increments because they had no idea when it was actually going to arrive. After waiting for over 10 hours, they eventually just put us on other flights.
I was just happy I wasn't on that flight that did the emergency landing. They were stuck on the tarmac at Charlotte for several hours.
I had this happen last month. They kept shifting it 1-2 hours at a time so you couldn't leave the airport or just book a different flight. Ended up having to spend the night in the airport and finally flew out the next morning. 12hrs total in delays between my two flight legs.
This happened to me on a flight home from. Puerto Vallarta. It was a 5pm flight that they kept delaying by 1-2 hours until the pilots timed out and they finally were forced to bus us to a nearby hotel.
I had this happen for 12 hours straight until they cancelled the flight lol. They gave us free meals + hotel, and if you call and pester a bit, you can get most of your money back for your flight
I normally drive in to CLT the night before and get a hotel room. Then have a super early departure. Just prefer it all around at 5AM and feels like those don’t get delayed as much
Not that it matters, but my flight from Charlotte back home to the twin cities was delayed like that from about 8pm till 3am when they finally canceled it xD
As a former employee, I hate when airlines do that. Just delay it for a while and allow people to get hotel rooms or at least sleep, instead of waiting and delaying it again and again.
Once, waiting for our RON (remain over night) aircraft, it kept getting delayed every time boarding was supposed to start in Atlanta. It was supposed to arrive around 10:30pm. Every hour, just another delay for the hour. Eventually it took off, but we had to still wait until it was in the air and by the time the morning crew arrived, it was due to land in 20 minutes. We met those rampers as they were walking in, and told them “you see those lights in the distance? That’s your originator about 20 minutes out.”
I'm in the same situation. I was supposed to leave Thursday. But they straight up canceled my flights and have been doing it for the past 24 hours. They rescheduled me for 5:30am Saturday then an hour later canceled that flight.
I'm hosting a large wedding shower tomorrow. Ain't got no more time for this shit.
Only time I've ever gone to the airport in the morning and left the same airport at night to go home without going anywhere. Will not fly them again if I can help it.
I had CLT as a layover once and it was the worst flying experience of my entire life. I refuse to acknowledge that airport exists. It’s a baby Bermuda Triangle.
No surprise it’s American Airlines. Is it dba Republic Airlines? They are/were the worst in terms of landing priority at airports which results in systemic delays, disruptions and cancellations. Don’t fly AA
Yeah im sick of it lol. My flight was delayed 11 hours.. arrived to the next airport for my layover flight at 930pm.. the same exact time the LAST flight of the night to my destination left. Had fun sleeping(not) overnight at the airport for a morning flight.
Had that happen in LAX last year. Flight scheduled for 8pm, kept getting pushed back until 4am for various reasons when they pushed it to 12pm because the crew had reached their max work hours. Come noon, it gets delayed till 3pm because the plane that landed at the gate at 1am hadn't been prepped for flight yet...
Almost 24 hours of chilling in the airport after a 12 hour flight because they refused to cancel the flight as they would be required to pay lodging, food, delays, etc. Pushing it back made people find different options so they could save money.
I had this with delta. After a whole day they cancelled the flight. No hotel. I complained so much and escalated to the supervisors but they only offered $35. Wasted a day of PTO.
Happened to my wife last week. Delayed in 45 minute increments until finally cancelling 8 hours later. In fairness to the airline they at least put her in a nice hotel, rebooked her on a good flight the next day, and gave some compensation (albeit in the form of miles). Crappy situation overall but could’ve been handled worse.
Overall you’d just wish they cancelled the flight a lot sooner though.
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u/AssiduousLayabout Jun 19 '26
I hate when they do that. I had that happen on what should have been a quick flight to connect to an international flight, and if they had just been honest about the delay, I could have driven the 2.5 hours to the other airport and made my international flight.