Do you know how to file a complaint to American Airlines? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question.
Did you miss your connecting flight, or perhaps you got bumped to another flight involuntarily? Did you land at your final destination, but your luggage is nowhere to be found?
Regardless of your situation, you probably want to know how to file a complaint with American Airlines.
Calling the reservations and ticket changes line is the quickest way to contact American Airlines. You can also consult an American Airlines employee at the airport if your problem is immediate before or after your flight and is urgent.
Let’s look at the other options you can use to contact American Airlines.
How To Submit a Complaint to American Airlines
The primary way to reach American Airlines is over the phone. Most of your interactions with them will be through here, including rebooking a flight or applying a voucher towards your fare.
However, since countries lifted restrictions for the COVID-19 pandemic, American Airlines’ customer service line has become swamped with callers.
As a result, wait times kept increasing to the point where even a frequent flyer was put on hold for several hours.
To get around this wait, here are some ways you can contact American Airlines to get a quicker answer.
Fill Out Their Customer Relations Form
American Airlines has a dedicated customer relations form where you can contact them online for various reasons.
These reasons include information about your checked bags, compliments and complaints about the staff, and trip insurance verification.
If your issue is non-urgent, filling out the customer relations form can save you hours of waiting on a crowded phone line. Simply fill in the required information and wait a few days for the airline to respond.
However, keep in mind that this form cannot handle requests such as flight changes.
Call Their Reservations and Ticket Changes Line
If your problem requires further attention than what the customer relations form can handle, you have no choice but to call the reservations and ticket changes line.
The number you call, and your wait times depend on your home country.
American Airlines’ customer service agents can take care of issues such as flight cancellations and rebooking over the phone with you.
They have more access to tools and information than email agents, which is why the company always asks you to call for urgent matters.
The downside is the lengthy wait to get your call answered. On busier hours, such as after severe weather that affected multiple flights, your wait times can be several hours long.
Even their frequent flyer members who call dedicated service numbers aren’t exempt from this wait.
Visit a Ticket Sales Center or Airport Agent
If you’re already at the airport or live close to one, it might be better for you to talk to an airport agent. They have the same access as the phone agents, and you’ll be able to speak to someone in person instead of over the phone.
You also have the added benefit of getting your boarding pass or flight ticket printed immediately after everything is resolved.
This saves you time when checking in on the day of the flight, as most phone-adjusted flights require passengers to see an airline agent before boarding.
As always, ensure patience at all times when interacting with the airline agent.
Contact Them on Social Media
Some people don’t realize that contacting companies on social media can get you just as much help than if you had sent an email.
Customer-centric companies such as American Airlines have social media teams that also double as customer service agents.
While they may not be able to help you with more involved solutions such as rebooking a flight, contacting American Airlines on social media can get you an answer quickly for less severe problems. If they can’t, they’ll redirect you to the right place.
Mail a Letter
Mailing a letter is almost not recommended because of how slow it is, but it’s the best way to create a paper trail of your correspondence.
Keeping copies of everything you sent them will help you later, should you need to escalate your issue.
Keep in mind that if you choose to send a letter to American Airlines, it can take up to 60 days for you to get a response.
That’s because you have to account for transit time both ways and the time it takes for them to read and process your letter.
As such, mailing a letter should only be considered if your flight is already finished and your problem doesn’t need urgent attention.
Escalating the Problem
Sometimes, going through the usual channels doesn’t get you the desired results. They either do not understand your problem or refuse to give you a sensible solution. If this happens, you have a few options to try.
Contact Customer Service and Ask for a Supervisor
It’s understandable if you don’t want to wait several minutes again just to get through their customer service line, but persistence pays.
Calling American Airlines again not only gives you a chance to speak to a different agent but also to ask for a supervisor.
Sometimes, speaking with another agent does the trick. Having a different set of eyes look over your problem might be the only thing you need to get the solution you want. But if they can’t help, then politely ask to speak to their supervisor.
Remember that although supervisors have more authority to accommodate your requests than regular agents, you still need to be reasonable with your expectations.
And more importantly, you still need to be civil. Getting angry over the phone won’t help.
Send an Email Directly to the Customer Relations Director
Jumping straight to a higher-up instead of playing roulette with regular customer service agents can sometimes give you a quicker resolution.
Nobody wants the big boss to be unhappy, so everyone quickly finds a solution whenever the director tells them to do so.
When writing an email to an executive, make sure you have a catchy subject line. You want to grab their attention right away, so they’ll read your email instead of scrolling past yours. And when they do read your message, make sure you get right to the point.
A quick Google search should give you the updated information for American Airlines’ customer relations director.
Not quite sure if you have the correct email address. Send an email to their CEO – it’ll get forwarded to the right inbox.
Submit a Written Complaint to the US Department of Transportation
If you’ve exhausted all your options and your problem is still not resolved, it might be time to get the government involved.
If so, you must submit a written complaint to the US Department of Transportation.
Complaining to the USDOT should be considered as a last resort. Only do this when you’ve contacted every avenue within the company, yet your problem persists.
When submitting a written complaint to the DOT, they don’t actually solve the problem for you. Instead, they act as a middleman between you and the airline; they let the airline know that your problem is still outstanding and needs to be addressed.
If the DOT doesn’t directly help you, you might wonder why to get them involved at all. That’s because they log every complaint they get for each airline and compile it in a consumer report.
Airlines want a stellar record, so they want to help you.
Final Thoughts
Contacting American Airlines should not be a complicated ordeal, yet it is. Thankfully, you have multiple avenues of doing so – over the phone, online, or in person at the airport.
One way or another, someone will handle your problem.
Failing that, you also have multiple options for escalation. You can ask for a supervisor or involve the company’s higher-ups.
You can even get the government involved if needed. As long as you have patience, your American Airlines problem will get resolved sooner or later.