Friday July 19th, I was on a flight from Columbia, South Carolina to Portland, Oregon. I should’ve known I was in for a long day, when I saw the flight had been delayed four times throughout the day! Still not that big a deal. I get a few more hours with my family, that I see once a year. 

 I goto the check in terminal to check my bags. I’m checking two. I see $85 dollars pop up, I’m thinking to myself. Wait a minute. I paid for the upgrade, that included one checked bag at no charge! Not a big deal, I’ll tell the CSR rep at the desk. He’ll figure it out. I explain the situation, he hands me a QR Code with a phone number. No problem, American will reimburse me. 

 I board my flight, now I’m off to Dallas/Fort Worth for my connecting flight back to Portland. We land in Dallas. I look at my email, my flight to Portland has been cancelled. CSR has a line a mile long. So, I call the number on the card with the QR Code on it, talk to an agent over the phone. Great, getting to Portland tonight is a fantasy, so I have to spend nearly 24 hours in Dallas, miss a day of work, and wonder. When am I actually going to get a flight back to Portland.

 Wake up Saturday, refreshed, and feeling good. It’s a new day, I actually have a flight back home. I notice on my ticket that I have a window seat. Now, I know I paid for the upgrade, so I can choose my seat. I chose a D seat. Right side of the plane aisle seat. Being 6’5 270lbs with a bad knee is hell, when you have to sit for hours in a middle or window seat. I’m angry the entire flight. Don’t cause a scene, just relax, it’ll get taken care of.

 Fast forward to today. I call American Airlines CSR. I tell the automated service, that I’m requesting a refund. They transferred me to an agent. No agent ever answer, and the phone just hangs up. I do this two more times. Third time is the charm right? No answer, the phone just hangs up. Call again, I ask for a representative. Got in touch with one rather quickly. Only for her to say, you cannot speak with someone, it’s only handled through email. 

 Is this how it works? I believe I’m at least entitled to the money I paid for the upgrade. I’m disappointed that this is the level of service received. Actually, getting in touch with an actual person seems to be a thing of the past. 

Can someone please point me in the right direction to get this handled. Or if I’m overreacting. Let me know?