Why I fly American

OK, so every carrier, sooner or later, is going to have a problem—like, for example, a cancelled flight because of the lack of a crew. I know, it sounds pretty elementary, but when you think about it, an airline such as American can't have an extra eight or so crew members hanging out in  Costa Rica just in case one of the flights from the US doesn't make it down. Sure, it sucks when you get to the airport and the display cheerily proclaims that your flight has been cancelled, but shit just happens. What is of importance is how you fix the diarrhea.

Well, American this morning came through. It wouldn't have been a big deal if I weren't supposed to fly on Tuesday from Lubbock to Las Vegas, after picking up my officiating gear for this upcoming weekend's 70.3 triathlon in Syracuse. To make a long story short: Instead of flying at 9:40 a.m. to DFW and then on LBB, I am now in Miami, and it is midnight. Early in the morning (6:50 a.m., to be precise) I'll fly to DFW and connect to Lubbock. With some luck, I'll be there by noon. At 7:50 p.m.—yes, Tuesday.—I will be back at the Lubbock airport to catch the last flight to Sin City and the bicycle tradeshow.

A nice way to spend an unavoidable delay, eh?

All this was effected by the counter personnel (and the Premium Services Rep) in San Jose. But not only that: All my mainline flights were rebooked into First (except the MIA-DFW in the morning as it was fully booked). Additionally, I was set up with a day room at the Marriott Airport in SJO, where I spent a few delightful hours at the pool.

One more night ...

Lunches and breakfast are on AA as well, and I am updating this from the rather nice Sofitel Miami, all courtesy of AA. Now, I'm not crazy enough to think that they would have treated me like this did I not carry the Executive Platinum card, but man, they really went out of their way. So why would I send my loyalty in any other direction? Tonight, I am one happy customers who feels that I was treated right in an unfortunate situation. Props to AA. OK,  let's see what I have to say in 24 hours....

Jürgen