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American Airlines- boooooooohissss......

Discussion in 'General Chat Forum' started by redon1, Aug 12, 2008.

  1. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

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    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/12/soldiers-pay-bag-fee-on-travel-to-war/

    ok- I know times are hard for the airlines, but dang- ask the REST of us pay an extra dollar to cover the cost for the troops to fly their extra baggage to Iraq. it disgusts and incenses me that men and women who flying into a WAR ZONE to protect AMERICA are charged by AMERICAN Airlines to fly extra baggage, and if they can't pay the bags DON'T GO.

    i know the military will eventually reimburse military members for the baggage, but anyone who has served knows a) how LOOOONG it takes to get a reimbursment, and b) how little and E-5 and below makes and $200.00 is ALOT especially when you are leaving your family and GOING TO WAR.

    i'm sick. i am writing american airlines and i hope they are inundated by emails and letters from other americans who find their policy disgusting and would rather drive or fly Lufthansa (which is an amazing airline, btw) than spend another dime on UN- American airlines.

    and i hope another airline steps up and says they won't charge the troops going to war zones for extra bags.

    by the way- i took this from the brambleton board... props to then for pointing it out.
     
  2. luftinarr

    luftinarr Member

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    As a former employee of Lufthansa, they didn't charge any military member (in uniform) anything extra to fly extra baggage anywhere. We had a lot of American and German military personnel fly this extraordinary airline.
     
  3. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

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    not sure what if any impact it will have, but i sent this email to unamerican airlines. and maybe other airlines have the same policy who knows? when that hits the headlines, i'll blast off my big mouth at them too:

    I am disgusted to learn that you are charging troops flying to WAR ZONES for extra baggage. Lower enlisted men and women fighting for AMERICA having pay instead of you just charging the government directly- your airline should change its name. As a military vet and citizen, I would gladly pay a few dollars more to offset your poor airline's cost of flying troops into war to protect us, rather than have an enlisted soldier leaving his or her family and possibly NEVER coming back again having to stress over finances while deploying. $200 means alot to an enlisted person. I will never fly Amercian Airlines again, and will encourage the same from any of the thousands of people who read the article about your policy. I hope that your competition steps up and salutes the troops by not only NOT charging the soldiers directly but also upgrading them to first class at every opportunity in case it is their last time leaving their country because they died fighting for it.

    Shameful. I hate that your airline carries the name of my country. shame on your executives for such a godawful and unpatriotic policy.
     
  4. Gun Ohna

    Gun Ohna New Member

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    Redon1

    Thanks for the info. I fly American sometimes and now they are going to have to find someone else to fill my seat. Last time I fly UN-American Airlines
     
  5. Kaosdad

    Kaosdad Will work for Rum

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    Sadly - it's not just American. Kaos was flying to Norfolk for his first year cruise (OK - not exactly a combat zone most days). He was in uniform and had three bags - yep - they charged him! That was United.
     
  6. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

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    Definitely agree with your outrage. Not to hijack the thread, but I hope I may make a pertinent point. We all get outraged and upset over a decision like this that impacts those serving and protecting us in the military.

    For the life of me, I just cannot understand how the American people can not feel a greater sense of outrage when, while our men and women are actually in battle:
    Our Senate Majority Leader openly declares that, "This war is lost."
    A former first Lady and Presidential candidate openly questions the integrity of and basically calls the lead commander in the field, General Petraeus, a liar.
    The Speaker of the House (is that third in line to being Commander in Chief?) continually says the effort is lost.
    Virtually an entire party throws in the towel and admits defeat.
    The lead Presidential candidate is not interested in victory, but in how quickly he can withdraw troops (actually I can understand his position and am not as outraged, since he does not believe we can win).

    You get the point. Americans are fighting and dying--oh, and making great progress, actively defeating AQ in Iraq--and our elected leaders have so invested in defeat that they put political gain above unity and support of our troops. I find that despicable.

    Sure, charging our troops for luggage is just plain stupid and a major pain for troops. But badmouthing and undermining their efforts on the battlefield? Much worse.

    Soapbox over. :)
     
  7. jaxmanjoe

    jaxmanjoe Blah, Blah, Blah

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    Out of curiosity - how are the flights paid for? I assume Uncle Sam pays for the flights, right? Shouldn't the government be picking up the tab on this, as well?

    I'm not arguing against you, I agree AA is being less than supportive, but why isn't the military picking up the tab for this? After all, aren't the troops carrying over their own body armor and stuff like that the military doesn't supply? Things like batteries and oil for their military equipment???

    I'm watching too much Generation Kill on HBO apparently :)

    In any case, the soldiers should definitely not be paying for it. It is a shame. Maybe Bush's trip to the Olympics could have paid for the extra baggage for the next 20 years of this conflict...
     
  8. luftinarr

    luftinarr Member

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    The military does pick up the tab for it in the end, but anyone who has worked in the government/military knows just how long it takes to get a reimbursement. When you're sometimes charged $100/bag and the airline takes cash only (some will take both cash/cc), it's quite inconvenient. Also, don't forget the embarassing salary our military receive...not exactly enough to drop a couple hundred bucks on extra luggage every time they fly. I worked in the government processing reimbursements and it took a long time because of all the unnecessary paperwork required (special permission required for excess baggage).
     
  9. jaxmanjoe

    jaxmanjoe Blah, Blah, Blah

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    My father worked for the army at Walter Reed in the finance department for decades. You are right about the process. Could definitely use an overhaul...
     
  10. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

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    You mean to tell me the federal government is inefficient and creates unnecessary paperwork? I'd never heard that before. Kinda makes you want them to handle our healthcare and turn over even more of our lives to them. ;)
     
  11. Pats_fan

    Pats_fan Former Resident

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    Back on the soapbox Silence? I appreciate (and agree with) your comments, but you've now hijacked this thread twice... :)
     
  12. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

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    there's plenty to be outraged about silence- one fight at a time!

    with this kind of press, if AA gets inundated with negative emails from consumers- they may publicly announce a change their policy. we've all seen it happen locally, why not on an airline- an industry that is in trouble right now anyway? when they see a drop in the sale of $500+ plane tix, they'll think again about charging a war-bound soldier for extra baggage.
     
  13. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

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    As long as we're discussing airplanes, I'd prefer to think of it as diverting course to a different airport rather than a highjacking. Point taken, my apologies. :)

    Boo American Airlines.
     
  14. Kaosdad

    Kaosdad Will work for Rum

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    The Military pays for the flights directly using the Defense Travel System (DTS) - PROUDLY hosted by ServerVault (Shameless plug). Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Marines do NOT pay for their tickets out of pocket.

    And, Silence, we are outraged - by the total lack of a plan and exit stra....... Oh, wait - thread hijack terminated.
     
  15. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

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    Agree, Kaos, agree. But once you finally have a plan and we're making progress, it might be nice for elected leaders to actually get behind winning...Oh, BOO American Airlines! Boo. :)
     
  16. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Yes, but are incidentals automatically billed? Doubtful since these airheads.. err airlines make everyone pay at the counter using Credit (or cash for some) for incidentals like baggage
     
  17. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

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    when i was deploying once in the navy my bag was too heavy and i had to pay for it. i didn't have enough cash, so gave them a cc that had no money on it, just to get the bag on the plane and had to call my parents to ask them to overnight a payment to my card so it would cover the cost.

    my fault for being a broke e-4.
     
  18. Kaosdad

    Kaosdad Will work for Rum

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    Nope! Unless they are issued a Govt. Credit Card or cash card.
     
  19. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    I've been flying pretty extensively over the past few weeks. I've seen quite a bit of military flying, both on United and American. On multiple occasions, I have seen the fees for baggage waived if the person is flying on official military business. They just asked to see his/her 'orders' and the fees were waived on the spot.

    In fact, American Airlines even goes as far as let anyone on official orders serving in Iraq free use of their airport lounges. It's posted in front of all their lounges.

    Now, if you take a look at American Airlines official policy regarding the baggage fee, you will notice that they waive the fees for "Military passengers on active duty" as can been seen on the following web page:

    http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?p=/utility/baggageExceptions.jsp

    United Airlines has a similar policy which applies to "[FONT=arial,geneva][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Military personnel traveling on orders"[/FONT][/FONT]:

    http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52649,00.html
     
  20. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

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    hmmm was that policy there before or AFTER the damning article came out? and besides- it says the bag STILL has to meet weight requirements. aren't these guys carrying their own body armor into the war zone?
     

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