American Airlines

I haven't flown American for 3-4 years, but when I changed my flights to be home when Sullivan had his tubes put in his ears, the rescheduled Southwest or Delta flights were over $800 and I thought I had reallly messed up. I finally found a combination of Frontier and American that was under $500.

The Frontier portion was fine, but Frontier no longer offers complimentary drinks. If you want something to drink you need to have $1.99 unless you are a preferred member of their frequent flyers club. The plane left on time and arrived on time and I had a bottle of water. The return flight on America was not so pleasant. I drove from Kingman, AZ to Las Vegas which is about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive. I had checked in on line, so only needed to print my boarding pass and check my bag. I arrived at the kiosk 40 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart and could not print my boarding pass. I asked the clerk why I could not print my boarding pass and she said because the system closes 45 mintues before the flight is scheuled to leave, so in essence, I had missed my flight. She checked and there were no other flights available to get me home. She lectured me on being 'late' and said it was not American's problem I was late. I said, "The plane isn't even boarding yet and you say I can't have a boarding pass?" Well, I certainly could not check my bag, so I'd just have to wait until morning. Fortunately, I had a small suitcase that could be carried on and I could reorganize my purse and briefcase so I would only have two items and did not need to check my bag. She finally decided she could print me a boarding pass for a different flight to get me through security and then I could see if I could make it to the gate in time to board. I hustled to the gate, made it thought security and headed out. I made it to the gate.....in time to discover departure was delayed and they would not even begin boarding for another 15 minutes. I finally made it home and pretty much on time.