American Airlines - worst, rudest airline ever

My complaint is almost identical to another I read posted on

complaints.com. Exactly like the person who wrote in 2003, we were

to fly into Miami and then to the Bahamas as part of a vacation

package. We arrived in line at the airport 2 1/2 hours in advance. We

thought, "no problem" until we were directed to a line about two

blocks long outside. I told the AA employee our flight was at 8:30

(this was at 6 am). She said it took about 2 hours to get through all

the lines so, again, I thought, "No problem". During the next two and

a half hours, I told three different AA personnel on FIVE occasions

that our flight left at 8:30. They could care less. We waited three

hours in line, arriving at the AA ticket counter about 9 a.m. They

booked us on a flight at 9:20 pm tonight. We will fly all night with

an 8-year-old and land in Miami a day later than planned and in

If they say this is due to security issues it is a COMPLETE LIE. We

waited in line for over two and a half hours just to get to the

American ticket counter. We missed our flight and had to be re-

booked. We had a four-hour layover in Miami but they didn't even try

to help us make the flight to the Bahamas. The agent said I could go

wait another 3 hours in line for another airline if I wanted to try

to get on a different flight but I would have to take my luggage with

me.

The delay was COMPLETELY due to American not having enough staff at

the ticket counter. Then, as people missed their flights and had to

be re-booked, the line took longer and longer. The man behind us

missed his flight to Panama, which went through Miami. He also will

arrive tomorrow. The people in front of us missed their flight to

Brussels.

As someone who travels a great deal, my advice to anyone flying out

of LAX is not to take American under any circumstances. Fly

Northwest. They are not perfect, but if they screw up your flight,

they will at least try to fix it by getting you on a flight sooner

than the next day. I have never had a problem with United, Delta, Jet

Blue (out of Long Beach) or Alaska, either.

So, I can only conclude that American Airlines could care less about

its customers and has figured out that either the government will

bail them out, so consumers don't matter, or that they make enough

profit making customers wait 3 hours that losing a few customers like

me doesn't matter.

AnnMaria De Mars

Santa Monica, CA