How to Effectively Complain About Airlines to Get Exactly What You Want

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By George Hobica

Everyone will end up complaining about an airline sooner or later. For some reason, I’ve never had to write a scathing letter. Maybe I’m lucky.

The only time recently that something went amiss on a flight I’ve taken was on a Los Angeles to New York flight on American Airlines. I had used miles to fly in first class, and although I had booked my seat months in advance when I attempted to check in online 24 hours ahead I was told to do so at the airport, which is always a bad sign.

Related: The 20 Nastiest Things People Have Tweeted to Airlines

Sure enough, there was no seat for me. I asked what happened, but the ticket agent could offer an explanation. Instead of ranting and raving, I remained calm, went to the lounge, and asked the front desk what they could do for me. And sure enough, I was put on a flight departing exactly 59 minutes after my original flight, same seat. Because the delay was under an hour, American didn’t owe me denied boarding compensation. But because I was polite and pleasant about the situation, the lounge agent found me and handed me a $400 travel voucher anyway. Maybe I would have gotten the voucher even if I had ranted and raved, who knows. Somehow, I suspect not.

So if you have an airline complaint, whether it’s lost bags, a delayed flight, or poor service, always try to resolve it politely at the airport. If that doesn’t work, send a letter or email to the airline.

Related: American Airlines Ending First Class Meal Service

Here are a few guidelines:

  • Be polite, specific, and as brief as possible, citing flight numbers, seat location, employee names if known, cost of fare, etc.

  • Include your frequent flyer number.

  • It’s always a good idea to “sit” on your letter for a few days after writing it in order to cool down and rephrase things.

  • Never say, “I will never fly your airline again!” since that gives the airline no incentive to help.

  • Ask for a specific remedy, whether it is extra frequent flyer miles, a refund, or a voucher, and be reasonable.

  • And remember, even airlines with stellar reputations screw up from time to time, as happened in this snafu involving Emirates and JetBlue that I attempted to fix with limited success.

Perhaps the best advice, though, is to avoid setting yourself up for air travel #fail to begin with.

Here are the email, website, and corporate mailing address contacts for U.S.-based airlines. Although most people like to email these days, I find that a well-written snail mail letter can be more effective since so few people send them and they tend to stand out (plus you can include photocopies of relevant documents if applicable). You can also pay the post office for a confirmation that the mail has been received.

Airtran:

5230 Clipper Dr.

Ste. 200

GC 4RC

Atlanta, GA 30349-8127

Alaska:

P.O. Box 68900

Seattle, WA 98168

American:

4333 Amon Carter Boulevard

Fort Worth TX 76155

Delta:

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

P.O. Box 20706

Atlanta, Georgia 30320-6001

Frontier:

Customer Relations

7001 Tower Rd.

Denver CO 80249

Jetblue:

27-01 Queens Plaza

Long Island City, NY 11101

Hawaiian:

3375 Koapaka Street

Suite G350

Honolulu, HI 96819

Southwest:

2702 Love Field Dr

Dallas, TX 75235

United:

P.O Box 66100

Chicago, IL 60666

US Airways:

4000 E. Sky Harbor Blvd.

Phoenix, AZ 85034

Virgin America:

555 Airport Blvd., Fl. 2

Burlingame, CA 94010

Airlines are also using Twitter to resolve complaints, but some are better than this than others.

Related: The Secret of Jet Blue’s Social Media Success

Here are the Twitter handles you need to know:

@AlaskaAir

@AmericanAir

@DeltaAssist

@FrontierCare

@HawaiianAir

@JetBlue

@SouthestAir

@United

@USAirways

@VirginAmerica