Complaint Review: Air Berlin - Internet

I would like to share a recent experience with Air Berlin and American Airlines that demonstrates extreme unprofessionalism, violation of TSA security policies, and violation of privacy. If there is any wonder why the recent Fort Lauderdale shooting occurred, this will be a nice illustration.

 I was scheduled to fly from Prague to Berlin , and from Berlin to Chicago on Air Berlin on January 5, 2016. I arrived at the airport at 5 AM. Upon check-in in Prague, I received a ticket and went through security. However, the security informed me that the ticket was under the wrong date. When I returned to the kiosk, the woman (who later refused to give me her name) stated that the ticket is indeed for the 6^th, and stated that I should return the next day. I double checked with her that this is the case multiple times, and showed her my confirmation email. She responded: “there is no problem, the ticket is on the 6^th, you will fly tomorrow”. Because I’m generally very cautious, I asked her to double check a third time before I went home. At this time, she realized that she checked me in as the wrong person  and gave me that person’s ticket. Incidentally, this other person was my mom, who was scheduled to fly on the 6^th. She has the same last name, but absolutely different first and middle names. By the time the agent figured out that she made a major error, it was 40 minutes before plane departure. She got very scared (unsurprising, as she committed a major security violation), and stated “there is no problem, I will fix it and rebook you”. I asked for a supervisor, and requested that they rebook me for the next day, given that my luggage was checked in also under my mom’s name, and I could see that this was going to create major problems. The supervisor told me off. When I asked for confirmation that they did not also manage to mess up my mom’s ticket, she rudely told me off. Both she and the gate agent flat out refused to take responsibility for their actions, stating that “everyone makes mistakes” (true, but some mistakes have more consequences than others) and “security is not their job” (What????? Yes, it is).

Ultimately, I barely made it through security. I got to the gate as the plane was ready to close. (remember that I got to the airport 1.5 hours in advance, and was so late only due to the mistakes of your associates). I asked the gate agent about my bag, and she assured me that she changed the reservation to reflect my name (didn’t happen), and that the bag was on the plane (it wasn’t).

The experience in TXL was as follows. The boarding process by AB is disorganized, with multiple checkpoints that don’t “talk” to each other. The plane sat on the tarmac for 2 hours after boarding, as AB desperately tried to find and load missing bags (ineffectively).

Upon arriving to Chicago, I realized that my bag did not arrive. When I tried to find an agent to help me, there were no AB representatives in baggage claim. I was able to find an AA representative. This representative stated that AB was not his airline, and tracking their baggage was not really his job. I talked him into scanning my AB ticket, and he stated the baggage is in Berlin (it was not), and that it will arrive tomorrow. At no point did he ask me to fill out a claim – a major violation of AA protocol. Please note that multiple individuals lost their luggage and were asking this man for advises; I did not see him ask anyone to fill out a claim.  Notably, my bag was NOT in Berlin, it was still in Prague. I was lucky that my mom was flying the morning after me; she saw the bag and told the gate agents it was mine. Through her efforts (and only hers), I received the bag on January 6, 2016.

Finally, I was concerned about the privacy and security violation that the Prague gate agent displayed. I attempted to speak to multiple AB representatives about this, and no one appeared to be very interested or concerned. As one example, I spoke to an AB gate agent at OHare on January 6,2016, when I was trying to find out something about my luggage. The gate agent once again stated that “security is not their job”, and “everyone makes mistakes – haven’t you ever made a mistake?”

The lack of attention to safety and privacy and the absolute failure to take responsibility by the AB or AA crew and staff should be shown to the public, and the public can make safe travel decisions accordingly.