A man drove his family through the night to his brother’s wedding after American Airlines booked them on a flight to another country and then canceled their replacement

• A passenger said American Airlines mistakenly rebooked his family on a flight to Canada.

• It was Grady R. Haynes has booked to fly from Seattle to Burlington, Vermont for his brother’s wedding.

• When his connecting flight from Philadelphia was canceled, he rented a car and drove all night.

One passenger said American Airlines rebooked his family for a flight to another country and then canceled the alternate flight.

Haynes, a Washington state attorney, booked in January to fly from Seattle to Vermont for his brother’s wedding in May.

He bought tickets for himself and his three children for the fastest flight he could find on American Airlines via Chicago.

Before leaving, he is surprised to receive an email from the airline asking him to prepare for his “next trip to Canada”.

He told Insider that he logged into his account only to see that his destination had changed from Burlington, Vermont, to Montreal, Canada, without his permission.

Haynes said he tried to rectify the situation by phone, but when he couldn’t make it, he decided to fly to Seattle Airport to rebook his flights in person, and take the afternoon off from work to do so.

American Airlines staff at Seattle airport eventually found an alternative flight to Burlington with a layover in Philadelphia. The Seattle to Philadelphia flight was operated by Alaska Airlines.

However, the travel headache didn’t stop there.

When Hines and his family arrived in Philadelphia, his flight connected to American Airlines flights to Burlington (AA5032) was cancelled. According to Haines, the airline told him that the cancellation occurred because the flight attendant did not show up for duty.

Hines, who was left at the airport with three young children, said he went to American Airlines’ customer support desk for assistance.

He said staff told him there were no hotel rooms left and could not provide a rental car and that assistance was provided on a “first come first serve” basis.

The story continues

After four hours at the airport, Hines decided to retrieve his family’s bags, rented a car, and traveled from 11:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. to reach his intended destination.

Correspondence seen by Insider between Heins and the airline shows that a representative has apologized for the canceled flight and the wrong rebooking.

The airline offered to refund Heins for the part he didn’t fly on, but not for the part of the flight from Seattle to Philadelphia. She also offered to compensate him for the rental car, according to email correspondence seen by Insider.

As an alternative to a refund, the airline offered vouchers worth $300 per passenger.

Haynes said that in his 26 years of air travel he had never experienced anything like this before.

“We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation of Mr Haines’ flight from Philadelphia to Burlington,” an American Airlines spokesperson told Insider. “We have been in contact with him regarding his experience.”

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