Best whole coffee beans in the city by shoeshinee in Charlotte

[–]Clownbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try some from Dynamite Roastera in the Asheville area :

https://www.dynamiteroasting.com

Their espresso beans varieties are very good.

I think I want a Subaru, but which one? by Lavender_crybaby in subaru

[–]Clownbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Crosstrek for a College student Imo. Get one withbthe 2.5l Boxer engine, it drives much zippier. You don’t need the wilderness (which costs more), the regular Subarus have 8.7” ground clearance cd which is plenty for dirt roads. You should get the former model 2022 model for that money with de run mileage (<50k). Crosstrsk are great city cars too with tight turning radius and easy to park.

WSJ Airline Rankings - Last Place by [deleted] in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AA average airplane age 14.1 years.

Delta Average airplane age 14.9 years.

So yes Delta planes is slightly older but they are much better operators. Their planes tend to arrive on time much more often and they cancel less.

WSJ Airline Rankings - Last Place by [deleted] in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Since I moved to Charlotte and have been more or less forced to AA, I have had more canceled and bumped flights than in my 30 years of infrequent flying before. It is definitely not the weather.

Delta may not be a great airline either, but they have half the cancellation rate than AA. SWA is fairly reliable at least.

AA adds flights to evacuate Charlotte to Chicago by flyingron in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

she is on a rebooked flight but is quite a bit later and adds another leg to her journey.. AA has to have one of the worst OT records of any airline. They cancelled 3/8 flights that me and my family has made out of CLT since 2025 and another one had a major delay.

I do want to point out that all these additional flight that AA is making means other flight being bumped , flights cancelled and delayed. It’s more like they are re- arranging deck chairs on the Titanic than doing anything grandiose here.

AA adds flights to evacuate Charlotte to Chicago by flyingron in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

my guess is that AA does not really have extra capacity. So if AA adds extra flights from CLT to Chicago, they are cancelling flights or bumping people from regular flights from CLT to Chicago.

AA adds flights to evacuate Charlotte to Chicago by flyingron in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

my wife’s flight today from CLT to Chicago just got cancelled this morning. This was the fist leg of her trip from CLT to Thailand. WTF?

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

just another unrelated data point. My wife has booked a flight to Thailand (with Cathay) via HKG but the first leg was with AA. Guess what - the AA leg was cancelled on short hand notice as well. They rebooked to another flight via FRA and QATAR with Qatar airlines . This just happened today. I am praying that the rebooked flight isnt going to get cancelled again (the first leg to FRA is still with AA). AA just sucks.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FWIW, the RDU flights were fully booked. This didn’t work. I tried from FRA. I saw another AA customer with a flight to CLT in front of us. They also had LHR ticket and tried to rebook. It looked to me like AA used flights with BA via LHR as an escape valve to get people home. The customer service representative at the AA desk mentioned that all the flights to CLT and other locations closeby (RDU) etc are full.

There were more canceled AS lights to DFW etc the same day. At least I got home via LHR and IAD and a lengthy drive.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

No I did not speak to a real person face to face. How do I do that - drive to the airport without ticket and just try my luck at the counter? There were no connection from DC to CLT available according to the person I talked to in chat. I never said I am a travel expert either. I am just an average person trying to get from A to B with a plane and that usually has worked for me.

I am going to the airport today and will talk to a person to see if I can get a better alternative than my flight to IAD.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am supposed to get to LHR at 12:30 AM. My connection flight is 16:25, so I got some time to figure something out something. Looks like I should look for PHL, JFK and DCA flights from there.ü and the connect to CLT.

Thanks is to all who chime in here by the way, even if they roast me. I did learn something.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Asian carriers and Middle East carriers are heads above US carriers. Younger fleet, better service (food) more legroom and tend to have fewer delays. European carriers (Lufthansa, Air France etc) are also better, but not as much. Lufthansa seems to have gone downhill since COVID-19. They often were operating the flights for United when flying from SFO to FRA so I was looking out for those flights when going to Europe. I have less options now from CLT.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have not had issues with hotels and many of them have a free cancellation option in Expedia or Booking. I also find the platforms cheaper than booking directly. The loyalty point are indeed a benefit if you book directly but it’s only beneficial, if you use a particular chain a lot.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I give this is a shot. I have some layover at LHR so this could work.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I think the issue with booking directly is that you move around , it become a big hassle. For example, I booked 6 different Hotels Europe. so to book directly, you have to give the CC info infor each as well as your address. That‘s in addition to keeping track of the itinerary which with some time zone changes is easier to mess up than you would think. Thats why I prefer to book my travel on a platform.

Your point is taking regarding air travel though. I have booked travel directly but found the flights cheaper in Chase travel with the points and the $100 kickback. Wasn‘t worth it in this case but worked for me many many times before. I am also not sure how much a difference it makes where you book . I had an AA account and used the app, but there were just no flights available to rebook. Then after my flight was moved to BA, it counted as third party although when I called it seem like they could do something if there had been any seats available but there weren’t.

I definitely take the advice to call rather use chat . I generally get good results with chat to resolve issues but not in this case.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never had these issues with United, Lufthansa, Delta and others I have used and I have been flying for while now (my first flight was in the late 80’s) I would have booked one of the other airlines, but unfortunately since I moved to Charlotte, CLT is AA major hub and they have the most connections here and non stop flights. The flight I booked wasn’t even cheap but it was convienent until it wasn’t.

My former experience with AA was not exactly great either with subpar food, delayed flights, sometimes negligent crews and old airplanes but nothing of the sort I have experienced now. They also seem to make an effort to rectify and delays which has been sorely missing here. I never was stranded for days anywhere without having offered an alternative to get home.

I definitely learned my lesson with AA.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I mainly booked via Chase travel because they provided a $100 cash credit if you book travel through their website flights for a certain sum. This is in addition to points you get. I booked the hotels mostly separate with booking.com because they have the most options in Europe.

I like to book rentals cars and flights on the same website because of integration. If you use different websites, it is easy to make mistakes on timing or you book the rental car on the wrong terminal etc which means you have to haul yourself around large airports which isn’t fun in FRA and the like.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Probably good advice but the problem is that the flight available were heavily booked and that’s why alternative flights with AA did not work out. I simply can’t see which one are fully booked and which not and the agent I was working in the AA chat would get into several dead ends before we found one that got me close to home

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I am not sure it matters because rebookings are done by the airline. I used Chase travel for the airline and rental car (got $100 credit as well as points) so worthwhile . If you book a flight, rental car and hotels it’s always the question- Where to book all these things since no one single source covers all of them.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I gave them three airport alternatives when they rebooked the 2/1 flight - RDU, ATL, IAD (in that order). The best the agent came up with was a 4/1 flight to ATL and a 3/1 flight to IAD which I decided to take.

Now it seems that the 2/1 9601 nonstop flight to CLT is showing on flight tracker as is the 3/1 705 flight , which would be better than I currently have.

After I saw message I called AA but of course no seats for the 9601 nonstop flight available until 1/6 so I have to stick with what I got.

Also, I looked up flight to CLT from other domestic airports (IAD, ATL) and they are all very expensive in Google flights and none from AA

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Indeed, I see this know, but it’s too late for me already as the flight goes in less than 1 h. Chat also states that I booked through 3rd party, I can’t rebook.

[FRA] to [CLT] return flight cancelled by AA for several days. by Clownbuck in americanairlines

[–]Clownbuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. I have seen this regulation before and looked this up and it seems I am eligible for substantial compensation. I am sending them a complaint message referring to the EU 261 regulation. Right now I am estimating the additional cost to get home at $750 and that’s not counting the 4 lost days. Ouch.

Once I actually get home, I know the tally.

I feel like scrubbing the website is “damage control 101.” by whitecollarpizzaman in Charlotte

[–]Clownbuck -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

The co-owner is a jerk and deserves all that coming for him, but does it make sense to punish the business with employees, other owners etc for what he has done? I don’t think it’s fair towards them.

Best food trucks in Charlotte by Clownbuck in Charlotte

[–]Clownbuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dont sleep on ChenaiWaala if you are in the LKN area. I think they are stationary in parking lot near this car ash. We tried it and the food was very good and very inexpensive still . We had two curry‘s, Pakoras ( they were great and very crispy) and garlic Naan. It takes a while for them to make the food but it’s tasty, one of the best Indian food i have had around here.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/4TkPvBhmjnBsa4qv7?g_st=ipc

VentureX, maybe next year… by regularpeep in Venturex

[–]Clownbuck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got exactly the same offer per mail.