Here's the response I got. An insult to one's intellect.
Thank you for contacting Customer Relations, I welcome the opportunity to reply.
I'm sorry your experience with the passenger and baggage screening process at Chicago O'Hare was less than satisfactory. The United States Transportation Secretary has vowed to make airport checkpoints swift and secure. To ensure the continued improvement of the airport screening process, the U.S. Department of Transportation has asked us to advise customers to contact the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) directly with feedback or issues concerning security checkpoints. The TSA Consumer Response Center may be accessed toll-free at 1-866-289-9673 or you can use their convenient online customer contact form available at
www.tsa.gov/contact.
Nevertheless, we appreciate hearing your perspective about our checked baggage policy. Specifically, we charge $25 for the first checked bag and $35 for the second checked bag. The charges apply for travel within the United States and U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
When a customer has a stopover lasting 12 hours or more, the baggage fee will be charged at the originating point of the trip, as well as at the stopover point.
Assessing charges for checked baggage was a difficult decision but reflects the reality of our business. The cost to the airline to transport baggage is substantial and the checked bag charge helps to offset that expense. We have "unbundled" (created separate pricing for) many of our services in order to keep our fares competitive. This also allows our customers to only pay for those services which they are utilizing. At this time, we have no plans to eliminate the baggage charges. We hope to have our customers' understanding as we work to remain competitive.
There are some exceptions to the checked bag charge policy. To view the specifics, please go to AA.com. For your convenience, you may also click on the following link:www.aa.com/i18n/utility/baggageExceptions.jsp.
Mr. Finkelstein, while we must decline your refund request for the service provided, we're glad you took the time to let us know what happened. We rely on feedback from our customers to be sure that we are concentrating our efforts on quality. Your comments will help us keep that focus and thank you for your business.