1 Point for the Ants

i took american airlines to small claims court today. it was inspiring to see democracy in action.

background...my girlfriend and i showed up 70 minutes prior to our flight home from miami to sf on january 3rd. waited behind some old lady for so long that by the time we got to the counter it was less than 45 mintues to departure. the agent informed us that we would not be allowed on and would have to go standby for 'probably a few days' before returning home. after swearing so loud that she called the police, we realized our only option was to purchase full fare first class tickets for the next day. my poor girlfriend had to endure another whole day with my family (though we couldnt figure out how to get compensated for that).

in a true larry david moment, i decided to see what would happen if i took the airline to sf small claims court for damages (cost of new tickets and lost wages...err...oppty cost). first i gave american a chance to settle with me for less in the  form of a letter. they actually had the nerve to mail me back and thank my 'praise'. next step, sue em for the full $5k allowable.

well my day in court came today (took about 3 months), and it was fun. the judge actually has you state your case (from a real attorney table like on tv). you can even offer evidence, objections, rebuttals. if you ever wanted to play lawyer, try it. the judge seemed to push american to explain whether the flight was indeed oversold (motive to screw us) and whether they had publicly displayed the miami only rule that you must checkin 90 minutes prior (on their web site only).

i have to say it was amazing that american chose to waste someone's time to fight me on this rather than just pay the $2200 i had spent. what's even dumber is that it turned out they owed us $1100  anyway for unused tickets. so for an extra $1100 bucks they could have avoided it all. and now they're on the line for another $5k.