Aeromar Lied

OfficerJ · #1 12-12-2003, 08:31 PM

I urge all those holding worthless Aeromar tickets to call their local Attorney General's Office or Office of Consumer Affairs, USA. I learned about Aeromar's financial troubles late Nov. 2003 after purchasing 4 round trip tickets on Aug. 2, 2003. After learning about their troubles I call Aeromar for updates on their future. They convincingly said that there had been some aircraft issues but that Aeromar was doing well and that although they understood my concern, I should rest assured that all would be well. My mother-in-law already in Santo Domingo was hearing more bad things so I followed up with more phone calls. Not wanting to take any chances, I asked for a refund so that I could book with another airline. They told me that because my flight had not been cancelled I could not be refunded. According to them my flight scheduled for 12/22/03 was still a go. That phone call ended with another reassurance that I had nothing to worry about and that what I was hearing was more hype than truth. Now I hold worthless tickets, Aeromar has proven themselves to be dishonest and many of us may lose our hard earned money. For the record, Aeromar has done more that rip us off but also put distrust in the international airline put together by the underdog. Aeromar has many fans in this forum that applauded it loudly for competing with AA for its money. The fact is this: Had I had an AA ticket and my flight was cancelled for any reason, I would still be going to DR with another airline. The fact that they were a little, international(Dominican), airline with no flight agreements with anyone else, makes them and all other small companies like them, a bad choice. So call your local government representatives and tell them what happened to you. File formal complaints. What has happened to us should not go without reprecussion. If you do this, as I have, you force these representative to look at what policies they have in place for allowing these companies to operate out of the USA and force them to put measures in place to protect us in the future.

ricktoronto · #2 12-12-2003, 08:51 PM

The US A.G. or State A.G.'s are not going to wield too much power against a defunct Dominican company and the paltry assets they have/ may have had in the US are of likely no value if they are even still there.

Check with your credit card companies to see if there is recourse by chargeback or the travel agent to see if there is insurance or a cooperative funding pool like in Ontario here for this situation.

Once again you in some cases with travel , get what you pay for, since they simply cannot undercut other carriers and stay in business. The minute AA or Co did not move to match rates on the routes meant the big airlines felt no concern over viability or competition from Aeromar and they were correct.

Not to say I told you so but I said several times all that glitters in not gold when they were selling cheap fares - the risk was well known.

OfficerJ · #3 12-12-2003, 09:01 PM

I totally agree with you. I have begun the process with my credit card company and admit to have taken the gamble. I hope that my post still encourages people to file formal complaints in hopes of reforming the policies in place so that more protection for US consumers would be considered. For one thing, disclosure of their true state and refunding policies due to their troubles could be at issue.

Escott · #4 12-12-2003, 09:44 PM

I have made 30 trips if the last few years to the DR and have flown AA happily. I never even considered Aeromar. Wonder why you did?

eli · #5 12-12-2003, 09:53 PM

Why do you think because he liked the food or maybe the planes looked nicer or perhaps it was their frequent flyer program, he did it because he thought he was saving a few bucks and unfortunately he got burned but that does not mean that because it's cheaper it's not better because if that was the case then Jetblue would not be around bottomline is we all try to save a few bucks in these trying times and sometimes we get burned.

OfficerJ · #6 12-12-2003, 10:56 PM

Well said Eli. I was trying to save a buck. Almost twice the amount. Still going but with AA now and from now on, or any other American based airline. It shouldn't have to be this way though. If an international company can operate out of this country it should be required to offer the same benefits the US ones offer or not be allow to operate here. It was a learning experience for me. This is my first time traveling outside this country and the experience has been harsh.
I will do all I can to help this from happening to other people. This forum helps to do that, filing a complaint may help, and certainly telling everyone I know and asking them to pass on my experience to someone who may be helped by it , is how I hope to help.

ricktoronto · #7 12-12-2003, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by OfficerJ
... in hopes of reforming the policies in place so that more protection for US consumers would be considered.

You still miss the basic point that US consumers aren't protected at all from a foreign airline. It is Dominican and subject to Dominican law and I would doubt you have much protection against Lufthansa going broke if you buy tickets from them. So.... appealing to the US A.G. is not going to work until they annex the DR.

I fly to the DR as much as 6-9 times a year. I fly AA. I pay what I have to and book ahead to limit the cost. Sometimes I pay 3 times for a ticket than other times.

But....they have two advantages: They have their OWN planes and they have more than TWO. If one breaks down they USE a fresh plane. This is what I am buying.

Everyone knew Aeromar was a puny little rental plane operator and were driven by price and apparently the ability to eat arroz con pollo on the flight and drink Presidente.

That is not how to determine an essential service.

Minni · #8 12-12-2003, 11:46 PM

I'd like to say that I am very grateful for this website and it's forums. I booked with Aeromar in October. I was confident that we wouldn't have any problems (they were flying from mia to sdq back then) my friends had always flown with them, so I said why not. Luckily I am pretty much always checking this site, and hear about their troubles, I asked some questions on the forum and sure enough got the news that they had cancelled their MIA flights. I freaked out to say the least. I was supposed to leave in a couple of days and didn't know what to do. Aeromar couldn't be reached after 6pm, so I called the credit card company who told me they would dispute the claim. They were super nice (visa), but still I had no tickets. So went ahead and bought with AA. It was cheaper than Aeromar. Next day I call Aeromar they said that they were sorry and had booked me for an afternoon flight with AeroContinente. I was furious, they had not bothered to call and inform me of anything and taken the liberty to book me for another flight which they had no idea if it would be convineiant for me or not. So, had to cancel that. Finally made it to DR on the day and time I wanted but thought I was going to have a coniption in the process. I learned my lesson fly AA, get AAdvantage miles and be happy. Just thought I'd share my story, I'm glad everything turned out well for me, but feel extremely sorry for those who got stuck with worthless tickets.
Minni

RandyE · #9 12-12-2003, 11:47 PM

Asked questions on this board a few months ago when Aeromar was advertising on the website got a few negative reply's- so I "chickened out" and booked Continental. WHEW!!!!

OfficerJ · #10 12-12-2003, 11:49 PM

I can accept those terms. Flying 6-9 times a yr. affords you an amount of knowledge pertaning to flying. This is my first time out of the country in 36 yrs and flying is not a favorite for me to begin with. What I have learned and what you have shared with me would have been better information for me some months ago. Thank you for your responses. I settle for helping others at this point. If urging people to file complaints serves no purpose then I hope they have realized that by reading these posts. This forum comes to me only in attempting to research information about Aeromar since the rumors hit. I think you can understand why someone who doesn't fly wouldn't think anything about these potential problems especially when they are conducting these transactions here in the US. I let my guard down by not considering the disadvantages of dealing with outside companies. I definitely have gotten used to things being the American way. Somewhat fair although not always convenient. And just for the record, I was swayed by Aeromar's price. LOL, I don't know about their arroz con pollo and presidente. I gotta say that has been the only funny thing about this whole ordeal.