American Airlines?

[beckyanddave]

Hi Everyone!

We are leaving in 39 short days and we are booked on American Airlines.

My question is basically for past brides but I thought I would throw it out to everyone. Our flight is 97% booked and I am really nervous about carrying my dress on. Has anyone had past experience carrying on their dress with American Airlines? Also, we are on a "puddle jumper" (3 seats across, 2 on one side and 1 on the other), can you even bring carry on on that small of a plane or will they make me put my dress below?

Thanks!!

[IACouple]

They will let you carry your dress on, and may even put it in the coat closet for the flight attendents. I have only seen a bride have to sit her dress on her lap once.

[Tysver]

I would suggest getting to the airport early. Find the friendliest looking AA ticket agent or Customer Service Agent and explain what you need. Usually everyone has a soft spot for Soon-to-be-Bride. There is room to hang garments on the puddle jumpers, you will often see the pilots hang their jackets. All the best to you. When you are granted your request, there is nothing wrong with giving the person a big hug, it will make their day knowing they made yours.

[KrisJamie]

They will let you carry your dress on, and may even put it in the coat closet for the flight attendents. I have only seen a bride have to sit her dress on her lap once.

This. the most crowding it will see is from the other wedding dresses in the little closet.

[MnK]

Totally agree with Tysver...be your sweet and loving self! They will take great care of you and your dress.

Blessings for your upcoming wedding and marriage!!!

[mchandler83]

Not sure of the fabric or detail of your dress, but I actually rolled mine and had it steamed and fluffed at the resort when I arrived. I'm sure you've been told a million times, but don't check anything vital to the wedding or of value. And if your carry on is filled with wedding stuff, have your fiance carry the normal 24 hour's worth of necessities for you. The one time I sacrificed my carry on space for my dress was the one time they lost my luggage. Also, my mother and I were naively traveling with nicer jewelry because of the occasion and both of our checked bags were pilfered for gold somewhere between MBJ and SDF. Both of these things could have been prevented with common sense (which I seemed to lose most of the week before the wedding).

The two mishaps with the airport aside, Jamaica was, to us, the most amazing place in the world to get married. Once you step out of customs, you won't worry about anything because the people won't let you!! My friends all told me that I was the most relaxed bride they had ever seen and I enjoyed myself more than I ever imagined I would on my wedding day!
I think my husband and I are going to be at CSS around the same time as you- hope we get to see the wedding and let me know if you have any other questions!
Mel Chandler

[r&cford]

They were happy to hang mine in the coat closet in '08. I don't think you'll have a problem. Congrats!

[FlynnStone]

Not to scare you, but in April, AA left our luggage in Miami. So carry anything important ON BOARD, just in case. They eventually got our luggage to us, but we would have had a hard time had we not "carried on" a bag with a few essentials.

If you are going to CSS, the laundry staff is fabulous, they can clean and steam even the most delicate clothing.

[ct ti fan]

My wife brought her vow renewal dress on the plane and they put it up front in the coat closet by the cockpit. Handled it perfectly. Although, the dress wasn't a foofy wedding dress/ballroom gown type. No experience on how they handle it on the puddle jumper.

Funny thing we had a layover in Miami, which turns out to be quite a cold airport in August. She ended up using the dress as a blanket!

Enjoy!

[beckyanddave]

Thanks everyone! My dress is a little fluffy but not too much so hopefully it will be able to go in the closet My worries have been eased, it sounds like no one has had any problems. Thanks all!

[Casey]

Good thing for this thread. We don't fly until mid May and I've begun checking our reservation periodically. When I checked on 11 Jan both our trip down and return flights have changed. We now leave earlier (0545 - I didn't know planes flew that early) but also arrive in Jamaica earlier, so overall not too bad. Our return was iniatially non-stop, but now we have a change in Miami. It will be interesting to see if the flights change again.

[lsm1212]

I carried my dress on board and my hubby's suit in a garment bag and we also put the other essential wedding stuff in it. Didn't have any issue having them put it in the "coat closer". We did fly business class so that might have helped.

[Casey]

The merger with US Air has been approved, so I'll be checking fairly frequently to see if my May flights change again.

[rachlm927]

The merger with US Air has been approved, so I'll be checking fairly frequently to see if my May flights change again.

As a frequent business flyer, i have seen many mergers, and i would highly doubt anything booked in next 6 months would be cancelled or changed, atleast due to the merger. Most changes probably wont take effect until 2014.

Most changes to flights will be where US and AA both fly to same cities from same airports. For example my home city both fly to DCA. I am sure they will combine and cut out some of these flights. But for flights to MBJ, i doubt there are any shared US airports that both carriers fly from to MBJ.

Hope this helps...both websites have FAQ you can review

[italiabella82]

My flight home was cancelled from American Airlines. It was a direct to Chicago. Now we have two layovers, one in Miami and one in Chicago. And our flight now leaves about 3 hours earlier, so that sucks too.

[trhops]

I booked AA for this December, Miami on the way to MBJ and back home through Dallas. I figured I am safe since US Air does not not fly to MBJ out of those cities.

[Casey]

We booked last fall and aside from a minor scheduling change in January (for a May trip) everything went without a hitch. Had a missing bag on the Montego to Miami leg, but it was quickly located.