When Ra K. broke up with his girlfriend, he wasn’t just torn away from her sweet caresses… he also lost nearly a grand, all thanks to American Airlines.

So I book a flight to Boston on August 2nd back in early June, and lo and behold, my girlfriend and I break up two and a half weeks before we’re to go to Boston and see all of her family. I had booked on a Citibank companion certificate, and so I worried that if I changed my flight I’d put her out of the flight. The agent making the changes, Kim Rogers, assured me that our tickets had been separated and that now I was fine to fly to New York the day after my girlfriend flew to Boston, and that there were going to be no problems with her flying either.

Well, I tell my (now ex-) girlfriend that she’s fine to fly and she checks her ticket to be told that she can no longer fly at all. I called, was hung up on once, went through several different people before I finally talked to a Supervisor who simply said “no way” and wouldn’t help make this work. I finally had to just buy a ticket for her separately, even though it was their CSR who messed up, and now I’m out $1000+ for a simple flight from LAX to JFK.

Ra, you’ll never get satisfaction from American Airlines. But might we suggest a Darren L. Sherman stratagem here? Just bill your ex-girlfriend. Send her a nice note with a copy of your credit card statement: “You checked in your luggage, you ate the complimentary peanuts, now pay your bill.”

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.