Flew into LHR this morning from RDU and was met by a representative from AA Premium Services to escort me and another EXP to Terminal 5.
I must say it was rather nice not to have to get on the bus with the hoi polloi
Now sitting in the Terminal 5 Galleries First Lounge with a bacon butty and a glass of Pol Roger '99. This is the life!
Wow! definitely not normal. I've made those LHR connections dozens of times and not only didn't have someone meet me but could never even find an AA rep anywhere when I needed. Maybe AA's new year's resolution, to have - drumroll - ground staff?
Programs: AA Ex Plt, 1.6MM, BMI Diamond, HH Diamond, SPG Plt
Posts: 5,293
Quote:
Originally Posted by ExpAAt05
Wow! definitely not normal. I've made those LHR connections dozens of times and not only didn't have someone meet me but could never even find an AA rep anywhere when I needed. Maybe AA's new year's resolution, to have - drumroll - ground staff?
I've had this happen a couple of times. I've yet to figure out why it happened on those particular flights but not on others.
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1P, CO Gold, SPG Plat, Hyatt Diamond, Marriott Plat, Intercontinental RA
Posts: 1,161
Quote:
Originally Posted by ExpAAt05
Wow! definitely not normal. I've made those LHR connections dozens of times and not only didn't have someone meet me but could never even find an AA rep anywhere when I needed. Maybe AA's new year's resolution, to have - drumroll - ground staff?
This has happened to me a few times, but it's been at least a few years...
It's happened twice for me. First time was arriving into Santiago, Chile in economy class. Upon arrival, I was paged at the plane door by a ground agent. I assumed my connecting flight (the only one of the day) was canceled. Turned out that a special services agent just wanted to show me how to bypass immigration for a connecting flight to Argentina and make sure I knew where to find the Admirals Club.
The second time was flying in first class from Osaka to Dallas after connecting from Hong Kong on CX. An agent met me in the jet bridge and went with me to the other terminal by train and showed me to the JL lounge since there was no Admirals Club. I had never been to Osaka and didn't even know I was going to have to change terminals. Not that I couldn't have easily figured it out, but the help was welcome.
It happened to me once on a first class reward ticket. Special Services Agent picked me up in a Trolly. Drove me directly to a immigration agent. I never had to get up.
I arrived six months later on a paid F ticket, and could not find a sole. Do the same route DFW - LHR 4 times a year. Has not happned since.
Location: In a community where people acknowledge history (so, not Omni/PR)
Programs: AA EXP & SPG PLT; Anti-Defamation League; Friends of Yad VaShem
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IIRC, there have been prior threads that basically conclude that when the special services folks don't have a "real" VIP to take care of, they show the love to some lucky EXP who happens to be in the neighborhood.
IIRC, there have been prior threads that basically conclude that when the special services folks don't have a "real" VIP to take care of, they show the love to some lucky EXP who happens to be in the neighborhood.
Interesting point my friend!! You know its threads like these that show you for all the wrinkles that AA may be perceived to have, there is no better status to have on a US domestic legacy carrier than EXP on AA. Way to go!
We've had it happen (sort of) twice at LAX on international->domestic connections. In this case we were met after immigration to be taken to the AC/FL in a cart (not quite the same, but similar). In both cases we declined...why would we take a cart when we could walk, instead
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It happened to me alot (but not every time) 7-8 years ago, when I still was an EXP and! I used to fly almost every month via LHR - maybe has to do with frequency too?
I even took biz cards from AA agents that escorted me, and I started to call ahead if I had a tight connection...
