WNLuvr

Here's the situation...I don't know if I did something wrong or if my res got stuck in some sort of AA computer no-man's-land, but... (Detailed story, I know.)

Dec 22 scheduled to fly from MCO to PHX with a connection in DFW. FYI, I was flying discounted Y as a PLT.

Morning of Dec 22, called the PLT desk to put in my upgrade requests (for some reason, they kept coming up as "N/A" on aa.com). System said it couldn't confirm my upgrades but it would keep trying. Fair enough.

Get to MCO around 1 pm for my 3 pm flight and checkin. I find out I have no upgrade credits left in my account and decide to sit in Y. I receive a Y boarding pass for MCO-DFW and a Y boarding pass for DFW-PHX.

Flight from MCO-DFW goes okay, even tho I was in Y. Love those pretzels

Waiting to board in DFW, I am called to the gate and informed that my DFW-PHX upgrade had cleared and my seat assignement automatically changed to 4A.

Now knowing I don't have the credits available, I tell the gate agent I don't want to pay the $90 required to buy two stickers, and will keep my Y boarding pass back issued at MCO.

Gate agent tells me that my Y seat was given away when the computer upgraded me (even though I didn't have the credits), and now Y is oversold by 5. To get a seat in Y I would now have to fly standby or pay the $90 for the credits to fly in FC.

I chose to take the flight and pay the $90. But I'm not sure I should have been forced into this due to bad timing and what is an apparent loophole in their system.

Has anyone else ever had something like this happen to them? I think its just a case of several odd factors (last-minute upgrade, no credits, and an oversold flight) that when combined caused a rare problem.

WNLuvr

clacko

my question is what does NA mean when looking at [edit to add ug on] your reservation on aa.com? now that i can fly again, i have a mini run sked for jan to get jump started on qual for 2003 & to see a couple of museums.

i am using vipows each way . most of the segs are confirmed per AAgents & they say NA on aa.com. 1 says 4 stickers required & is in limbo. it is the middle leg of a 3 seg return.

[This message has been edited by clacko (edited 12-27-2002).]

wideman

I'm not sure I understand what AA did wrong or that "forced" you (in your words) to pay $90.

You told AA that you want to upgrade to F if it's available. When the seat became available, AA changed your seat from Y to F. What's the issue here?

Surely you cannot suggest that AA hold both seats for you until you make up your mind whether you really want to fly F or were only fooling?? It would be a logistical nightmare if they did this, with those lower down on the upgrade list hanging around at the gate, waiting for you to arrive from your connection and make up your mind.

And I would certainly not want AA to change that which you call a "loophole" -- that is, the ability to apply for an upgrade when you don't have enough upgrade credits on account.

Really, the customer does have some responsibility here. If you're going to ask for an upgrade, be prepared to accept it when it comes, and please don't tell us that AA "forced" you to pay for the upgrade credits. Good grief.

CFM3RD

My guess is the real reason is they saw your name on FlyerTalk.



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TANSTAAFL - but if you work it right, FF miles comes pretty close.

Plato90s

So let me get this straight.

The web site didn't allow you to request an upgrade because you didn't have the necessary number of e-upgrades. You ask the PLT desk to do it anyways.

This is with you knowing that you have no e-upgrades.

Being the wonderful Platinum desk, they managed to confirm the upgrade you specifically requested - even though you didn't have the e-upgrades to pay for it.

Then when you were asked to pay for it, you refused.

So now you want the gate agent to roll back what you specifically requested and give you back the seat you had voluntarily given up.

And you think it's AA's fault?

jmoreita

WNLuvr:

I have to agree with wideman & Plato90s. As it would appear that you created the situation. How was AA to know that you didn't plan on paying the $90 at the counter? Once you realized that you didn't have any upgrades in your account (and this is so easy to keep track of that I'm kind of lost as to how you didn't know this) did you ask AA to take your name off of the wait list? If not, by upgrading you, wasn't AA doing what you asked them to do? And once they upgraded you, and had given away your coach seat (all as you requested them to do, and never asked them not to) how should they have solved the problem?


[This message has been edited by jmoreita (edited 12-27-2002).]

WNLuvr

I guess my only confusion came from the fact that I received the BP for the back of the plane for my DFW-PHX segment when in MCO.

At that point, the counter agent pointed out I didn't have the credits and asked if I wanted to be put back in coach. I said yes and I assumed everything was taken care of when I received the boarding passes for both segments.

I just thought it was odd that the system kept trying to upgrade me even after boarding passes were issued.

No biggie on the $90, I got some dinner, drinks and some nice conversation with my seatmate. My Christmas present to myself.

WNLuvr

And, hey, no knocking my name! WN is about all we have for West Coast travel out here

djcrooks

To give the benefit of the doubt, is it safe to assume than when you decided against the upgrade on the first flight that you also assumed the second leg's request was also being canceled, and thus you got a Y boarding card? If this is the case, then I can see your surprise at the upgrade in DFW. At any rate, I must agree with the majority of the posts that it's hard to understand how you didn't know you were short on upgrades. They are very clearly shown on the AAdvantage "view my miles" page. A LOT of elites request upgrades and simply pay for them at the gate, so I'm sure they simply expected you to do the same. The good news is you got to your destination in relative comfort, and paying $90 for F versus Y on a flight from DFW to PHX is actually a very good bargain.

edit to add: WNLuvr posted his response while I was writing mine!

[This message has been edited by djcrooks (edited 12-27-2002).]

azmmza

for many of my flights aa.com said na for the upgrade when i had 40+ upgrades in my account it is a well know glitch in the aa.com system, besides even on aa.com you can request the upgrade with out any in your account

ESpen36

A couple of things:

1) When you request an upgrade, you are agreeing to forfit your assigned coach seat in the event that your upgrade clears, even if it clears after you check in, and regardless of whether you end up accepting the upgrade. (I had a similar experience several years ago: my upgrade cleared, but then I changed my mind at the airport, only to find that my exit row seat had been taken.) It has nothing to do with how many upgrades are in your account.

I can see that it could become awkward if your upgrade clears at the same time that Y goes into an oversold situation. There are no longer any seats in Y, so you have to accept the upgrade or standby on a different flight.

2) The "N/A" shows up intermittently on my AA.com reservations. Obviously all Eagle flights will show "N/A," as will all international flights (except for N. America, Caribbean, and Central Am.). I strongly advocate requesting an upgrade at the time of reservation--you always can cancel it later! If "N/A" shows up when it shouldn't, simply call your elite desk and the AAgent can put your request in (or confirm it if you are within your window and inventory is available).

martin33

This is a feature of the system, not a bug!

It lets you keep trying to upgrade on a segment where the 2-hr window won't hit until you are already in the air on your first segment. In these situations, you check in at the first leg and take a Y bp for the second, witht the hopes that your upgrade will clear while en route and you can get the F bp at the second gate... If it didn't work this way, you'd be at a disadvantage relative to lower-status hub travelers who don't have first legs.

Berger

I guess it would have been optimal if the counter agent had asked whether you wanted to continue trying for an upgrade on your second leg. I understand your confusion and surprise, since you thought the upgrade request was cancelled for both legs. Maybe it was glitch or an oversight the counter agent that he/she didn't cancel the upgrade request on the second leg, or it could have been miscommunication. At least you enjoyed the flight in F!