flyerCO

the compensation OP talks about is when there is an oversale situation. This was not the case for OP son. Also IDB compensation (which is only type under US law) requires you to be checked in and at gate on time and then lose your seat when no volunteers offer to give up theirs.

Basically OP son is not entitled to anything. They can't confirm on a flight if it's already full. Feel bad, but waiting till very last moments when knowing their was an issue was asking for issues.

jcatman

If your son is 19, I'll bet he'd love to download the AA app for his phone, and he can use that app to check-in for future flights 24-hrs before departure.

Kevin AA

ATL is the only airport in which I 1) like changing planes, yet 2) detest the very same airport as an origination point. I've changed planes there over a hundred times (all but once on DL, one time on AA), and I've started my trip in ATL just twice. Both times I arrived four hours early just to ensure (as much as possible) that I don't miss my flight. It's ridiculous, but there is nothing else you can do other than decide whether to spend an enormous amount of time at the airport before boarding, or roll the dice, which unfortunately OP did and lost.

rjw242

If online check-in didn't work, the app likely wouldn't have either.

As others have mentioned, if online check-in fails, it's probably best to err well on the side of caution -- particularly on the tail end of an extremely busy holiday weekend, at an extremely busy airport.

jcatman

I suppose we would need OP to tell us WHEN the attempt to check-in online was done? T-24hours? T-1 hour?

skylady

My first time checking in as a revenue traveler, I was amazed that I could do it, without any trouble! Thank You LATAM!

GunsOfNavarone

Everyone has different experiences with on-line check in. As a regular traveler on AA, I was unable to check in on the first three legs of my six leg trip last month, but was able to check in on the fourth leg, which happened to be a transatlantic leg. Note that my passport was entered when the reservation was made (actually stored in Aadvantage account, but AA requires it be re-entered.

SDF-ORD 18MAY2017, unable to on-line check in
ORD-MDT 19MAY2017, unable to on-line check in
MDT-ORD 20MAY2017, unable to on-line check in
ORD-LHR 22MAY2017, able to on-line check in.

Same PNR, one carrier, no changes to anything, but first three legs, all domestic did not let me OLCI.

I have empathy for the OP, the system does not always work, even when the rules and processes of time are followed. Earlier this week was another post on ATL, that the AA staff there is not so helpful. Maybe the issue was a disgruntled staff resulting in longer than expected check in lines for non status AA pax?

I will never forget the time I missed a flight out of Georgetown, Guyana, as I was unable to check in on-time. I arrived four hours early, they had two total flights out that morning (1997). It was a holiday and the entire country was off, except the airport staff. They said they would only process one flight at a time. Flight A was a 757 heading to JFK. Flight B was a prop to Barbados (which I was taking to connect to San Juan). By the time they drugg their feet for the 757 check in, the LIAT flight was gone, with zero PAX...... It had other routes to fly and the crew from LIAT was not waiting around.

Passengers are often, but not always to blame for not checking in on time.....

AC*SE

The cutoff is not being in the check-in line--the cut off is being checked-in. Arriving at the airport over an hour before take-off is no assurance that check-in will be complete by the time the passenger acceptance deadline rolls around.

Given that attempt was made to check in online, was that done at T-24 hours, or only at the airport? And if it was attempted at T-24 and failed, then that should surely be a sign that a just-in-time arrival at the airport is a very bad idea.

jordyn

By this logic, if you got to the airport six hours before your flight and AA didn't have its act together and still didn't manage to check you in, it would still be your fault.

Here are the facts as I understand them: as many people here have advised, OP's son tried to check in online; when that didn't work, OP's son arrived at the airport an hour and a half in advance, which is what AA advises you to do. Once there, some combination of factors led to the son not being able to checkin prior to the 45 minute cutoff. That combination of factors is not well documented here, so it's not clear how much culpability AA bears, but since others here have commented that AA's operation at ATL is a mess it certainly bears some of the blame.

Having said all that, there's not much you can do about it. If the flight was oversold and the son could document being at the airport and attempting to checkin at T+60, I think there might be a reasonable claim for IDB compensation since it's not reasonable for AA to get out of paying IDB compensation due to its own failure to check someone in. But you'd need to be pretty confident about both of those points to make the case.

dickinson

Are you sure? OP's single post simply states that he dropped his son off more than an hour before the plane was scheduled to depart. I'm not sure where the hour and a half came from other than conjecture and fiction writing by other posters.

wetrat0

A lot of people are piling on the OP's son here but few have offered much of any helpful advice. I have a bit:

- When traveling any airline, always know the check in cutoff time and the bag check cutoff time.
- Sometimes (through your own fault or through someone else's fault) you get delayed and risk missing that cutoff. If at any point you have < 5 minutes until the cutoff, approach the nearest agent and speak up. Say "excuse me, I am going to miss the check in cutoff if someone does not help me right now!"
- If needed, ask for a supervisor.

The OP's son made a rookie error -- when the original agent sent him to another line (unclear why that happened, could be his fault or the agent's fault, doesn't matter) he should have spoken up and expressed concern about missing the check in time. Most agents are reasonably nice people and don't want to leave you stranded.

I have experience with this following a misconnect at JFK (AA's fault). The only flight left for the day required me to take a taxi from JFK to LGA in traffic. The kiosk would not let me check in. Both regular and priority lines were long and only had one agent each. I was within 5 minutes of missing the bag check for the LGA flight, which would have left me in New York overnight. I loudly and clearly said "excuse me, I am going to miss the check in cutoff if someone does not help me right now!" and a supervisor came from the back and handled my bag immediately.

rickg523

From the OP

What happened here? This seems to be the crux of the issue. Why couldn't the agent check him in? What different line?
To the OP - AA will never be mistaken for a Traveler's Assistance service, but it's really unlikely they conspired to mess up your son's travel plans. What isn't unlikely is that an individual agent, by intention or incompetence, made an error which messed up you're son's travel. Also not unlikely is that you or your son, by error or omission, made a booking mistake which required special handling to correct.
Which of these two possibilities happened, is probably exposed in the interaction at the check-in desk.

apeortdz

Hope this is not too much off-topic, and I do not mean it to be rude to anyone...but how do people with serious flight issues find FT and make their first post such a dramatic one? This and another timely example (you know the one) just seem to beg the question - how do they find us here? We as a flying community are certainly willing to help, when we can. But I am always scratching my head when a first-time poster posts a serious issue and then there is never a second post from the OP.

jayer

As frequently noted on FlyerTalk, the sooner you post flight number, destination, and origination the better chance somebody on the board with a Sabre subscription membership can tell you whether the plane was sold out or not. Maybe somebody still can if the two missing items are posted.

wetrat0

If you google for "American Airlines complaints" you will get results from FT on the first page.