Benefits for OW emerald on AB ?

AB online booking management is rubbish, simple as.

The only way to select a seat in advance is to ring them up, and whilst if I don't do that and leave it till OLCI I've never had a problem getting a seat in row 1/3 (and normally have the next seat blocked), it would be preferable to do this in advance rather than having to remember in the 24hrs prior to the flight

Alright, I'm going to rant a bit so bear with me...

I flew BCN-PMI round-trip this weekend on AB. I booked it on Priceline (for cashback) as a retail ticket, and nowhere in the confirmations on the website or email did it say what booking code it was booked into apart from 'economy.' I popped on over to the AB website, and just finding the link to look up my booking was ridiculously challenging (figured out it was 'optional extras' under 'booking') and learned it was 'Z' class, their new and glamorous 'JustFly' category. Ok, fine, it was dirt cheap so I expected that. But a poor kettle would not have known this until showing up to the airport.

Still, their website makes no reference to whether or not OW Emeralds get the Gold, or Platinum equivalent benefits they list, which is frustrating.

I was connecting from an AA flight on the outbound so I interlined my bag and didn't have to pay anything. I even used the lounge in BCN with no issues as an EXP. The boarding gate agent about had a heart attack when she saw my AA-stock boarding pass issued for the AB flight. She had not a clue what it was... That was funny to watch all three of the AB boarding agents looking it over like it was some new animal specimen! All in all, outbound was fine.

Now the return from PMI was a comedic to say the least. I had prepaid one checked baggage for 15 Euros on their website per the rules of the fare. I also did mobile checkin to be safe. At check in the priority line was closed off and the economy line was huge. I flashed the Emerald card to the guy monitoring the line and he waived me through to the makeshift priority/bag drop line. Great, +1 for AB! When I get to the check-in the lady prints out my bagtag and starts yelling 'JustFly, JustFly, you must pay for zie bag!' I said I did pay for the bag online. She was then very puzzled and had to call over two other employees to guide her through the process. She kept claiming I did not pay for the bag, and this went back and forth for a while (of course I never got the 'invoice' from the AB website it claimed I would receive in 24 hours) until her colleague figured it out.

Settled, I then asked about the lounge. She said no, JustFly do not get lounge access. I started to push back on that one but didn't want to cause a scene. I then politely asked if I could have a paper boarding pass, as I collect them. She stated I would have to pay for it. Even though I knew this was a restriction of the JustFly category, I still had to give it a for the Ryanair-like cheapness.

Still, I went to the lounge and was able to get admission with my AA card just fine as a Oneworld Emerald.

I remember flying AB about 10 years ago and really enjoyed the experience. This time, it left me feeling like they are a hot mess of an airline. They really need to figure out what they are; a network carrier worthy of being in a global alliance, or a cheap Ryanair copycat.

I don't quite get your rant. You are aware of the fact that they have a booking class that does not entitle you to certain benefits. You say you were happy with the price you paid. What exactly is the problem here? Your own airline does not grant lounge access even if you are in domestic first. Why should it be different here? AA charges for baggage. So does AB for certain fare classes.

I agree the boarding pass ritual is somewhat silly but at least they clearly state this in the description of JustFly fares.

So what exactly was the big problem here?

And the agent in PMI certainly did not pronounce a "the" as a "zie". I am there quite frequently and the staff is Spanish, not Dscherman. And by the way: I always find my booking code on my emails. You obviously had problems to find your fare bucket. And I always get confirmations. However, I am aware that some people missspell the email adresses - it even sometimes happens to me.

This post is rubbish, simple as. It is only the "just fly" fare not allowing for seat reservation and this is published crystal clear in the fare rules. All other fares allow for an online seat reservation, either free or against charge. As a OW Emerald I am normally placed automatically in row 1.

True. I love to sit in 1C. Seat Blocking works in most cases.
Funny thing is that I can select my seat on qantas.com.au on the outbound leg, but not on the inbound leg. Always got 1C on my flights.

AA does NOT charge Emeralds/Sapphires (including AB Emeralds/Sapphires) for baggage (2 pieces IIRC), regardless of the fare paid. AA allows Emeralds/Sapphires (other than AA EXP, but including AB Emeralds/Sapphires) access the lounges, even on fully domestic itineraries and regardless of the fare paid.

AB does give all Emeralds and Saphires Lounge access. No matter if domestic or international.

Luggage allowance is not a Oneworld benefit.

Luggage is not a OW benefit. And AB does not charge for luggage at all - may you be status customer or not - unless you deliberately decide to book a fare called "Just FLY". And this means what it means.

There were several mentions of lack of priority boarding.

From AB's website, this seems to indicate there is no priority boarding per se, but you may board at anytime.

Yes, yes - apologies - I fly to much with Star these days, where complimentary baggage/extra baggage is a published benefit. My bad...

Never seen proper priority boarding on AB.

Sometimes they call the last rows first - if you flash your card you can board a bit earlier than the others. I did that once. I was quite fast in taking my seat in one of the front rows, but she started to shout at me: "It was not your turn, how dumb can you be, the last rows are allowed in first". I did not want an argument with that lady, just sat down.

Yes, AB could improve a bit in that - especially because it would be easy to implement.

Just took ZRH-DUS. Boarding was with self-service scan your own BP gates. They announced boarding by inviting AB/OW elite as well as row 15 and higher. However, no one really enforced anything.

On paper, AB does offer priority boarding to elites but in practice, the entire plane can board any time.

depends on route. exDUS for example they are most of times very strict regarding boarding order...

DUS definitely a lot better.

Was able to check-in at business line, access AB lounge without any issues. Fast Track security was printed on boarding pass. However, DUS airport should better enforce the fast track line.

What I do miss is that unlike US carriers, AB does not have dedicated priority boarding lines where elites/premiums can still cut in front of the line even if they miss their pre-boarding.