coswellnc

And again...with the "buying up to US Elite Status"...It is like the movie Groundhog Day on this board every time I log in.

trizzil

I probably did a poor job explaining the situation given the flames I'm receiving but I will attempt one last time. With the exception of the most recent example. I was simply trying to show how US could provide anonther level of customer service. Upgrades are never and should never be expected.

What can I say. I'm stuck at an airport with no lounge so boredom has set it.

sriegert

wait, you don't get unlimited upgrades on AA as Plat. how are you holding US, operating as an entirely different carrier, to a higher standard???

just accept upgrades will not be a part of your US experience for the time being, and book AA metal accordingly. ^

sriegert

i'm pretty sure it's in contravention of US policy at this point notwithstanding the anecdotes.

iztok

So you expect US to provide you more as a middle tier AA elite than your own airline provides to you?

AlphaTango

To OP - FWIW, AA failed to provide me with a world class experience last week, and let 5 of their world class experiences go out up front without a butt in them.

I was offered a complimentary snack and drink in MCE though. I got more than I expected to get.

Flyer78

Except you were fairly clear in your OP

US matched AA, no?

Reciprocity in status would be wonderful, I think most of us would welcome it. As would the ability to combine mileage from AA and US programs. Sadly, you got exactly what was advertised. And I have a feeling the agents you were dissatisfied with for not even trying... have either tried, or have been told not to.

For what it's worth, as a US CP, I have gotten the ExPlat benefit in Y 2 of 2 times on AA. Very nice, and I agree -- extending this would be a simple first step. But the front line employees don't necessarily have the latitude to do so.

hginPHL

Ok, to cut through all the BS and condescension... as people have said, reciprocal upgrades are not available yet. There are some reports that some people have been provided upgrades by AA or US, but not many.

I have flown AA PHL-DFW-HNL and back 3 times since the merger as a CP. That's a lot of miles (in coach). On two occasions, the AA gate agents have tried to process an upgrade for me, and stopped 1/2 way through stating they couldn't provide me one as I am a US elite and not an AA elite.

Last Friday morning, one of the US DFW-PHL flights cancelled, and many of the people on that flight tried to get onto my AA flight. My AA DFW-PHL flight went out with 4 F seats open. I was sitting in the exit row with 4 other CPs. Instead of upgrading us to provide space for the people on the standby list, coach went out full and F went out with those 4 empty seats. In a perfect world, they could have upgraded 4 US elites, and then provided space for 4 standby coach passengers. But they didn't.

World class service or not, I'm not going to blame a gate agent for following company policy. The quicker people stop thinking they will be upgraded, the less disappointed they will be. It's not bad service on one side or the other, it's just the way things are right now.

onic

The written policy is that only the GA can assign seats in FC. However I want to add that in most cases a US FA will offer an upgrade to crew member or a uniformed military passenger.

To the OP - Flight Attendants do not have the ability to know who should be upgraded. You maybe 1 of 50 elites sitting in coach. If you did not get an upgrade from the gate agent it's not going to happen with US-FAs

As a revenue/upgraded passenger in FC I ALWAYS gave my seat to a member of our military. Giving them a comfortable ride to wherever they are going is the very least I can do.

dtremit

This would be extremely poor customer service even if no one in Y had any status whatsoever. I hope you wrote a note.

PBIGuy

I was just going to say this. If they start extending good will in cases like this, they start down a very slippery slope - someone else who's PLT or EXPLT may be sitting in coach and not get upgraded, when someone of a lower status gets upgraded just for asking.

With that said, there's a friendly way to explain to a customer that they can't process an upgrade, and a dis-interested way to do it. A friendly "sorry" goes a lot further. Reminds me of the time I was flying UA (CO) and I asked for a complimentary E+ seat at the gate (which at the time was sometimes granted to US Golds, sometimes not...) and the GA said to me "You have a window seat, what more do you want?!" Bad taste.

hginPHL

^^

Agreed. Each time I have asked I get a polite answer that they are not available yet, and hopefully coming sometime soon. Better than "we're full", or "no seats available" when indeed that is not the case.

trizzil

At least someone gets it. Thank you.

heyeaglefn

The key is to ask politely.

MAH4546

I know US Airways customer service is industry worst, but fail to see how this is an example.

American Airlines provides an actual first class cabin with actual first class service; a concept US Airways only just learned about yesterday.