Dave Noble

You booked a ticket that provides for travel in 1st class

If for some reason you cannot be accommodated in 1st , then these fares don't allow much for a refund; it sucks

If you don't want to understand why, then posting about and asking for peoples' views is perhaps not the way to go

I would suggest that for future purchases, rather than book online, phone US and as for a ticket which is in booking class F and then you will not have this issue ; it will likely mean however that for 99% of trips where there is no disruption, that you will be paying a lot more for your tickets

One day maybe DOT will instigate something similar to the EU rules on downgrades and then the airlines will lilkely be much more careful at avoiding downgrading passengers

cmd320

In my past experience, DL was actually quite awful with this, very similar to the OP's situation with US. US should hold a few F for last minute, AA certainly does on most of the flights that I've been on. The big difference here is comp. upgrades vs instrument upgrades. Many AA flights depart with empty seats up front whereas I'm not sure I've ever seen a US flight with empty F in my time on US. Granted, I've flown AA far more. I believe AA has to hold 1 or 2 seats back for AAirpass members also if I recall correctly.

Soly

Its not that I do not want to understand. I am talking from a regular US airways consumer point of view. I do not understand codes and I am not supposed to understand codes. The airlines should be transparent with their consumers. If they want us to call US airlines to get a "full" first class ticket, then they should mention it on their website. I feel that I have been cheated with their hidden language on their website. Now, if you do not want to understand this, then maybe you don't want to look at the situation from a consumer's point of view.

What you previously explained about the different levels might be very true but that is beside the point. The point is that as a regular consumer, I was cheated into buying something that is different than what was stated on the US Airways website.

I hope this clarifies my point.

RogerD408

Granted you have every right to feel you've been cheated, however, that does not change the facts that they were within the rules to do what they did. You may not like it, but it is up to you to know the codes, they are part of the contract you agreed to regardless of what portions you chose to read.

Agreed, they should be more transparent, but the industry has built many rules solely to protect themselves. Until enough people complain it will continue. Expect government intervention to take a long time. Consumer protection has migrated to protecting businesses from consumers.

A well worded complaint might get you some traction, but don't expect it. As the saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

justhere

For the OP: did they tell you when you could fly in First? In other words did they tell you how long you'd have to wait to get a seat in First even if it was three days?

For everyone else: maybe I'm just not seeing it but where on usairways.com during the purchase does it tell you the fare rules? I see the fare basis (for example AAUUPNH) but how would I know as the average consumer that it's an instant upgrade and that in the event of IROPS I might have problems getting a seat in FC? Obviously if there are no seats, it doesn't matter the fare type but I'm talking about the OP's situation where the employees are just going to tell me "too bad, so sad" because it's not really a FC ticket.

ibrandsguest

While US may be technically "right", I totally see the OP's perspective. About 10+ years ago, US had the fare codes for tickets available on its website, and so it was feasible to see both the price of the ticket and the fare code. With fare codes gone and only "Coach" or "First" (flexible/nonrefundable) available to indicate what you're buying, who other than a Flyertalk expert would know that a FC ticket really a coach ticket?

andyr

One source of confusion (IMO) is that the rightmost column, which is usually the most expensive, says "First", and often says refundable, is not in fact full fare F. AA does not present the web customer with a full unrestricted F option in most cases, all of the F fares shown are instant upgrade fares. So, folks walk away thinking they must have bought F since they bought the most expensive choice.

AA has a caveat at the bottom of the screen, but the caveat is always there down in the "fine print" regardless of what you pick along with other thing that may or may not apply to your choice. A more consumer friendly method would be to say, directly on the part of the web page you are clicking on, "Instant Upgrade". They could even say "Instant Upgrade!" with a smiley face to make it upbeat and sound like "Super deal! Yay!". But they don't.

Personally, I agree that it is a misleading and deceptive practice, but as an airline AA isn't subject to normal consumer protection rules.

I also agree that the rationale that a normal consumer should of course know the difference between F, A, P, and so forth is ... err ... not exactly consumer friendly (see "misleading and deceptive", above).

sdix

You are absolutely, positively correct in your comments. Many threads on FT about the "deceptive" nature of these fares.

As a new to US Air (or AA) flyer subject to irrops you found the problem quickly. On 99% of flights it's not an issue.

I now always look before paying. If it says refundable then it's probably a F fare if it is not refundable then it's probably an upgrade.

Deceptive and annoying I agree.

ibrandsguest

I don't understand why US would have a policy that would antagonize people who really are paid first-class passengers, even if they are "officially" coach fares. These kinds of stunts could be done with regular Ma and Pa Kettle travelers and the wallets of the people who are antagonized aren't that full- but to antagonize high-dollar passengers seems penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Airbridge

I am a consumer and manage to make informed choices every day. If I do not understand what I am being offered I take to the time to clarify and check. It really is not a difficult thing to do.If I make the wrong choice then i accept the responsibility for that error and do not try to dump it elsewhere.

Yet you appear to be going out of your way to make sure you do not.

If you admit to not understanding codes and see no good reason for you to educate yourself before making a purchase then calling a sales person for clarification and guidance on which product to purchase would seem like common sense to me without the need for a website to treat me like a 5 year old and direct me to make that call. It is nothing to do with a consumers point of view it is all about your point of view. Millions of consumers manage to make the purchase and understand what they are buying every year.


Actually it is exactly the point, it would appear that you just do not want to agree with it because it does not fit with your view of the situation. You made a poor choice that did not fit with your needs and now want to lay the blame for that at the airlines door. A contract involves two parties each has a responsibility for understanding it.

justhere

The problem is that you don't know what you don't know. Most consumers would have no idea about instant upgrades. It's one thing if the website said "you are purchasing an instant upgrade" and you didn't bother to educate yourself on the in's and out's of what that means. It's another when there is really no indication that you are buying anything other than a FC ticket.

If you believe that a consumer should call and ask about every ticket they are buying then that just isn't realistic, especially when the airlines' goals are to have consumers purchase as much online as possible. If you believe that a consumer should call and ask about certain situations, then I agree, it's important to know what you are buying. However when you are buying a simple FC ticket on the airlines website, when there is really no indication you are doing anything but that, I would say that it is not reasonable to expect every purchaser of those tickets to call and say "tell me everything about the fare rules for this ticket and please cover any eventuality that may occur". That would really be the only way to discover what you don't know.

makin'miles

Does US not hold back 2-3 first class seats until check-in closes about 30 minutes prior to departure, and then clear the final upgrades at the gate as a matter of practice? If not, why not?

OP, I'm also curious if the agents indicated that they would rebook you in First, but you would need to wait for a later flight?

McFlyPHL

On the US site, there's not anything that I can see indicating that First (A) is actually an instant upgrade fare and there's no link to the detailed fare rules. (on aa.com there is).

So to all the folks telling the OP that he should have understood what he bought, please direct us to the relevant screen/link of the booking site.

milesandmoremiles

No they dont for the most part. How would anybody here know why they do what they do?

If somebody is unsure of what they are buying and the information is not readily available online, nobody is stopped from calling in to ask questions.

doctor15

Well it clearly says "First Class", so I don't know why a typical consumer would be unsure of what they were buying. Only someone very used to airlines' trickery would think that "First Class" does not mean "First Class". Also, calling is likely just to get more misinformation since half the agents don't know what they are talking about.