Originally Posted by
MIA-SAT
But as others have noted, isn't one of the advantages of Admirals Club memberships the assistance of the agents there during irregular ops? I have never had happen to me what was mentioned in this thread, but given that AAdvantage status and being a passenger on the problem of an irregular op both move one up on the waitlist, I would not be pleased to be delisted by an agent, especially if it appeared to be laziness, or worse, a turf protection motive.
Yes, if you are an Admirals Club member, you can benefit from the assistance of the AAngels. You can benefit by not having to wait in a long line at the gate to be re-accomodated in the event of irregular ops. But that doesn't mean you can exploit your membership to game the system and/or undercut other travelers.
Unfortunately, in the old days, a lot of members used to receive (or wanted) "special favors" from the AAngels, such as bumping members up on the upgrade/standby lists, clearing members before the GA was ready, unblocking row 17, etc. It's not fair to the other elites and non-elites on the lists. So, these are the kinds of things that AA is trying to clamp down on to make the GAs' job easier (and therefore, to get more flights out on time).
I think it makes perfect sense for AAngels to be in regular contact with GAs, so that the AAngels' actions at the club will be in sync with the GAs' process. In many recent interactions, when I have asked for something at the club, the AAngel replies "let me call the gate to make sure it's okay, then I'll do it." That's the way to go!
Just my $0.02.