UK Stages

well, i've just returned from my first-ever mileage run. i'm exhausted and exhilarated, distraught and disappointed... and still wondering if it was worth it.

i wasn't exactly sure where to post this... should i put it under the mileage run thread, the trip report category or the AA forum? i've decided to post it here because it chiefly deals with problems encountered on AA and it's unlikely that any AA lurkers would find it in those other categories.

my odyssey began a few weeks ago when i realized i was just under 6,000 miles short of the 50,000 needed for platinum status and i couldn't see missing the mark by that short a distance. i had been platinum for several years - and only through a series of snafus last year (including not being awarded mileage credit on a canceled AA flight that i was forced to take on another carrier), did i get bumped down to gold.

not surprisingly, i found my life as a gold aadvantage member this past year not nearly as sweet as my life as a platinum member. even though i'm a "million miler," this past year as a gold advantage traveler has been fraught with disappointment ...and outright indifference on the part of AA staff and customer service. that's certainly one reason i wanted to regain my elite status (not to mention the additional 75% mileage bonus).

so, even though i've had a lot of bad flights and unresolved issues with american airlines this year, i chose to take one additional discretionary trip... a totally unnecessary journey to london for a day. The JFK ---> LHR ticket was $512, but i told myself it was worth it because i'd be getting TTBNS miles and euro00 bonus miles, plus qualifying for platinum status just under the wire.

i was to fly outbound on friday, december 29, on flight 132 and back on flight 101 on december 31. i requested - and received - exit row seats: 26H on the airbus A300 outbound and 20A on the 767-300 on the return. i normally don't like to fly the 767; even in the exit row, it's not the most comfortable experience, plus you're right next to the galley. i often take a later flight and prefer the airbus or the 777, but i chose this inconvenient 10:00 AM flight on the 767 so i could be back in new york in time for a new year's eve party.

everything went pretty much as planned on the outbound; there was very little traffic to the airport and preferred check-in took only moments. even though i had only one small bag, i decided to check it, so i wouldn't have to be bothered with it.

JFK was in a bit of turmoil. as we all know, a snowstorm of near-blizzard proportions was heading straight into the new york area. there were a lot of folks on the plane who managed to leave for london a day early, rather than wait for what would most likely become a canceled flight on saturday. elsewhere in the terminal, i heard several people pleading for standby status on flights to LAX.

i stopped at the admirals club and casually and politely asked about drink coupons, only to be rather loudly chastised by the representative there. it seems drink coupons are only offered to business and first class passengers. i explained that the only reason i inquired was because, on my last time through the club, the rep who looked at my admirals club card and my tickets as i entered said "oh, don't forget your drink tickets!" when i asked what she was talking about, she said that all passengers who are club members and traveling on international flights get two drink tickets to use at the bar in the club. now, i generally don't drink before or during a flight, but i took the tickets because i learned they can be handed in to the bar in exchange for two bottles of evian water - and those bottles do indeed come in handy while in coach.

it seems to me that AA should have a firm policy that's understood and adhered to by all club personnel... who, in any event, shouldn't be reprimanding customers who simply requested something another AA employee told them they were entitled to.

on to the gate... where they made a preboard announcement for first and business class. it was one of those strongly worded boarding announcements you hear more and more often these days, the subtext being: don't you step foot anywhere near this boarding area if you're not first or business class.

which is all well and good... and certainly does much to discourage infrequent flyers and leisure travelers from crowding the gate area. but how is a gold or platinum or EXP supposed to interpret that announcement?

would they be preboarding elites in a second subsequent announcement, as policy dictates? or had the gate agents decided that the flight was too full - or there were too many elites - and they'd be skipping that procedure? (that's happened to me a lot this year.) an answer seemed to come after a two minute pause, when they invited platinum and EXP members on board.

gold was not mentioned, though.

well, OK, clearly they separated out each level and were making distinct boarding announcements for each, i thought. i can certainly understand and respect that. but, of course there was no separate announcement made for gold members. the next announcement made was that they would be boarding strictly by row numbers from the back of the plane... so i got on with everybody else in that first crush of people.

sometimes i think i'm making too big a deal about little annoyances like this. it's not like I was in some horrible accident or anything. but then again, preboarding is a privilege i've earned. and it's the accumulation of a lot of small things (ambiguous policies, selective enforcing of those policies, nasty answers to polite queries) that really bothers me.

here again, AA should have in place a standard policy, so gate agents and elite passengers know exactly what is expected of each. hey wait a second, come to think of it, AA does have such a policy. but the policy must be adhered to by the frontline, and it often isn't - sometimes they let platinum/gold preboard with business/first, sometimes they don't. and, like george w., they get mighty "snippy" about it if you ask.

anyway, the flight took off pretty much on schedule (9:15 PM or so) and ran smoothly, although there was some weather-related turbulence in our last couple of hours, which prematurely ended the final beverage service.

i normally "work" a flight, bringing along a lot of magazines, newspapers, trade journals and such -- all things that can be abandoned along the way (although i admit, i have some books and magazines that i never get around to and these have almost as many frequent flyer miles as i do). but on this flight, i was looking forward to simply relaxing... and maybe even watching the movie. that was not to be... there was a shortage of headsets onboard and dozens of passengers, including me, did not get one.

some surplus headsets were found and distributed, but pretty much from the front of the coach cabin until they were all gone. they ran out just before they got to me. once again, not a big deal... but wouldn't you think they might take a quick look at the passenger manifest... and if there happen to be a few elites on board, maybe check with them first to see if they had headsets? or apologize to them personally if they didn't get one?

an apology goes a really long way; unfortunately, they've been in very short supply on AA recently.

i did manage to sleep a few hours during the flight. on approach to LHR, i struck up a conversation with the flight attendant sitting in the jump seat near my exit row. he said that the flight before ours and the one after ours were both canceled (although i distinctly remember that the flight before us was in final boarding while i was in the admirals club.) i can't quite figure out why they might have been canceled, unless they were looking to reposition aircraft.

he said the weather is expected to be really bad at JFK tomorrow (saturday december 30) and that they had already canceled many flights. i told him i was concerned about returning to JFK on sunday, the day after the storm. i wasn't so much worried about the airport being closed as i was worried about there being available aircraft because flights may not have been able to leave on saturday. (i made a mental note to call AA reservations as soon as i settled into my hotel room in london.) the FA said he was scheduled to work my flight back to JFK, the 101 on sunday, and he would see me then. we both thought it was amusing that he would be doing nothing but resting the entire time he was in london, while i'd be on the go during his entire layover.

AA gates are pretty far from the terminal at heathrow and it took a good 15 minutes or so to get to immigration and customs. but the line took only a minute or two to go through. the woman who checked my passport asked how long i'd be in the country... i said just a day... she asked the purpose of the trip and i told her it was a mileage run to top-off my air miles account...she laughed and said "right, i've had a few of you this morning" ...and waved me on.

my bag was deposited on the carousel at the very same time i arrived; i went through the green channel at customs without being stopped or questioned and i was now at heathrow, terminal 3... it was about 9:30 AM and london was mine... at least for the next 25 hours!

i took the airbus to my hotel, the hilton kensington, using the second half of a return ticket i had purchased last february, noting that the return price had gone down... it used to be 12 pounds return; it's now only 10. perhaps the heathrow express has really hurt their business.

you know, a lot of people ask which is "better," the heathrow express or the airbus. it's strictly a geographic decision, as far as i'm concerned. you can't beat the airbus if you're staying anywhere along the route... and as many of you know, the first stop in central london is the hilton kensington... so it was quite convenient for me. (this, of course, also means that it's the last stop on the way out, so - in season - it can get quite crowded on the return trip.)

as it happened, there was virtually no traffic into the city and no snow either. whatever had fallen earlier in the week in london itself was gone, although the outlying areas still had quite a bit of it. the entire journey from the airport to the hilton took only about a half hour.

i checked into the hotel with no problem whatsoever, except that there was no diamond upgrade to an executive level room, no lounge access and no breakfast coupon. none of these were of particular interest to me on this trip, as i wouldn't be there long enough to really enjoy them. however, it's worth noting - as i and others have in the hilton forum have said - that adherence to hhonors terms and conditions is notoriously lax at all hilton properties in london. i've had at least nine or ten stays in london over the past three years and none has included lounge access or breakfast - and only a few have had some sort of upgraded room. i found it particularly ironic this time because the kensington property really pushes the program - there are hhonors applications on desks and tables everywhere throughout the hotel - but they come up short when it's time to deliver the promised benefits.

the room i received was actually located on the first floor (one level above the ground floor, for those unfamilair with british numbering conventions) and overlooked the roof of the lobby or restaurant. it was small and cramped, but smartly furnished... the rooms have been redone since the last time i was there and they're using the same furniture that is in use in the rooms in the new wing of the hilton metrople: trendy aquamarine glass tabletops and nightstands built into the wall, other furnishings feature attractive beechwood finishes. sadly, the bed linens and towels have seen brighter days and should probably be replaced. and for heaven's sake... they should find some way to heat the bathroom! it was easily 20 degrees cooler in the bathroom than it was in the room itself. my rate here was particularly good, though: only 57 pounds + VAT (a hilton "value plus" rate).

worth noting: the hilton kensington does not carry CNN, just sky news and BBC world. i was last in london only a few weeks ago, just as the US supreme court decided the presidential race... i would have been lost without CNN!

the first thing i did after showering was to call AA UK reservations to ask about the status of my flight the next morning. it was still on. so far, so good. i asked if all flights out of JFK had been canceled. she said it was too soon to tell, it being only 6 AM in new york, but that many had, and the airport was closed. i asked if it showed what aircraft they were planning to use for my flight to JFK. she didn't know, she said, and couldn't tell me.

i asked if it was, in fact, a turnaround on an aircraft that was to arrive from JFK. if it was, i explained, i was concerned because my flight would surely be canceled. i asked to be "protected" on another flight. she said she couldn't do that, as my original flight was not showing any problems. i mentioned my gold status, and told her that i would in fact become platinum once again on this flight. she said i should call back much later in the day and at that time it would be possible to determine what effect - if any - the storm in new york would have on LHR outbound flights.

so, off i went. i spent my one day in london by doing a little shopping... buying a few books and some theatre tickets for an upcoming trip in february. i also saw two shows that will be closed by the time i return: "singing in the rain" at the national and "the mystery of charles dickens" at the albery. i found "singing" (which received good notices) very disappointing, but thought "dickens," a one man play about the author and featuring simon callow, very good.

it was a very long day, but i was finally back at the hotel and eager to check up on my flight status ...and get a good night's rest before my journey back. this is where my real nightmare began.

i called AA (the number on the ticket jacket, by the way, has not yet been changed to reflect london's new dialing codes, which went into effect back in october), only to receive a recorded announcement saying that the office is only open "from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM... please call back at that time." the recording further advises that in an emergency, one should dial the 800 number in the USA (not toll free from london, of course.)

sheesh.

they've got a major storm in new york city that's going to affect inbound and outbound traffic from london... they pride themselves on seven flights a day from london to new york... and they can't keep their telephone lines open a few extra hours to sort out the mess and alleviate some of the confusion at the airport the next day?

so, i called my girlfriend in new york and had her phone AA. she found out that my flight had indeed been canceled, along with several more on sunday, and all flights on the previous day. on sunday, my flight (10:00 AM) and the one after (12:00 PM) were both canceled. the earliest i could hope to get out would be the 4:00 PM flight. this is exactly what i had predicted would happen and what i sought to protect myself from twelve hours earlier!

i believe that in a situation like this, american airlines should seek to protect its elite flyers, prioritize their rebooking on the next available flight and - if at all possible - honor their previous seat selection in some way. this essentially means that if the passenger cared enough to prebook an exit row seat, then it's probably not a good idea to rebook them in something with considerably less room. i recognize that AA's conditions of carriage do not require them to do any of this. but it would just seem to make good business sense for them to do so if they truly wanted the passenger to fly AA "again and again" as they state in their customer charter.

in my case, however, no rebooking had been made proactively by AA, nor had they tried to contact me in any way, even though they keep telling me in every piece of marketing material that i receive from them that i'm one of their "best customers" ...and even though they had my UK mobile phone number, my USA landline number and my e-mail address.

my girlfriend was the one who actually got me rebooked; unfortunately, the earliest flight they would acommodate me on was flight 107 @ 6:30 PM, which was scheduled to arrive in new york after 9:00 PM on new year's eve. of course, at this point, all preferred seating was taken. in fact, the only seat i could get was in the very back of the plane.

it was well past 1:00 AM in london and i was sleep deprived. but i still had two serious concerns about my flight home: the first was comfort; i was not looking forward to an eight hour journey in a standard coach seat. second, a new storm was headed to britain for new year's eve and it was uncertain what time - or exactly where - it would hit. what if i went all this way on a mileage run, but didn't get the miles credited to the year 2000 because the flight was delayed?

i knew i stood a much better chance of making it home if i could get on the earlier flight. besides, if AA said there was no chance of me getting a more comfortable seat, then why wait another two and a half hours to take the 6:30 flight? surely, i thought, there must be one brave person at AA who would be willing to "force book" an elite passenger onto the 4:00 flight. after all, hadn't i sought to be protected on another flight almost as soon as i landed in london?

frankly, all i was asking for was something that AA's CRM software should have done in the first place, which is simply to give preferential treatment to their aadvantage gold and platinum members. then again, if AA has any kind of customer relationship management software at all, it doesn't seem to work. it was only a few weeks earlier that they did something remarkably similar on another flight from heathrow to new york. they had a change of aircraft - they went from the airbus down to the 767. our exit row seats vanished in the process. nobody from american seemed to think that was a very big deal... they simply couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. in fact, nobody ever even told us it had happened. only at check-in did we discover the change.

if they had good CRM software, not only would the computer have suggested that we be rebooked in comparable seating for that flight, but it would have spit out my reservation on saturday during this weather situation and red flagged it as a high priority. at the very least, my profile should contain a notice that this sort of thing has happened to me before and AA employees should try their best to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

look, i realize that weather delays are extraordinary circumstances out of AA's control, but this is not about the weather. i firmly believe that when something like this happens, the way in which an airline treats its passengers speaks volumes about how well that airline is run. bad weather is bound to throw your schedule out of whack and mistakes of all kinds will always be made by airline personnel... but once these things occur, they should be looked at as opportunities to prove to your customers that you value their business, that you respect them and that you make the interests of your best customers your top priority.

anyway, i was still hoping to get on that 4:00 flight. my girlfriend said she would try again with AA reservations and i went to sleep, being sure to place a 6:00 AM wake-up call, so i could ring AA when they first opened up. i awoke to find a message from my girlfriend saying AA couldn't accommodate me on the earlier flight; it was already oversold by more than 50! they suggested, however, that i ask to be placed on standby for the 4:00 PM flight once i arrived at the airport. she also said that the exit row seats on the 6:30 departure were occupied by a platinum member and his family.

OK, flyertalkers, if you've stuck with me this far, fasten your seatbelts, because this story is about to get a lot more interesting...

i called AA UK reservations at 6:05 AM, only to hear a new recorded announcement saying that due to the new year's holiday, the office would open at 7:00 AM!

unbelievable... they have hundreds of people to rebook and they won't even make an effort to answer their phones? besides, when did they make the decision to open late? was it just that morning? why didn't they change their recorded announcement the previous night?

determined to not waste another lost hour of sleep, i came up with what i thought was a rather clever idea... i phoned the admirals club. they were open! the woman who answered was very polite, very well trained and very sympathetic. i explained that i was upset that i could not get through to reservations, that my exit row seat had gone missing, that i wasn't contacted, that my gold (soon-to-be-platinum) status was apparently meaningless and that i had been trying to sort this out almost since the moment i arrived in london.

for the first time, i suggested that perhaps an operational upgrade might be possible - and warranted. she promised nothing, but did say that she would see what she could do. she said she would try to get more information, particularly as to where aircraft were originating from, that she would plead my case behind the scenes and would ring back if she was able to get me on an earlier flight or secure an upgrade. as we said goodbye, i asked for her name, telling her i would like to drop an SOS certficate off for her at the club. she said, "but, mr. stages, i haven't really done anything yet." i explained that she had. the certificate - and the intent of the SOS program - is to reward her willingness to go the extra step for a customer, regardless of whether or not the end result is achieved.

she did ring back about ten minutes later, saying that there was a 9:00 AM flight to boston and that she could get me on that. i thought about it, but as it was already past 6:30, i felt that there was no way i could make it to the airport in time. had i known about it the previous night, i'm sure i would have gone for it.

she told me that she had also officially placed me on standby for the 4:00 and she made a notation in my file to allow me into the admirals club, "so i could at least wait in comfort." i said i was confused about that, since i was already a member. she said she hadn't seen that noted in my file... so much for CRM software! (it should be noted here that this woman went way out of her way to help a passenger who - she thought - wasn't even entitled to use her services. if only there were more like her...)

i went back to sleep, woke up around 11:00 and went to the airport. i was actually able to meet my phone contact at the admirals club, as she hadn't yet left for the day, and i gave her the SOS. she had already printed out my standby coupon for the 4:00 flight and explained that i was number one on the list, after a few others who had no confirmed reservations on later flights. she explained that so far that day, their success rate was 100% and all standbys had been able to board. she said the chances were very good for me, which rather surprised me, knowing what i did about the extent to which the flight was overbooked. she apologized that she was unable to get me an upgrade or change my seat in any way, but said she did make a notation in my record to provide me with an exit row seat, should it become available. ask at the gate, she said.

i spent the next couple of hours at the admirals club making phone calls, catching up with friends and recharging my phone so it would be ready for my next visit to the UK. fifteen minutes before the first boarding call, i made my way to the gate. what i saw was an hysterical scene.

the gate was crowded and disorderly and everyone, employee and passenger alike, was miserable. i made my way to the special services desk, to explain my situation to the flight manager. there was already a long line there. it was then i heard an announcement that made the line grow even longer and which made me very angry:

"ladies and gentleman, this flight is oversold. if you have a confirmed reservation for this flight and would be willing to give up your seat in exchange for a voucher good for future travel on american airlines or any one world partner airline, please see the agent at the desk. american airlines is prepared to offer you a $500 travel voucher and a confirmed business class seat on the 6:30 flight to JFK.

now, i've been on the receiving end of offers like that a few times and i didn't begrudge the passengers on this flight one bit. after all, many of them had been stuck in london for an entire day; it's only right that they should be able to get a little something for their troubles. all the more power to them... to be able to actually get DBC on a weather-related delay!

what concerned me, though, was the business class upgrade. for the past day, i had steadfastly been refused any special accommodation by AA, as i repeatedly explainined that i had prebooked an exit row seat. i politely asked if there was any way the airline could somehow try to make it right for me as they set about the difficult task of getting everyone rebooked from canceled flights. and all the while they had virtually an entire business class cabin free and clear!

i later learned that this 6:30 departure was originally scheduled with only 1/4/44; that is to say, it originally had only 1 first class passenger, 4 business and 44 in coach. that means, that they had 52 empty seats in business on a 777.

so, two questions: why did the folks at AA overbook the 4:00 flight to a ridiculous extent... and why couldn't they simply give me an operational upgrade to business class straightaway?

on the first issue, it doesn't take a genius to realize that many of those people from canceled flights should have been rebooked on the 6:30 flight to begin with. AA created an enormous DBC liability (voluntary and involuntary) and customer satisfaction problem.

on the second issue, they could have solved my problem at any time, by simply upgrading me. everyone i spoke to refused to do so, however, or to even admit that AA had erred in some way. or that i had any cause to be upset. what AA chose to do was to give away almost an entire business class cabin to travelers who were mostly (this is an educated guess here) casual leisure travelers who fly the airline once or twice a year on a $238 roundtrip. this makes absolutely no sense to me, when they could at least have given a few of those seats to their very frequent flyers.

i continued to wait patiently in line. not five minutes later, a new announcement was made:

the offer was now $1,000, plus the business class upgrade.

when i made it to the front of the line, i calmly and politely expalined my position to the flight manager. he wasn't having any part of it. he didn't care that AA had done the same thing to me a month ago; did not feel that an upgrade was appropriate under the circumstances; couldn't care less whether i was gold or platinum or kryptonite.

he was interested in one thing only: did i have a confirmed seat on this flight?

he told me loudly, impatiently and rudely there was no chance of standbys getting on, that in fact people with confirmed reservations would not be boarding this flight and he said he did not wish to discuss the matter further. he suggested that if i had further business to discuss, i should return to speak to him when the flight had cleared. i said that was fine, although i did point out that once he was done rebooking everyone else, the remedy for my problem would likely no longer be available. after this exchange, i called the admirals club on my mobile phone to see if they could do anything. they said they couldn't... tickets and rebooking could only be done at the gate.

and then the flight manager told one of the agents that standbys should not hang around and asked if she could send them to the "transfer desk" to rebook, so as to alleviate some of the congestion at the gate area. she began to do just that... only she may have been given poor instructions - or the wrong list - and began to read the names of passengers who were previously told that they had either confirmed reservations or had a good possibility of being booked on the 4:00 PM flight.

to make matters worse, the agent who was given the list was not told by the flight manager how the list had been prioriotized. so, she innocently read the list in the wrong direction... starting with the people who definitely would be going on the flight. naturally, these people, most of whom had been waiting a day and who were told they were confirmed on the 4:00, were outraged.

many yelled and screamed, insults and epithets were tossed about like juggling balls, and bodily harm was threatened. i was shocked to see the AA reps return the fire with venomous insults and sarcasm of their own, though it should be noted that they never yelled or screamed.

why bother yelling, when you can simply tell a twentysomething passenger, "sir, you have not lived long enough to know what true hardship is!" (actual quote)

it was, to say the least, a heated exchange. at one point, the flight manager - the guy handling all the DBC who didn't have any time to talk to me - ran up to one passenger a good thirty feet away from the counter, confronted him and said "my name is so-and-so. my colleague says that you wanted to see me. evidently you want to wring my neck. is this true?" (actual quote)

the agent finally read the correct list of names and said that all standbys were to collect their flight coupons and folow signs to the "transfer desk." my name was never read, so i went up to the agent, said i was standby and that i probably should be getting my flight coupon back. she didn't have it and went off to search.

she never came back, so i went after her. she had given my flight coupon to someone else! when got it back, i explained that i had an additional unresolved issue that i would probably need to discuss with the flight manager or special services manager. "should i leave the gate area?" i asked. "oh, yes," she replied... they would sort it all out at the "transfer desk." "ask to speak to a supervisor; there is always a supervisor there."

and so i left on another 15 - 20 minute walk. well, as many of you know, there are no signs to a "transfer desk" at heathrow. there are, however, signs for "flight connections," which is surely what she meant. at least i know that's what she meant. but there were many who were confused; i found several wandering through the now-all-too-familar heathrow terminal 3 concourse.

of course, at the flight connections desk, there was no supervisor. and the reps were all rather upset that they suddenly had an influx of disgruntled passengers to contend with. but a rep gave me my boarding pass for the 6:30 flight and promised that the special services manager for the flight would stop by the admirals club to speak with me.

i returned to the club, where i made another new friend at the desk; this guy was already somewhat familiar with my problem as he had been filled in by the rep who had helped me earlier in the day. he was interested and concerned, seemed to indicate he thought i had a valid case, and made some calls on my behalf. he was successful in getting me a bulkhead seat.

i considered that major progress, under the circumstances. but i couldn't help but wonder. where the heck had that bulkhead seat been for the past16 hours and why had nobody else been able to open it up? he said he would see if he could get me the business class seat he felt i deserved, and i gave out my second SOS certificate of the day.

i asked him if the exit row seats were all occupied or if they were just blocked because an elite was sitting in the adjacent seat. he said that three seats of the four were booked by a platinum member, traveling with his fourteen year old children. the other was booked by a one world elite.

wait! come again? a platinum member and his fourteen year old children are occupying the exit row? you mean to tell me, i've been put through this ordeal for an entire day because someone booked fourteen year old kids into an exit row seat, in violation of federal law?

he was as surprised as i, but said he couldn't do anything about it. he did feel confident, however, that it would not be allowed and that i'd be able to get my exit row seat back after all. i told him where i'd be in the club and asked him to send the special services manager to see me when he showed up.

well, of course, the special services manager never did show up.

i left the club - amidst lots of jokes from the reps at the desk about how they hoped i wouldn't be returning again that day - and i made my way to the gate for flight 107; 6:30 PM departure on a 777. i got there about 5:30 and was soon at the special services desk, where there was no line.

things didn't start well here ...and they went downhill fast. at first i thought i recognized the guy behind the desk as the one who i had dealt with a few weeks earlier (when AA changed the aircraft and didn't rebook me in an exit row seat). so i greeted him with a warm smile and some small talk. he rejected that as some kind of false and forced familiarity and seemed to think i was up to something. he was extremely defensive. i apologized, explained that i thought he had helped me on a previous flight and explained my current situation to him.

during my explanation, his colleague arrived and he suggested i take the matter up with him, as it was really his job. so i started over, but the first chap kept interrupting to offer his own unique perspective on why i was not entitled to any special treatment. at one point i said, "i honestly don't care which of you handles this, but please tell me who it's going to be because right now i'm talking to him - - based on your request - but all the answers are coming from you. wouldn't it be easier if i just spoke with you?"

so, the first guy bowed out... at least for a moment. but the second guy was not any more helpful than the first... he said there was nothing he could do, that there was no room up front. i said, sure, that's because a lot of bumps from the 4 PM flight are now in those seats. i pointed out that i was a million miler, that i would be returning to platinum status on this very flight and that - while i understood why it may have been necessary to change my seat - it didn't seem to make any sense to me that i should stay in coach while casual leisure travelers are riding in front.

the first guy was horribly offended that i would suggest that these passengers were "casual leisure travelers." "you're assuming that's the case... how would you know?" i told him i was at the gate for a long time for the 4 PM departure... i heard the questions these travelers asked and saw how they reacted... and after 25 years of flying AA, i could make certain deductions based on my experience. "besides," i asked, "did you not know that virtually the entire business class cabin is made up of bumped coach passengers?"

i asked what the policy on operational upgrades was. they both pretended like they had never heard the term before. they asked if they could help me with anything else, which i recognized as nothing more than a socially acceptable way of saying "please leave now."

i asked if they could tell me something about who was in those exit row seats. "is it true you have two 14 year old kids booked in the A & B seats?" absolutely not, they said. i told them that if it was true that it was in violation of the law to have them occupy the exit row. they looked in the computer and came back and said "they're 16 years old... they are violating no laws and they have every right to stay there...they're traveling with a platinum member."

at this point i decided it would probably not be a good idea to ask about first class availability, so i simply gave up. just as i said thank you and was about to leave, a third agent at the desk, who had remained silent throughout this entire ordeal, spoke softly to the first guy and said, "i can give him 27H. we upgraded 27H to first fifteen minutes ago."

and i was silently handed a boarding pass for 27H, an exit row seat on the 777, which must have originally belonged to the father of the fourteen year olds.

so, a full 26 hours after i began my quest to restore my seat assignment, i had succeeded. the flight itself went smoothly, although there was yet another confusing non-inclusive boarding announcement. i waited through the first and business class preboard and then when there was no more activity, i tried to board with my gold card and boarding pass in my hand. i was stopped. "first and business, only, sir."

i explained that as passengers, we have no way of knowing whether or not they would be making a preboard announcement for gold and platinum. she said, "oh no, i've been flying for fifteen years... this is the way it's always been done." i mentioned politely that my experience had been different. she was skeptical, saying "oh, no," shaking her head and rather sternly scolded me in front of the other passengers waiting to board. (this, naturally, wound up being the FA who would serve me during the flight.)

about twelve seconds later, they made a platinum/gold preboard announcement. on the jetway, two passengers made a point of telling me that i was right to speak up about the confusing boarding announcement and they wish they had done so, too.

once i was settled, i did get a look at the kids in 27 A & B. were they fourteen or sixteen? i honestly couldn't tell you (hasn't the same question spelled trouble for a lot of rock stars?). but more importantly, the flight attendants couldn't tell you, either. not one asked their age.

as little as i fly delta (2 - 3 times a year), i must say that i have not been on a single flight in which an FA did not stop to talk to the people in the exit rows, to ask them each a question to check their comprehension of the english language and to determine their exit row eligibilty. that rarely happens on AA and it certainly didn't happen on this flight.

they say that the most difficult part of any journey is often the last few miles home. that was certainly the case here. we landed around 9:00 PM, had to wait for a gate and were finally dumped into the terminal around 9:30. and that's when my new adventure began.

fortunately, i had carry-on bags only and could head straight to the taxi queue. good thing, too, as JFK was a mess in the aftermath of the snowstorm and the taxi queue eventually stretched into the road obstructing traffic. there were few taxis available, people were jumping the queue and even though i was only about number twelve or so in line, it took more than a half hour to get a ride.

and then, at about 10:00 PM on new year's eve i knew i had to say to my cabbie the five words i knew he would least like to hear: "take me to times square." (i live about nine blocks from times square - new year's eve central - and in close proximity to the revelry.)

i suggested we cross over to the west side somewhere in the 70's to avoid the crowds, which is exactly what we did. it wasn't that bad; the trip took only about 45 minutes. my street was already blocked off with police barricades and i had to show ID to get through to go home, but it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. unfortunately, i was expected at a party only a few blocks away, but because of the crowds, i couldn't get through to cross over broadway and seventh avenue. after venturing as far up as 59th street in vain, i returned home shortly after 11:30 and greeted the new millennium alone. (i don't say this for the cheap sympathy, but i will, of course, take what i can get.)

in the end, i was tired, angry and disillusioned. who knew when i planned this mileage run that it would actually give me a dozen reasons to sever my loyalty to AA?

if this is what being platinum on AA means, why the heck did i ever bother?

[This message has been edited by UK Stages (edited 01-04-2001).]