Originally Posted by
IvanCU
I was originally booked on flight AA1223 today (DFW to SEA on October 23) and as an EXP received a First Class upgrade confirmation for this flight four days ago.
Upon getting to the airport 1.5 hours before the flight was scheduled to leave, I found out looking at the flight schedule display that the flight was cancelled. There was no e-mail or other notification sent to me regarding the cancellation. After going to the Priority Desk the person there was not aware of the cancellation and said I was "all set", but after I pointed out it was cancelled they got me on a standby list for flight AA1220 that had been delayed and scheduled to leave around the same time as my original flight. Arriving at the gate I went to the gate agent and they gave me a seat, 29F, and I asked if there was anything available in first class. At this time the display at the gate indicated that two people on the upgrade list were getting first class upgrades. The gate agent then looked at my information as they didn't realize I was Executive Platinum. They tried to add me to the upgrade list but said the system wasn't allowing them to do that. So I'm trying to understand how the following occurred, especially considering my Elite Status.
1. No cancellation notification.
2. Priority desk wasn't aware of cancellation and ready to send me to the gate.
3. First class upgrades taking place at gate even though I had already been upgraded on cancelled flight.
4. Gate agen didn't notice EXP status; I had to ask about upgrade. Was unable to put me in system for upgrade.
On a related note, I did look at the seat map this morning and there were six seats available in First Class and numerous open seats available in Economy. So even though they blamed the DFW area weather, I do wonder if they cancel flights that aren't full enough to their liking.
IRROPS often causes things to go sideways.
1. Have you been receiving other flight notifications? Check you account settings to make sure they have current contact info.
2. Did you just present your BP to the Priority desk or did they print one for you. If you presented a BP, good chance they just looked at it and didn't see the updated info on the flight. Falls in line with CSRs that will make an excuse for why the system is doing what it is doing rather than looking at what should have happened and taking the steps to get it fixed.
3. Again, GA may have presumed you were normal standby and not an IRROPS/Elite traveler as it takes more effort to process an IRROP that might trump someone taking their ticketed flight.
4. See #3.
Travelling defensively is getting to be more of a requirement and knowing what should be done allows you to know if the TA/GA are actually considering all options. It is a sad situation, but getting to be a fact of life these days.