So this is a new one for me. I had a confirmed upgrade from Y to F for a late evening direct flight home.
Meetings ended early, got on standby for an earlier flight and headed to airport (no checked bags)
I arrived at the gate about 30 minutes to boarding and the gate agent was chatting with a "friend". The friend just stepped aside (stood at the counter) when I asked about when the standby was to clear. I was
#1 of 7 on standby due to my status I guess. There were about 8 seats open in Y so we would all likely clear.
I noticed that there was only one upgrade request on the TV-board, looked quickly at seat availability and there were two open seats.
I asked to get back on an upgrade request list once my standby cleared in case no one else was in line for it.
I was told "No" under no circumstances can that be done. Standby passengers are not eligible for upgrades. I mentioned that this did not reflect my experience in the past. I wasn't asking to jump in line. It appears there is going to be an open seat and if no one has claimed it I'd like to be on the list.
The Gate agent said "Well those people broke the rules- You aren't eligible."
It's not a long flight.. I'm happy to get home early, so I left it at that. The gate agent goes back to chatting with the friend, etc. So I clear, get a bulkhead seat, and as First class is boarding, I see the gate agent wink to the friend and the friend runs over as the agent pushes a button or two and a boarding pass pops out. Friendly glances are exchanged and the friend hops on the plane.
When I board, I'm right behind the friend, who is sitting in the open First class seat.
I'm like.. OK. Now I see. What was worse was that the friend was obviously an employee and the whole cabin crew comes over to greet this young person, remarking on how lucky the person was to get an open seat in first. They mentioned this three times during the flight. So I get to listen to this on the flight, just shaking my head. Then the friend is the last to be served "snacks" and empties the snack box contents in his American Airlines bag. .
I reached out to AA and all I got was "Sorry you weren't able to sit up front on your flight" The Twitter team did tell me that I should have been eligible for an upgrade if no one was on the upgrade request list.
I don't blame an entire airline for this stuff, but it makes me wonder how often this happens.