Booked my first AA flight in 20 years LAS-PHX-SAF. I've been NWA/Delta Platinum (equivalent to AA Platinum Pro) that entire time.
A couple weeks before travel, AA sends me a letter saying they will gift me Gold status! I can maintain that status if I then fly X amount on AA in the next whatever.
It was exciting to see my name on the LAS-PHX upgrade list. There were 28 people on the list for zero seats. I was number 28.
Much better situation for the PHX-SAF connection: I was #4 (of 4) for zero seats. The PHX-SAF flight, however, experiences a delay. It will get in half an hour later. No, wait, it will get in 5 hours late (a mechanical). They say that 9pm is the earliest they can swap in another aircraft.
After three hours they bring in a cart with snacks to the gate area. The departure is delayed another 45 minutes. Finally our inbound aircraft arrives at PHX. The boarding time is 10 minutes, then 6, then 4, then back up to 7, then down to 2, then nothing happens. Rumors swirl through the gate area. One pax says that they can't find a crew to fly the plane, since they have timed out. Other passengers volunteer to fly it. Finally the announcement: one crewmember has "called in sick", and operations will keep us informed while they try to find a replacement.
After a while the next announcement. The flight is cancelled and rescheduled for 6:45am the next morning, and come get a hotel voucher. The printer doesn't work, so the entire line rushes over to a different gate to line up again to get their voucher. I get mine and am told to go to the courtesy lane and call the hotel for the shuttle.
I call the hotel and they say sorry, they aren't running a shuttle, and to go get the airline to pay for a cab. Went up to check-in, and the agent cranks out voucher for a different hotel instead. The Sleep Inn. This place is dingy. This is where I am right now, at midnight, before my 4am wake-up call.
Even though I am Gold on AA, do I ever wish I were flying Delta. Visions tumble in my head of crackerjack professional staff, ongoing conscientious information and support during irrops, a crew and flight scheduling system that anticipates and adjusts on the fly, of competence and poise, as opposed to virtual third-world standards.
And early tomorrow the adventure continues, on this, my first AA trip in 20 years - - as a newly minted AA Gold Elite.