Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: NYC/LAX/ATL
Programs: JAL Diamond, BAEC Gold, AS 75K, VS Gold, AC 50K, WoH Globalist, HHonors Diamond, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 237
AA's boarding process is really a mystery.
Situation 1: at LAX, left FL lounge at T-30 sharp heading to Gate 42B for a tcon flight. Took me less than 5 minutes on the way and when I arrived at the gate it seemed the majority had boarded and there's no line at gate at that time. Good thing about tcon was there's still plenty OH space in F.
Situation 2: at MIA. I was closely monitoring the incoming flight on flightradar24 as the incoming a/c was still held on the taxiway. The app showed "boarding now" despite the a/c had not yet arrived at the gate. Asked an AAgent at lounge she said it should board pretty soon you should head to the gate. Boarding ended up commencing 20 min after scheduled departure. That's way more than enough time to take a shower and grab some small bites.