Originally Posted by
biztraveler2007
We have to say that AA’s premium economy is a very nice upgrade however it comes at hefty price. We paid the extra $3000 for two of us to upgrade for a 14 hour flight from DFW to PEK in June and then noticed that AA gives away premium upgrades in flight ! During our flight out, AA gave away a seat to a non rev and then on the return trip they gave away a seat to a passenger. We watched as the economy passenger simply moved from economy seating to premium economy, ie a free $1500 upgrade. When we contacted AA Advantage their response was, ‘ unfortunately, I am unable to provide an answer or an explanation, as I have no idea what the other passenger’s situation was.’ So, AA wants to charge ‘some’ passengers $1500 to $2000 for the upgrade and yet others get it for free? And AA doesn’t compensate or explain to those who identify an issue on even a premium service? Why even communicate w/ AA when AA will ignore even customers paying for a very high priced premium service? Talk about feeling like getting ripped off and ignored. And AA expects return customer? Seriously?
Welcome to the airline business in 2019 where it's possible that because of different fare buckets, I could have paid $200 for a coach seat that my seatmate may have paid $750 for. If you travel solely for business and purchase fully refundable, full price tickets, then yes, you will pay extra over even paying customers with the possibility that if seats remain available, AA or any other airline you're on will upgrade passengers for various reasons. I've benefited from this policy the last three times I've flown from Europe on BA to JFK, getting an upgrade from premium economy to business for which I paid not a penny more than my original fare. I once paid $350 at the check in desk for a premium economy upgrade to business--a fare that probably would have cost thousands more when I booked the ticket. Some airlines are doing lotteries, a "bid for upgrade" process, that may or may not fill seats.
Airplane seats that remain empty when a flight takes off are like unsold hotel rooms in this respect: the unfilled seat (or room) represents a lost income opportunity that will never be recovered. In most instances, airlines have found that overselling economy and then bumping folks up a class or two, with an additional payment (the airlines' preference if they can get it) or without, allows them to maximize the number of seats filled by the time a flight departs.
As a result, I take little from my presence in a premium cabin, whether or not I've paid for it. That keeps me from acting with "arrogance, condescension and conceit." Or accusing others of doing so.