TL;DR: Exec plat on PHL-TXL overnight flight downgraded from J to Y due to seat malfunction...and offered 10k miles goodwill compensation (and the fare difference to economy obviously). Help needed to address the situation and try to escalate it...my feeling/understanding is that the goodwill compensation should certainly be higher than 10k miles.

___________

Hi -

Longtime lurker but haven’t posted much before. Am hoping that you all can help me out...

For some background, I’m 26 years old but have been an Exec Plat for ~5 years now, and I travel extensively on AA/Oneworld for both business and pleasure. Two weeks ago, I was flying from MIA - PHL - TXL - BEG in paid business class (I fare class) and I had an incredibly poor experience.

The events transpired as follows: I was flying MIA to PHL to TXL with an ultimate destination of BEG (connecting via Air Serbia TXL-BEG on the same AA-issued ticket). The MIA to PHL flight was uneventful. However, the PHL to TXL flight was a disaster. Due to mechanical issues with the aircraft’s air conditioning unit, we were delayed nearly four and a half hours in PHL. After nearly three hours of sitting on the aircraft (in terribly uncomfortable heat), they finally deplaned us. During that time, I called the AAdvantage desk to try to get rerouted to Belgrade due to the impending misconnect in Berlin, and spent over an hour trying to find a way to get out of Philadelphia and to Belgrade the next day so as to not miss my work event. However, ultimately, due to the late hour (it was already after 9pm), there were no flights available from PHL that night that could get me to Belgrade the next day.

Resigned to the fact that I would miss a work event that I needed to attend, I had the phone agent drop the TXL – BEG segment from my itinerary so I could take at least some of my work meetings remotely in Berlin. Since this involved briefly removing me from the flight, I made sure to have the AAdmirals Club agent then re-check me back in to the TXL flight and re-print my boarding pass.

However, when they began to re-board us all on the PHL-TXL flight, my boarding pass beeped and the gate agent stopped me and said that my seat (4J, which I had selected in advance) had been blocked because it was broken. I clarified with the gate agent, explaining that it certainly hadn’t been broken when I was sitting in it an hour prior! She explained that it wasn’t my seat that was broken, but in fact a flight attendant’s jumpseat that was broken and that the flight attendant had to be re-seated in a Business class seat for safety reasons.

When I asked what the plan to fix the situation was, the attendant informed me that she would have to downgrade me to Main Cabin because Business class was full. I was shocked. Truly, utterly shocked. I pushed back politely once again, asking why I – a paying business class passenger – would be downgraded instead of someone who used miles or who was upgraded (indeed, one passenger had cleared via an upgrade!!). Even another agent questioned her, asking if they should follow their ‘standard downgrade procedure’. The lead agent didn’t offer a direct response, but I can only speculate that my age (I’m 26 years old) and polite demeanor meant that I was the ‘path of least resistance’ rather than attempting to downgrade one of the customers that she had already let board the plane and risk them ‘making a scene’. By that time, I was the only person not re-boarded, and the gate agents were exhausted from dealing with the chaos of the four hour delay and seemed to just want to get the plane in the air. But – still shocked by the situation – I asked if there were any other options, and she said no – I could either not fly or fly in Main Cabin, and that after the flight I should contact American to both get the difference in fare refunded, as well as goodwill compensation for the downgrade.

So, the next day, I call AAdvantage Customer Service and a very kind agent advises me to write everything down and email it through the website. I do this, and finally receive a response today. Their goodwill compensation: 10,000 AAdvantage miles (as well as the refund for the difference between the J and Y fares for that segment obviously.) Am I crazy, or is that a ridiculously low level of compensation for an involuntary downgrade on a paid business class redeye ticket? I mean people who get bumped off of their economy flights regularly get $800+ travel vouchers!

I would love any advice people have on what I can do to address the situation. I certainly was expecting - at a minimum - a travel voucher for significantly more than the value of 10k miles. Is there a way I can escalate this? Would love any/all tips or help. THANK YOU!