Originally Posted by
Tintin
I was supposed to fly today (1/28) JFK-LHR on AA 106 departing JFK at 8:35pm and returning on 2/3 in AA 107. Made a reservation in Economy long time ago, and requested SWUs for both legs, which (both legs) were cleared on 12/21/2019 and new ticket was issued in Business Class C. I selected seat 2A for today's flight. Yesterday about an hour before the check-in opens, I found in iOS app that my seat assignment has gone blank and seat 2A has been assigned to someone else. All "A" and "L" seats (single window-isle seats) were taken. The only available seats were middle seats ("D" and "H" seats) in the back. This is probably the reason why no seat was assigned to me. I don't know about you, but as an EXP (who flew over 120,000 miles last year) this is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. I called EXP desk and the representative on the line was sympathetic. She tried to change my flight to another JFK-LHR flight departing today with a better seat in business cabin but "A" or "L" seats (single window-isle seats) in all 3 today's JFK-LHR flights (6:30pm, 8:35pm (original), and 10:35pm departures) were full (I was seeing that in aa.com as well). There were several other JFK-LHR non-stop flights operated by BA, but according to her, she cannot re-book me into flights operated by BA. AA don't allow her to do it, even in an exceptional situation where AA reassigned my confirmed seat to someone else without my approval and without assigning me another seat. She apologized and forwarded my call to a supervisor. The supervisor was also sympathetic to my concern. He put me on hold to speak with the seat assignment department. Seat assignment department told him that this is a "glitch" in the system but they cannot help. They cannot offer me an acceptable seat in the business class in any of today's JFK-LHR flight, despite the fact that I had confirmed seat 2A, and AA (by "glitch" or intentionally) gave my seat to someone else.
The supervisor said the only thing he can do is to offer me some compensation, which I assumed to be X amount of AAdvantage points. On my original 8:35pm flight (AA 107) the First Class was only half-full. So I requested him to upgrade me to First Class as a compensation. He said AA will not allow him to do it unless I pay the fare difference via credit card. He cannot think of any other option (although, it was clear to me that he wasn't happy about the situation and was trying his best to help). According to him, AA is no longer enabling the supervisors to help EXPs in exceptional circumstances. My only options were, (1) select an available middle seat in the back and shut-up with X amount of AAdvantage points as compensation, or (2) cancel the reservation.
I fly AA from year 2006, and an EXP for the past several years, and I have either a transcontinental flight (JFK-LAX) or an international flight (JFK-Europe) every other week over the past couple of years. A situation like above is completely unacceptable to me. Those of you are EXPs, you should not accept it either. Over the past 3 years or so, since the merger, EXPs are not valued as desired important customers. My frustration with AA was growing over the years and I do think yesterday's situation crossed a line. The whole situation is AA's fault (be it a "glitch" or intentional). If AA valued me as a desired customer for my loyalty since 2006, they would take responsibility and re-booked me in a BA flight or upgraded me to First Class as a due compensation where several seats were available. AA not taking the responsibility and takes my business as granted loyalty crossed a line.
I have cancelled my reservation. I am considering moving my business to Delta. I will call Delta today for a status match. The timing is right. This is the beginning of year 2020, so I will have the entire year to earn my next year's status. Plus the annual fee for my Barclay's AA Silver Card will be due next month. Right time to cancel the card. I also have Citi's Executive Card, which will be cancelled when the annual fee is due. I have more than 1-million AA-miles which I will donate to charity before the Christmas holidays. Will cancel all existing reservations after speaking with Delta. Will not fly AA again in foreseeable future.
I will also write a letter to Doug Parker summarizing this experience. I am sure AA management at this point doesn't care at all, but writing a letter to Doug Parker is probably the last thing I can do.
Tintin