EXP upgrade then downgrade
 

I was rebooked on to AA520 last night due to MX issues with 1778 (Full details in the comp thread). 520 was scheduled to leave at 7:15 PM but was delayed to 8:30 due to late arriving aircraft. At 8:15, the GA calls my name and hands me a boarding pass for 4F as I had cleared my UG. At about 8:25, they call my name again and hand me another BP for my original seat, 21A.

According to the GA, someone did not check in for their flight and showed up at the gate at 8:25 (a full hour and 10 mins AFTER the scheduled departure). GA gave them the seat I was upgraded to. Is this correct practice? IIRC, failure to show up prior to scheduled departure is grounds to have your seat given away.

I was fine with not receiving a UG, but am miffed at being given a BP and then being downgraded. Worth reaching out to AA CS about?

I'm not sure on exact policy but I've had some outstations do this for me when I was just plain late (normally in the form of "if you make it to the gate before the 10min mark we'll give you your seat back). If there was a delay I would be pretty peeved if I lost by paid seat to an upgrader because I didn't want to spend an extra hour picking my nose at the airport.

Of course the solution is just to check in online.

If the original passenger had paid an F fare, I think the airline can reasonably ask you to take your original seat, especially if it's a decent exit row seat like yours. However, if the original passenger had also been upgraded, albeit earlier than you, I think AA should not kick you back.

FWIW, when AA posts a delay prior to the originally scheduled departure time, the required check-in time adjusts accordingly. Also, it's likely the original pax was a connection that would have missed the flight if it had departed on time. (How else could one show up at the gate without being checked in?). In that case, AA should be flexible.

Actually, as has been posted in other threads, the required check-in time does not change in this case. People (myself included) have lost seats on delayed flights for not being available (and this applies to check-in as well), the requisite time before the original departure. I think it should change, but it seems that it does not.

Cheers.

That was my thought as well, based on reading FT.\

I don't think it was a connection since the flight was DEN to DFW. Not sure who would make an AA connection in DEN.

Did you pay for economy or business/first in your situation? If I had paid for business/first, I would expect the airline to offer me a little flexibility as Stripe stated.

Somebody on an unusual, oddly-timed milage run, perhaps? :)

Quite possible they should; quite possibly they do. This has nothing to do with what I responded to which was a "reset" of the required check-in time. This does not seem to happen.

Cheers.

I have checked in numerous times via a kiosk in AUS after the original check-in deadline when a delay has been posted.

Well, then, I'm glad I hedged my bets by saying that it doesn't seem to be the case :)

Your experience is certainly at odds with what others have posted (and on which I based my claims), but it would appear the be the case in some circumstances. Maybe an initial check-in is treated differently than a connection with respect to delays and "being in the right place."

Cheers.

I had an UG given, pulled back, the given once more post boarding an AE flight JFK-DCA just recently. The seat map (I know - not reliable) had shown 1C and D open all day so I checked with the GA just in case my UG request had processed, and she said yep and gave me the BP for 1D. About 5 minutes later I get called by the GA and told that I no longer have my upgrade because they have to give it to someone "higher on the list". Disappointed but didn't get annoyed with GA, instead chose to Tweet frustration to AA. Fortunately the GA had not given away my seat (6C).

So I stand back and watch to see who will now get 1D. They wait another five minutes then call Mr Member of Congress for a NY district whom I recognize and give him the BP.

Boarding uneventful. Take my seat in 6C and chat with nice FA about the availability of ice cold adult beverage after take off. Says she has one with my name on it. Everyone apparently boarded then GA comes on board and tells me I have an UG (again). This time they give me 1C - next to first upgrade usurper. Sadly he had decided to doze off so I couldn't quiz him about his powers of influence at AA.

The only real misfortune of the flight turned out to be the weather that meant the FAs could not do the beverage service, so the cold Heineken remained a dream.

Official policy, as stated on aa.com, is that you must check-in by 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. http://www.aa.com/i18n/customerServi...ge.jsp#Minimum

Whether the systems enforce that is another question. So is whether there is flexibility in the case of misconnects or other special cases.

I wouldn't be surprised if a GA said check-in when they meant something else.

The deadlines do not change. By way of example, had the late-checking pax caused an oversell, he would have been off-loaded and would have been due no compensation. But, clearly AA uses discretion for paid F and even top elites.

Maybe the better policy would be to hold all UG's at the gate until just before actual boarding.

People want advance upgrades so that they can plan, such as whether to purchase food at the airport or have a drink in the lounge. They also want the option to select their seats in the upgraded cabin. Gate upgrades might require those on the list to become gate lice well before boarding starts.

This assumes that when a flight is delayed and a new posted, the "scheduled" time doesn't change. That's a reasonable interpretation of the phrase, but it's just as reasonable to read the CoC as saying that the newly posted time is now the "scheduled" time, as in "the flight is now scheduled to depart at 8:45".

Since AA doesn't bother to define the term anywhere, we're left to guess what they intended it to mean, but I'd imagine a jury or even a small claims judge might be persuaded to see it the passenger's way if it came to that.